Pad

“ To plunge the bare arms to the elbow into the river as you go, and let the cool water curl up to the biceps; to feel the soft breeze on bare head and neck; to be far from the busy crowds in the cities, with all the senses awake to new and fascinating objects—the swirl of rapid water, the brown and yellow stones on the bottom of the river, the large, free movements of clouds, the strange flowers on the bank; to grip the paddle with an agreeable sense of power in shoulder and hand; to brace the feet strongly against the foot-rest and feel the canoe spring with the elastic force of the stroke ”

“ In sporting phraseology the whole paw of a fox or other beast of chase is called the “pad.” A special technical use, somewhat difficult to connect with the above meanings, is for the socket of a brace or for the handle of such tools as a keyhole saw. (2) The canting word “pad,” now surviving in such words as “footpad,” a highway robber, or “pad horse,” a roadster riding-horse with an easy action, is the same as “path,” adapted directly from the Low Ger. ”

“ Almost every day there is a new liver pad or lung pad or kidney pad, but in its way nothing has succeeded in giving instant relief like the Leadville foot pad.
A man can scratch his back against a hat rack or a whatnot for a year or two, and attribute it to buckwheat cakes, but after he has gone on this way for about seven years, the public and his friends begin to lose faith in him. ”

“ And then a captain's eyes must be sharp to detect any slovenliness in the dress of a batsman. What a sorry sight it is to see a man going to the wickets with his pad-straps hanging two or three inches down his legs, his trousers unfolded and sticking out from behind his pads, his shirtsleeves hanging loose, and altogether having a general air of being a slovenly fellow! ”

“ A Knee Pad: Make of stout cloth twenty inches by twelve, stuff two inches thick, tack in lines to hold flat, and sew oilcloth upon the under side.
A Foot Pad: Make two feet square, stuff an inch and a half thick, and tack flat. Stand on it when ironing, washing, or preparing food. It saves strength and prevents cold feet.
A Floor Pad: For rubbing waxed hardwood or stained floors. Get a block of wood, brick-shaped, hollow the upper edges on both sides so it can be grasped, put a strap across, then 42cover the lower face with many thicknesses of flannel and chamois skin. ”

“ You must be perpetually watching your chance to gain a foot or so between the heavier seas.
With the sea over one bow you must paddle on the leeward side. When the canoe mounts a wave, you must allow the crest to throw the bow off a trifle, but the moment it starts down the other slope you must twist your paddle sharply to regain the direction of your course. ”

“ Both oars and paddles are inconvenient projections from a vessel’s side. Moreover, the paddles have the inconvenience in a heavy sea of being sometimes only immersed on one side, giving rise to numerous disadvantages. ”

“ My paddle will lull you into rest. O! drowsy wind of the drowsy west, Sleep, sleep, By your mountain steep,15 Or down where the prairie grasses sweep! Now fold in slumber your laggard wings, For soft is the song my paddle sings.
August is laughing across the sky, Laughing while paddle, canoe, and I,20 Drift, drift, Where the hills uplift On either side of the current swift.
The river rolls in its rocky bed; My paddle is plying its way ahead25 Dip, dip, While the waters flip In foam as over their breast we slip. ”

“ That lies in wait to make a silent rush,
And there was something in her like a thrush,
For she had paddle-wheels, each like a wing.
She had a long hornet stern that seemed to hold a sting.
Sometimes her paddles slowly turned,
For they kept steam up, waiting for a gale.
It seemed as if the slim boat chafed and yearned
To go hell-tearing under steam and sail.
The oily water churned
And made a slap-slap to the paddles' stroke ”

“ After two miles of distress, a bank of light but sharply broken clouds appeared on the northeastern horizon, and soon a gentle breeze brought blessed relief. In a few minutes more, ripples danced upon our starboard quarter, and then the awning had to come down, for it filled like a fixed sail and counteracted the effect of the paddles. The Doctor, who, you know full well, never paddles when he can sail, insisted on running up into the wind and spreading the canvas. ”

“ A foot that is kept high on the inside and low on the outside will help to prevent winging in to the knees. There are lots of paddlers who do not begin to paddle until the foot has left the ground quite some distance, and to prove this I have seen the shoes worn by some paddlers and the most of the wear on the shoes of the paddling leg or legs was at the outside toe of shoe. A paddler that leaves the ground from the inside toe of shoe can be made to carry the leg straighter in a line at speed easier than one that leaves the ground from the outside toe. ”

“ Fig. 2. Arrangement of Pads on Mammalian Foot, (a) Typical arrangement; diagram. (b) Typical arrangement; forefoot of rat embryo, (c) Forefoot of mink, showing a slight modification of the type, (d) Forefoot of cat, showing fusion of palmar pads. Abbreviations: A, apical pads; P1-P3, palmar pads; Th, thenar pad; H, hypothenar pad; h. p, hair papilla; I-V, the digits. mass. The noticeable projecting spur near the wrist is a modified hypothenar pad, but the small bristle-bearing papilla still farther up has nothing to do with it and is not a pad. ”

“ They seethe, and boil, and bound, and splash.
Be strong, O paddle! be brave, canoe!
The reckless waves you must plunge into.
Reel, reel.
On your trembling keel,
But never a fear my craft will feel.
We've raced the rapid, we're far ahead! ”

“ He shivered as the wind searched through his dampened parka and hardened the wet clothing next to his body, but he took his place and dug the paddle fiercely into the water, till the waves licked the hair of his gauntlets.
The memory of that scudding trip through the darkness was always cloudy and visioned. Periods of keen alertness alternated with moments when his weariness bore upon him till he stiffly bent to his work, wondering what it all meant. ”

“ My thoughts were of a grave and almost sombre character, but I still clung to my paddle. The stream ran away with my heels as fast as I could pull up my shoulders, and I seemed, by the weight, to have all the water of the Oise in my trousers-pockets. You can never know, till you try it, what a dead pull a river makes against a man. ”

“ On the mountains she has given him leg muscles of iron to climb the slope; along the coast she has left these weak and flabby, but given him instead vigorous development of chest and arm to handle his paddle or oar. ”

“ The broad paddle of the fin is now useless, and its main stem is converted into a jointed, bony limb, with a five-toed foot, spreading into a paddle, at the end. But the legs are still feeble, sprawling supports, letting the heavy body down almost to the ground. ”

“ They cut out the seat in the stern with a place to put each foot on the side in front of the seat so one can brace himself while paddling it with a long and narrow paddle, pointed at the end, so they can paddle or push the canoe with it. ”

“ The net is like a shallow landing net, set on a haft of stiff bamboo, and can be handled only after years of unconscious training. My position, paddling amidships, enabled me to watch how the net was managed—one doesn't often see such an exhibition of dexterity and strength. ”

“ Instantly one occupant of the canoe, a young and very beautiful woman in a man's hunting clothes, spoke a word of command, and, as her guide steadied the vessel with his paddle, rose carefully in her place and curved her lithe body over the bows, headforemost into the pool. ”

“ On the bridge is the mate, pacing backward and forward, and watching the course he has given to the man at the wheel, who is close to him. The paddles are impetuously beating into the sea, and now and then breaking into thunder, as one or the other of the wheels runs wild, as the rolling lifts it clear of the water. ”

“ But it is no matter how narrow the boat is if he has a paddle, for he holds it perpendicularly over the side."
"So paddles are better," said Marco, "for one kind of boat, and oars for another."
"Yes," replied Forester, "and paddles are better for one kind of navigation, and oars for another. Oars require greater breadth of water to work in. In a narrow, crooked stream flowing among logs and rocks, oars would not answer at all. But with a paddle a man can worm a boat through anywhere." ”

“ I have seen fifteen paddles of a side in one of their canoes move with immensely quick strokes, and at the same time as much justness as if the rowers were animated by one soul, not the fraction of a second could be observed between the dipping and raising any two of them, the canoe all the while moving with incredible swiftness. ”

“ With the paddle there are not less than three variations of position on each side, which bring new muscles into play and relieve the weary ones; and a shift from one hand to the other is a complete rest. ”

“ So many turns of the paddle are necessary before the bows answer. Perhaps the current meanwhile is sweeping you sideways, or a whirlpool jumps up under the boat, or you strike a back-eddy, or something strange happens to complicate the impetus and direction of the boat, and, lo! she does not answer to your stroke. You have to lift the huge paddle and strain every muscle again to repeat your stroke and bring her round. In the end she always comes round, but if a rock, or a bridge, or a rapid is close upon you, this loss of time is a serious matter! ”

“ This, I found, was a great improvement which I had not thought of, saving me the labor of lifting the paddle each time, and I wondered that he had not suggested it before. It is true, before our baggage was reduced we had been obliged to sit with our legs drawn up, and our knees above the side of the canoe, which would have prevented our paddling thus, or perhaps he was afraid of wearing out his canoe, by constant friction on the side. ”

“ To cross a broad stretch of wind-swept water where whitecaps are running high, means a long, hard fight, and the stern paddler must be ever alert to ease the canoe through breaking crests and shift his balance whenever the necessity arises. ”

“ The fore-limbs, though functionally reduced to mere paddles, with no power of motion except at the shoulder joint, have beneath their smooth and continuous external covering all the bones, joints and even most of the muscles, nerves and arteries of the human arm and hand ”

“ We used to start before sunrise, Blue Peter in the bows of the canoe, and Jack in the stern, both paddling quickly, while I sat amidships in the bottom. No Europeans I ever saw can paddle so silently, swiftly, and surely as the Indians on the Mosquito coast. They hold the shaft of the paddle almost upright, never touching the gunwale therewith, or splashing rudely in the water. ”

“ Marco took the paddle from Forester's hand. He had never seen one before. He said that they always used oars, not paddles, in New York harbor. A paddle is shaped very differently from an oar. It is much shorter and lighter,--though the blade is broader. A paddle is worked, too, differently from an oar. An oar acts as a lever against the side of the boat,--the middle of it resting in a small notch called a row-lock, or between two wooden pins. But a paddle is held in the hands entirely. ”

“ With every sense alert, you watch for the rocks, and when you see one, you dip your paddle on one side or the other and with a quick motion draw the canoe clear of the danger. If by any chance you fail to do it, over you go, and your partner with you, and all your belongings go down-stream, and maybe you are sucked into a whirlpool, and not seen for several hours afterwards. ”

“ During the stroke bring your upper hand forward across your face or breast, and with the lower draw the blade through the water.
It is well to begin as bow paddler, for your duty there, in smooth water, is to watch for obstructions such as hidden rocks and submerged logs or snags, while the paddler at the stern must steer the canoe and keep it in a straight course.
At the beginning learn to paddle as well from one side as from the other. To be able to change sides is very restful and sometimes a quick change will prevent an accident. ”

“ For a short afternoon paddle almost any kind of a stroke will suffice to drive the canoe ahead, but upon long trips, or when head winds and rough water are encountered, the quick, short stroke will save both time and muscle. ”

“ The floor forms a considerable item in the weight, consequently this should be made no wider or thicker than necessary. In paddling, learn to reach well forward and back, with a good swing of the body from side to side. ”

“ It will be understood that the motion of the walking bar being circular, and that of the heads of the paddles being vertical and nearly rectilinear, the motion of the blades of the paddles must be elliptical, inclining to the horizontal; and that the position of the paddles is kept so nearly vertical that they will meet with less resistance in entering or leaving the water than those of a common paddle wheel, while the atmospheric resistance to be encountered thereby is much less. ”