Part 7 (2/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 102. The King Posts Set in Position.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 103. The Permanent Cross Beam Made Fast.]

First we set about constructing the king posts, which were made as shown in Fig. 101. Two stout posts 7 feet long were connected at the top by a tie stick, which s.p.a.ced them 4 feet apart. To make a secure fastening they were notched together and strengthened with diagonal braces. Each king post was notched on opposite sides, at about thirty inches from the top. A temporary tie piece was also nailed across the lower ends of the king posts. The frame thus formed was set up at the center of the span and temporarily held by nailing the lower tie piece to the working platform. Four stout spars were now cut, each about fifteen feet long.

Taking a pair at a time, we planted their lower ends firmly in the opposite banks and sawed off their upper ends until they could just be hammered into the notches in the king post. This required careful fitting, but by making the spars a little too long to start with, and then shaving them down with a draw-knife, we managed to make fairly good joints. A couple of long wire nails in each spar made the structure perfectly secure. The king posts were now sawed off just above the temporary tie piece, and the permanent cross beam was fastened to these ends with straps of heavy wire wound tightly about them. The working platform sagged so much that we were able to lay this cross beam above it. From the ends of the cross beam diagonal braces extended to the king posts (Fig. 103). Our working platform was now removed and replaced with the permanent floor beams, which were firmly nailed to the center cross beam and to the inclined spars at the sh.o.r.e ends. The floor beams were quite heavy and needed no support between the king posts and sh.o.r.e. A rustic floor was made of small logs sawed in two at Mr. Schreiner's sawmill. Light poles were nailed to the flooring along each edge, giving a finish to the bridge. We also provided a rustic railing for the bridge of light poles nailed to the king posts and the diagonal spars.

CHAPTER X.

CANVAS CANOES.

Like all inhabitants of islands, we early turned our attention to navigation. Our scow was serviceable for transporting materials back and forth across the strips of shallow water between our quarters and the Jersey sh.o.r.e. We never attempted to row across, because progress would have been entirely too slow, and we would have drifted down to the rapids long ere we could reach the opposite side. But on Lake Placid matters were different. Although there was no settlement near us on the Pennsylvania sh.o.r.e, to occasion our crossing the water for provisions and the like, yet the quiet stretch was admirably suited to boating for pleasure, and mighty little pleasure could we get out of our heavy scow.

UNCLE ED'S DEPARTURE.

Owing to a sudden business call Uncle Ed left us after he had been with us nearly three weeks. But, before going, he explained carefully to Bill just how to construct a canvas canoe. Jack, the cook, who was anxious to lay in a second supply of provisions, accompanied Uncle Ed as far as Millville, the next town below Lamington. Here Uncle Ed bought five yards of canvas, 42 inches wide, several cans of paint and a quant.i.ty of bra.s.s and copper nails and tacks. These supplies, together with the food provisions that Jack had collected, were brought to us late in the afternoon by Mr. Schreiner. Mr. Schreiner also brought the necessary boards and strips of wood for the framework of our canoe.

A VISIT FROM MR. SCHREINER.

We invited Mr. Schreiner to spend the night with us, and this he did after fording with some difficulty the swift-running river. In the morning we showed him our quarters, our filter, the roads we had built, the spar bridge across to Kite Island, our surveying instrument and the chart we had made of the vicinity. He was greatly pleased with our work, and it was then that he gave us an order for the bridge over the gorge.

From that day on he became our staunchest ally, so that when my father and Mr. Van Syckel complained that we were loafing away a lot of time which could be more profitably spent in study or work, Mr. Schreiner stood up for us and declared that our experiences on the island were doing us far more good, both physically and mentally, than any other work that they could conceive of; that before condemning us they should pay us a visit and see how we were employing our time.

THE SAILING CANOE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Exploring the River in the Indian Canoe.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 104. Stern Post of the Canoe.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 105. Stern of the Canoe.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 106. Center Form.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 107. Bulkheads.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 108. Center Braces.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 109. Top View of the Canoe Frame.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 110. Side View of the Canoe Frame.]

Immediately after Mr. Schreiner's departure we started work on the canoe. A strip of spruce 1 inch thick, 3 inches wide and 12 feet long served as the keelson. At the stern a post 1-1/2 inches thick, 3 inches wide and 13 inches high was secured to the keelson with bra.s.s screws.

This was braced as indicated in Fig. 104. At the bow a stem piece was attached to the keelson. This stem was cut to a somewhat semicircular form, as shown in Fig. 105. The outer edge was tapered with a draw-knife to a thickness of 1/4 inch and a brace was nailed to the inner edge. Our next work was to cut out three forms, one of the shape shown in Fig. 106 and two like that shown in Fig. 107. The first form was set up on the keelson midway between the stem and stern, and the other two were s.p.a.ced about four feet each side of the center form. The center form was used only for shaping the frame of the boat, and was not intended to be permanently affixed to the canoe. Therefore, we fastened it to the keelson very lightly, so that it could be readily removed. The other two forms, however, were made permanent parts of the frame, serving as bulkheads. The gunwales were now secured in position. These were of spruce 3/4 inch thick and 2 inches wide. The ends were beveled off so as to neatly fit the stem piece and the stern post, to which they were fastened by bra.s.s screws. Then we applied the longitudinal strips, or rib bands, which were of 1/4-inch thick spruce 1 inch wide. Ten of these bands were used, equally s.p.a.ced apart on the center form, to which they were lightly tacked; but they were nailed securely to the bulkheads and the stem piece and stern post. The cross ribs were made of barrel hoops which we had soaked in water for a day or so to render them pliable enough to be bent into place. These hoops were split to a width of 1/2 inch, and secured first to the keelson, then to the longitudinal strips and finally to the gunwales. Copper tacks were used for nailing the ribs in place, and these were long enough to be pa.s.sed through the rib bands and clinched on the outside. Forty cross ribs were nailed on, and at the center of the canoe they were s.p.a.ced about three inches apart. The center form was then removed and cut along the dotted lines shown in Fig. 106. The semicircular pieces thus obtained were now strengthened with strips on their inner edges, and wedged in between the keelson and the gunwales, to which they were nailed, as shown in Fig. 108. A pair of cleats nailed to the cross ribs served as supports for the seat of the canoe. The frame of the boat was completed by nailing in place two deck beams of 1/2-inch square pine and four corner pieces between the gunwales and the bulkheads, so as to make an elliptical well hole or deck opening. Before laying on the canvas covering the edges of the gunwales, keelson, deck beams, stem and stern posts were smoothed down with sandpaper.

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