BILLY BOYS’ WORKSHOP

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1933, Page 19 (Supplement)

BILLY BOYS’ WORKSHOP

MAKING BOOK ENDS. A pair of useful book ends, as shown in the sketch, can easily be made from odd pieces of wood three-eighths of an inch thick and a length of half-round beading. Cut the upright A io the sizes given, and plane it on both sides and edges. Make the bottom part, B, three and a half inches long and two and. a quarter inches wide. Glue and nail this to the upright, and allow for the thickness of the book plate C, which must be fixed to the upright with three small

countersunk screws. The plate, of thin brass or aluminium sheet, is four inches long and three and a. half inches wide, and is cut to a slight .taper, as shown in the bottom diagram. • Cut the triangular shaped pieces to the sizes given . at D, and glue and nail these to the upright and bottom, part, so that the outer faces are three inches apart, as indicated. , . t. The strip E is three and a half inches long and one and a quarter inches wide, and the sloping part F-the same width and four inches long. Bevel the. top and bottom edges of part F to fit nicely against the upright and top edge of strip E. Fix the parts with glue and fine wire nails. Attach strips of half round fancy beading to the edges of the upright, pin a small wood ornament to the ceiitre of the sloping part, as shown in the top sketch,' and glue a thin piece of baize or cloth underneath the book end to protect the surface of table or shelf. Make the other end in exactly the same way, and give both a coat of enamel or cellulose paint, picking out the ornamental parts in a different colour. The Hut Carpenter. JOHN STRINGFELLOW’S TRIPLANE. SOMETHING OLD MADE NEW. Aircraft with methylated spirit for fuel sounds like a child’s work. Yet the engine of John Stringfellow’s triplane of 1868 was so heated, and it was no toy. It has just been reconstructed for. the Science Museum at South Kensington., The triplane was a model produced for the first Aeronautical Exhibition, held at the Crystal Palace in 1868. For fear of damage it was not allowed to fly freely about in the great hall, and in the open air. the plane was not a success because the methylated spirit was often extinguished; but it ran along a wire about 100 yards long in the building, and often lifted this wire several feet in the air. It was a step on the way to air mails and air ambulances. John Stringfellow was bom in 1799. The monoplane he made in 1848 is to be engraved on the British Silver Medal for Aeronautics' as a reward for outstand ing_f eats by airmen. We wish the old pioneer, who died at 84, could have foreseen this honour done to the child of his brain. He must often have been ridiculed, but now his models are in the Science Museum and on our silver medals. EVER STROKED A BEE? A bee-man of experience . was seen the other day, bare to the waist, placing a queen bee on his chest. Immediately the swarm settled on him, without doing him harm. Then the queen, followed by her retinue, took flight to a neighbouring hive. “Have you ever stroked a bee?” said a little lad of four who had just watched a big bumble passing by. “No,” was the reply, “but I will next time.” RIDDLES. When are streets greasy ?—When rain is dripping. (Sent by Vivienne Fallows.) The beginning of eternity, The end of time and space, The beginning of every end, And the end of every space ? The letter E. Which is the hottest letter in the alphabet ? The letter “U” because it is in the middle of "sun.” (Sent by Joyce Priest.) If a pig lost its way home what do you think it would do ? Tie its tail in a knot and call it a pigs-tie (pigsty.) (Sent by Mary Thompson.) I'm round and round on all sides; I carry life and heat; Many boys and many girls consider me a treat. I’m blue and green and yellow and white, Yet never black or red; You buy me and you sell me, And with me you are fed. A duck-egg. (Sent by Edith Hunter.)