BILLY BOYS’ WORKSHOP

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1933, Page 9 (Supplement)

BILLY BOYS’ WORKSHOP

A PLATE RACK FOR THE SCULLERY. This plate rack is intended to stand on the draining board by the side of the sink, and the plates, after being washed and rinsed, can be placed in it. to dry. Mark out the two ends’on' pieces of vzood half an inch thick, to ' the sizes given in diagram A. Saw' both pieces roughly to shape, then cut the slots in the front edges to take the front bar B, and also cut away the parts not re-

quired at the lower edges. .Finish the top, front and back edges with a .plane. With a brace and three-quarter-inch bit make the . holes, for the ends of the supporting rod C. ' ;' Strips of wood, one and a half inches wide by half an inch thick, are used for the front and back bars B and D, which are sixteen inches long. Rule a centre line on each bar, and. then mark with a pencil, the centres of the holes, one and a. half inches apart, as shown in the lowest diagram. The-holes, which are three-eighths of an inch in diameter, go right through the back bar, D, but those in . the front bar are only a quarter of an inch deep, to prevent the rods from slipping through. These holes can be made with your brace and centrebit.

The rods, which are ten-and-a-quarter inches long, can be cut from two fourfeet lengths of three-eighths-inch dowel rod, which can be purchased for a. few pence. The bars B and D are fixed to the ends by. two screws in each, and the holes for these can now be made and countersunk. Screw the front bar in position first, push the ends of the rods into the holes, in this bar, then, press the bar D over the other ends of.the rods. .When all the rods are in place, screw down the back bar, and saw or chisel away any projecting ends .of the rods. : The rod C on which the plates rest, is simply, a sixteen-incji length of dowel rod about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. If the e t nds are a good fit in the holes in the end pieces, they will require .no other fixing. The Hut Carpenter. STORY OF THE BELL-BIRDS. (Sent by Merle Druce.) .' “The bellbird’s notes -came ringing. Up the mountain, down the vale.” Under the trees and in the undergrowth, the forest seemed alive. Little bush creatures hurried excitedly along because that very day, Dewdrop,, a dainty fairy, was to marry Gumleaf, a handsome gnome. In the shade of giant mushroom, Dewdrop was greeting her kind godmother, a big silver moth. “Is there anything you desire? asked the godmother. - . “Yes, godmother, there is one little thing,” replied the dainty little sprite, “I should like wedding bells.” . “Then,” said the godmother, “You shall have them.” Gracefully she fluttered away .to a large clearing in the forest, where, were assembled all the birds chirping about what they should wear for the wedding. The sharp little eyes of the moth roVed in and out till at last they came to rest on a little brown bird who had no bright feathers and who sat sadly on a wattle tree. . . “Little bird,” said the moth, “what is your name?” “Alas,” said the bird, “Madam Moth I have no name. I was ill at christening time and did not receive any name. “Then listen,” said the moth, “to-day at my dear godchild’s wedding you shall sing. Your voice will be as the pealing of many bells and your name shall be ‘Bellbird.’ ’ _ That afternoon as the beautiful bride emerged from the fairy cathedral on the arm of her bridegroom, peal after peal of silvery bells rang through the air. The' bride stood amazed, then with a happy laugh she said: “Who is this tod ?” , ’’ ' “It is the bellbird,” said the moth, “ring on little bellbird.” This, then, is the story of the bellbird, whose beautiful chimes can be heard echoing through the valley. RUGBY BOY IN AQUITANIA. A Rugby schoolboy has just returned from a trip to New. York which he earned by his own efforts. He is 14, his name is John Skeggs, and his father is a doctor in Hertfordshire., One day he started an etching of the Cunard Berengaria. It was based on a photograph', and showed the huge rudder being replaced at Southampton. I A master saw the etching,, and was so impressed that he sent, it secretly to the Cunard Company. The officials of the company were delighted, and offered the young etcher a free return' trip to New York. John Skeggs travelled in a. first-class state-room in the Aquitania.. It was a • wonderful experience, but it did not turn ' his head. Instead of imagining that he • is a budding Brangwyn, John Skegg says I he expects to go in for law.