The Swiss shoe was made primarily to assist us in exploring some boggy land a short distance up the river from our island. The original swamp shoes were made from the bottoms of two old baskets, and they worked so admirably that it was decided to equip the whole society with them. Uncle Ed, when told about them, informed us that that was the kind of snow shoe used in Switzerland. Of course, we could not afford to destroy a pair of baskets for each member of the club, and so we had to weave the shoes from the willows which grew on the island.
We had a farewell meeting of the society the evening before Bill and I had to return to boarding-school. At this meeting plans were made for the Easter vacation. We also considered the matter of getting parental permission for our summer outing. So far we had been afraid to breathe a word of our plans outside of the society, since Fred had said something about it in the presence of Father and had been peremptorily ordered to banish all such hair-brained, Wild West notions from his head. We realized from that incident that the consent of our parents would not be so very easily obtained. But Bill came forward with a promising suggestion. He would write to his Uncle Ed and see if he couldn’t be persuaded to join the expedition. At first we demurred. We didn’t want a “governor” around all the time. But Bill assured us that his uncle was “no ordinary man”; that he would not interfere with our plans, but would enter right into them and give us many valuable pointers. Though not by any means convinced, we told him to go ahead and invite his uncle, as that seemed about the only means of winning over our fathers and mothers. The society was then adjourned until our Easter vacation began, each member promising to earn and save as much money as he could in the meantime to buy the materials for a tent and provisions for the summer outing.
Word From Uncle Ed.
Bill’s letter to Uncle Ed was answered as quickly as the mail could travel to Brazil and back. Uncle Ed heartily approved of our plans, and said that he would be delighted to join the expedition. He could not be on hand before the 1st of July, but that would give us plenty of time to make all necessary preparations. He told us not to worry about gaining the consent of our parents. He would write to them and see them all personally, if necessary to win their approval.
The Canvas Tent.
When at last spring arrived and we returned to Lamington
on our Easter vacation, quite a sum of money had been
collected, nearly $15.00, if I remember rightly; at any rate
plenty to buy the materials for a good-sized tent and leave a
large surplus for provisions,
Fig. 38. The Sail Stitch.
etc. Bill figured out on paper
just how much canvas we
would need for a tent 7 feet
wide by 9-1/2 feet long, which
he estimated would be about
large enough to hold us.
It took 34 yards, 30
inches wide. Then we
visited the village store to make our purchase. Canvas we
found a little too expensive for us, but a material called drill
seemed about right. It cost ten cents a yard, but since we
wanted such a quantity of it the price was reduced to a total
of $3.00. We repaired to the attic to lay out the material.
First we cut out four lengths of 5 yards and 26 inches
each. The strips were basted together, lapping the edges
Fig. 39. Cutting out the Door Flaps.
1 inch and making a piece 17 feet 2 inches long by 9 feet 9
inches wide. Mother sewed the breadths together on the
machine, using a double seam, as in sail making; that is, two
parallel rows of stitching were sewed in, one along each
overlapping edge, as shown in Fig. 38. A 1-inch hem was
then turned and sewed at the
ends of the goods, so that the
piece measured exactly 17 feet
long. It served for the roof
and side walls of the tent.
Our next operation was to cut
three strips 11 feet long, and
sew them together with a
double seam as before. This
piece was now slit along the
center line m, Fig. 39, making
two lengths 3 feet 8
inches wide. The strips were
then cut along the diagonal lines a a, forming the
end walls or doors, so to speak, of the tent. In sewing
Fig. 40. Sewing on the Door Flaps.
on the door flaps we
started first at the
bottom of the side
c, sewing it to the
side edge of the
main piece, as shown
in Fig. 40, and running
the seam up for
a distance of exactly
3 feet 6 inches.
After all the door
strips had been
sewed along their c
edges the sewing was continued up the diagonal or a edges.
In cutting out the door pieces we had allowed 1 inch on each
side for hems and seams, so that the door pieces met without
lapping at the exact center of the main or body piece, that is,
at the peak of the tent.
Our next step was to fasten the necessary ropes and loops.
Ten 8-foot lengths of light rope were procured. These
were fastened at the top of the side walls, that is, 3 feet 6
inches from the ends of the main or body piece, one at each
corner and one on each seam. The cloth was
Fig. 41. Adjustable Ridge Pole.
strengthened at these points with
patches sewed on the inside. At
the bottom of the side walls we
sewed on loops of heavy tape.
These were spaced about 15 inches
apart. Along the b edges of the door pieces tie strings of
tape were fastened. A rope 15 feet long was attached to
the peak at the front and at the rear of the tent. The front
and rear posts of the tent were made from scantlings measuring
2 by 4 inches, which were procured from Mr. Schreiner’s
lumber yard. They were planed smooth and sawed off to a
length of 7 feet 6 inches. A slot was cut in the end of each
stick to a depth of 6 inches and measuring slightly over an
Fig. 42. The Tent Set Up.
inch in width. For the ridge pole a strip 1 inch thick, 2-1/2
inches wide and 10 feet long was secured. This was fitted
into the slotted ends of these posts, where it was fastened
by wooden pegs slipped into holes drilled through the ends
of the posts and the ridge pole. A number of these peg
holes were provided, so that if the canvas stretched the ridge
pole could be raised or lowered to prevent the walls from
dragging on the ground. We set up the tent in our back
yard to see if it was properly constructed. Twelve stakes
were required, ten for the sides and one for the ridge stays
at the front and rear. The side stakes were driven into the
ground at a distance of about 8 feet from the center of the
tent. First we tied the guy ropes to the stakes, but later we
found it much easier to secure them with tie blocks.
Tie Blocks.
These were made of wood 1/2 inch thick, 1 inch wide and
each measured 3 inches long. A hole was drilled into the
block at each end and through these holes the rope was
Fig. 44. The Wire Tie.
threaded. A knot in the rope then held the end from slipping
out. The loop between the two holes, or the bight, as
sailors would call it, was now slipped over the stake, and
the rope hauled tight by drawing up the tie block, as shown
in Fig. 43. A still later improvement consisted in making
ties of stout galvanized
iron wire, bent to the form
shown in Fig. 44. The
wooden ties were apt to
Fig. 45. Bottom of Tent Wall.
swell and split open when
exposed to the weather, while the wire ties could always be
relied upon.
The walls of the tent were held down along the bottom by railway spikes hooked through the tent loops and driven into the ground. Wooden pegs with notches to catch the loops would have served as well, but Dutchy happened to find a number of the spikes along the track and in his usual convincing manner argued that they were far better than pegs because their weight would hold the cloth down even if they were not firmly embedded in the ground.
The Annex.
We were surprised to find out how small the tent was after it was set up. We could see at once that when we had put in all the stores and provisions we would need, there would not be room enough for six boys and a man to stretch themselves out comfortably in it. Bill had evidently made a miscalculation, but he suggested that we remedy the error by building an annex for our kitchen utensils and supplies.
This gave us a two-room tent, which we found to be quite
an advantage. Twelve more yards of drill were bought and
cut into two strips, each 17 feet 2 inches long. The breadths
were then sewed together, and the ends turned up and
Fig. 47. The Annex Applied.
hemmed to make a piece 17 feet long and 4 feet 9 inches
wide. Tape loops were then sewed on as before, and ropes
were fastened on at the top of the side walls, that is, 3 feet
6 inches from the ends of the strips. We thought it would
be better to have a slanting ridge on the annex, so we cut out
a wedge-shaped piece from the center of the two strips, as
shown by dotted lines B B in Fig. 46. This wedge-shaped
piece measured 2 feet at the outer end of the annex, and
tapered down to a point at the inner end. The canvas was
then sewed together along these edges. Tie strings were
sewed to the inner edge of the annex and corresponding ones
were attached to the main tent a little ways back from the
edge, so that the two could be tied together, with the annex
lapping well over on the roof and side walls. A notch was
cut out of the peak of the annex, so that it could be tied
around the rear post of the tent, and notches were cut at
the top of the side walls to permit passing the cloth around
the wall ropes. Instead of supporting the ridge of the annex
on a ridge pole, we used the rear guy line of the tent, propping
it up with a scantling about 5-1/2 feet long.
School closed on the 21st of June that year, just ten days before the expected arrival of Uncle Ed. The first thing we did was to set up our tent in the back yard and camp out so as to become acclimatized. It is good that we did this, for the very first night a heavy summer shower came up which nearly drenched us. The water beat right through the thin canvas roof of our tent. Had we been able to afford the best quality of canvas duck, such an occurrence would probably have been avoided. But we solved the difficulty by using a tent fly; that is, a strip of canvas stretched over the tent and spaced a short distance from it to break the fall of the rain drops.
Tent Fly.
Again we had to visit the village storekeeper; this time we bought out his whole remaining stock, sixteen yards of drill. This was cut into four-yard strips, which were sewed together as before and the ends turned up and hemmed. Tie strings were sewed to the ends of the strips so that the fly could be tied to the wall ropes of the tent. At the ridge the fly was supported about six inches above the tent rope by a second ridge pole held by pegs in the top holes of the tent posts.
Provisions and Supplies.
The ten days before Uncle Ed arrived were busy indeed. We had to gather together the necessary provisions and supplies. Our personal outfits were very simple. Each member supplied himself with a change of underwear, a bathing suit, a blanket and a toothbrush. A single comb and brush served for the entire society, and was used on Sundays, the only day we really dressed up. All the rest of the time we lived in our bathing suits, except, of course, on cold rainy days. Our kitchen outfit consisted of a large cooking pot, two kettles, a frying pan, a coffee pot, a small oil stove, a half-dozen each of plates, cups, saucers, knives and forks, a dozen spoons, two tablespoons, and, in addition, several large plates and bowls for pantry use. We also took with us a dish-pan and several dish-towels. For our larder we collected the following: A bag of flour, ten pounds of sugar, two pounds of salt, three pounds of coffee, four pounds of oatmeal, four pounds of butter, two pounds of lard, six pound of beans, six pounds of rice, three pounds of bacon, six cans of condensed milk, a dozen eggs, box of pepper, and several jars of canned peaches and pears, and also a half dozen glasses of jelly.
It was Dutchy who suggested that we have a chicken yard, in connection with our camp, to supply us with fresh eggs. It was a capital idea, and by the dint of some coaxing we managed to secure the loan of a half dozen hens and a rooster.
Our miscellaneous list included a spade, pick and shovel, an ax, a hatchet, two large pails, a barn lantern, a can of kerosene, a dozen candles, a cocoa box filled with matches, a pair of scissors, needles, buttons, pins and safety pins, a spool of white and another of black cotton, fishing tackle, a roll of heavy twine, a coil of rope, and a set of dominoes and checkers. But most important of all was a chest of tools belonging to Reddy. These were all collected when Uncle Ed arrived. Dutchy also contributed a large compass, which we found very useful later on, for surveying the island.
Crossbow.
Reddy had a shotgun which he wanted to bring along, but my father, and Dutchy’s as well, wouldn’t let us go camping if there was to be any gunpowder along, so we had to leave it behind. Of course we didn’t miss it at all when we got to the island, because there was so much else to do; but we all agreed with Dutchy, that “it wouldn’t be no sort of a scientific expedition without takin’ a gun along.” As a substitute I suggested a bow and arrow. They all laughed at such a “kiddish” idea; all but Bill, I mean.
“It ain’t such a bad notion,” said he, “only a crossbow
would be better. I’ve seen them made out of umbrella
ribs so they’d shoot like greased lightning.” Of course we
had to have one of these wonderful weapons. Down in the
ash heap we found two broken
umbrellas with 27-inch ribs. Bill
selected ten good ribs, from which
he wrenched off the spreaders with
a pair of pliers. The ribs were
then bound together by winding
Fig. 51. The Trigger.
stout twine around them. The winding was very evenly
and closely done, so that the cord completely covered the
ribs, making a solid rod of spring steel. But before winding
we had laid in between the ribs a piece of heavy twine, to
which the bowstrings could be tied after the bow was all
wound. The stock of our crossbow was cut out of a board
Fig. 52. The Trigger Set for Firing.
of soft wood 1 inch thick to as near the shape of a gun as
we could get it. A hole was drilled through the muzzle
end to receive the bow, and then the bowstring was tied fast.
Along the upper edge of the barrel a V-shaped channel was
cut. The channel was not very deep, only enough to receive
a tenpenny nail with the head projecting half-way above the
sides. A notch was cut across the barrel, through this channel,
at the trigger end, and a trigger made of heavy iron wire,
bent to the shape shown in Fig. 51,
was hinged to the gun by a bolt
which passed clear
through the stock and
through both eyes of the
trigger. By using two nuts on the bolt,
and tightening one against the other,
they were prevented from working loose
and coming off. When we wanted to fire the gun the bowstring
was drawn back, and held by slipping it into the notch,
Fig. 53. The Umbrella Rib Crossbow.
and a nail was laid
in the channel with
its head against the
bowstring. Then, on
pulling the trigger, the
bowstring was lifted out of the notch, and sent the nail off
sailing. The long-grooved barrel insured a
very good aim.
Megaphone.
Another device we made in preparation
for the expedition was a megaphone.
A sheet of light cardboard 30 inches
square was procured. At the center of
one edge a pin was stuck into the
cardboard, then a piece of stout thread was looped over
the pin and the two ends were knotted together just
Fig. 55. Layout of the Megaphone.
5 inches from the
pin. Another
knot was also
made 29 inches
from the pin.
Now, with a pencil
hooked into
the loop, and resting
first against
the inner knot
and then against
the outer one, two
arcs were drawn
on the paper, one of 5-inch radius and the other of 29-inch
radius. A line was now drawn from the pin to the point
where the longer arc met the right hand edge of the paper,
and a dotted line was drawn from the pin to a point
Fig. 56. Brass Fastener.
1-1/2 inches from the edge at the
other end of the arc. From a point
1 inch to the left of the pin we
then drew a line to the left end of
the arc. With a scissors we cut the cardboard
Fig. 57. The Mouthpiece.
along the arcs and straight lines, all
but the dotted line, leaving a piece of the
shape shown in Fig. 55. This piece was
rolled into a cone with the right edge
lapped over the left edge and lying against the dotted line.
In this position it was held by means of several brass fasteners
of the kind shown in Fig. 56.
A mouthpiece was formed out of a block of wood in which a large hole had been drilled. The block was then cut away until the walls were quite thin. The hole was reamed out at the top, as shown in Fig. 57, and the outer surface was tapered so that the small end of the megaphone would fit snugly on it.
We planned to reach our camping grounds by way of the canal, and had provided for that purpose a large scow, which we expected to tow up to Lumberville and drag over to the river.
The Scow.
Our scow was made as follows: Two 3/4-inch pine boards,
12 inches wide and 12 feet long, were selected from Reddy’s
Fig. 58. Side pieces of the Scow.
father’s lumber pile. These were used for the side pieces
of the boat, and we tapered
them off at the end to a width
of 3-1/2 inches. This was done
by making a straight cut from the end to a point three feet
back along the edge of the board and then rounding off the
edge with a draw-knife. When one board had been shaped,
it was used as a pattern for the other, which was thus cut to
exactly the same size. For the end pieces two strips, 4
inches wide and 2 feet 10-1/2 inches long, were sawed out of
a 1-inch board. Then for the bottom we procured a number
of 3/4-inch boards, 12 feet long and 8 inches wide, which
we cut into 3-foot lengths. At Bill’s suggestion, before
Fig. 59. Frame of the Scow.
nailing the parts together, we secured some strips of flannel,
which were saturated
with paint,
and laid between the
seams so as to make
the boat perfectly
water-tight. The side and end boards were then nailed
together, with the strips of flannel between, the side boards
overlapping the end boards, as shown in Fig. 59. After
planing down the end
Fig. 60. Nailing on the Bottom.
boards until their
edges laid flush with
the edges of the side
pieces, the bottom
boards were nailed on, strips of cloth being inserted between
them, as well as along the edges of the side and end boards.
To brace the bottom a 3/4-inch board was placed at the
center, inside the boat, and bent down against the floor, to
which it was nailed with wire
nails. The nails were driven
Fig. 61. Sockets for Rowlocks.
into the board from the outer
side of the boat and were
clinched inside. Along the upper edges of the side boards
two strips 2 inches wide and 1 inch thick were nailed. Two
notches were cut in the inner side of each strip before it was
nailed on. The notches were 1/2 inch deep, 1-1/2 inches wide,
3 inches apart and about 5-1/2 feet from the stern end. When
Fig. 62. Thole Pin.
the strips were nailed in place these notches formed sockets
to receive the rowlocks. A strip was also nailed
across the stern of the boat and formed with two
central notches, to receive the rowlocks for a
steering oar. This strip, however, was 3 inches
wide, and projected 1 inch above the end board,
so as to lie flush with the deck boards, which were
later applied. Six thole pins, 1/2 inch thick, 4-1/2
inches long and 2 inches
wide, were cut out of an
oak board. The lower
Fig. 63. Nailing on the Decks.
end of each pin was reduced
to a width of 1-1/2
inches for a length of 2
inches. The thole pins
were then fitted snugly in the notches. Two cleats, nailed
to the side boards inside, 7 inches below the upper edge,
served to support a seat board 1 inch thick and 2 feet 10-1/2
inches long. The aft edge of the seat was about 10 inches
forward of the rowlocks. The boat was completed by nailing
on a couple of deck boards at each end. The oars were
made of 2-inch pine boards, 5 feet long and 5 inches wide.
They were blocked out at Mr. Schreiner’s sawmill and then
Fig. 64. The Oar.
shaped and smoothed down with a draw-knife and spoke-shaved.
They were 1-1/4 inches at the handle and 2 inches
immediately below, tapering down to a diameter of 1-1/4
inches at the top of the blade. The blades were 18 inches
long, 5 inches wide, and planed down to a thickness of 1/4
inch along the edges.
The morning of July 2d dawned bright and clear, but long before daybreak the members of the S. S. I. E. E. of W. C. I. were astir. The jolly red sun peeping over the eastern hills witnessed an unaccustomed sight. Six greatly excited boys were running back and forth from the barn to the canal, bearing all manner of mysterious bundles, which were carefully deposited in a freshly painted scow. Yes, all six of us were there.
A Unique Alarm Clock.
We hadn’t expected to see Reddy Schreiner at such an early hour, for he was always a sleepyhead, and no alarm clock would ever wake him. But this was an exceptional day, and, besides, Reddy was quite an original chap. He had taken one of the borrowed roosters into his room the night before, and when, early in the morning, Mr. Chanticleer had mounted the footboard of the bed, flapped his wings and given vent to his opinion of a boy who persisted in sleeping at that late hour of the day, the noise was too much for even Reddy’s drowsy sensibilities.
The Trip to the Island.
Our scow was not large enough to carry all the things we had to take with us, but as Mr. Schreiner was going to take Uncle Ed up in his wagon, we left the rest of our luggage for him to bring along. We boys walked the eleven miles up the canal to Lumberville, towing the barge. It was a tiresome task; but we divided the work into two-mile shifts, two boys towing at a time and then each taking a mile ride as steersman in the boat. It was about noon when we arrived at Lumberville, and then we had to unload our boat before we could haul it out of the canal and down to the river. The river on the Jersey side of the island was so shallow that we waded across, pushing the boat ahead of us. The current was too swift to permit of rowing, and it was rather hard for us to keep our footing. But we managed to reach our destination finally without any mishap. The island was thickly wooded, except for a small clearing where we landed. The first thing we did was to unpack our eatables, and Jack, the cook, soon had an appetizing pan of bacon and eggs sputtering on the kerosene stove.
Preliminary Exploration.
As no better position offered at the time we pitched our tent in the clearing, pending a thorough search for a more suitable place elsewhere. Around the tent we dug a trench about a foot deep to prevent water from entering our quarters when it rained. It was about time for Uncle Ed and Mr. Schreiner to appear with the rest of our luggage, so we did not have time to do much exploring, but sauntered southward along the shore, always on the lookout for their arrival. About a quarter of a mile from the tent we came across the wreck of an old bridge, which had been washed down by some freshet. This was a great find, and served us many purposes, as will appear later.
While we were examining the wreck we heard a distant “halloa” from the mainland. There was Uncle Ed sitting on a pile of goods on the railroad bank looking for all the world like an Italian immigrant. We answered with a shout and scrambled back to the clearing. Then we ran splashing through the water, pushing the boat before us. It didn’t take us long to load up and carry him back to the island.
A Rustic Table.
Uncle Ed entered into our fun at once. He was as enthusiastic
as a boy over the surroundings, and when we told
him of the old bridge he started right off to investigate,
taking the ax with him. Soon he
Fig. 67. The Rustic Table.
had pried off a number of the
planks, which we used
for a flooring to our
tent. Then he built
us a table out of four
forked sticks, driven
into the ground, and
supporting two
cross sticks, on
which a pair of
planks were laid.
The Small Filter.
“Well, now, boys,” said Uncle Ed, wiping the perspiration from his forehead, “I am as thirsty as a whale. Where do you get your drinking water? Is there a spring on the island?”
We told him that we used the river water.
“What, river water! That won’t do at all,” he cried.
“You’ll all have the typhoid fever. We must build a filter.
Fig. 68. The Small Filter.
I brought some charcoal with me for this very purpose.”
Taking one of our pails he broke a hole in the bottom of it and stuffed a sponge in the hole. A layer of small stones was then placed in the pail, over this a layer of broken charcoal with the dust carefully blown out, then a layer of clean sand, and finally a layer of gravel. Each layer was about two inches thick. The pail was suspended from a branch in a cool place and proved an excellent filter, the water trickling out through the sponge being perfectly pure and sweet, no matter how dirty it had been when poured in; but the capacity of the filter was too small, and Uncle Ed said he would make us a larger one on the morrow if no spring was discovered in the meantime.
The sun was getting low in the west, and we therefore postponed the exploration of our island until the following day. We had been up since four o’clock that morning and had done some pretty hard work; so, immediately after supper, we turned in and, lulled by the murmuring of the river, were soon fast asleep.
The Barrel Filter.
Immediately after breakfast the next day we started out in
two parties to search the island. The only discovery of any
Fig. 69. The Barrel Filter.
moment was that made by Dutchy’s party, which found a
small island separated from ours by a narrow channel,
through which the water ran like a mill-race. No spring was
discovered, so Uncle Ed had to construct his large filter.
Bill and I went over to Lumberville in search of a couple of
cider barrels and a pailful of charcoal. The barrels were
placed one on top of the other after cutting a large hole in the
top of the lower barrel, and a smaller one in the bottom of the
upper one. The latter opening
was covered by an inverted
saucer. Over this we spread a
3-inch layer of coarse sand, then
a 2-inch layer of charcoal, a 4-inch
layer of clear, sharp sand,
and a 2-inch top layer of gravel.
The lower barrel was provided
with a faucet, through which we
could draw off the filtered water
as desired. In order to keep the
water cool we placed the filters
in a shady place near the river,
and piled up earth around the
lower barrel.
“Now, boys,” said Uncle Ed, “form in line there, and we will go through a fire drill.”
He arranged us about five feet apart in a line extending from the filter to the river. We had six pails, and these Dutchy filled one at a time, passing them up the line to Reddy, who emptied them into the upper barrel and then threw them back to Dutchy to be refilled. Working in this way it did not take long to fill up the filter, and the burden of keeping the barrels full, instead of falling on one person, was shared alike by all.
The Klepalo.
Our camp outfit was further augmented by a dinner call. We discovered the necessity of such a call on our very first day of camping. Dutchy was so excited by his discoveries of the morning that he started out alone in the afternoon to make a further search. The rest of us were lazy after the noon meal, and were lolling around taking it easy during the heat of the day, and discussing plans for the future. But Dutchy’s energetic nature would not permit him to keep quiet. He took the scow and waded with it against the strong current to the deeper and quieter water above the island. Then he rowed a long way up stream. He was gone all the afternoon. Supper time came and still he didn’t appear. The sun was high, and I presume he didn’t realize how late it was getting. Finally, just at sunset, he came drifting down with the current, tired and hungry, and ready for a large meal. But we had finished our supper an hour before, and poor Dutchy had to be content with a few cold remnants, because the cook had declared he wouldn’t prepare an extra meal for a fellow who didn’t have sense enough to know when it was meal time.
Then it was that Uncle Ed bethought himself of the klepalo.
“You ought to have some sort of a dinner call,” he declared, “so that any one within a mile of camp will know when dinner is ready.”
“Did you ever hear of a klepalo? No? Well, I was
down in Macedonia a couple of years ago inspecting a railroad,
and I stopped off for the night at a small Bulgarian
village. The next day happened to be a Prasdnik, or
saint’s day, and the first thing in the morning I was awakened
by a peculiar clacking sound which I couldn’t make out. Calling
my interpreter I found out from him that it was a klepalo
for calling the people to church. The people there are too
poor to afford a bell, and so in place of that they use a beam
of oak hung from a rope tied about the center, and this beam
The Klepalo.
is struck with a hammer, first on one side, and then the other.
Sometimes an iron klepalo is used as well, and then they
strike first the beam and then the iron bar, so as to vary the
monotony of the call. I found that the wooden klepalo could
be heard for a distance of about one and a half miles over
land, and the iron one for over two miles. Now we can easily
make a wooden klepalo for use in this camp, and then if
Dutchy, or any of the rest of us, keep within a mile and a
half of camp there won’t be any trouble with the cook.”
So we built a klepalo, getting from Lumberville a stick of seasoned oak, 1-1/2 inches thick, 6 inches wide and 4 feet long. A hole was drilled into the stick at the center, and by a rope passed through this hole the beam was suspended from a branch overhanging the camp. Jack, the cook, regularly used this crude device to call the hungry horde to meals.
One of the first things we did after getting fairly settled in our new quarters was to make a complete survey of Willow Clump Island and its immediate surroundings. Our surveying instruments were made as follows:
The Surveying Instrument.
Out of a 1-inch board we cut a base 15 inches long and
4 inches wide. In the center we sawed out a circular opening
of about 3 inches diameter and covered this at the bottom by
Fig. 71. Baseboard of the Surveying Instrument.
a circular piece 1 inch
thick and 5 inches in
diameter, thus forming
a socket in which our
compass fitted snugly.
A hole 1 inch in diameter
was drilled through the center of this circular piece
to receive the pivot pin of a tripod. Across each end of the
baseboard we secured a block 4 inches long, 2 inches wide
and 1 inch thick. A 1-inch sight hole was drilled through
each block at its center. A ring of cardboard, on which
Uncle Ed marked with radial lines the 360 degrees of the
circle, was placed over the compass socket, with the zero and
180 degree marks pointing toward the sight blocks. The
Fig. 72. Sighting Blocks on the Baseboard.
outer faces of the end blocks were now wet with mucilage
and a hair was stretched vertically across the center of each
sight hole. The hairs were then adjusted by
sighting through the holes and moving the
nearer hair sidewise until it was exactly in line
with both the zero and the 180 degree
marks on the cardboard.
Then a hair
was stretched horizontally
across the
center of each sight
hole. Great care
was taken to place
the hairs at exactly the same height above the baseboard.
To protect the hairs after they were adjusted, they were covered
with a piece of glass, which was secured in place by
tacks driven into the wood with their heads projecting over
the edges of the glass.
Spirit Levels.
From one of his pockets Uncle Ed produced two small bottles, the kind used for holding homeopathic pills. These he filled nearly to the top with water, corked them and wedged them into grooves cut lengthwise in the baseboard at opposite sides of the cardboard ring. These grooves were filled with putty, and to make sure that the bottles were level with the baseboard the latter was floated on a bit of quiet water and the bottles were pressed down at one end or the other until the bubble within rested at the exact center.
The Tripod.
The tripod head was
formed of a wooden disk 5
inches in diameter, with a
wooden pin projecting
from its center
adapted to engage
the hole in the circular
piece above
referred to. To the
bottom of the tripod head were nailed three blocks
Fig. 74. The Tripod Leg.
2 inches long and 1 inch square in cross-section. The
tripod legs were made of light strips of wood, 3/8
inch by 1 inch by 5 feet long, which we secured from
one of the mills at Lumberville. Each leg was
formed of two of these strips, nailed securely together
to within 20 inches of the top. At the upper
ends the strips were spread to receive the blocks on
the tripod head. In this position they were held by
headless wire nails driven into the ends of the blocks
and fitting into holes drilled in the strips. For a
plumb line we
Fig. 75. The Surveying Instrument Complete.
tacked a cord to the
center of the tripod
head, and attached
a good-sized sinker to its
lower end. In connection with
this plumb line we occasionally
used a protractor consisting of
a semicircle of cardboard 5
inches in diameter, on which
the degrees of the circle
Fig. 76. The Protractor.
were marked off with radiating
lines, as illustrated in
Fig. 76. By holding the
straight edge of this protractor
against the base of
the tripod, and noting the number of degrees between the
90 degree mark and the plumb line, we could tell at a glance
at what angle from the horizontal the instrument was tipped.
Surveyor’s Chain.
We made a surveyor’s chain of wire links, each 12
inches long, instead of 7.92 inches, which is the length of a
standard surveyor’s link. The wire we used was No. 16
galvanized iron, which was rather stiff and difficult to bend.
In order to make all the links of exactly the same size and
shape we used a form, around which they were bent. The
Fig. 78. Forming the Links.
form consisted of a 1-inch board in which two 1/2 inch holes
were drilled, just 11-1/2 inches apart, measured from their
centers. An oak pin, 1/2 inch in diameter, was driven into
each hole and projected about an inch above the board. Two
blocks of oak were secured to the baseboard, just before each
pin, as shown in Fig. 78. This form gave great satisfaction.
A groove was cut in the side of one of the pins to receive the
Fig. 79. A Double-Ringed Link.
ring of a completed link, while the wire was passed through
this ring and bent around the peg to form the ring of the
new link. After each link was formed it was carefully measured,
and, if too long, was shortened by flattening the rings
endwise, or, if too short, was lengthened by pinching together
the sides of the rings. There were fifty links in our
chain, and every tenth one was formed with a double ring
at the end, so as to distinguish it from the rest (see Fig. 79).
The Surveyor’s Rod.
We completed our outfit by making
a surveyor’s rod out of a straight
stick of wood about 6 feet long. A
target or sighting disk was mounted
on the stick. This disk was 6 inches
in diameter, and was sawed out of a
6-inch square board by making
Fig. 81. The Sighting Disk
straight cuts across the corners and then smoothing off the
edge to a perfect circle with a draw-knife. The thickness of
the disk was only 1/2 inch. At the back of the disk we fastened
a block of wood with a slot cut in it to receive the rod,
as shown in Fig. 81. To hold the disk at different heights
on the rod a small bolt was used. The nut on this bolt was
slipped into a hole on the block at the bottom of the slot and
Fig. 82 Nut Fastened in Block.
held in place by driving in nails about it, as illustrated in
Fig. 82. The bolt was then passed through
the hole and threaded through the nut, with
its inner end bearing against the rod. The
disk could thus be held at any desired position
by tightening up the bolt. A piece of
white paper was now pasted over the disk.
The paper was marked off into quarters,
and opposite quarters were
painted black so that it would
be easy to sight, from a distance, the exact center
of the target.
A Simple Method of Surveying.
Of course, none of us had studied trigonometry, but Uncle Ed devised a very simple method by which we could determine distances quite accurately without much figuring.
“If you will tell me the length of one side of a triangle and the angles it makes with the other two sides,” said Uncle Ed, “I’ll tell you the length of the other two sides and the size of the third angle. This is how I will do it: