It is well to have an old mattress beneath the horizontal bar as a guard against injury in case of a fall. This also makes a splendid
Tumbling Mat for practising rolls, hand-springs, and wrestling. If a mattress cannot be obtained, a few potato sacks stuffed with shavings or excelsior will answer the purpose.
The most satisfactory scheme for making a pair of
Parallel Bars is shown in [Fig. 252]. To acquire the necessary firmness without putting in bracing that would interfere with the performer, the base of the apparatus should be set underground, as indicated by the dotted lines in the illustration.
In height the parallel bars should be about four feet six inches, in length seven feet six inches, and in width twenty inches between the bars. This makes the uprights A, B, C, and D six feet long, allowing eighteen inches to project into the ground. Prepare one end of each as shown in [Fig. 253], notching it for the bar to fit in and cutting off the corner.
Fig. 252.—The Parallel Bars.
When this has been done, cut four two-by-fours twenty-eight inches long. Then lay the uprights A and B on the ground twenty inches apart, and spike two of the two-by-fours to them at G and H (see [Fig. 254]). Uprights C and D should be similarly fastened together with the other two-by-fours at I and J (see [Fig. 252]). When these frames have been made, set them upon their bases six feet apart, and spike the two-by-fours K and L to the uprights in the places shown in [Fig. 252], with braces set between them and the pieces H and J, at M, N, O, P (see Figs. [252] and [255]).