It is the misfortune of a great many boys to be deprived of one of winter's greatest sports, by living in a flat country where there are no hills upon which to coast. These boys have little use for sleds aside from "hitching," unless they can make an artificial slide. In a number of large cities, toboggan-slides on a large scale are erected in the parks each year, and thrown open to the use of the public. Although this coasting cannot equal that to be had on natural hills, it affords a great pastime to thousands of boys and girls, and is a luxurious treat to many who have never seen hills larger than the artificial park variety.
The construction of a toboggan-slide is not difficult for a boy or several boys, and though it must be limited in size, a small slide has an advantage in that there is not a long walk from the end of the run back to the starting-point.
Fig. 310.—A Back-yard Toboggan-slide.
It is a good idea to locate the toboggan-slide in a back-yard or an enclosed lot, so that the outside fellows cannot monopolize it; and it is well to have some firm object to which the framework can be fastened, as it saves a great deal of bracing, and materially lessens the amount of lumber needed. The work should be done in the early part of the fall, before the cold weather sets in. [Figure 310] shows a slide built in the corner of a yard against the fence.
The Length will be determined by the size of the yard. If the yard is short, the slide should be proportioned accordingly, to allow the sled its full run before reaching the end of the lot.
A Platform should be built in the corner, six feet square, and about seven feet above the ground. For this, cut four two-by-fours six feet nine inches long, fasten one in the angle formed by the two fences, and another five feet four inches to the right of it (A and B in [Fig. 312]). The third upright (C) should be nailed to the fence five feet eight inches from A, and the fourth (D) should be fastened at an equal distance from B. Then cut two pieces of two-by-four each six feet long, and nail them across the tops of A and C, and B and D, respectively, as shown at E and F in [Fig. 312]. The uprights should now be braced with horizontal and diagonal bracing, as shown in [Fig. 312], to give the platform the necessary stiffness.