Fig. 257. A Paddle.
Then we cut sixteen paddles of the form shown in Fig. 257. Eight of these were 12 inches long, and the rest measured 18 inches. A slot 3 inches deep was cut in each paddle of just the right width to slip over the tie boards. The shorter paddles were fastened on just back of the spokes, and the rest were secured half-way between each spoke. The paddles were braced by stretching a wire from one to another all the way around the wheel.
The Receiving Trough.
Fig. 258. How the Paddles and Cans Were Attached.
Our next task was to nail the receiving trough in place on the higher tower. We set up the towers on land and mounted the wheel between them with the axle resting in the crotch of the short tower and in a deep notch cut in the cross boards of the larger one. The cans on the wheel faced the larger tower, but the hub at the center and a block nailed to the larger tower spaced the wheel far enough out so that the cans did not strike the tower as they revolved. We carefully measured the distance between the spokes and the larger tower, and then built a square trough of a
Fig 259. The Receiving Trough. size to just fit into this space. This trough was nailed across the end of the V-shaped trough on top of the tower, but a notch was cut in the side so that the water would pour from the square or receiving trough into this V-shaped one. The square trough was about 8 feet long and its sides were 12 inches high; but at the ends we had to cut them down to a height of but 6 inches, so as to permit the cans to pass without hitting them.