An Attic Gymnasium
In Fig. 27 a good idea is given for the arrangement of an attic gymnasium; it shows the locations of the paraphernalia in a room about fourteen by sixteen feet. A smaller room may be arranged in a somewhat similar manner, but each piece of apparatus must be cleared away directly it is out of use.
Fig. 27.
Across the top of the room, from a window-casing to a batten screwed fast to the opposite wall, a ladder may be suspended. Over the window-casing it would be well to attach a batten, so that the ladder will not spring out of place. A rope hanging from one end will make it possible to reach the rings.
A strip or band of wood four or five inches wide should be nailed all around the room four feet above the floor, against which to place parts of the gymnasium equipment, and on which to hang dumb-bells, Indian clubs, wands, and ball-bars, as shown in the illustration.
Under the trapeze or rings it is well to place an old mattress, a useful thing in the event of a fall. If the room is wide enough, double sets of hooks may be driven in the ceiling-beams from which both a flying trapeze and rings may be suspended. When one or the other is in use, the extra apparatus may be drawn up or to one side of the room. A light room is always more cheerful than a dark one, and plenty of ventilation is necessary in the home gymnasium.
Chapter XVII
A MINIATURE THEATRE
A miniature theatre, equipped with curtain, flies, drops, wings, and several good sets of scenery, is an unfailing source of interest and amusement. It has long been popular in Paris even as a professional form of entertainment. Fig. 1 gives the front elevation of a miniature theatre; and Fig. 2, a side view, illustrates the location of the working parts, and the manner of arranging the wings, drops, and flies.