A skee of the right proportions should be seven feet long and four inches wide. Hickory, oak, or other hard-wood three-quarters of an inch in thickness will be the best material from which to make the skees. Two or three grooves cut in a straight line along the entire bottom length will hold the skee slider on his course, as the keel does a boat.
The skees are tapered and bent up at the front ends as shown in Fig. 12. This can be done by steaming and bending until the proper pitch is obtained; but if a high curve is desired it would be well to attach a thong to the end and draw it back to the body of the skee as shown in Fig. 12 A.
At the middle of the skee a foot-block is attached and provided with a toe-strap as shown in Fig. 13. This strap fits under the block and can be removed if necessary as a lap is cut at the under side of the block.
A shorter and broader skee is shown in Fig. 12 B. This is safer for smaller boys to use as it is five feet long and six inches wide.
Many of the Norwegian skees are beautifully carved and ornamented, and the boy who has some decorative ability can embellish the tops of his skees and varnish them all over to improve their appearance and make them smooth, so that they will slide easily.
A skee made from a hogshead or crockery-cask stave is shown in Fig. 12 C, and a great deal of fun can be had with this makeshift on short hills.
Snow-shoes
For travelling over the snow the most widely known and useful appliance is the snow-shoe in one form or another. The Esquimau and the American Indian do all their winter travelling on snow-shoes, and through the Alps and in the snow-bound parts of Europe and Asia they are commonly employed as a means of locomotion from place to place.
The long snow-shoe shown in Fig. 14 A is the one commonly used by the Iroquois Indians, and it measures from three to four feet in length and from twelve to fifteen inches in width. It is usually made from one long strip of hickory bent while green and dried in the desired shape, then braced and interlaced with thongs of rawhide or deer-gut.
The rim is usually from three-quarters to seven-eighths of an inch square and is rounded on the outer edges. The braces or spreaders are let into the inner edges of the rim as shown in Fig. 15 A, and are held securely in place with a thong passed through a hole in the end of the piece and wrapped around the rim as shown in Fig. 15 B. The spreaders are of seasoned hickory two inches wide and five-eighths of an inch thick. The edges are bevelled slightly, and near the centre line two rows of holes are made through which to lace the thongs. Two smaller sticks are arranged at each side of the broad spreaders, and the lattice weaving is caught around them as shown in the illustration. Some of the thongs are caught over the rim while others are passed through holes made in the edge similar to the manner in which a tennis racket is laced. Foot-laces are fastened at the front spreader to which the shoe-toes are lashed, for when travelling the heels should be free to lift while the ball of the foot and the entire snow-shoe remains flat on the snow.