Whirling Mac.
Whirling Mac.—Our illustration shows how the apple mill may be modified for a whirling Mac. The arms and legs of the figure should be tied loosely to the body and the skirt should be loose too. Tie the string to the spindle inside the nut and have a button on the end of the string so that you may have a firm hold. Now twist the figure round until all the string is wound, then hold the nut firmly in your left hand and draw the string out suddenly and swiftly with your right hand. The figure will whirl round, throwing out his arms and legs. When the string comes to an end slacken it, and the impetus of the figure will cause it to wind the string again. Thus you may go on and on until you are tired.
Figs. 1., 2., 3., and 4.
Flying Machine.
A Flying Machine.—Similar in principle is the flying machine now to be described. In Fig. 1 a is a handle cut in any hard wood four and a half inches long. Into the top of this handle bore a hole down its centre about one inch deep, and force into this a piece of wire so that the wire will be quite firm. This wire should be of iron or steel, with a diameter of one-eighth of an inch, and it should be about three and a half inches long. It will be easier to force the wire into the wood if it is sharpened. The hole you have bored is only an inch deep; force the wire half an inch deeper than that. Obtain now from your mother or sister an ordinary cotton spool about one and a quarter inches long. This is shown at b in Fig. 1. In the same figure c is a kind of wheel made as follows. If you cannot find something ready made take a small piece of well-seasoned wood. Cut it until it is an inch in diameter and five-eighths of an inch deep. See Fig. 2. Down the middle bore the hole a large enough that the wire you put down the handle in Fig. 1 may turn easily in it. Mark the upper surface of the wheel into four equal parts, and then you will be able to draw four perpendicular lines round this wheel at equal distances. Two of these lines are shown in Fig. 3.
Now draw the line a b in Fig. 3 half way down the wheel. Follow this line round and bore four pairs of holes as deeply as you can without piercing the centre hole. One pair is shown in Fig. 3. Each little hole is about a quarter of an inch from its neighbour. These pairs of holes must be the same distance from each other; they are for the wings you see in Fig. 1, and which we will now proceed to make. Take forty-two inches of light brass wire. Divide this into four equal parts. You will then have four pieces of ten and a half inches each. Bend each one into the shape shown in Fig. 4. These wings will be about four inches long and about two inches broad at their widest part. The ends of the wire should be about a quarter of an inch apart. Cover these wire frames with light tough paper, using as little paste as possible. The wings are inserted slanting like the sails of a windmill. Now let us go back to the spool. Upon the upper surface midway between its centre hole and the edge of the spool insert a piece of strong wire or the end of a broken knitting needle. The wire should be rigid, and should project from the spool about half an inch. When you put your wheel and wings upon the spool this wire will rest beside one of the wings and cause it to turn when the spool turns. Now take a piece of cord and wind it away from you with your right hand round the spool. Hold the handle firmly in your left hand and withdraw the string rapidly. The wheel and wings will mount rapidly in the air for about fifty feet and then come steadily down.
A Dancing Figure.
A Dancing Figure.—The illustration shows the back view of a toy easily constructed but capable of affording much amusement to the little ones. A is an ordinary lath glued to a cardboard figure of a man. The arms and legs too are of cardboard fixed loosely with short string knotted at each end. At the extremities of the arms and legs the strings B and C are tied and connected with the string D. Pull the string D and the figure will throw up his arms and legs wildly. Bears and other figures may be made upon the same principle. A string F may be put at E and then the lath is not necessary, for the performer can then hold string F in one hand and pull string D with the other.
