Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 is a folding lantern made of three pieces of pasteboard of uniform size, on which designs in stars, shields, squares, and circles are drawn previous to cutting them out with a chisel and scissors. The small circles or holes shown in the illustration are burned through the pasteboard with a red-hot wire or poker. Red, white, and blue tissue-paper is pasted on the inside to produce the colored effects. The sides of pasteboard are fastened together on the inside with strips of silk, muslin, or calico by means of glue. The bottom of the lantern consists of a triangular piece of pasteboard, A, which is fastened to the bottom of the middle square, B, also by means of a strip of silk. At the corners, C, C, C, C, C, small holes are made with a very coarse darning-needle. The three square sides of pasteboard when brought together form a triangle equal to that of the bottom piece, B. Fine wire or coarse thread is then passed through the holes, C, C, C, C, C, and tied. The result is a very light and showy lantern of triangular form, which can be suspended by fine wire or thread. The advantage of this lantern over others is that after using it it can be untied, folded together, and packed away until the next Fourth arrives. The can lantern can also be used for many years by re-covering it with tissue-paper when necessary, thus saving expense and trouble.
In making designs for lanterns always have them bold and strong. The effects will then be satisfactory, whereas fine and finicky work on a lantern is all lost when viewed from a short distance.
Fig. 4.
What bothered me most in my lantern venture was to obtain holders for the candles that would not take fire when the candles burned down, and thus endanger the wood-work round about. At last I hit upon three styles of home-made fire-proof candle-holders. The first is shown in Fig. 4. It consists of a raw potato cut into square slices three-quarters of an inch thick. These are bevelled at the sides as shown in the figure. Half-way through the centre of the slice a hole is bored, into which the candle is inserted. This holder is fastened to the bottom of the lantern by means of pins, which are driven through the sides of the potato and into the pasteboard.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5 consists of three thicknesses of tin-foil, formed on a piece of wood of the same diameter as that of the candle. To form the end of the holder the tin-foil is solidly twisted together to the extent of an inch. When using this holder a hole is bored into the bottom of the lantern, through which the twisted end of the holder is passed and clinched on the under side.
