** Homemade Life Preserver [4]

Procure an inner tube of a bicycle tire, the closed-end kind, and fold it in four alternate sections, as shown in Fig. 1. Cut or tear a piece of cloth into strips about 1/2 in. wide, and knot them together. Fasten this long strip of cloth to the folded tube and weave it alternately in and out, having each

run of the cloth about 4 in. apart, until it is bound as shown in Fig. 1.

Make a case of canvas that will snugly fit the folded tube when inflated. The straps that hold the preserver to the body may be made of old suspender straps. They are sewed to the case at one end and fastened at the other with clasps such as used on overall straps. The tube can be easily inflated by blowing into the valve, at the same time holding the valve stem down with the teeth. The finished preserver is shown in Fig. 2.

** How to Make Boomerangs [4]

When the ice is too thin for skating and the snow is not right for skis, about the only thing to do is to stay in the house. A boomerang club will help to fill in between and also furnishes good exercise for the muscles of the arm. A boomerang can be made

of a piece of well seasoned hickory plank. The plank is well steamed in a wash boiler or other large kettle and then bent to a nice curve, as shown in Fig. 1. It is held in this curve until dry, with two pieces nailed on the sides as shown.

After the piece is thoroughly dried out, remove the side pieces and cut it into sections with a saw, as shown in Fig. 2. The pieces are then dressed round. A piece of plank 12 in. wide and 2 ft. long will make six boomerangs.

To throw a boomerang, grasp it and hold the same as a club, with the hollow side away from you. Practice first at some object about 25 ft. distant, and in a short time the thrower will be able to hit the mark over 100 ft. away. Any worker in wood can turn out a great number of boomerangs cheaply. --Contributed by J. E. Noble, Toronto, Ontario.

** How to Make an Eskimo Snow House [5] By GEORGE E. WALSH

Playing in the snow can be raised to a fine art if boys and girls will build their creations with some attempt at architectural skill and not content themselves with mere rough work. Working in snow and ice opens a wide field for an expression of taste and invention, but the construction of houses and forts out of this plastic material provides the greatest amount of pleasure to the normally healthy boy or girl.

The snow house of the Eskimo is probably the unhealthiest of buildings made by any savage to live in, but it makes an excellent playhouse in winter, and represents at the same time a most ingenious employment of the arch system in building. The Eskimos build their snow houses without the aid of any scaffolding or interior false work, and while there is a keystone at the top of the dome, it is not essential to the support of the walls. These are self-supporting from the time the first snow blocks are put down until the last course is laid.

The snow house is of the beehive shape and the ground plan is that of a circle. The circle is first laid out on the ground and a space cleared for it. Then a row of snow blocks is laid on the ground and another course of similar blocks placed on top. The snow blocks are not exactly square in shape, but about 12 in. long, 6 in. high and 4 or 5 in. thick. Larger or smaller blocks can be used, according to size of the house and thickness of the walls.

First, the snow blocks must be packed and pressed firmly into position out of moist snow that will pack. A very light, dry snow will not pack easily, and it may be necessary to use a little water. If the snow is of the right consistency, there will be no trouble in packing and working with it. As most of the blocks are to be of the same size throughout, it will pay to make a mold for them by forming a box of old boards nailed together, minus the top, and with a movable bottom, or rather no bottom at all. Place the four sided box on a flat board and ram snow in it, forcing it down closely. Then by lifting the box up and tapping the box from above, the block will drop out. In this way blocks of uniform size are formed, which makes the building simpler and easier.

While one boy makes the blocks another can shave them off at the edges and two others can build the house, one inside of the circle and the other outside. The Eskimos build their snow houses in this way, and the man inside stays there until he is completely walled in. Then the door and a window are cut through the wall.

Each layer of snow blocks must have a slight slant at the top toward the center so that the walls will constantly curve inward. This slant at the top is obtained better by slicing off the lower surfaces of each block before putting it in its course. The top will then have a uniform inward slant.

The first course of the snow house should be thicker than the others, and the thickness of the walls gradually decreases toward the top. A wall, however, made of 6-in. blocks throughout will hold up a snow house perfectly, if its top is no more than 6 or 7 ft. above the ground. If a higher house is needed the walls should be thicker at the base and well up toward the middle.

The builder has no mortar for binding the blocks together, and therefore he must make his joints smooth and even and force in loose snow to fill up the crevices. A little experience will enable one to do this work well, and the construction of the house will proceed rapidly. The Eskimos build additions to their houses by adding various dome-shaped structures to one side, and the young architect can imitate them. Such dome-shaped structures are shown in one of the illustrations.

A fact not well understood and appreciated is that the Eskimo beehive snow house represents true arch building. It requires no scaffolding in building and it exerts no outward thrust. In the ordinary keystone arch used by builders, a, temporary structure must be erected to hold the walls up until the keystone is fitted in position, and the base must be buttressed against an outward thrust. The Eskimo does not have to consider these points. There is no outward thrust, and the top keystone is not necessary to hold the structure up. It is doubtful whether such an arch could be built of brick or stone without scaffolding, but with the snow blocks it is a simple matter.

** Secret Door Lock [6]

The sketch shows the construction of a lock I have on a door which is quite a mystery to those who do not know how it operates. It also keeps them out. The parts of the lock on the inside of the door are shown in Fig. 1. These parts can be covered so that no one can see them.

The ordinary latch and catch A are attached to the door in the usual manner. The latch is lifted with a stick of wood B, which is about 1 ft. long and 1 in. wide, and pivoted about two-thirds of the way from the top as shown. The latch A is connected to the stick B with a strong cord run through a staple to secure a right-angle pull between the pieces. A nail, C, keeps the stick B from falling over to the left. The piece of wood, D, is 6 or 8 in. long and attached to a bolt that runs through the door, the opposite end being fastened to the combination dial. Two kinds of dials are shown in Fig. 2. The piece D is fastened on the bolt an inch or two from the surface of the door to permit placing a spiral spring of medium strength in between as shown in Fig. 3. The opposite end of the bolt may be screwed into the dial, which can be made of wood, or an old safe dial will do. A nail is driven through the outer end of the piece D and the end cut off so that it will pass over the piece B when the dial is turned. When the dial is pulled out slightly and then turned toward the right, the nail will catch on the piece B and open the latch. --Contributed by Geo. Goodbrod, Union, Ore.

** A Convenient Hot-Dish Holder [7]

When taking hot dishes from the stove, it is very convenient to have holders handy for use. For this purpose I screwed two screw eyes into the ceiling, one in front of the stove directly above the place where the holder should hang, and the other back of the stove and out of the way. I next ran a strong cord through the two eyes. To one end of the cord I attached a weight made of a clean lump of coal. The cord is just long enough to let the weight hang a few inches above the floor and pass through both screw eyes. I fastened a small ring to the other end to keep the cord from slipping back by the pull of the weight. I then fastened two pieces of string to the ring at the end of the cord and attached an iron holder to the end of each string. The strings should be just long enough to keep the holders just over the stove where they are always

ready for use, as the weight always draws them back to place. --Contributed by R. S. Merrill, Syracuse, New York.

** Magic-Box Escape [7]

The things required to make this trick are a heavy packing box with cover, one pair of special hinges, one or two hasps for as many padlocks and a small buttonhook, says the Sphinx.