Chapter XXII: A Back-Yard Toboggan-Slide

It is the misfortune of a great many boys to be deprived of one of winter's greatest sports, by living in a flat country where there are no hills upon which to coast. These boys have little use for sleds aside from "hitching," unless they can make an artificial slide. In a number of large cities, toboggan-slides on a large scale are erected in the parks each year, and thrown open to the use of the public. Although this coasting cannot equal that to be had on natural hills, it affords a great pastime to thousands of boys and girls, and is a luxurious treat to many who have never seen hills larger than the artificial park variety.

The construction of a toboggan-slide is not difficult for a boy or several boys, and though it must be limited in size, a small slide has an advantage in that there is not a long walk from the end of the run back to the starting-point.

It is a good idea to locate the toboggan-slide in a back-yard or an enclosed lot, so that the outside fellows cannot monopolize it; and it is well to have some firm object to which the framework can be fastened, as it saves a great deal of bracing, and materially lessens the amount of lumber needed. The work should be done in the early part of the fall, before the cold weather sets in. Figure 310 shows a slide built in the corner of a yard against the fence.

=The Length= will be determined by the size of the yard. If the yard is short, the slide should be proportioned accordingly, to allow the sled its full run before reaching the end of the lot.

=A Platform= should be built in the corner, six feet square, and about seven feet above the ground. For this, cut four two-by-fours six feet nine inches long, fasten one in the angle formed by the two fences, and another five feet four inches to the right of it (_A_ and _B_ in Fig. 312). The third upright (_C_) should be nailed to the fence five feet eight inches from _A_, and the fourth (_D_) should be fastened at an equal distance from _B_. Then cut two pieces of two-by-four each six feet long, and nail them across the tops of _A_ and _C_, and _B_ and _D_, respectively, as shown at _E_ and _F_ in Fig. 312. The uprights should now be braced with horizontal and diagonal bracing, as shown in Fig. 312, to give the platform the necessary stiffness.

After deciding upon the length of the slide, lay off the distance upon the ground from the bottom of upright _B_, and drive a stake into the ground at the farther end. Then attach a cord to the stake and run it along the fence to a nail driven into the top of upright _B_. This cord, shown in Fig. 311, marks the pitch of the slide, and will give you a guide-line by which to work. When this has been done, cut three pieces of two-by-four about two feet long, and spike them to the fence just below the guide-line (see _G_, _H_, and _I_, Fig. 311), spacing them about six feet apart on centres. When these have been fastened in place, take a piece of two-by-four and mark off upon it the distance from the ground to the top of block _I_. Then square a line across the two-by-four at this point, at an angle corresponding to that at which block _I_ is nailed to the fence (see Fig. 313). Saw the two-by-four on this line, and then stand it upright in front of block _I_, thirty or thirty-two inches from the fence (according to whether eight-or ten-inch boards are used upon the slide), and spike a piece of two-by-four to the top of it and to the top of block _I_, as shown in Fig. 312. Cut and set up a similar upright and crosspiece at _G_ and at _H_, after which brace all as shown in the illustration (Fig. 312).

If you are going to buy boards with which to cover the platform and slide, get twelve-foot lengths, eight or ten inches wide. By using these you will have no waste, and but little cutting to do. If, however, you have material of other dimensions on hand which you can use, the supports of the slide should be so spaced that the boards will reach from one to another. The boards should run lengthwise upon the slide, and be nailed to the framework, leaving as small cracks as possible between them.

In order to prevent sleds from running off the slide, a guide should be nailed to the edge farthest from the fence, from the top to the bottom, and on the opposite side where it extends above the fence top (see Fig. 310).

After nailing the platform boards in place,

=Build a Railing= out of boards around three sides of it, to prevent any one from slipping off (see Fig. 310).

=A Ladder=, made out of two two-by-fours, with two-inch strips nailed across them, should be set against the front of the platform and spiked in place, as shown in the illustration of the completed slide (Fig. 310). This will make it easier to reach the platform than by the way of the icy slide, and also prevents those coasting from colliding with those who are returning.

Any ingenious boy will know how to make a swift slide by turning the hose upon it, and allowing the water to run over the surface until every portion is well covered.

A toboggan-sled is out of proportion for a slide of this size, and will not be found as satisfactory as a sled with runners, as the steepness of the slide will not be sufficient to make it go.

=A Home-made Sled=, such as that shown in Fig. 314, requires but little material, and if carefully made will prove stronger than the variety commonly sold in the shops.

Figure 315 shows the pattern for the runners, which should be cut out of four-inch boards, seven-eighths of an inch thick. Round the top edges, and cut the front and rear ends as shown in the drawing. Make a slot in the place indicated for a handle, and bore a hole near the front end for the crosspiece to run through. The seat consists of a board cut twenty-two inches long and nine inches wide. This will not be nailed to the runners but to cleats, as shown in Fig. 316. Cut three cleats nine and one-quarter inches long, two inches wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick, and fasten these between the runners, five-eighths of an inch from their tops, placing one near the end of the seat, one at the centre, and one at the front. Four two-inch iron braces should be procured, and two of these screwed to the under side of the front and rear cleats, and to the sides of the runners, as shown in Fig. 316. The seat can then be nailed in place, and a broom-handle fastened in the hole bored near the ends of the runners.

=The Best Kind of Iron Runners= for a home-made sled are those that a boy can put on without the aid of a blacksmith, and such a pair of runners is shown in the drawing of this sled. They consist of what are known as half-oval iron strips, and can be had usually at a hardware store or blacksmith shop. A pair forty inches long and three-quarters of an inch wide, with five holes for countersunk screws drilled in each, can be bought for fifty cents. When they have been procured, screw them to the bottom of the runners, using one inch or one and one-quarter inch screws for the purpose.

Although these runners are plenty heavy enough for light coasting, they would probably prove weak for coasting upon hills of any great size. To withstand the strain brought to bear upon the runners when hill coasting, boys generally find it necessary to make them out of two-inch stuff. This, however, makes the sled heavy and clumsy, and can be done away with by following a scheme which a friend of the writer's invented and found very satisfactory. It consisted of

=Reënforcing the Runners= with steel bars driven into holes bored vertically in them. The holes were bored while the runners were held in a vise, and the steel bars were a little larger than the holes, so that they would fit them tightly. This scheme allows the use of seven-eighths inch stuff for the runners, and sixty-penny wire nails can be filed off to the proper length and substituted for steel bars if the latter cannot be obtained.

When the sled has been completed, it should be given a good coat of paint.