Chapter I: Part I: Chapter Page

I. A Pathway of Cement 3
Purchasing property, River Passaic--Removing rocks and other
obstacles--Preparing for cement sidewalk--Digging trench and
purchasing materials--Making, laying, and properly placing
concrete--The lever and roller and application--Moving heavy bodies
with lever and roller--Finishing the cement sidewalk--How to make
good concrete walks.

II. Building of a Boat House 36
Qualities of the inclined plane--Dismantling an old barn and
out-houses--Blocks and tackle, ropes and pulleys--Strength and care
of ropes--Building a boat-house, using old materials--Strength
of timber floors--Method of construction--Holding power of
nails--Doors and windows for boat-house--The use of rollers in
moving heavy weights--Sliding ways for boat--How heavy stones were
raised to tops of Egyptian Pyramids.

III. Bridge and Boat Work 65
Dimensions of the launch--Arrival of The _Mocking-Bird_--An
interesting boat talk--A sail on the river--Building a small
foot-bridge--The same completed--Some rules for sailing a
launch--Fitting up boat-house and dock--Preparing block for
keel--The winch and its construction--The wheel and axle as a
mechanical power--The fusee, and what it means--Some problems
solved.

IV. Making a Gasolene Launch 84
Arrival of boat material--Laying keel and keelson--Setting up the
boat and giving her shape--Laying engine bed--Installing engine and
propeller--Nailing on planking--Table of offsets--Gasolene engine
and carburetor--Dimensions of engine and propeller--Gas engines,
generally--Danger of using gasolene--The proper use of yacht flags
for signalling.

V. A Talk About Engines 110
Water around the cylinder--The carburetor and spark coil--Running
the engine in boat-house--Varnishing the boat--A steamboat on the
river--A story of the first steam engine--How the steam acted in
the case--The slide valve, piston and steam chest--Internal and
external engine heaters--Horse-power and how calculated--Foot
pounds, dry steam and condensation--Expansion of gases,
turbines--Gilding the name--Constructing picnic tables and
seats--Height of tables, chairs and benches.

VI. Propeller and Other Screws 136
The launch of the _Caroline_--Trial of the new boat--Description
of the screw as a power--The wheel and worm and endless
screw--Formula for counting power of wheel and worm screws of
various kinds--Archimedian screw and water lifter--Some data of
power of "wheel and worm"--The screw propeller, with data--How to
calculate force of propeller screws--Finding pitch and other lines
for propeller--The screw auger or boring tool--Adhesion of ordinary
wood screws--How to loosen and withdraw rusty screws.

VII. Aeroplanes 158
Seats for riverside--Model aeroplane for the "Fourth"--Dimension
on construction of planes--Why a monoplane rises from the
earth--The gyroscope as a balancer--The biplane and its
construction--Aeroplanes generally--The French aeroplane
"Demoiselle"--How to make a model aeroplane--Illustrations and
details of model aeroplane--Some general remarks.

VIII. Kites, Sundials, Patents 185
The theory of kite-flying--The highest kite ascent--The flat
plane kite--The kite a small aeroplane--A box kite of common
type--Cellular kites of various kinds--Pairs and bevies of
kites--Bird flight and motion--War kites of various kinds--Wind
gauges and wind force--Patents and how to secure them--A simple
sundial--How to make an oval flower bed.

IX. Tides 212
The "why" of the tides explained--Globular form of the earth
proved--Day and night--Phases of the moon--Attraction of the sun
and moon--Newton's theory of the tides--Height of tides--A simple
hygrometer--The Australian boomerang--Theory of the pump.

X. Wall Making and Plumbing 237
Protecting the river bank--Concrete retaining walls--Big dams
in the West--Galveston sea wall--The great dam across the
Nile--Proposed irrigation works in Babylon--Some properties
of light and sound--Hints on amateur plumbing--The peppermint
test--Barometers of various kinds--Thermometers, and their
uses--Something about steel springs--How to make a cross-bow--The
gyroscope and its uses.