Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-09-12
KITE-TIME.
BY GEORGE AsPENwALL.

BY GEORGE ASPENWALL.
Father, what makes the kite 90 upi
The wind almost always blows things
dooon. Why don't it blow the kite
down ?'
$50 it will, my boy, unless the kite be
well made and well balanced; then the
wind, striking the under side of it, forces
it upwards while the string keeps it from
blowing away. As it rises, it begins at
once to make its way against the ac.nd, i'm
PEELED by the wind itself; curious, isn't it?
On the same principle ships beat that
is, sail against the wind, not directly
against it, you understand, but obliquely;
the sails being set so as to receive the wind
slantingly on one side, while the keel acts
like the kite string to prevent the vessel
from drifting away. The string is held
by the boys hand, and the keel is held in
its position by the water through which
it rushes."
1 don't know that "my boy" clearly
understands this explanation, but he
thinks he does, and it answers very well
for his little head, until he is big enough
to take in the philosophical theory of the
resolution of forces" Then he will see
plainly demonstrated the reason why the
kite and the ship move against the very
force which is exerted upon them.
The kite was great wonder to me when
/ was a boy, as no doubt it is to most
children. Before l had one of my own
used to think that it had the power of fly
ng away like bird, and that the use of
he string was simply to hold it prisoner
Then / found that, but for this restraint, it
would MT fly at all-very much like GER
tain obstinate people, who never show
much energy of action except when they
are opposed.
Kite-time comes at almost any season
of the year when the weather is favorable;
but in my boyhood September was con-
sidered the "great MONTH for kites.
Then the weather is usually cool and
windy, without being so cold and buster
ing as in March. What delight it was,
on some beautiful afternoon, to bring our
kites to an open field or treeless hill,
shake out their long, rustling tails, and
send them up proudly into the sky
Then he who had the largest kite and the
longest string was the "best feller." "
What times we had providing ourselves
with stringl Every bit of twine about
the house on which boyish hand could
be laid was levied upon, to add to the
ball, until it was found that all beyond a
certain length, for the ordinary kite, was
more hinderance than help, in conse-
duShSS VI WIZ oaS5h5 AAShA 1sS
own weight.
But if the kite was large and well made,
and the wind strong, it was fun to ''let
| her up" Sometimes two or more kite
owners would unite their strings, just to
see what one kite would do. What
pleasure it was to see it soaring far, far
away, up, up, up, almost into the clouds,
and to feel it tugging at the twine! Then
if the twine broke, what a catastrophe
What chase across the country for the
runaway kite, which was perhaps found
lodged in the branches of some tall tree
A complete wreck, maybe; then it was
abandoned, and our efforts were aimed at
saving as much as possible of the string
and tail.
The kite is not plaything for boys
only; why should not their sisters join
them in the sport? The skill and exer.
else required to keep the kite in the air,
the lifting, the running, the dodging of
obstacles, this is as exhilarating and
useful to girls as to boys.
Nearly every school-boy knows how to
make the common kite, with a frame OF
three straight sticks crossing each other
| or he knows some one who can teach him