The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-03-23
SIGNS OF SPRING.
April Magazines.

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The April iIarpcrs presents in its contents
all the piquant variety of April weather tn,
opening article, under the title of "Thc Amcri
can Clyde" introduces Us to the great shin
readers eye, in "A series of effective ilIustra
| tiOns, all the stages Of the building of thost
great IRON ships that are the wonder of tn,
age. Another copiously illustrated paper give,
us good views Of Sicna, the ancient rival o
Florence, and the lIartz Mountains, with many
| pleasant glimpscs of curious manners and Gus
toms Of queer people. "Thc Perfect Canoe
is another article attractivcly illustrated, and
now that the season of boating is again at hand
possesses special interest The perfect canoe
has never yet been made, but the writer Is cor
rect, at least, in the matter of some OF It's abso
lutte requisites when he says:
The canoe must not weigh more than seven.
~ pounds, and must be capacious enough to
be slept in by the captain at night. A canoe
weighing more than seventy pounds can not
be readily taken over II portage by one man,
and Il canoe that can not be slept in is not a
"
there are other requisites which belong to the
perfect canoe. Swiftncss under sail, case of
handling under paddle, strength stiffness, ca
pacty to carry stores imperviousness to rain,
inability to sink even when full of water and
last, but not least, beauty Of model and finish
are qualities which every Canoebuilder strives
to secure but which are found TO their fu Hest
extent in the SHADOW" only We in this
country have decided advantage over En-
glIshmen in the possession Of white cedar
wood, which is the best possible material for
canoe.buiding. With nearly the strength of
oak white cedar is much lighter, and never
warps. A fourteenfoot canoe which if built
of oak planks would weigh eighty pounds, can
be built of white cedar and will weigh not
more than sixty pounds White cedar, how
ever should be used only for planking The
keel, kcelson timbers and combing (Or wash.
board mast be oak; the stem and stern posts
hackmaack, the deck Spanish cedar, the car
lines pine, the trimmings black walnut, and
the paddle spruce. Experience has proved
that for use on all waters an extreme length of
fourteen feet on deck is quite sufficient, and a
who is not over ilve feet tall can use a
canoe thirteen or thirteen feet six inches long
In "The Electric Time Service" Prof Lang
ley, of the Allegheny Observatory, brings a
very intricate scientific subject down to popu.
lar comprehension.
Tho oiuUatIOnuI uluclc of the month is de-.
voted TO the Normal College of New York
City, which is treated IN very picturesque
style, by w. II. Ridcing. The art paper of the
month relates to the Old Flemish Masters, Hu.
bert and Jean van Eyck-and is beautifully ill.,
Illustrated.
In fiction we have combinations of two re-.
markablc novels, by William Black and Thorn.
rs Hardy respectively, and a couple of very
charming short stories
In politics Edward Rowland grappes with
the Indian Service; and in poetry, with
Others there are some charming transla.
tions from the Italian by II. f. Carey.
The Easy Chair chats of timely subjccts-
the early days Of the potificate of Plus the
Ninth-the Eastern Questionable piety of the
Press-the morality of Dancing, etc The 9th.
er Editorial Departments are abreast of the
time in their respective fields, including "A capt
tai Drawer"