The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-02-19

Slcds and Shields for Sno,o6attles-The
building of Il fort gcnel ally uses up all
tho snow around 1t, making 1t necessary
TOR the beselging partyto carry their am
munitton with them. upon slcds made
for that purpose, The construction of
these sleds is very simple, the material
and tools necessary consisting ofa flour
barrel, 4 saw, hammer or hatchet, some
shingle nails and an old pinc-board.
TO make the sled, begin by knocking
the barrel apart, being careful not to
split the hcad-boards, as they will be
needed afterwards. Pick out the four
best slaves, as nearly alike In breadth
and curve as can be found, and saw two
or three Of the other slaves In halves.
Take two of the four slaves first scleo-
ted, and nail the slaves across, upon the
convex, or outside, Of the slaves. This
will be found impossible unless there Is
something solid under the point where
tho nail is to be driven, otherwise, the
spring Of the stave, when struck, will
throw the nail out, and your fingers
will probably receive the blow from the
hammer. TO avoid this, place block,
or anything that is firm, under the
point where the nail is to &c driven,
and there will be no difficulty III dri-
wing The nails home. When this Is
done, you will have the top Of your
sled, and on this you will need box,
or bed, TO hold the snowballs; this you
can make Of two pieces Of pine board
and two slaves, thus: Take 4 board
about tho same width as, or little
wider than, Il barrel-stave, saw OF two
pieces equal in length to the width OF
the sled, set them upon their edges,
reversing the top of the sled, place it
across the two boards, and nail it on
ful ff1
nail them on for side boards, and you
have the top portion Of your sled fin
ished. The two staves remaining, Of
the four first selected, arc for runners.
Fit on first ono and then the other to
the slaves of your top. Nail-holes will
probably be found near the ends of the
slaves where the nails we're that held
the barrel-hcad in; through these drive
nails, TO fasten your runners: to do this
you must rest them upon some support,
as was done before; this will hold your
sled together, but to make it stronger,
take four blocks Of wood and slide them
III between the runners and the top,
and nail them firmly from above aud
below. If all tins has been properly
done, you now have made sled which
it will be almost impossible to break;
and you need put rope to to pull by.
The shield is made from the head Of
barrel. Lay the barrcl-heAd upon
some level surface, so that nails can be
driven in without trouble. From
strip Of board, half incha thick and two
and ouc-halr inches wide, saw off two
pieces long enough to fastep the parts
Of the Darrel-hcad together. Fasten
these strips Oh with shingle nails. Lay
your lett arm upon the shield, mark Il
place for the arm-strap, in front of the
elbow, and another for the strap for
/ the hand. From an old trunkstrap, or
, suitable piece of leather. cut two strips,
and nail them on your shield at points
marked, being careful that the arm
strap is not too tight, as it should be
loose enough for the arm to slip in and
out with ease. This done, you have a
shield behind which you may defy an
army Of unprotected boys.