Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-04-28
A Paper Boat.

During one of my summer vacations
among the lakes of Central New York.
[ resolved to make, if possible, paper
aoat which should be easy to row OF
,addle, light enough to be carried short
distances with comparative ease, and
1T the same time, safe and even dur
able if managed with reasonable care.
1t was to be twelve feet long. [ first
made framework on which to stretch
the paper.
For this latter purpose 1 bought
about eighteen yards of very strong
wrapping-paper. It was of light cream
color, smooth on the surface, and very
tough, but neither stiff nor very thick;
and, being made in long rolls, it could
be obtained of almost any length desired
1t was only about yard wide, so that
it required two breadths to reach around
the frame in the widest part. I cut
enough off the roll to cover the frame.
and soaked it for few minutes in wat
er. 1 then turned the frame upside
down and fastened the edges of the two
strips of paper to it, by tapping them
carefully on the under side of the bot
tom board and lacking them to it so
that paper hung down loosely on all
sides. It was then trimmed, Tapped,
and doubled over as smoothly as pos
Sible, at the ends of the frame. and held
in place by means of small clamps.
Along the edges it was drawn tight,
trimmed, and doubled down over the
gunwale, where it was firmly
held by slipping strips of ash
just inside of the gunwales
The shrinkage caused by the drying
stretched the paper, thus fastened,
tightly over the framework. AS soon
as thoroughly dry, it was vanished,
inside and out, with asphaltum varnish
thinned with turpentine, and, as soon
as that had soaked in, second coat of
the same varnish was applied, but with
less turpentine; and, finally, the laps
or joints of the paper were covered with
pieces of muslin stuck on with the I'M
thinned varnish. The loose strips of
ash were now removed, and another
layer of paper was put on, and fastened
along the edge of the boat by replacing
the strips as before. When the paper
was dry, and the whole outside of the
boat vanished several times, until it
presented a smooth, shining surface, I
muslin, sewed at the ends and tackled
along the gunwales. It was then tight
ened by shrinking, and finally received
three coats of mixture of varnish and
paint. then took some split rattan,
and, after wetting it, wound it firmly
around both gunwale and inside strip,
passing it through small holes punched
in the paper just below the gunwale,
until the inside and outside strips were
bound together into one strong gun
vale.
During the two years that I have used
my boat, I have often landed it, through
heavy breakers, on very stony shore,
beside running it against fair number
of submerged snags and stones, some
times with considerable force, but, ow-
ing to its hghtness and toughness, it
never received the slightest injury. I
have been out in it in very heavy seas,
and have found it much easier to man
age at such times than q heavier boat.
In rowing parallel to high waves it is
apt to ship little water occasionally,
unless carefully managed, but all small
boats with low sides experience this
difficulty.
The approximate cost of the materi-
ais used in the construction of the canoe
was as follows:
Five quarts varnish, $190; eighteen
yards paper, $1.2O; eight yards cloth,
70 cents; bottom-board, 60 cents; gun
wales, so cents; cross-boards, 25 cents;
paint, so cents; split rattan, % cents;
nails, screws, wire, etc, IS cents. To-
tai, $6.17.-De Cost Smith, IN ST.
Nicholas.