Evening star., 1926-06-20
Washin&tonian's Hobby Is a Remarkable Home Workshop


the owner of a public pool room who
had dismantled an old table.
The homemade pool table Is not
OF regulation size, but otherwise
1t is replete in the excellences which
are part and parcel of the equipment
which the professional players use
in their championship contests. The
cues, made of maple, were turned
out to accurate taper on the Parks
lathe. The set of balls and rack
were purchased from "a supply house.
The table was completed for use at
a total cost of SIS, exclusive of the
labor of its maker A portable pool
table of this size II purchased from
one of the factories which manufaC-
ture such articles would have cost
upward of $50. The pool table is
set up for play in the basement Of
the Parks home. A discarded din
ing room table has been leveled ac-
curately and Is used as the base for
the portable pool table.
When we recently visited Mr..
Parks in his workshop we found him
making a remarkable model of an
oldstyle Barbary corsair ship. II
you are familiar with the latest fad
in mantei ornaments you surely
have seen some of these ornaments
made of wood, pasteboard and fiber.
brilliant with canopies and sails of
gaudy- -colOred silk and linen, ar
mored against the attack of foes
with wooden cannon and equipped
with ten pairs or more of mighty
oars to be used in propelling the
vessel when the wind was still and
the sea calm. The finest wooden
specimens of these miniature ships
are valued at as much as 500 apiece.
Mr.. Parks is building one of these
models of a pirate ship which is 20
inches long and II inches high. 1t is
being built of white pine and black
walnut. The latter material was re-
claimed from the former motor launch
of this Washingtonian. Thus the
material which was once part Of a
river-plying launch is now being used
in the construction of a Liliputian
felucca, equipped with square and la
teen sails of silk and linen. such as
the Barbary pirates used TO use. The
nautical history of this style of craft
places it in the range between the
ancient galley rowed by oars and the
notorious square-rlgged galleaSS OF the
seventeenth century.
The Barbary pirates liked gay col
ors and used them with striking effect
on their boats. For example, the bOr-
ders of the sail were often scarlet,
while the body was yellow in color.
Usually a silken canopy of fantastic
hues was stretched over the stern
deck, where the leader of the crew
and his lieutenants lOunged at ease.
The average felucCa. or Zebac. as the
vessel was sometimes called. carried d
dozen or more wooden cannon. and
was equipped also with 10 pairs of
oars, whiCn We're piled by galley slaves
in chains.
The bright colors Of these ancient
ships and their extraordinary lines
and outlines qualify their modern
models admirably for exhibition and
ornamental use. Mr.. Parks has al
ready devoted about 80 hours of work
10 the pirate felucca upon which he
now is working Ii will take at least
another month OF dd-hour work TO
complete the accurate little model. 1t
is painstaking work as many of the
equipment of the ships deck are so
small that it is difficult to handle them
without crushing them in your grasp
as you carve away here and build up
there.
After Mr. Parks finishes the model
of the Barbary COrSair he contem-
plates building another ship of the
Spanish galleon era. IL will probably
DS d lutte All SilO OdilI tilolA NAiC
felucca. This Government specialist
gets many ideas for new and novel
things to build from the popular mag
aZineS which deal with many meChdn-
ical matters. Borrowing one or more
of these basic ideas, the Washington
amateur gets out his drawing board
and prepares a design for the article
which he determines TO make. OFTEN.
however. he adventures in design and
shapes and models his picture patterns
according to his personal thoughts and
fancies. In all cases everything which
he makes is built 10 scale and sym
me LriCal pattern.
Each object which comes in com
pleted form from the Parks shop is
accurate in scale and proportion, for
this self-tutored artesan, who works
with wood and metal as d hobby, de-
votes as much care and attention to
his products as though he were a pro
fessionaI mechanic building articles
which would have to pass the inspec
ton of critical judges who paid their
experts on the basis of excellence of
workmanship. accuracy of design and
completeness of detail