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By Dan Beard
The construction of one of the simplest sleds is shown by Fig. 177; it consists of nothing more nor less than three pieces of board nailed upon two old skis. This sled possesses the advantage of being so simple in design that a child might make one, and although this primitive sled can lay claim to neither grace nor beauty, it will be found useful in a variety of ways; it may be used for coasting, or for transporting loads of snow when building snow houses, forts or figures.
If, instead of the long top board, a kitchen chair be fitted on, as shown in Fig. 178,
A Chair-Sleigh
will be had. It is necessary to nail on four L-shaped blocks at a proper distance apart on the cross board to hold the chair in place (Fig. 178).
Any boy who is fortunate enough to have a mother or sister who takes sufficient interest, and has the time to accompany him on his skating trips, will find a chair-sleigh quite a handy thing to possess, and when he moves from one part of the ice to a distant portion of the pond or river he can skate behind the sleigh with his hands upon the back of the chair, and push his lady friend rapidly over the ice, adding much to her enjoyment as well as his own. The cumbersome wooden kitchen chair is heavy to carry if the skating pond be far from home, but a
Folding Chair-Sleigh
may be made from a few sticks and pieces of leather for hinges. This chair is made upon the same principle as the one described in the chapter devoted to How to Camp Out.
Figs. 179 and 180 show all the parts in detail as they would look before being joined together. The seat may be made of a piece of carpet, canvas, or any strong material, the hinges of leather. Fig. 181 shows the chair after it has been put together. The runners consist of skates, which may be strapped on or taken off at pleasure, without injuring the skates in the least.
If the chair is to be carried it can be folded up. When the chair frame is lifted, the forked sticks that support it will slip from the notches in the side bars and fall on to the runner bars ; the chair frame can then be let down and the whole frame-work will form a flat, compact mass (Fig. 182), that can be easily carried by quite a small boy.
By using light sticks, regular metal hinges, and a prettily worked cloth for the seat, a very light and beautiful chair-sleigh can be made that, with the skates removed, will make an ornamental parlor chair for summer, and when the ice again covers the surface of the water, it will be only necessary to strap on the skates, and the easy chair becomes transformed into a chair-sleigh, to be pushed about over the glittering ice wherever its occupant may direct or the whim of the boy who forms the motive power may take him.
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