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ISSUED EVERY SATURDAY FOR THE BOYS AND GIRLS t)E,SAN^RANCISCO AND CALIFORNIA HOW TO MAKE YOUR KITE Practice Construction During- Vacation Week \u25a0 * iIY F. K. nAllTHiaiil., ' lloiul of Mnntinl Trnlntnnr Dt-inirdiicnt ,' The idea of a klto day for tho school hoys and glrlH is proving;. a popular one. .Some are having, a hard times to. dec|de' v ' v what kind of a kite' to make; there are so many Itinds to choose from it l9,qulte bewildering," > ..'•\u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0I The question of the sticks is ing many. Kite sticks should be light and; strong., » Probably the best w.ood easily procured In San Francisco is spruce. Redwood shakes, tho Rplit kind, make good- sticks. Good sticks can'"often be picked up in the refuse pile, at a planing, mill. '. 'Kite.s ticks, should not be nailed to gether^—always tied. with light, strong string or thread. Neither should they' be: notched at' point of crossing each other. v vThe best way to 1 , fasten tho string: to j the: ends 6f^tl\e sticks is to make a; saw; cut, say one-quarter, of an inch deep. -After, thestilngis let Into the, cut,; bind the divided: end together, wtthvthread so that the* stick willjhot .split arid ,the> string can not come out. . Kites ihave;. tails so that' they rwill balance properly," _A lotig, light tail is better than a' 'short, heavy- one. Tails made' of ' Strips of cloth,-an . inch %vi«le with; cross pieces "of tissue paper are very satisfactory.' */":""~"' •/ : \u25a0\u25a0'A^.klte ' will not,, fly. well- unless the "bridle' Via properly ;adjiisted.; The klte^ must balance when hnnging, from rtie bridle in the"'harid"in s the "same rel ative position .as It is^ expected toas sumeln the r a!r. . .' ' r " \u25a0>* ' Then'there'tsthestr'ing!- Ilemember, a,string.ia Justus .strong as its: weak est* part. Three plyjeottbn -string is strong-, enough ':fori kites! of three feet or under. The string must.be selected to suit the kite]; and also the wind. Use &«• lightra strlng-as-you.cah -get: that Is istrcmg^enOiUgh;..;^^^ \u25a0>' ;' ; _. '.; • . . :i '"Tisaue 'paper, ;*-the^ tough kind, Is a very, good ; arid ', 'cheap^ cover in g; | Don't use : too much" pasie.';<*Ho w* many girls and -boys ;\know,?slfow;;toVnTake | good paste? f Put "i'a" .tablespobnf ill 1 , of ;.; flour, into ta :tiu'ieup, 1 " put^ln' enough -cold water -so Uhat: Wheri.ftvell:; mixed » with a: spoonu it- .wlllibe'4as ijthick" as* thin cream. i-.Then'puti on Uhe stove 'and oii .bollingvWater,' stirring, all the j time. :^\ r hen'<ithe mixture; bubbles it is done. If lumpy, strain through a fine: sieve or ; piece of , cheese cloth.' A' spoonful of flour. wilKmake a cupful of paste. , rea.dy.tO; put .the paper, on;the frame, first put some newspapers \u25a0on your, mother's,, floor, .-to- save .the floor, \u25a0and to protect your, kite paper. Don't cut. A the- cover, more, than \u25a0.. a : half '/inch larger, alK around .tlian. the frame. The corners ' mayv",be ; improved •-, by r/astinfi' on two ; thicknesses ofpaper.v ;/."' \u0084 S ome of the boys:and;girls may. want to .read up ion. kite making.; here Is a llstJOf articles on ".the subject: • \u0084 /', "Yacht ; Race ini the Clouds,": St. Nicli olas,. April,, 1907; ."Flexible Bridles, on Kites," '.Scientific • American, October (>, 1900; ' V.Tallless KHes," Outlook,', 58:1020; Make Kites and Flying Gigs," Woman's Home Companion, April, 1904. 'Then: there' ;In '",',• Dan ., Beard's' "Boys' Handy Book/'-contalnlng Instructions "about all^kinds of kites. . "Vacation all next week! f'omfs just right to make a fine kite and try It out." • . \u25a0\u25a0%.-, . - ' GIRLS' TEAM IS DEFEATED . * . BY IIKKT LEO *.\ \u25a0The Hearst school, basket ball,- team met:. and was defeated- by the -girls of the Spring .Valley school. At half time our • team led, the ' score ( being 9 to 7. The! second half spelled^ defeat for Hearst. and the: final': score read: Spring Valley, 15; Hearst, 13. '. . • "The girls, however, are not willing to admit themselves,- beaten arul. are arranging for a return , game, to be played upon their own courts. Ath letics, have been very quiet. during the last week. The boys of the seventh and eighth grades are preparing for the coming kite dny, which is a new event, and expect to capture some- of t lie prizes. , St. Elmo's Fire One of the. most picturesque and yet uncanny phenomena seen at sea Is what Is commonly called St. Elmo's lire, but called by sailors "corposants." This, ng the school books tell us, is due to pe culiar electric conditions. It consists of globes of lire resting, during the height of an electrical storm, upon tho mastheads and yardarms of j a ship. Sometimes the balls move from place to place around the masts. In old days, when sailors were ex tremely superstitious, the "corposants" were regarded with awe by them, arul not infrequently looked upon as omi nous. The term "corposant" is an ab breviation of "corpo aanto," words of Latin origin, meaning "holy body," the superstlttious sailors, thinking they, were something supernatural, •\u0084-,, The San Francisco Call. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., MARCH 18, 1910 ALONZO and the nest egg PRACTICAL SEWING Where the Girls dive Away : Their Work Tn tt.ll the grammar schools of the city the girls are taught sewing. They bring their own material, work so many weeks on It, and at the end of the time take home whatever gar ment they have made. . But In the Redding school things* are managed differently. -In the first place, It is a primary school and sew ing is "not compulsory. However, the principal, Miss Deane, believes that It is a good thing, whether girls have reached the grammar age or not. So regular sewing classes have been a part *of tho work at the Redding for several years. >. . .': "' •The : materials are supplied person ally by Miss 'Deane. . But when the gar ment is finished it belongs neither to Miss Deane nor to the girl who made it. It • has been made expressly, for some charitable institution, and to that Institution it goes. Each .year the articles "are:, different and, go to different places./ The year before last it was towels." Seventy two were hemmed and sent -to hospi tals. Last year it was aprons. 'This year, it Is baby clothes .for. the\ma ternity: home. Twelve tiny gowns and 51 little shirts will soon.be, finished."- Probably in the' whole city there is. no prettier sight than these small, seamstresses bent above their work, the\ cleanest of small hands fashion ing the baby shirts. It Is a very se rious and . important work, indeed, and not'a stitch is allowed t5 remain that is notas perfect as it: can be. I Often the clothes sent \u25a0• toicharitable. : homes Is of a quality and workmanship that makes one blush for shame' of .the giver and'plty, for the unfortunate. one who was to wear them. But the clothes turned out 'by the Redding girls are things to be proud of. :., _ Whenone is; sewing for herself care less'work; slips in -sometimes.-,. Mother will: probably think- it is: pretty inice in any case. But when the name of the school: is involved, ' then the; mat ter is different. It would do to offer to make things, for some one else' and "then .make- them! badly, r > No^ one must be able;to say ithat, the Red ding girls offered to do something and didn't do improperly. It isn't at all probable that any one will say that, however. .; Besides the value of learning to sow, by doing it in this' particular way, Miss Deane has a: twofold ob ject. -,'.'"• When a 'girl has .hemmed one towel, she has learned that much, it i£ true. But the household value of one towel is not , very great. But, when 72 girls have hemmed 72. towels, each girl hasChot only V, learned her part, but some one- is 72: towels -to the -good, a rather important thing when- an in stitution has to depend on contribu tions.-'Last, and most. important of all, each girl has learned .to V think . of others- to realize; that small*..; as her power of helping is, still! she can do something of a real- value.,; £*\u25a0, It Is very doubtful" if the Redding girls were, told to sew for themselves if they would want to give ' up -their present system. . \u0084 \u0084 . \u25a0 Keep it up, Redding school. You are doing something worth while. and do ing it in , the best possible;, way — quietly. :' -'_• - ••'\u25a0•..'". ; , t Japanese . Safeguard Against Earthquakes A remarkable fact In Japan is, that pagodas built hundreds of years' ago embody the principle, of; the modern seisThogruph. which •is to minimise the effect oCeurthquake motion by the combination of an inverted pendulum with; an ordinary pendulum; or, In other words, by the union of a. stable and an unstable structure to produce a neutral stability which renders, the whole building least sensible to earthi quake shock. . . . \u25a0 In the hollow well of every five stor ied pagoda a heavy -muss of timber is suspended freely, like an' exaggerated tongue, from the top right to the ground, but not in contact with It, and Ht the shoek < of an'earhquake this large 'pendulum slowly swings, the structure sways and then settles back, safely upon its base. This is also, ttie principle followed In the'constructlon of all bell towers throughout Japan, where the bell acts us pendulum, and the roof, supported by posts, forms an inverted ijendulum', us in the seismograph. AVhen an earthquake occurs, a pa'« k'Oda or boll tower may be rotated or displaced, but It can not bo overturned ns a whole. In Hlmla. the motion of the ground on April 4, 1905, was about two inches, and it would require v mo tion of several feet to overturn a big body.— Lady Kawson in Wide World Magazine