CHAPTER VII

CORK ANIMALS HARNESSED TO SLEDGES, ETC.

For these toys plenty of corks are necessary, and files or sand-paper; also some pointed instrument, a long nail or bradawl, for making holes in the corks. Four of them are shown in Plate III.

=Horse and Cart.= Gum wheels (size of penny) and matches for shafts on the match-box as in Fig. 128. File or sand-paper a cork quite smooth and round the edges. Cut a horse's head out of cardboard and colour it, make a slit with a knife in the widest part of the cork, insert the horse's head, insert the tail and four matches for legs. Gum a piece of paper on the horse's back, turn up and gum the ends of a paper strip to form loops for shafts to go through. These shafts can be gummed into the loops or fastened by thread or paper to a collar round the horse's neck. (This latter way is difficult for little children.) The collar is cut out of paper. A piece of thread can be put through a hole in the horse's mouth for reins. Paper seats may be added to the cart.

=A Coster's Donkey Barrow= can be made in the same way, by substituting a donkey's head and cutting the box as in Fig. 129.

The van described in Chapter V might be harnessed to a horse.

=Russian Sledge.= To make the sledge cut two runners out of brown paper (as A in Fig. 130), and gum on each side of a match-box. Make two brown-paper seats, C, D, and gum on. Cut part of the cover of a match-box as in =Fig. 131= to form the back of the sledge, B. Gum a brown-paper hood round this. A narrow strip of brown paper, E, is bent and fastened on as in diagram. A match or piece of cane, F, is gummed in front of the box, and to this the horses are harnessed. The horses are made as already described. A piece of silk or thread is looped round their necks and gummed under the straps of the outside horses, then tied to match stick, F.

This toy and some of those following will be found very useful to illustrate geography lessons.

=A Reindeer Sledge= (Fig. 132). Make the reindeer as the other animals. For the sledge the bottom of a match-box, A, and a piece of brown paper are needed. The brown paper should be in length one and a half times the length of the match-box and broad enough to wrap round a match-box and cover every side except one narrow side. Fold the paper in two along C B. Draw the runners on the doubled paper and cut out as in Fig. 133. Cut the straps E O and G P along the top K F and L H; double them along M and N. Gum M K F and N L H to the bottom of the match-box, A. Do the same on the other side; pieces M K F, etc., may be cut shorter for convenience in gumming. A piece of brown paper forms the back, D (Fig. 132). Finally, a piece of paper just the size of the match-box can be pasted over A to make the sledge look tidy.

=The Howdah= on the elephant's back, the next model, is a simple one, though difficult for some little fingers. A is a little paper case, in which four halves of matches are glued, a square piece of paper with a little fringe cut round is gummed on the top (Fig. 134).

=South African Trek waggon= (Fig. 135). This is made from two match-box covers, A and B, fastened together by a strip of paper; two match-boxes, C and D, are gummed to the top; part of one box, D, is cut away as in the figure. A strip of brown paper must be gummed along A and B, and a piece along the bottom of boxes C and D; the outsides of C and D may be left their ordinary blue colour. A piece of bluish-grey paper, E, is folded in three and gummed inside the sides of boxes C and D, as in figure; three or four divisions should be pencilled on each paper side. The wheels are cut out of cardboard--the large wheels should be somewhat larger than a penny, the small wheels a little smaller--these are gummed to the sides. F is a strip of brown paper, through which a piece of thread passes to fasten the waggon to a stick, G, gummed across the oxen's backs; this can be fastened to a stick, H, and so on. Five pairs of oxen should be yoked to the waggon in this way.

=An Irish Jaunting-car= (Fig. 136). This toy is made from one match-box. First two cardboard wheels are cut out. These are gummed on each side of the match-box cover as in Fig. 137. The box is then cut in half (Fig. 138) and each half gummed to the cover, _e.g._ E F G H (Fig. 138) is gummed to A B C D (=Fig. 137=).

Two pieces of brown paper are bent as in Fig. 139, and gummed on, L M N O to H G J K, to form foot-rests. A piece of paper bent as in Fig. 140 and gummed on to the front closes up the hollow cover and forms the back of the driver's seat. A similar piece without the top, P, is gummed to the other end. Before putting on the seat the top may be covered with coloured paper, to represent the upholstered part of the car. Shafts of cardboard or cane are cut out and gummed underneath the seat to the cover and a cork horse is harnessed to them.

=A Mexican Cart with Ox Team.= A match-box is cut as shown in Fig. 141. Two pieces of narrow cardboard are cut the length of the box; holes are made in these and four matches are inserted in each. These matches are then glued inside the sides of the box.

=A Donkey with Panniers.= The panniers can be made of brown paper, in the same way as the mug described in Chapter IV; they are gummed to a strip of paper, which can be fastened to the donkey's back (Fig. 142).

=A Persian Method of Travelling.= The bottoms of the panniers, X and Y (Fig. 143), are made from a small square of paper folded and cut as in Fig. 144. A is gummed on B and D on C; H on G and E on F. The hood is made of a piece of brown paper gummed inside the paper boxes X and Y. The panniers can be gummed to a strip of paper, the middle of which is gummed to the donkey's back.

=An Eskimo Sledge= (Fig. 145). The sledge is made of a match-box turned upside down; one end, A, is bent back as in diagram; the other end, B, is cut in half, bent outward and shaped as in diagram. A match, C, is glued to the ends, and to this is tied the thread that harnesses the dogs. A team consists of twelve dogs.

=A Seal= can be made from a cork as in Fig. 146, and placed on the sledge.

=A Belgian Milk-cart= (Fig. 147). Two pieces of cardboard, A, are gummed inside a match-box; cover the box with paper, colour it green and mark as in the figure. Small corks should be filed to resemble milk cans. The carts generally contain six, three large and three small cans; they are yellow in colour. Two pieces of cane, or two match sticks, D and C, are glued under the cart for shafts; the ends are slipped through pieces of looped paper gummed to the backs of the dogs. A piece of string tied to the ends of the shafts and round the dogs fastens them to the cart. The dogs are grey, and one is often smaller than the other.

=Russian Dog Sledge= (Fig. 149). This is made from a piece of paper folded along C D (Fig. 148); draw the sledge and cut out as in the diagram; bend along K L M. When opened out the sledge appears as in Fig. 149. Runners A B and E F are fastened together by strips of paper.

A seat may be gummed over G and H. A piece of thread attached as in the figure harnesses the sledge to five dogs, made of corks.