Page:Kitecraft and kite tournaments (1914).djvu/77

CHAPTER VIII.

MESSENGERS.

All are more or less familiar with the piece of paper with a hole in it that is slipped over the string of a kite high in the air. The wind catches it and whirls it along, until it finally reaches its destination, the kite. Sometimes urgent business demands several communications to the kite, so several pieces of paper are seen whirling at various distances from the boy, making their way, now slowly, now faster, overtaking, falling behind and so on until they fulfill their mission. Such is the usual kite messenger.

Fig. 138.

A clever little messenger was described by Nungent in St. Nicholas, for October, 1900. This has been modified and used at a number of kite tournaments. It is in the form of a little yacht, and has a beam on which is attached two pulleys under which the kite line runs, a mast that carries the sail and that also extends downward thru the hull to carry a weight that holds the yacht upright. The mast slants backward a little so as to brace against the pull of the sail. The sail is held up by a string that is attached to an easy trip, and when released the sail drops and the yacht returns down the kite line to the operator by gravity. Fig. 138 shows a complete model with sail up as it appears on the up trip. Fig. 139 shows the various parts: the beam, a, is made of a light wood, 1/4″×1/2″×15″, portions are cut away to reduce weight; the mast b, is round, 1/4″ in diameter at bottom, tapering to a point at the top, is 291/2″ long, 9″ below the beam and 20″ above; the mast is lashed to the side of the beam; c and, d are yard arms c being 16″ and d 14″ long and both about 1/8″ to 3/16″ thru; c is lashed above the beam, and d is hung by a thread 15″ higher up. A thread is run from each end of both yard arms to the top of the metal loop supporting the back pulley wheel. The

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