NOTES ON WOODEN WATER-PIPES. II9 



about two inches deep, are dug out at the places where tlie 

 conduit must take a turn ; these chambers act as a sort of small 

 reservoirs from which the water at once flows off in the desired 

 direction. These water tanks also serve the purpose of the more 

 modern man-holes. 



In addition to the running fountains ihey have in many 

 houses a pump, also made of wooden pipes. The wells are of a 

 good depth, say 35 to 45 feet. Not only the pipes, but the piston 

 rods as well, are made of fir-wood. Similar wooden pumps are 

 besides used for other purposes, as, for instance, to pump out the 

 storage pits of liquid manure on farms. 



To mention yet another use of wooden channels to conduct 

 water : the houses, wooden from end to end, have wooden gutters, 

 which are chiselled out of rather thinner but long fir-trees, 

 fastened to the shingle roofs. 



In our villages perfectly straight pipes are made, and the 

 boring is done entirely by hand. This work requires strong 

 hands and a good deal of skill ; it is mostly performed by pro- 

 fessionals, but the farmers supply the raw mateiial. 



The tree trunk, already bound with iron bands at either end, 

 in order to prevent its splitting, is firmly fastened on two 

 carpenter's benches, at the height of about four feet from the 

 ground. I forget how it is fastened, there may be several ways 

 of doing it w^ell. The boring is started with a small drill, so as 

 to make it easier to drive in the large and heavy borer that is to 

 give the pipe the necessary calibre. The borers are of good 

 material and very sharp; they have shafts long enough to reach 

 a little further than the middle of the length of the trunk. A 

 long handle of strong wood can be pushed through a hole in the 

 shaft, like a thread through a needle. At some distance 

 from the trunks, where the boring is to begin, the shaft is 

 made to rest on a support with an iron groove, which can be 

 raised or lowered. This support is placed so as to bring the 

 borer exactly into the boring line and then made fast. The 

 borer is applied to the trunk, where one man must hold it with 

 his hands whilst two others begin to work it. At first they 

 proceed very gently and slowly, and frequently ascertain whether 

 they are in the proper lines. As they advance, however, the 

 danger of a deviation becomes less, whilst the men have to use 

 all their strength to force the heavy implement through the 



