111 
has made it increasingly difficult for men working under the old 
conditions to earn an adequate means of livelihood. The practice, 
however, still obtains in a few places, and through the courtesy of 
the Earl of Buckinghamshire and his agent Mr. A. G. Hobart- 
Hampden, some particulars of the ore were gleaned in the 
woods at Great Hampden during Janu 
se or spindles. A sector end edt an aR ate triangle, 
the base being wide enough for two legs and the apex for one leg. 
From a section of a trunk 12 to 13 inches in diameter, it is possible 
to obtain about two dozen legs, but if the wood were sawn instead 
of being split, it is probable that more could be made. The radial 
splitting of the wood is a matter of prime importance, for if it were 
split in any other way, the legs would be weak and liable to fracture. 
The rough pieces of wood, after being trimmed into shape with an 
axe, are turned and finished off by means of a primitive pole lathe 
installed in a quaint little thatched hut or ‘ shop. 
The lathe consists of an ordimary bed and mandrels, the power 
being obtained by means of an inclined, flexible pole, a thin rope 
and a treadle. One end of the pole, which may be from 12 to 
15 feet long, is firmly secured outside the hut at a height of about 
2 feet above the ground. ‘The other end passes into “the hut and 
in doing so rises, so that at the lathe it is several feet above the 
worker's head. To this end a loose rope is secured, the other end 
of the rope being ane between the bed and the rest of the 
machine and made fast to the treadle near the ground. In placing 
the object to be turned in oe between the mandrels it is 
encircled by a turn of the rope. By using the treadle the object 
is made to revolve, first foreaais as the pole descends, then back- 
wards as it flies back into position. During the forward movement, 
the working tool is brought to bear on the chair leg or whatever is 
being turned, and in a very short space of time the article is 
removed in a finished state. The accompanying illustrations taken 
in the Great Hampden woods show the thatched huts packed 
round with wood shavings, the long lathe-pole passing into the hut 
and the rough timber for the chair-legs lying around. 
Trees from medium to small girth are preferred to large trees for 
the purpose, and clean grown timber is necessary. From 9 to 12 
the result of their labours goes a very little way towards satisfying 
the demands of the Wycombe manufacturers, for it is said that 
