A PRACTICAL JOURNAL OF 
HOME ARTS 
Vol. IY. NEW YORK, JANUARY, 1881. No. 1. 
runners, were made by a country black- 
smith ; the wood work we made ourselves. 
Our ice boat was a success. With an 
ordinary wind it carried two persons, and 
with a stiff breeze, it glided swiftly over 
the ice with four of us. 
With the aid of the engravings, we pro- 
pose to tell the readers of the Young- 
Scientist how it was built, so that if they 
wish to try ice boat sailing, they may 
know how to build a boat for themselves. 
The ice boat is, properly, a triangular 
frame,"each angle of which rests on a run- 
ner or skate. The main piece in the frame 
is the centre piece or keel, a c b, as shown 
in the plan and side view. It is a 3 x 4: 
inch scantling-, set edgewise, and is 16 
feet long. Si feet of the forward end, c b, 
is tapered on the under edge and sides, 
and is rounded so that it is about \k 
inches in diameter at the end b. 
The lower cross piece, d e, is la inches 
thick, 10 inches wide, and 10 feet long. 
It is nailed firmly to the under edge of 
the keel. Its middle point t, being made 
6 feet from b, and the distance from t to 
each of the ends d and e is 5 feet. 
The stern, n p, is li inches thick, 4 
inches high and 2 feet long. It is nailed 
at its middle point to the rear end of the 
Our Ice Boat, 
BY WHIZ. 
E HAD spent an 
unusually pleas- 
ant s u m m e r, 
rowing and sail- 
ing on an inland 
stream. xlnd 
when Jack Frost 
came and solidi- 
fied the glassy 
surface of our 
boating place, 
we, determined 
not to be deprived of our favorite recrea- 
tion, built an ice boat. 
We had read descriptions of the large 
ice boats which are used on the Hudson, 
and on Toronto Bay, but we had never 
seen one. 
Our ice boat was decidedly an amateur 
affair ; it was small and adapted for the 
limited stretch of ice on which it was used. 
The mast, sail and rigging were trans- 
ferred from our sail boat ; the skates or 
