A PRACTICAL JOURNAL OF 
HOME ARTS. 
Vol. V. NEW YORK, FEBRUAEY, 1882. No. 2. 
of every article made by human skill. He 
who works merely after a pattern with- 
out a thorough knowledge of the end 
to be attained will never achieve true suc- 
cess. 
It is also necessary to take into con- 
sideration the character of the person who 
is to use it. Some little girls are very 
fond of spinning humming tops, while 
boys rarely care much for them. The 
favorite top amongst older boys is the 
kind known as the -peg top, which is spun 
in the following way : A piece of fine 
whip cord is wound tightly round the 
conical part of the top which is then 
thrown to the ground in a manner well 
known to bo^^s. The uncoiling of the cord 
causes the top to revolve or spin, and it 
continues to do so long after it has struck 
the ground. Part of the game of top- 
spinning consists in striking other tops 
so as to drive them out of a ring or even 
to split them, in which latter case the peg 
of the split top becomes the trophy of the 
one who split it. If tops are made too 
squat, with very short pegs, they are apt 
to " sleep "—that is to spin quietly and so 
offer a fair mark to the player who wishes 
to split them. On the other hand, tops 
with long pegs never stand still. Thev 
Cheap Lathes and How: to Use Them. 
ALLS and tops 
have always 
^ IP "''''''"*l4:^^^'^^^fc> ^^61^ favorite 
f^\£Xy^^&fc toys with boys, 
and no better 
exercise can be 
found for those 
who wish to be- 
gin lathe work 
than the mak- 
ing of a top for 
a 3'ounger bro- 
ther or some little friend. It is not likely 
that the boy who makes the top will want 
to play with it, and this is so much the 
greater reason why a top should be chosen 
for a first effort, since the pleasure to be 
derived from making it will be trebled by 
seeing the pleasure it will give to another. 
In order to be able to make a good top, 
the young turner must understand the 
method of using it and the points which 
render it good or bad. And this is true 
