same weight; but, to be of the
same weight, it must be thinner than the wood, yet even then it
stands the before-mentioned tests as well as when thicker; and
it will be found to stand all tests much better than wood, even
when it weighs considerably less.

"Now, enlarging our pieces, and moulding them into boats of the
same weight, we find the following differences: Wood, being
stiff and liable to split, can only be moulded into comparative
form. Paper, since it can be rendered perfectly pliable, can be
pressed into any shape desirable; hence, any wished-for fineness
of lines can be given to the model, and the paper will assume
the identical shape, after which it can be water-proofed,
hardened, and polished. Paper neither swells, nor shrinks, nor
cracks, hence it does not leak, is always ready for use, always
serviceable. As to cost, there is very little difference between
the two; the cost being within twenty-five dollars, more or
less, the same for both. Those who use paper boats think them
very near perfection; and surely those who have the most to do
with boats ought to know, prejudice aside, which is the best."

An injury to a paper boat is easily repaired by a patch of strong paper
and a coating of shellac put on with a hot iron. As the paper boat is a
novelty with many people, a sketch of its early history may prove
interesting to the reader. Mr. George A. Waters, the son of the senior
member of the firm of E. Waters & Sons, of Troy, New York, was invited
some years since to a masquerade party. The boy repaired to a toy shop
to purchase a counterfeit face; but, thinking the price (eight dollars)
was more than he could afford for a single evening's sport, he borrowed
the mask for a model, from which he produced a duplicate as perfect as
was the original. While engaged upon his novel work, an idea impressed
itself upon his ingenious brain. "Cannot," he queried, "a paper shell
be made upon the wooden model of a boat? And will not a shell thus
produced, after being treated to a coat of varnish, float as well,
and be lighter than a wooden boat?"

This was in March, 1867, while the youth was engaged in the manufacture
of paper boxes. Having repaired a wooden shell-boat by covering the
cracks with sheets of stout paper cemented to the wood, the result
satisfied him; and he immediately applied his attention to the further
development of his brigh