e 12-foot poles. At first
two of these were flattened and nailed together at their upper ends, and
they were braced at the top and bottom. The third leg was then nailed in
place and braced by cross bars connecting it with the other two poles.

THE WHEEL.

[Illustration: Fig. 254. The Small Tower.]

[Illustration: Fig. 255. The Hub.]

We were now ready to make the wheel. From Lumberville four 1/2-inch
boards, each 3 inches wide and 15 feet long, were procured; also a bar
of iron 3/4 of an inch in diameter and 2 feet long. At the center of one
of the boards a block of wood 4 inches long and 4 inches in diameter was
nailed on for a hub. A 3/4-inch hole was now drilled through this hub
and the board. Holes were also drilled into the other boards at their
centers. Then they were all strung onto the bar and spaced like spokes
at equal angles apart. Bill had figured it out some way that the ends of
the boards should be just about 5 feet 10-1/2 inches apart. When the
boards were all arranged we nailed them together at the center, and
connected the ends with narrow tie boards, as indicated in Fig. 256.

THE BUCKETS.

[Illustration: Fig. 256. The Water Wheel.]

Eight large tomato cans were now procured and fastened to the spokes at
the ends on the inner side, that is, the side the hub was nailed to. We
couldn't very well nail on the cans, so we punched two holes in the side
of each can and then secured them to the spokes by passing bolts through
these holes and the boards.

THE PADDLES.

[Illustration: Fig. 257. A Paddle.]

Then we cut sixteen paddles of the form shown in Fig. 257. Eight of
these were 12 inches long, and the rest measured 18 inches. A slot 3
inches deep was cut in each paddle of just the right width to slip over
the tie boards. The shorter paddles were fastened on just back of the
spokes, and the rest were secured half-way between each spoke. The
paddles were braced by stretching a wire from one to another all the way
around the wheel.

THE RECEIVING TROUGH.

[Illustration: Fig. 258. How the Paddles and Cans Were Attached.]

[Illustration: Fig 259. The Receiving Trough.]

Our next task was to nail the receiving trough in place on the higher
tower. We set up the towers on land and mounted the wheel between them
with the axle resting in the crotch of the short tower and in a deep
notch cut in the cross boards of the larger one. The cans on the wheel
faced the larger tower, but the hub at t