ied out in that way. Study and learn to apply
those reasons.

So in your leisure or in your active moments, if you wish to advance,
you must be alert. _Know for yourself the reasons for things_, and you
will thereby form the stepping stones that will lead you upward and
contribute to your success.

CHAPTER XVII

USEFUL ARTICLES TO MAKE

As stated in the Introductory, the purpose of this book is to show _how
to do the things_, and not to draw a picture in order to write a
description of it. Merely in the line of suggestion, we give in this
chapter views and brief descriptions of useful household articles, all
of which may be made by the boy who has carefully studied the preceding
pages.

[Illustration: _Fig. 247._]

This figure shows a common bench wholly made of material 1 inch thick,
the top being 12 inches wide and 4 feet long. The legs are 14 inches
high and 13 inches wide; and the side supporting rails are 3 inches
wide. These proportions may, of course, be varied. You will note that
the sides of the top or seat have an overhang of 1/2 inch on each
margin.

[Illustration: _Fig. 248._]

[Illustration: _Fig. 249._]

This is a common, square-top stool, the seat being 12" x 12", and the
legs 14 inches high. Two of the pieces forming the legs are 10 inches
wide and the other two 8 inches wide, so that when the wide pieces are
nailed to the edges of the narrow pieces the leg body will be 10" x 10"
and thus give the seat an overhang of 1 inch around the margins.

[Illustration: _Fig. 250._]

A most useful article is shown in Fig. 249. It is a blacking-box with a
lid, a folding shoe rest and three compartments. The detached figure
shows a vertical cross-section of the body of the box, and illustrates
how the shoe rest is hinged to the sides of the box. The box itself is
14" x 16" in dimensions; the sides are 6 inches wide and the legs 5
inches in height. In order to give strength to the legs, the bottom has
its corners cut out, to permit the upper ends of the legs to rest in
the recesses thus formed.

[Illustration: _Fig. 251._]

This is a convenient form of easel, made of four uprights. The main
front uprights are of strips 5/8" x 1-1/4", and the rear uprights are of
1/2" x 1" material. A thin broomstick will serve as the pivot bar for
the upper end. The rest is made of two strips, each 1/2" x 1", nailed
together to form an L, and nails or wooden pins will serve to hold the
rest in any desired po