Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/760

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��Popular Science Monthly

���At left: A "peace" kite, bearing the inscription: "I stand for peace. I am neutral. I fear none of them"

At right: A Jap- anese square kite. No Oriental kite is complete without the Japanese sun

Below: The most artistic kite in the air last season. Its tails were from six to eight feet long

��each school, so as to plan the tournament on the proper scale. However, no one is kept out for neglect of registration. The last tournament comprised about seventy events. The events were group- ed under the following gen- eral heads: Artistic, including the best decorated kites; Form kites, calling for bird, animal and flower designs; Balloons, including parachutes and banners; Dragon kites, including the tail- less dragon, Chinese dragon and the Jap- anese kites; Aeroplanes, including both kites and gliders. A Construction prize was also awarded for structural ingenuity. These events were further subdivided. For instance, the best decorated kite on the ground was not necessarily the best deco- rated kite in the air. In the strong pulling contest there were kites under and over four feet high. Then there were contests for strong-pulling box-kites, com- , pound kites, and various other

�����A square box kite with extended side wings made on lines resembling the French war-kite

��free-for-all events. ^ In the races, prizes are awarded for the highest flight made in one minute, three minutes, and ten minutes. In such events there is more or less confusion. Some kite takes a sudden notion to go sideways and collides with another kite. Another kite goes up with a swish and then darts as if scared and whirls around and around, playing havoc with two or three kites near it. But some kites go up, up, up. The boys get excited and play out the string too quickly. Others fail to get the kite up before the limit of time. It is indeed an exciting contest for both kite- flyers and spectators.

Each boy has a helper to hold his kite. When the starting signal is given the helper

releases the kite, and the boy runs into the breeze for a short dis- tance until the kite climbs fairly high. Then he stops and plays out string as fast as the kite will take it. In the short races it is easy to stand at a distance and determine the

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