Page:Recollections of My Boyhood.djvu/86

Rh scope, having cast the heavy wheel in a soapstone mould. This toy, when in operation, astonished the children, and the Indians regarded it with superstitious awe. When the wheel was put in motion and one end of the axle placed on the upright support and they saw that the other end did not fall, although there was no visible support, they would gaze at it with open mouths and breathless attention. When the wheel and axle began to move on a horizontal circle around the pivot, a deep grunt expressed their involuntary applause and satisfaction. The occult power they saw manifested, I think they regarded as a hopeless mystery, for only one among many ever demanded an explanation of it. Occasionally one would venture to say, "Iktah mamook?" or what makes it? or who makes it? Many Indians came to see the, to them, wonderful creation.

My brother also cast a cannon of lead. It was about ten inches long and weighed five or six pounds. It carried a ball the size of a buckshot and the touchhole was just large enough to admit a grain of gunpowder. Of course we had it mounted on a carriage. We used two kinds of projectile; the regular buckshot and a long bullet we moulded especially for the cannon. We began testing the gun with very small charges of powder and as our confidence in the strength of the metal grew, the charge was augmented 'till we reached the maximum of the quantity the gun would burn. In all those experiments we loaded with only one ball. Having settled the question as to the maximum charge of powder, we entered upon a series of experiments to find the maximum weight of projectile or projectiles the metal would bear—two buckshot did not appear to make much difference. A long bullet and a buckshot was all right, so we loaded with a buckshot, several paper wads, some ashes, a wad, a long bullet and paper wad all being tamped into the barrel very tight. The gun stood this severe test without injury, but the recoil carried the carriage back about five feet, and though we suspected that this drawback saved the gun, we were satisfied with the tests and that there was no danger in firing any ordinary load. The testing took several days, because the business had to be frequently suspended, on account of calls to do other work, and it consumed a large quantity of powder. It was not safe to be near the