boy fit to wear boots cares for these baby contrivances. Small light
wheels--they can be had from a retired baby carriage--are excellent
things to trundle, and some of them require more skill than does a
hoop. Even tin-can covers or the top of a blacking box may be made
to afford fun and test skill.

When I was a boy, and I am sure boys do so still, we used to make buzz
wheels out of circular tincan tops. Two holes, about an inch apart,
were cut near the center of the tin. Through both openings a string
was passed and the ends tied. By trowling, the strings--its ends were
held one in each hand--are made to twist. When tight enough, the ends
are drawn, and the buzzer starts off with such force that it half
winds itself up on the other start.

THE SUCKER

is a good philosophical toy, for it illustrates air pressure and
affords some fun. If you don't know how to make one, this is the way:
Get a piece of thin sole leather, about four inches square. Trim off
the corners till the shape is nearly round; next lay the leather on a
flat substance and bevel off the edges until they are as thin as you
can make them.

Now, without cutting through to the under side, cut a hole through the
top of the leather, just large enough to force the end of a strong
string through. Before using, soak the leather till it is soft. Next
find quite a flat stone or brick, force the sucker to the top with
your foot, taking care that there is no turned edge, then you can
walk off with that stone, forgetting that it is not the stick of the
sucker, but the air pressure--some fifteen pounds to the square inch--