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Bond, A. Russell

"The Scientific American Boy The Camp at Willow Clump Island"

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

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 the center and a block nailed to the larger
tower spaced the wheel far enough out so that the cans did not strike the
tower as they revolved. We carefully measured the distance between the
spokes and the larger tower, and then built a square trough of a size to
just fit into this space. This trough was nailed across the end of the
V-shaped trough on top of the tower, but a notch was cut in the side so
that the water would pour from the square or receiving trough into this
V-shaped one. The square trough was about 8 feet long and its sides were
12 inches high; but at the ends we had to cut them down to a height of but
6 inches, so as to permit the cans to pass without hitting them.
[Illustration: Fig. 259. The Receiving Trough.]

Setting Up the Towers.
Our filter was located nearly 20 feet from the end of the river, and in
order to get a good current of water to revolve our wheel we had to place
it about 15 feet from shore.


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