Any boy can make an interesting toy that will enable to appreciate the force of the wind and even to some extent to tell its speed. The first thing that I shall require will be two pieces of wood, 3 inches square and half an inch thick. I shall make a hole of about three-eights of an inch in diameter through the middle of each square.
Now I shall take four pieces of wood 15 inches long, 2 inches wide and half an inch thick. Near the top of each I shall make a round hole of 1 inch in diameter. Now I shall take two square pieces and nail the four long pieces in position so that the inside ends of the long pieces are at a little distance away from the hole in the middle of the square pieces.
I shall take care to place the four pieces exactly on right angles and in order to test, I shall measure the distance from tip to tip of any two adjoining ones. I will see that these distance are all alike and the result is something like the top of a signpost at two cross-roads. Now the structure is ready.
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I shall give it a coat of paint and I shall choose such a colour that the wind measurer, as it could be called, will be able to stand the weather. Now I shall take four in funnels or fillers, 4 or 6 inches diameter at the mouth and into the spout of each put a cork that will close the end.
After this, I shall place these funnels in the round holes which were made near the tips of the wooden arms. I shall put them in such position that the wind will blow into the mouth of each in turn as the arms spin round. I shall paint each funnel with a different colour and this will help in judging the speech at which the wind blows them round.
The next thing to do is to get a washer that is, a small flat ring of iron with a hole of, say, half-inch size; also a round iron not less than 5 inches long.
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Now I shall put the washer on top of the wooden post, right in the middle, put the measure with its arms and funnels on top of the washer, and drive the nail down through the hole in the centre, then through the washer and into the post, until the head of the nail is about half an inch above the top of the wind-measurer.
Now the toy is ready and the wind will do its work. The wind will send the toy merrily round when it blows briskly. In this way I shall put up the toy wind measurer ready for work at the School Crafts Exhibition.