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Show A BASEBALL TARGET. Here Is a splendid target for the back yard or vacant lot. It may be used for archery, or when practicing shooting with your air ritle or homemade home-made cross-bow; but It will also be a good target to throw at, and for this purpose will be most useful during the early part of the baseball season when you are trying to get that pitching pitch-ing arm in condition. The target may be set up over an imaginary home-plate, home-plate, at the proper height, 60 the center of the target will be on a line with your shoulder; then, when you take up your position In your pitcher's pitch-er's box you will face a mechanical umpire that will not fall to render you accurate decisions on your throws. As you will see by the working drawings, the target Is very simple to make. For material, you will require a box about 18 Inches square and f inches deep, and a dozen tomato PlTCrtlNG-AT-ai Tf-tE-Baseball- target cans. It will be a simple matter to cut down a largerbox if you cannot get one of the right dimensions at the grocery, and of course It will be which they are fastened, either by holding them one at a time over a lighted gas burner, or by placing them In a bonfire. Then remove the bottom bot-tom boards of the box, and out of these and the cover boards cut four strips IVi Inches wide, and two strips easy to find enough empty tin cans. Remove the ends of the tomato cans, by melting the solder with two inches wide, of the right length to fit between the sides of the box. Fasten two of the 1-inch strips as at A (Fig. 1), with their edges flush with the edges of the sides, and so spaced that they will divide the Inside In-side of the box Into three equal spases. Next, fasten the two two-inch strips as shown at B (Fig. 1), crossing cross-ing strips A at right angles, and spacing them so as to divide the inside in-side of the box into three equal spaces. Then cross these strips at right angles with the two remaining IVi-lnch strips, as at C, placing them exactly on a line with 6trips A. Between Be-tween the strips there will now be nine equal openings, and in each one of these a tomato can should be fastened. fast-ened. In case the cans are a trifle smaller than the openings, drive In wooden wedges between them and the trips. After the cans have been fastened n place, fill In around them with wet earth, and pack this in solid with tng end of a stick. If the sticks were cut cf the widths directed, so that the front pair (C, Fig. 1) will set half an inch in from the front edges of the box, mud can be plastered over the latter sticks to conceal them. (Fie. 5.) From the remaining three cans of the dozen procured, cut nine pieces of tin five inches square. Flatten these pieces, pierce two holes In each near one edge, and wire- them to small staples driven into strips A, and into one of the edges of the boxes parallel to them, as shown In Figs. 3 and 4. These pieces of tin form the flaps to the backs of the tin can pockets, pock-ets, and scores may be painted upon them as suggested in Figs. 4 and 6. Inasmuch as whatever Is thrown or shot through a pocket will strike the flap and force It part way open, it will be easy to at once see which PQCket has beer) entered and what sCore )ias been made. ...-- The strongest method of erecting the target Is by means of two post supports placed at the sides, but one post will do if you bracket the target as shown in Fig. 5. (Copyright. 1912, by A. Neely Hall.) |