then you must attend to doing all four with harmonious action and in clock-work order. The dip, the pull, the lift and push back are the four distinct movements used in pulling an oar. You must avoid dipping your oar too deep in the water, going no deeper than to ob- tain a good hold on the water; in lifting it, too, you must avoid lift- ing it too high out of the water. In deep water let the flat part of the oar go under water, and in lifting let it skim the surface of the w^ater a few inches only above it. In pulling your oar forward, do it with a steady stroke, not with a jerk, giving your full strength to the pull just as the oar reaches the centre of the stroke and its deepest im- mersion ; and when you push back your oar on its return out of water, do it with a quick but steady stroke. Begin slowly, and look well at each of your four movements: first at the dip, that your oar is not too deep in the water; then at your forward pull, that your full strength be not exerted until your oar is well in the water ; then at your lift, that your oar may not rise more than three or four inches above the water, and lastly, at your return stroke, so that your oar may go back quickly and yet enter the water without a splash. After learning these four movements well, you will then have to learn how to " feather " your oar. You will have observed that in making your return stroke after lifting your oar from the water the flat por- tion of the oar acts as a surface facing the wind so as to retard your advance, especially if you are rowing against the wind. To obviate this and to present to the wind on the return stroke only the edge of the oar is what the process of feathering accomplishes, and this feathering is done by the motion of the wrists in turning the handle of the oar half round the moment you lift the oar from the water. The oar while in the water being in position No. i, is, when it is NO. I. NO. 2. lifted, changed at once to position Xo. 2, the centre line of the dia- gram showing the vertical and horizontal position of the paddle of the oar. This feathering of the oar is not essential for the ordinary pur- 114 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. poses of exercise, but it is the finishing stroke of the art, and gives strength to the muscles of the wrist. Of course, when you can do all this while using both hands to a single oar, you then learn to do exactly the same movements first with the right hand and then with the left. When you can do this well, you then begin to row with the pair of oars, and if you have followed the above instructions carefully, you will be surprised to see how soon you can row with both oars, and row creditably, too. CHESS.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

then you must attend to doing all four with harmonious action and in clock-work order. The dip, the pull, the lift and push back are the four distinct movements used in pulling an oar. You must avoid dipping your oar too deep in the water, going no deeper than to obtain a good hold on the water; in lifting it, too, you must avoid lifting it too high out of the water. In deep water let the flat part of the oar go under water, and in lifting let it skim the surface of thewater a few inches only above it. In pulling your oar forward, do it with a steady stroke, not with a jerk, giving your full strength to the pull just as the oar reaches the centre of the stroke and its deepest immersion ; and when you push back your oar on its return out of water, do it with a quick but steady stroke. Begin slowly, and look well at each of your four movements: first at the dip, that your oar is not too deep in the water; then at your forward pull, that your full strength be not exerted until your oar is well in the water ; then at your lift, that your oar may not rise more than three or four inches above the water, and lastly, at your return stroke, so that your oar may go back quickly and yet enter the water without a splash. After learning these four movements well, you will then have to learn how to " feather " your oar. You will have observed that in making your return stroke after lifting your oar from the water the flat portion of the oar acts as a surface facing the wind so as to retard your advance, especially if you are rowing against the wind. To obviate this and to present to the wind on the return stroke only the edge of the oar is what the process of feathering accomplishes, and this feathering is done by the motion of the wrists in turning the handle of the oar half round the moment you lift the oar from the water. The oar while in the water being in position No. i, is, when it is NO. I. NO. 2. lifted, changed at once to position No. 2, the centre line of the diagram showing the vertical and horizontal position of the paddle of the oar. This feathering of the oar is not essential for the ordinary pur- 114 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. poses of exercise, but it is the finishing stroke of the art, and gives strength to the muscles of the wrist. Of course, when you can do all this while using both hands to a single oar, you then learn to do exactly the same movements first with the right hand and then with the left. When you can do this well, you then begin to row with the pair of oars, and if you have followed the above instructions carefully, you will be surprised to see how soon you can row with both oars, and row creditably, too. CHESS.

The hearthstone; or, Life at home