This building was erected for an armory, but served the purpose of town-hall as well.
But finally the war ceased; and after all, the only part the old cannon played was to thunder forth resoundings of joy, which shook our old town to its very foundations, when peace was again restored.
Although children’s hearts will never again be gladdened by these great, clumsy shows, there is no reason why the little toy panorama should also be banished from among us. The mere delight of making it is sufficient reason for its existence, and when it is once finished it will continue to be a source of enjoyment to each little member of the household in turn.
The simplest form this can have is represented in Fig. 1, the foundation being a small soap-box, the rollers, sections of a broomstick, with small wooden pins glued into each end, which extend through holes made in the box for that purpose. The pictures, taken from any illustrated paper, are all cut the same width, about an inch narrower than the length of the rollers, and pasted together at their ends, the only limit to the length of this strip being the capacity of the box.
When the paste is dry, attach an end to each roller. It is necessary that the upper peg of each roller be also fitted with a strong crank, as an even motion is requisite for the proper display of the pictures; and this crank can be made in two ways: first, like Fig. 2, where a piece of wood is nicely fitted and glued on the pin, or like Fig. 3, which is the better arrangement, where a stiff wire is bent into the shape _a_, and then passed through two holes pierced through the crank-pin as shown at _b_; this arrangement securing the needful firmness, the projecting ends of the wire are then bent, the upper one upward, the lower downward, so completing the crank.
After the mechanical part of the panorama is finished so that it runs smoothly, two strips of stiff pasteboard can be fastened over the front, corresponding to the dotted lines _a_ and _b_ in Fig. 1, which will hide the rollers and give a neater appearance to the whole. If liked, a second piece of the pasteboard can be cut, in length corresponding to the width of the box, and wide enough to cover the cranks, and extend down to the top of the pictures.