Chapter Three: A Near Catastrophe

Revised:  7/5/2012          Subject to Revisions

The big male cat sniffed the air and perked up his ears to listen to the strange sounds coming from just beyond the edge of the tall grass.  He kept his head low so that his entire body was below the tops of the grass making sure he was fully hidden.  He let out a series of low grunts to signal that his hunting pack of seven other male and female big cats should hold position and stay hidden in the tall grass.  He heard the familiar hoof sounds of Double Twist Horned bulls and cows and their lowing sounds.  The strange sounds of clanking, tinkling, heavy creaking and rumbling that accompanied the sounds of the prey animals were new.  He remained cautious so he could watch and see what might happen to the desired prey, the big bulls and cows.

He crept forward very slowly so he was nearly at the edge of the grass and able to look out over a stretch of shorter grass and a band of dirt.  He was encouraged as the prey bulls and cows often cropped down a clear area so they could watch for predators better.  The prey animals that had caught his attention were moving closer walking along the dirt trail.  In the background was taller brush and trees.  As he looked down towards the sounds he heard, he saw a small clustered group of prey animals coming along the dirt area.  Behind them was a large strange object keeping pace, indeed seemingly to push the small herd.  That big object was making loud creaking and rumbling sounds.  Also, a number of smaller animals were on the big one behind the prey animals shouting and chattering between them.  They were coming closer, slowly, as the small herd was straining to walk.

The big cat leader looked at the clustered prey bulls and cows and the big thing following closely.  He had seen mixes of large herd animals in clear patches of grass land before.  The thought that this situation was just that, a group of suitable prey animals and close by some bigger animal.  Usually when the big cats would attack mixed groups like this, the animals would scatter and the big herbivorous were no threat.  The big cat let out a short series of low growls to signal the hunting pack that prey was close and soon he would signal a charge.  With such a small herd the big cats had a distinct advantage as the prey animals could not hope to defend against attacks by so many cats at the same time.  The cat pack would eat well very soon. 

The big male cat waited patiently until the small herd was just passing his position from left to right and signaled for the other cats on his left to attack by issuing a sharp snarl.  The three big cats to the left of the big male leader rushed out of the tall grass snarling and growling towards the small herd.  They had a fairly short distance to go over the area of short grass, perhaps only five to seven bounds and they would be on the small herd.

In the half loaded coal waggon pulled by three paired teams of double twist horned draft animals, the crew of two drivers and four guards were on full alert being close a stretch of the tall grass.  As the waggon moved slowly along the dirt road, the draft animals straining to pull the coal load up a slight grade in the road.  The guards were all sitting on top of the waggon with their feet hanging down into their defense position open hatches so they could see better.  A nervous lowing by the draft animals alerted them to possible trouble, which they didn't want to have along this grassland bordered stretch of road from Coalton to the next settlement, Rivertwo.   This was a stretch of road that normally wound through the woods that exposed their right flank to attack by big cats.

At the first sounds of the big cat charge, the waggon guards dropped down into their windlass bow firing positions and pulled the hatches closed.  The drivers were already inside looking out through window openings with close spaced bars.  The entire crew was fully alerted now and looking over the area of cropped grass towards the tall grass at the right of the waggon.  Almost without any notice three of the big cats bounded out of the tall grass from slightly behind the waggon and rushed towards the draft animals.  As soon as the cats cleared the grass, the draft animals all started loud calling and stopped pulling the waggon as they attempted to turn their horns towards the charging cats.

The coal waggon only had three working windlass bows, the fourth at the left rear of the waggon has a broken part that they had discovered only after leaving Coalton.  They did not have a repair part on the waggon.  The fourth guard then pulled out a hand bow and cluster of the shorter three foot arrows.  He would have to shoot out between the bars of the windows at the left rear corner of the waggon.  The right rear and right front windlass bows were aimed at the on coming cats and both guards got off a shot before the cats reached the team.  The remaining operating windlass bow at the left front was not able to bear on the oncoming cats.  The cat in the lead of the charge took an arrow in the upper front leg and went down in a tumble with a loud shriek.  The shriek alerted the big male lead cat hidden in the tall grass that something was wrong and he bellowed out for the remaining four cats at his right side in the deep grass to hold position while he looked to see what happened.

When the first attacking cat stumbled and fell because of the arrow hit, the second and third cats were startled but kept on coming now as they got the smell of the prey animals pulling the waggon.  The second cat in line, a hungry female, darted around the stricken first cat and ignored his shrieks.  She managed to reach the middle team on the right side and got her claws deep into the bulls neck.  She bit hard on the neck and managed to break it and crush the animals windpipe in just a couple of seconds.  The big bull went down tangling itself in the harness rigging.  The large cow just behind the stricken bull reared back hard snorting in fear trying the get away from the big cat.

Both the right rear and front side guards worked furiously to reload their windlass bows.  The front left location was ready to shoot and swung the left front turret right to shoot at the big cat that had just attacked the middle team right side bull.  The female cat that had just made the kill was struck in the chest and went down hard with a kill shot.  Meanwhile the right side windlass bow turrets were reloaded and swung to aim and shoot at the third big cat that was rapidly nearing the teams.  Both bows twanged at nearly the same moment and unfortunately the last of the big cats that attacked was unharmed.  The third big cat lunged at the terrified third team cow that was on the right side.  The cat's jaws clamped down on the hapless animals neck which promptly was crushed killing the poor beast.  As the third team cow fell the cat hung on to make sure of the kill. 

Meanwhile the front left corner guard managed to reload.  He was able to swing his turret hard right and just aim it at the front of the big cat's chest.  He shot the big windlass bow six foot arrow which struck true at the big cat's heart and lungs.  The big cat died almost immediately and now loosely hung unto the dying cow. 

Meanwhile the wounded first attack cat managed to limp off into the grass making loud meowing sounds indicating he was badly hurt.  The big male lead cat noticed the disastrous injury to the three cats that had attacked and loudly called for the troop to pull back into the grass.  He was alarmed that so few prey animals had managed to kill or badly injure those cats that had attacked.  This was not a good thing and so many bad injuries signified the need to pull back and stay away from that herd. 

The tired guards breathed a sigh of relief as no more cats came out of the tall grass, but they remained on alert.  Meanwhile the drivers struggled to calm the remaining double twist horn draft animals who were now fully terrified of the presence of the two remaining big cats that lie alongside the dead team mates.  One of the big cats kept making loud meowing sounds for a while and then silenced in death.  No one in the waggon was going to leave cover while there appeared to be some chance more cats might strike.

This attack by the big cats was fairly typical leaving the waggon with two dead draft double twist horns, or doubles for short.  The drivers had managed to somewhat calm the surviving team members while the guards and drivers began planning the process of re-rigging the teams so they could pull the dead cats and draft animals away from the waggon.  They all knew that soon other predators would arrive, particularly the scavenging wolves that followed big cat hunting packs.  The drivers were not sure that the surviving team of four could pull the waggon due to the heavy coal load and the waggon might just have to wait for a passing waggon to get help.

The wolves and big cats were both on the minds of the guards and drivers who now had to duty to pull the dead animals away from the waggon so the scavenging wolves and other wild life would not get close to the surviving draft team animals.  That meant that some of the crew would need to leave the relative safety of the waggon to re-hitch the teams and use pairs of doubles in a team to pull the dead creatures away.  The guards that remained on the waggon would need to provide sharp lookout against the possibility that more big cats might choose to attack or wolves if a pack of them showed up.

Guard Arbiums Groot, Danikels older brother, was coming down from the high excitement of the attack.  The senior guard volunteered Arbiums and another guard to help the drivers with the re-hitching and provide protection .  Arbiums,  the other guard and the drivers would each carry a hand bow and arrows.  The drivers would carry their bow and arrows on their back since they would be busy with the harnesses and driving the team of a pair of doubles.  The guards would have their bow at the ready and carry two spears, one to hand to the driver if they were threatened by scavengers while outside.  The hope was that the group of four could complete the re-hitching and pull away the dead animals before the wolves or any other big cats arrived.  The smell of the dead animals was sure to attract various scavengers which include both types of animal.

The four men, Arbiums Groot, the other guard and two drivers gathered up their protective weapons in preparation to go outside the waggon.  The two remaining guards opened the hatches on the top of the waggon and got out to look around and be ready to warn the others should wolves or cats come around.  The four outside crew members then carefully exited the door, one at a time.  They stayed close to the door for a short while and were ready to jump back insided the waggon while the guards on top looked around carefully.  After a while when nothing came around, they went to the front of the waggon where the draft double twist horn animals were hitched to the waggon drawbar.  The surviving doubles calmed down somewhat when the men came around front.  They were used to working with men and trusted them for food, handling and safety.

The drivers immediately went over to the drawbar and unhitched all the doubles from it.  They also cut away harnesses from the dead doubles so they could be pulled away.  The front most team of two doulbles was intact and could immediately be used to work at pulling away dead animals.  Abriums and his driver made use of that team and hooked up to one of the dead cats.  The cat was hooked up with sections of harness removed from the dead draft animals.  While this was going on, the other driver and guard pair took the two surving doubles and made up a second team pair connecting them to a common team pair bar so they could work together to pull a load. 

It took nearly a half hour to move the first cat to the side of the dirt road and pull it a bit unto the cropped grass.  They put it about fifty feet behind the rear of the waggon to keep it somewhat away from the drawbar of the waggon where the surviving doubles would eventually be hitched.  The team was driven back to the waggon drawbar area to hook up another dead animal.  Abriums and his driver hooked up the dead middle team bull and began pulling it out of the drawbar area.  At the same time the second team made of the the surviving doubles was being hitched to the second dead cat near the waggon.  It took some effort to work two teams of the big doubles so close together.  It was decided to pull the dead bull down back of the waggon a bit closer than the first dead cat they had previously pulled away.  Meanwhile the other team would pull their dead big cat forwad of the waggon drawbar area about fifty feet or so.

Working now with two teams of two, each with a driver and guard, the outside crews were making steady progress moving the dead carcasses away from the waggon.  About that time the waggon crew heard barking and snorting noises coming from the deep grass and knew that a pack of wolves was coming their way.  They had to protect the surviving two teams of two doubles each and still had to move the dead animals away from the waggon. 

Arbiums and his driver were scared now.  They were about thirty feet behind the waggon with their team and load.  They knew that the wolves would go right for the dead animals.  They would not likely be patient to wait until the crew finished moving them away.  They might decide to attack the outside crew members or double teams.  Arbiums held his bow tightly and checked that his first arrow was in the bow correctly.  He had never before been around the scavening wolves on foot.  He knew they were big enough to be a real threat.  He determined that if wolves came for him or the driver he would drop the spears at his side and shoot arrows while they were about thirty feet or so away hoping to hit one and keep them rest away.  If they came closer he and the driver would use the spears as a last resort.  Although he had some practice with the spear jabbing it into piles of hay he worried that a wolf might get by the spear and attack him with it's sharp teeth.  He knew when he took the job as guard that he might face such danger, and with it now upon him he sweated and shook at the danger.

Arbiums and his driver were about thirty feet to the back of the waggon on the short grass to the side of the road with the dead bull when the first wolves came out of the tall grass.  In the blink of an eye at least a dozen wolves were standing at the edge of the grass barking and howling.  The wolves were about fifty feet away just in front of the tall grass.  The wolves saw the men with the doubles and took that to mean a competing pack was busy working on the dead animals.  They were not afraid of a fight for food so they began to advance cautiously.  The two guards on the waggon top hollered out to the crews on the ground the situation and jumped into the right side big bow positions to begin shooting.  The wolves were very cautious and moved towards the dead cat off the side of the road fifty feet behind the waggon.  

Arbiums and his driver quickly unhitched the dead bull and drove their team back to the front of the waggon.  Luckily the maurading wolves did not follow them back since the dead bull they had just towed was there for their taking and they lunged into it instead.  In a few seconds two big arrows flew at the wolves and one was struck.  The arrow penetrated the wolf and pinned him to the ground.  He yelped and went silent.  The rest of the wolves concentrated on the dead cat and double bull and kept advancing on them. 
When Arbiums and his driver released the dead double they quickly moved their team back and hooked up the remaining dead double cow.  Meanwhile the other driver and guard and their team of doubles pulled their dead cat further up the road some fifty feet ahead of the waggon.  Suddenly a second pack of hungry wolf scavengers began to poke out of the grass land, very close to where the other team was dragging the dead cat.  The new pack of wolves didn't wait but went for the dead cat they were dragging.  The guards on top hollered watch out and began shoot at the newcomers.  The new pack was bigger, perhaps twenty animals.  The second team was in danger so that driver and guard began shooting their sand bows and managed to hit several wolves.  The big arrows from the waggon windlass bows also managed a couple of hits.  The wolves however were hungry and went for the dead cat anyway.

The driver and guard cut the harness draggin the dead cat and ran back towards the waggon.  Two wolves jumped at them and bit them.  They were both hurt, but turned with their long spears and jabbed the hungry wolves.  The wolves that had attacked them turned back to the dead cat and the driver and guard were able to continue running back towards the waggon.  Some of the new pack moved over to eat on the dead double located behind the waggon by Arbiums and his driver. 

At this point about thirty wolves were busy eating on the dead cats and dead double that were off to the side of the road.  Arbiums and his driver had managed to hook up the remaining dead double and were preparing to pull it away from the waggon.  The two hurt crew men scrambled back inside the waggon,.  The two guards up top were busy reloading in preparation for more shooting of the big arrows.  With so many wolves present they didn't know which wolves to shoot as their were so many.

Arbiums and his driver discussed what to do with the remaining dead double now that the right side of the road was lined with wolves eating on the dead animals.  They thought they might be able to pull the remaining dead double along the left side of the road nearer to the trees behind the waggon into the woods area that way avoiding getting near the feeding wolves.  The wolves would often turn towards the waggon and snarl and snap their teeth at the outside crew warning them away from the food. 

Arbiums and the other crew knew that the wolves would probably be satisfied with the large dead animals they were eating on for some time and they might have enough time to move the remaining dead creature to the left side of the road.  They wanted to move it well away from the waggon however to avoid other scavenger wolf packs that were sure to come along. 

Just then a third large group of wolves arrived.  They came out towards the food and a fight commenced between the newcomers and those that arrived earlier.  Although their were three food sites the three wolf groups could not sort it out amicably and continued fighting.  During the fight some of wolves drifted towards where Arbiums and his driver and team were pulling the final double steadily off the road to the left side into the shrubs near the trees.  Arbiums shot arrows into two of them which discouraged the few that had come over that way. 

The guards in the waggon shot a couple of wolves that left the overall melee as they came down past the rear of the waggon towards where Arbiums' team was pulling the dead double.  Fortunately Arbiums' team was able to unhook the dead double a bit off the road in the brush and pull back towards the waggon before several wolves came through the bush and went after the second dead double.  When they got back to the waggon area with their team they hitched it up loosely to the waggon drawbar along side the other team.  They left the teams rather loosely hooked so they could turn and fight off any wolves that might come around.

With that the tired outside crew of Arbiums and driver got into the waggon and shut the door.  The entire crew was now safely inside.  The two guards on top were joined now by Arbiums while the injured guard and driver rested inside and the drivers helped them apply wound dressings.  There was no point in waisting the big arrows on the many wolves that were now fully pre-occupied eating the two dead cats and two dead doubles.  Those large animals would serve as food for even more wolves than presently surrounded the waggon.  The crew was thankful that no more big cats had come by.  Now they all they had to do was wait for another waggon to come along to provide help.

Danikel's father Tomaka Groot heard the story of the big cat attack on Arbiums coal waggon from other waggon drivers that came in down the roadway from settlements up Cone River.  He related the story at Grandfather's birthday celebration and gave thanks for Arbiums survival.  Tomaka himself had survived several big cat attacks on waggons with results similar to those experienced by his son Arbiums.  The big danger following an attack was the wolves that seemed to trail the big cats and scavenge the cat's kills.

Chapter Two: The Big Idea

Revised 6/20/2012                Subject to further revision

When Danikel got to Master Wagon Works he noted the eight big wagons that were at various stages of assembly on the main floor with assigned crews busy working on them.  He wondered where the Wind Waggon crew would gather for daily work assignments.  Danikel did not immediately see his master machinist boss Artia or the team leader Mr. Smellows so he began asking team leads for the various waggon assembly teams.  At the second waggon assembly area he learned that his new Wind Waggon team would assemble out in the old back assembly area in a few minutes, so he wandered out that way.

Danikel arrived just as Mr. Smellows was coming down from the supervisors work platform above the side of the main waggon assembly areas.  The team was composed of eight others that he knew since working at the Works.  They included Artia the master machinist, a good boss and very clever, Burgoris the other third class machinist apprentice, Alfire, a second class machinist apprentice, Boddia a general worker, Mikela another general worker, Ekelis a master wood worker, Penchist a third class apprentice wood-worker and Adlier a master general worker.  Of course Mr. Smellows, the lead designer would provide the design details and generally supervise the work although he was on several other teams doing the same thing as well.

Rain was expected and it was known that this older back assembly area leaked and was drafty, not a very good omen for the importance of the new project in Danikel's estimation.  Mr. Smellows signalled for the team to join him around a work table where the designer had just rolled out a couple of sheets of plans.  Mr. Smellows momentarily blocked the view of his plans and signalled for quiet.  Meanwhile the boss of the Works was coming down from the above work deck to join the team.  Mr. Kellies had been boss since his father passed away, managing and owning the works as well. 

Mr. Kellies moved to the front alongside Mr. Smellows and the team quieted down and paid close attention.  The owner announced "This team is composed of some of the best waggon builders in order to tackle a new and innovative waggon motive power scheme recently devised by Mr. Smellows."  He continued, "This team will have the privilege to be a part of a truly revolutionary waggon design and the opportunity to prove that waggons can be moved by means other than draft animals."  Finally, Mr. Kellies concluded, "This work is revolutionary and gives Master Waggon Works a definite edge in future business affairs, so please treat all aspects of this project as most private, not to be shared outside this team."

There was some murmuring as Mr. Kellies walked back upstairs and Mr. Smellows hung his first drawing up for inspection by the team.  There was an outburst of excited and bewildered talk from the various team members as Mr. Smellows smoothed down the drawing and turned to face the team.  Mr. Smellows opened his remarks with "Boys, the problem with penetrating the grasslands is that draft animals are way too vulnerable to the big cats and we have tried everything to protect them to no avail."  He continued, "We even tried, as you may recall, putting draft animals inside on a turntable device."  He went on, "This sort of worked, however, the animals badly smelled up the interior and required way too much food and water to keep them healthy." 

Mr. Smellows further stated, "The large bulky waggon we did for that experiment happened over 15 years ago and convinced our leaders that inside draft animals was not practical."  He further stated, "We did learn however how to make various kinds of drive coupling devices some of which may be a strong assist on this project."  He continued on."Instead of inside draft animals, on this project we will use outside wind sails mounted on a turntable."  He also remarked, "The force of the wind on suitable sails can be in excess of the pulling power of draft animals when properly configured."  Finally he stated, "Please look over the plans carefully and later we will have further sessions to understand the project work efforts."  With that Mr. Smellows walked upstairs also leaving the team to ponder the design.

Remarks flowed like water among the team to the effect that sails mounted on a turntable seemed like a nearly impossible venture and might well prove once again an unworkable idea.  Imagine taking mid sized sails from a ship, not one, but six of them, and keep control of them while they rotate around and around on a turntable.  The turntable would in turn couple power through various belts, pulleys and gears to the wheels of the large waggon.  This project was at this moment overwhelming in scope.  The general consensus seemed to be this was a really risky idea.

Throughout the back and forth commentary, Artia remained silent and carefully studied the plans.  Finally he made a point, "This seems workable provided we find a good balance for the turntable and of course use very strong sails to handle the higher winds that occur from time to time.  We need to study this idea with some forethought.  We have undertaken complicated waggon builds with protection turrets from the big cats all along.  Altogether this new turntable effort should work provided we put the full effort and knowledge of our experts to work here.  We are those experts."

Danikel had mixed emotions considering Artia's comment and thought to himself that perhaps this will work after all, provided we do a good job detailing and building the critical devices.  During his 12 years at Master Waggon Works he had seen many very complex waggon designs and had seen the ill-fated draft animal turntable version in storage before it was dismantled.  It too was very complicated, particularly in the hidden belt and pulley works that existed below the turntable deck.  That was a maze of moving parts and a wonder to behold.  Indeed, a couple of the team had worked on that design, Ekelis and Adlier.  Danikel did not work on that model but had watched as a team disassembled the complicated drive works. If Master Waggon Works could built it once they could do it again.

It was soon lunch time.  The rain had stopped so some of the team drifted out into the back compound sitting on various convenient spots.  Danikel vaguely knew Alfire and Makela so he joined them sitting on a pile of lumber which wasn't too wet.  Danikel took his lunch that his wife Masela had prepared and relished the possible contents as he knew she fed him well.  During the eating silence was the rule so further conversation about the project was held off.  Danikel knew that Masela would be asking about the project and usually wanted some details, probably to show him her interest in himself.  He pondered what he might tell her.  He decided that he didn't know much anyway other than the name of the project, so likely he couldn't add much to what he already had told her. 

Eventually the eating slowed to a near halt and Alfire opened a conversation with "The sketch shows that the sail device on top is higher than the waggon is long.  The waggon looked larger than the more or less standard Master Waggon Works model 1024 which is ten feet wide and twenty four feet long.  He would later learn it is some 45 feet long and 14' wide with some overhang of the sail panel turntable.  That means the height is so great there is no way such a waggon would ever go on the roads through the forested parts of existing trails.  I wonder whether anyone would every want to buy one."  Makela piped up, "I got the impression that the prime motivation was to explore the great grasslands where there are no height restrictions.  I'm more concerned that our team knows nothing about rigging sails.  We can readily buy sails, but we know nothing about the ropes and pulleys needed to move them about." 

Alfire added, "I get the idea that each sail is pivoted separately.  Each has it's own attachment point, and those are mounted part way out from the center mast.  If the whole thing turns on the turntable bottom, than the sails and masts rotate around the center.  I've seen rigged ships and there is no way the sails can rotate very far, perhaps no more than thirty degrees either side of center.  With the sails rotating around the center mast the rigging must be very complicated. I sure have questions now for Mr. Smellows concerning how those sails are to work. "

Markela added, " I wonder too about the tendency to tip sideways under heavy wind.  Ships have their bottoms filled with heavy boulders and such to help them resist tipping in the wind.  How much wind is the waggon supposed to experience? "

Danikel couldn't comment on these matters as yet so remained silent hoping to learn.  To himself he pondered why the rear wheels were so wide and those in the front narrower.  He too had concerns about tipping having seen now two wrecked ships that tipped over in high winds.  He knew that if this group had a number of technical questions about the project, Mr. Smellows talk after lunch would likely be a long one.  He hoped that he would not be too late getting home tonight and missing too much of grandpa's birthday event.  Danikel, Masela and their son Krikea lived in the family house near the old palisade wall area along with his Grandfather, Father, Mother and two siblings.  He knew he would be asked many questions by the family as they all knew he was pleased and excited to have joined the new project.

After lunch Mr. Smellows presented several new drawings to further explain the critical working of the sail on turntable concepts.  Danikel paid close attention so he could begin to understand the strange and wonderful workings of the Wind Waggon.  The other team members likewise were attentive to gather more facts and understanding of the design concept so they could begin to detail the parts needed to build the Wind Waggon.  Mr. Smellows asked the team to allow him to present each drawing without interruption after each of which he would answer questions.

The first drawing was a typical sail construction.  Mr. Smellows design bore no resemblance to the sails used on ships.  Each sail would consist of an internal wood framework to which the sail cloth would be fastened on one side only.  The wood work would keep the sails of a uniform rectangular  size.  Each wood frame would have a bearing attached at both top and bottom so the sail could rotate freely all the way round.  The bearing axis was about two fifths the way from the front of the sail resulting in a smaller forward portion than the back.  Mr. Smellows pointed out that this was an essential part of the design and would be explained further in the next drawing presented. 

A further feature was a metal impact plate at the bottom of the back section.  The front portion opposite the impact plate was removed from the sail leaving a gap with the plane of the bearing.  Mr. Smellows stated that the sail structure must be very light and very strong.  The cloth sail would receive all the wind power while the wood framing would strive to keep the sail shape square and flat while transmitting the wind power to the bearings.  The sail cloth was to be attached with rope or hooks so it could easily be replaced if damaged.  Extra sail cloths would be carried during the trips.  Further, the wood framing was to be held together with bolts so that a broken brace or part could be replaced from spare parts to be carried during the travels as well.

As would be expected questions flowed from the team when Mr. Smellows indicated that questions would now be responded to beginning with the more senior men and on downwards to the less.  Ekelis the master wood worker raised his hand first and was recognized by Mr. Smellows.  His questioning began, "Mr. Smellows, what forces must the sail withstand?"  The response from Mr. Smellows was, "My estimate of forces is that the maximum for a sail will be about 3370 pounds in 60 mph winds equally divided between the two bearings."
 
Ekelis continued with, "The amount of structure seems small for such large forces based on our experience with waggon building.  How much force will be applied to the Stop Block Strike Plate?"  Mr. Smellows responded with, "The structure shown is notional only and we depend on the team to build sufficient strength into the structure keeping in mind the need to keep weight to the minimum as the sails will be rotating around on the turntable and we wouldn't want them to come loose or suffer damage due to rotating forces.  The total force will be rather evenly distributed on the cloth of the sail and thence transmitted through the wood or metal structural components to the bearings.  Regarding the strike plate, the rotational force of the sail is applied to the plate.  That force is about 1/5th of the total sail force or about about 672 pounds."

Next Artia raised his hand with a question.  After Mr Smellows pointed to him, Artia spoke, "The bearings must be metal to couple the forces mentioned to the turntable.  How is the force of the upper bearing transferred to the turntable?"  Mr Smellows indicated that a strong central shaft connected the upper bearing supports to the turntable. 

Danikel raised his hand, was recognized and asked the following question.  "Why are the bearings located nearer to the front edge of the sail?"  Mr. Smellows replied to the effect that Danikel asked a very appropriate leading question which would be addressed in the next drawing to be discussed.  He further asked that the team hold that question in mind as he began explanations of that fact. 

Mr. Smellows then pointed to the next drawing where sail motion relative to the wind was presented for those sails moving towards the wind.  Mr. Smellows stated that should a sail be misaligned somewhat with the wind, the imbalanced mounting would use the wind force on the sail to rotate it into alignment with the wind much like the feathers on an arrow, thus reducing sail forces to a minimum for those moving upwind.  His explanation was sufficient to satisfy the team and hold any further questions.  Mr. Smellows then presented the next drawing to address the forces on those sails moving with the wind. 

"This next drawing is a bit more complicated but addresses the method used to extract significant rotational force from the wind applied to the turntable.  That force will in turn be coupled from the turntable down through the shaft to the drive wheels below.  Note that all of the sails moving towards the wind on the upwind side of the turntable sketch are aligned with their narrow edge to the wind.  This reduces their rotational force nearly to zero.  Notice also that the downwind moving sails CANNOT rotate into alignment with the wind due to the presence of the stop blocks.  Those blocks keep the upper sails that are moving downwind rotated to the wind thus capturing much wind force and coupling the captured forces to the turntable.  The upper sails have much the same arrangement with the wind as would water wheel paddles to the moving stream of water.  Thus, those sails that capture wind power are held rotated as in a water wheel while the rest are free to rotate in alignment to the wind eliminating their rotational forces which would otherwise be counter to the upper sails."

Mr. Smellows continued, "this has been a long explanation, but it is the essential design feature of the turntable that extracts much force from the wind and further always aligns turntable capture operation to the wind regardless of wind direction without the need for operator intervention.  I realize that this concept is rather complicated and will now entertain questions to develop a better understanding."

Neither of the senior personnel, Artia, Eklis or Adlier raised their hand, however, both Danikel and Penchist did so.  Mr. Smellows recognized Penchist first who asked, "The sails at position four and five are reversed in position, why is that?"  Mr. Smellows answered, "The sail at position four is rotating downward with the turntable, as soon as the angle is a bit more than shown the rear of the sail will come free of the stop block and rapidly rotate that sail into wind alignment reversing it's direction.  As that sail continues rotating to position five it will now be in the alignment shown for position five in the diagram."

Danikel raised his hand and was recognized.  "Since sails in position one and three are not aligned squarely with the wind, will their force be the same as for a sail in position two?"  Mr. Smellows responded with. "Those two sails will have a force that is geometrically related to the angle they sustain with the wind in those positions.  As a sail rotates from position zero through one, two three and four, it experiences a gradually increasing force that maximizes at position two then gradually reduces to zero at position four.  The force increase and decrease are smooth and gradual suffering only from wind gusts.  Thus at least three sails apply a total force of 2.7 times the force of the sail at position two."

At this point Ekelis raised his hand, was recognized and asked, "This means that the turntable turning force will be very large with about 5 tons of force applied at the sail bearing radius on the turntable.  It appears that the turntable shaft would need to couple perhaps 45 tons of rotation force through the turntable shaft.  Is that about right?"  Mr. Smellows complimented Ekelis on his good math work and confirmed his estimations were about correct.  Mr. Smellows now indicated that the turntable would be rotating at perhaps 3 to 5 times each minute, much faster that was possible with the draft animal driven turntable of the past. 

Penchist then raised his hand, was recognized and asked, "That means that the turntable structure must transmit very high forces from the sail bearings to the turntable hub.  What material will the turntable be made from?"  Mr. Smellows responded that it was quite true that the turntable structure must transmit very high forces, both top and bottom structures coupling large forces to the shaft.  He indicated he thought that suitable wood structures with metal attachment point gussets would work.  He would later provide dimensional information for the turntable radius arms both top and bottom and suitable metal gussets to tie the parts to the bearings and central shaft.  He further indicated that the central turntable shaft would likely be wood reinforced with metal hoops.  Metal was too difficult as yet to work and obtain parts as large as the turntable shaft and radius arms.  Angle alignment supports between turntable radius arms would possibly be metal rods which may be available to this project.

Adlier raised his hand, was recognized and asked, "The sails extend from time to time beyond the edge of the turntable, will they also extend beyond the sides of the waggon?"  Mr Smellows replied that yes they would extend perhaps as much as two to three feet beyond the turntable and well beyond the waggon sides.  This would not be a problem once the vehicle left the palisade gate.  The gate to be used for exit of the vehicle would need to be modified in any event because of the height and width of the sail assembly.

Questions flew to Mr. Smellows from the various team members for several more hours.  Eventually both the team members and Mr. Smellows were exhausted and a halt for the day was called.  Danikel was very tired and glad that the meeting had not gone on too long after normal day end.  The team drifted out the shop door and head for home knowing that the next several days would most likely be as tiring as the team struggled to learn the details of the wind waggon concept.

As Danikel walked out the door, his younger sister Jezala Groot and one of the other waggon team members, Frazitz Autmea we sitting on an outside waiting bench talking earnestly.  Danikel was aware that the two had often met at the waiting bench and talked together while she waited for Danikel to come out.  Danikel liked young Frazitz who had started working at Master Waggon Works two years past and was nearing the end of his Basic Apprentice period.  Frazitz was obviously enamored of his sister and she seemed to take a strong liking to him.  Danikel knew that soon Frazitz would come calling Danikel's father seeking to formalize their courting. 


Danikel called for his sister to join him in his walk home so they both could be there for Grandfather's birthday celebration.  She said goodbye to Frazitz and they separated letting their finger tips slowly part.   Certainly love was in their future.   Danikel teased Jezala as they walked home saying she would soon leave the Groot family if she wasn't careful with young Frazitz.  Jezala frowned and lightly punched Danikel's arm then smiled thinking about the possibility of being Frazitz' mate.  She was about of age and happy with the thought that such a joining might actually come soon.  The two were both contented as they walked home.   She knew that Frazitz was soon going to ask permission to court. 

Chapter One: Beginnings

Revised 6/16/2012     Subject to further revisions

Danikel Groot woke up feeling awesome.  This was his first day on his new job at the Master Waggon Works.  His boss had just assigned Danikel to work on the new experimental wind waggon about to be built and at the same time promoted him from a machine class two apprentice to a machine class three apprentice.  He didn't know much about it, but as a new apprentice calss three mechanic he felt it would be fun and exciting.  Just think he thought, a new kind of waggon that would revolutionize transportation between the twelve settlements and he, Danikel would be in on it from the beginning.

The big waggons hauled goods between the settlements situated more or less along the Cone river.  The river ran about 20 miles beginning at a deep boil a few miles inland to the ocean near New Town. New Town was the first settlement built by the foundlings after their ship foundered near the ocean outlet of Cone River.  Cone river was so named because it began at the boil and was fairly narrow gradually widening as it approached the sea outlet.  The shape of the river was basically that of a cone, hence the name.

The original twenty foundlings were forced to land at the mouth of Cone River some 400 years ago.  History books indicated that the original twenty landed when their sailing craft began to leak excessively after they had been adrift at sea for nearly three months.  History did not reveal where or how far away they began, just that they had become lost at sea after a severe storm pushed them out of sight of land and they became disoriented.  No device existed for navigation at sea out of sight of land.  Today the population of nearly ten thousand souls had expanded into twelve settlements that fortunately work close together to survive on this land of endless grasslands filled with giant carnivore cats.  The accidental colonists had no choice but to work together to survive on this land. 

They quickly discovered that the big cats lived in the endless grasslands that bordered the tree line along the river.  The trees extended about 100 yards from the river's edge.  The grass was very tall, slightly taller than a full grown man.  The cats normally fed on large herbivores.  Small wolf like animals managed on the leavings of the cats.  They also were dangerous to man as they hunted in packs.  Any man going about on his own was fair game for the cats or wolves and virtually powerless to stop them.  Fortunately the stranded initial colonists lived on the boat and stayed close to the river among the trees.  The cats rarely came into the trees as their food game stayed out in the grasslands. 

The giant cats were a tawny straw color with thin vertical strips of slightly darker color.  They have a short tail and smooth short hair coat overall.  From about thirty feet away while standing still, head down they cannot be distinguished from the grass.  Tbey proved to be a terrible adversary for men on foot in the grass as the colonists soon discovered.

The larger male cats are about twelve to fifteen feet in length, 5-1/2’ tall at the shoulder and held their head erect at 7-1/2’ to look out over the tall grass.  When stalking they kept their head down sniffing along the ground for prey scent.  The cats weigh between 850 to 1400 pounds depending on their age and sex.

The cats were equiped with powerful hunting weapons.  Their canine teeth were on top and bottom of their jaws and about 7-10” long.  In addition they had twenty more sharp teeth in front and on the sides that were about 4-1/2” long and twelve wide crushing molars about 3/1/2” long and 4” oval shape.  Their curved claws on all four feet are 7 – 10” long, four in front per paw with one large hooked claw on the side of both front and rear feet.  Claws are thick with sharp edges but rounded tips that cannot readily penetrate deeply into tree bark or core wood.

 The colonists soon discovered that the giant cats could jump about 12 – 15 feet horizontal from a crouched position and when on a run the jump distance can be over 25 feet.  A running cat can clear brush and rocks to a height of over 10 feet.  The cat can jump up a tree about 12 feet from a bounding short run by grabbing the bark on the way up to a horizontal branch.  Cats cannot continue climbing trees unless there are horizontal branches.  Claws cannot be readily inserted into tree wood deep enough to hold weight of cat.  If a man sees a cat far enough away and climb a modest sized tree with no low branches, he might escape the cat.   If the tree has branches with the bottom most less than 12 feet from the ground, he cannot hope to escape the cat.

The big cats are very fast for an initial burst run of about 150 yards, reaching perhaps 30 miles per hour.  They can also lope along at 10 – 12 miles per hour for perhaps 20 – 30 minutes and walk at 8-10 miles per hour for over 6 hours.  A man on foot cannot hope to escape.
The first settlement took advantage of the trees and a twently foot high stockade was built.  The big cats were not able to climb the stockade wall.  After a time the cats that lived close to the forest discovered the vulnerable men and women and their domesticated draft animals.  When the colonists arrived they had a few bows, several bundles of arrows and a number of nine foot spears to rely upon.  They learned that it took many bow shots to discourage a cat or even kill it.   A lone man could not operate a bow quickly enough to bring down or discourage a big cat.  Also, it was a very lucky spear thrust that would kill or discourage a cat.  Colonists quickly learned that they must go about in groups of four or more skilled bowmen and spearmen to be able to fend off a lone cat.  When a hunting pack of cats appeared the group could not hope to survive.

The colonists quickly worked on a type of windlass bow for the walls of the settlement.  This bow shot larger six foot long arrows a considerable distance due to the 150 to 200 pound pull of the windlass.  With these powerful bows cats that strayed too close to the stockades were quickly killed.  The big cats soon learned to stay well away from the stockades and work could then be done relatively safely for a 100 yards or so outside the walls in daytime. 

The windlass bow was too large however to be man carried, so individuals would carry large spears some eight to nine feet in length along with a standard 50 pound pull bow with 3 foot arrows when working outside the settlement walls.  Although these could be effective weapons against the cats, it worked best that several strong men went about together equipped with both bows and spears and they were within the 100 yard kill zone of the windlass bows.

Many years ago deposits of metal ores and coal were discovered along the river or close to the tree line.  Those findings led to the need for additional settlements near those deposits so they could be exploited.  The metals and coal were both important for many reasons.  Those findings led to the need for waggons to move along trails near the river in the forest to move resources between settlements.  The waggons were drawn by between four and six domestic draft animals that were domesticated from the large herds of grazing animals in the grasslands.  Of course the large cats would go after the draft animals which were their natural prey.  The settlers equipped the large waggons with several windlass bows, bunches of arrows and spears.  Each waggon had a crew of one or two drivers and four to six weapon operators. 

Being next to the river, boats were developed and built as well.  Not having a good knowledge of boat design as yet, these were modest in size and powered with just a few sails.  Although the river area as well as the grasslands had regular winds, it was difficult to maneuver and control the boats further up the river which was quite narrow there.  Boats therefore were used primarily along the river nearer the mouth where the wide expanse gave plenty of room to maneuver. 

Although having sail boats the settlements had not been successful in exploring along the sea to any great distance due to the tendency of the winds to vary daily and the lack of suitable landing places.  Landing on the grasslands that existed to either side of the Cone river mouth for hundreds of miles was very dangerous due to the big cats.  People would be relatively safe from the cats by anchoring aways offshore, but any landing party was terribly vulnerable to attack.

Travel between settlements was more sure with the large armored waggons.  Goods and equipment could more reliably be moved between settlements.  Also, people would be safely transported inside the heavy armored waggons.  A special type was developed that had narrow viewing slits for the passengers.  Waggons also had from four to six windlass bows mounted in protected turrets on the top of the waggon.  Bow operators had a trapdoor cover on the turret top so they could better scan the area.  When a cat was detected they would drop inside and close the trapdoor.  The large bow arrow slot had an aiming slot above it and several other slits to the side gave the bow operator a way to keep track of a nearby cat.
It was fairly common that a cat would attack the draft animals that pulled the waggon and manage to injure or kill one before the arrows and spears would kill it or drive it away.  In such a case the draft animal that was unable to pull could be uncoupled and left if dead or trot along side the waggon if ambulatory. 

Over the nearly 400 years the settlers had been along the Cone River, several attempts had been made to travel through the grasslands and explore.  All such attempts had proven disastrous  due to the vulnerability of the draft animals.  They simply could not be adequately guarded in the grass and the explorations had to be aborted.  Several attempts had never returned, probably because of attacks by groups of cats and or wolves.  In the grass lands big cats hunted together in groups helping the to overcome the defenses of large groups of the herbivores.

The idea being developed by Master Waggon Works featured a design that would use wind power rather than draft animals.  Should the concept prove workable further exploration of the vast grasslands would be possible.