A heavy morning fog generally indicates a clear day.
East wind brings rain.
West wind brings clear, bright, and cool weather.
North wind brings cold.
South wind brings heat.
Direction of the Wind
The way to find which way the wind is blowing is to throw up little bits of dry grass, or to hold up a handful of light dust and let it fall, or to suck your thumb, wet it all around and let the wind blow over it, and the cold side of it will then tell you which way the wind is blowing.
Weather Flags
The United States Weather Bureau publishes a "Classification of Clouds" in colors, which may be had for the asking. If you are near one of the weather signal stations, daily bulletins will be sent to camp upon request; also the weather map.
A set of flag signals run up each day will create interest. The flags are easily made or may be purchased.
Keep a daily record of temperature. A boy in charge of the "weather bureau" will find it to be full of interest as well as offering an opportunity to render the camp a real service. He will make a weather vane, post a daily bulletin, keep a record of temperature, measure velocity of wind, and rainfall.
How to Get Your Bearings
If you have lost your bearings, and it is a cloudy day, put the point of your knife blade on your thumb nail, and turn the blade around until the full shadow of the blade is on the nail. This will tell you where the sun is, and decide in which direction the camp is.
Face the sun in the morning, spread out your arms straight {158} from body. Before you is the east; behind you is the west; to your right is the south; the left hand is the north. Grass turns with the sun.
Remember this when finding your way at night.
Building a Camp Fire
There are ways and ways of building a camp fire. An old Indian saying runs, "White man heap fool, make um big fire--can't git near!
Injun make um little fire--git close! Ugh! good!"
Make it a service privilege for a tent of boys to gather wood and build the fire. This should be done during the afternoon. Two things are essential in the building of a fire--kindling and air. A fire must be built systematically. First, get dry, small, dead branches, twigs, fir branches, and other inflammable material. Place these on the ground. Be sure that air can draw under it and upward through it.
Next place some heavier sticks and so on until you have built the camp fire the required size. An interesting account of "How to Build a Fire by Rubbing Sticks," by Ernest Thompson Seton, will be found in Chapter 11. In many camps it is considered an honor to light the fire.
Never build a large camp fire too near the tent or inflammable pine trees. Better build it in the open.
Be sure and use every precaution to prevent the spreading of fire.
This may be done by building a circle of stones around the fire, or by digging up the earth, or by wetting a space around the fire. Always have the buckets of water near at hand. To prevent the re-kindling of the fire after it is apparently out, pour water over it and soak the earth for a space of two or three feet around it. This is very important, for many forest fires have started through failure to observe this caution.
Things to remember: First, it is criminal to leave a burning fire; second, always put out the fire with water or earth.
"A fire is never out," says Chief Forester H. S. Graves, "until the last spark is extinguished. Often a log or snag will smolder unnoticed after the flames have apparently been conquered only to break out afresh with a rising wind."
Be sure to get a copy of the laws of your state regarding forest fires, and if a permit is necessary to build a fire, secure it, before building the fire.
Kephart, in his book on "Camping and Woodcraft" (p. 28), says:
"When there is nothing dry to strike it on, jerk the head {160} of the match forward through the teeth. Or, face the wind. Cup your hands back toward the wind, remove the right hand just long enough to strike the match on something very close by, then instantly resume former position. Flame of match will run up stick instead of blowing away from it."
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FOREST FIRES!
The great annual destruction of forests by fire is an injury to all persons and industries. The welfare of every community is dependent upon a cheap and plentiful supply of timber, and a forest cover is the most effective means of preventing floods and maintaining a regular flow of streams used for irrigation and other useful purposes.
To prevent forest fires Congress passed the law approved May 5, 1900, which--
Forbids setting fire to the woods, and
Forbids leaving any fires unextinguished.
This law, for offenses against which officers of the FOREST SERVICE can arrest without warrant, provides as maximum punishment--
A fine of $5000, or imprisonment for two years, or both, if a fire is set maliciously, and
A fine of $1000, or imprisonment for one years, or both, if a fire is set carelessly,
It also provides that the money from such fines shall be paid to the school fund of the county in which the offense is committed.
THE EXERCISE OF CARE WITH SMALL FIRES IS THE BEST
PREVENTIVE OF LARGE ONES. Therefore all persons are requested--
1. Not to drop matches or burning tobacco where there is inflammable material.
2. Not to build larger camp fires than are necessary.
3. Not to build fires in leaves, rotten wood, or other places where they are likely to spread.
4. In windy weather and in dangerous places, to dig holes or clear the ground to confine camp fires.
5. To extinguish all fires completely before leaving them, even for a short absence.
6. Not to build fires against large or hollow logs, where it is difficult to extinguish them.
7. Not to build fires to clear land without informing the nearest officer of the FOREST SERVICE, so that he may assist in controlling them.
This notice is posted for your benefit and the good of every resident of the region. You are requested to cooperate in preventing the removal or defacement, which acts are punishable by law.
JAMES WILSON,
Secretary of Agriculture
The above is a copy of one of a series of notices posted in forests by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, directing attention to U. S. laws on this important subject.
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Around the camp fire
The Camp Fire
"I cannot conceive of a camp that does not have a big fire. Our city houses do not have it, not even a fireplace. The fireplace is one of the greatest schools the imagination has ever had or can ever have. It is moral, and it always has a tremendous stimulus to the imagination, and that is why stories and fire go together. You cannot tell a good story unless you tell it before a fire. You cannot have a complete fire unless you have a good story-teller along!
"There is an impalpable, invisible, softly stepping delight in the camp fire which escapes analysis. Enumerate all its charms and still there is something missing in your catalogue.
"Anyone who has witnessed a real camp fire and participated in its fun as well as seriousness will never forget it. The huge fire shooting up its tongue of flame into the darkness of the night, the perfect shower of golden rain, the company of happy {161} boys, and the great dark background of piny woods, the weird light over all, the singing, the yells, the stories, the fun, and then the serious word at the close, is a happy experience long to be remembered."
Camp-fire Stunts
The camp fire is a golden opportunity for the telling of stories--good stories told well. Indian legends, war stories, ghost stories, detective stories, stories of heroism, the history of life, a talk about the stars.
Don't draw out the telling of a story. Make the story life-like.
College songs always appeal to boys. Let some leader start up a song in a natural way, and soon you will have a chorus of unexpected melody and harmony. As the fire dies down, let the songs be of a more quiet type like "My Old Kentucky Home," and ballads of similar nature.
When the embers are glowing is the time for toasting marshmallows.
Get a long stick sharpened to a point, fasten a marshmallow on the end, hold it over the embers, not in the blaze, until the marsh-mallow expands. Oh, the deliciousness of it! Ever tasted one? Before roasting corn on the cob, tie the end of the husk firmly with string or cord; soak in water for about an hour; then put into the hot embers.
The water prevents the corn from burning and the firmly tied husks enable the corn to be steamed and the real corn flavor is thus retained. In about twenty minutes the corn may be taken from the fire and eaten. Have a bowl of melted butter and salt at hand. Also a pastry brush to spread the melted butter upon the corn. Try it.
Story Telling
For an example of a good story to be told around the camp fire this excellent tale by Prof. F. M. Burr is printed by permission: How Men Found the Great Spirit
In the olden time, when the woods covered all the earth except the deserts and the river bottoms, and men lived on the fruits and berries they found and the wild animals which they could shoot or snare, when they dressed in skins and lived in caves, there was little time for thought. But as men grew stronger and more cunning and learned how to live together, they had more time to think and more mind to think with.
Men had learned many things. They had learned that cold weather followed hot; and spring, winter; and that the sun got up in the morning and went to bed at night. They said that the great water was kindly when the sun shone, but when the sun hid its face and the wind blew upon it, it grew black and angry and upset their canoes.
They found that knocking flints together or rubbing dry sticks would light the dry moss and that the {162} flames which would bring back summer in the midst of winter and day in the midst of night were hungry and must be fed, and when they escaped devoured the woods and only the water could stop them.
These and many other things men learned, but no one knew why it all was or how it came to be. Man began to wonder, and that was the beginning of the path which led to the Great Spirit.
In the ages when men began to wonder there was born a boy whose name was Wo, which meant in the language of his time, "Whence."
As he lay in his mother's arms she loved him and wondered: "His body is of my body, but from whence comes the life--the spirit which is like mine and yet not like it?" And his father seeing the wonder in the mother's eyes, said, "Whence came he from?" And there was no one to answer, and so they called him Wo to remind them that they knew not from whence he came.
As Wo grew up, he was stronger and swifter of foot than any of his tribe. He became a mighty hunter. He knew the ways of all the wild things and could read the signs of the seasons. As he grew older they made him a chief and listened while he spoke at the council board, but Wo was not satisfied. His name was a question and questioning filled his mind.
"Whence did he come? Whither was he going? Why did the sun rise and set? Why did life burst into leaf and flower with the coming of spring? Why did the child become a man and the man grow old and die?"
The mystery grew upon him as he pondered. In the morning he stood on a mountain top and stretching out his hands cried, "Whence?" At night he cried to the moon "Whither?" He listened to the soughing of the trees and the song of the brook and tried to learn their language.
He peered eagerly into the eyes of little children and tried to read the mystery of life. He listened at the still lips of the dead, waiting for them to tell him whither they had gone.
He went out among his fellows silent and absorbed, always looking for the unseen and listening for the unspoken. He sat so long silent at the council board that the elders questioned him. To their questioning he replied like one awakening from a dream:
"Our fathers since the beginning have trailed the beasts of the woods.
There is none so cunning as the fox, but we can trail him to his lair.
Though we are weaker than the great bear and buffalo, yet by our wisdom we overcome them. The deer is more swift of foot, but by craft we overtake him. We cannot fly like a bird, but we snare the winged one with a hair. We have made ourselves many cunning inventions by which the beasts, the trees, the wind, the water and the fire become our servants.
"Then we speak great swelling words: 'How great and wise we are!
There is none like us in the air, in the wood, or in the water!'
"But the words are false. Our pride is like that of a partridge drumming on his log in the wood before the fox leaps upon him. Our sight is like that of the mole burrowing under the ground. Our wisdom is like a drop of dew upon the grass. Our ignorance is like the great water which no eye can measure.
"Our life is like a bird coming out of the dark, fluttering for a heart-beat in the tepee and then going forth into the dark again. No one can tell whence it comes or whither it goes. I have asked the wise men and they cannot answer. I have listened to the voice of the trees and wind and water, but I do not know their tongue; I have questioned the sun and the moon and the stars, but they are silent.
"But to-day in the silence before the darkness gives place to light, I seemed to hear a still small voice within my breast, saying to me,
'Wo, the {163} questioner, rise up like the stag from his lair; away, alone, to the mountain of the sun. There thou shalt find that which thou seekest.' I go, but if I fail by the trail another will take it up. If I find the answer I will return."
Waiting for none, Wo left the council of his tribe and went his way toward the mountain of the sun. For six days he made his way through the trackless woods, guided by the sun by day and the stars by night. On the seventh day he came to the great mountain--the mountain of the sun, on whose top, according to the tradition of his tribe, the sun rested each night. All day long he climbed saying to himself, "I will sleep tonight in the teepee of the sun, and he will tell me whence I come and whither I go."
But as he climbed the sun seemed to climb higher and higher; and, as he neared the top, a cold cloud settled like a night bird on the mountain. Chilled and faint with hunger and fatigue, Wo struggled on.
Just at sunset he reached the top of the mountain, but it was not the mountain of the sun, for many days' journey to the west the sun was sinking in the Great Water.
A bitter cry broke from Wo's parched lips. His long trail was useless.
There was no answer to his questions. The sun journeyed farther and faster than men dreamed, and of wood and waste and water there was no end. Overcome with misery and weakness he fell upon a bed of moss with his back toward the sunset and the unknown.
And Wo slept, although it was unlike any sleep he had ever known before, and as he slept he dreamed. He was alone upon the mountain waiting for the answer. A cloud covered the mountain but all was silent. A mighty wind rent the cloud and rushed roaring through the crags, but there was no voice in the wind. Thunder pealed, lightning flashed, but he whom Wo sought was not there.
In the hush that followed up the storm Wo heard a voice, low and quiet, but in it all the sounds of earth and sky seemed to mingle--the song of the bird, the whispering of the trees, and the murmuring of the brook.
"Wo, I am he whom thou seekest, I am the Great Spirit. I am the All Father. Ever since I made man of the dust of the earth, and so child of the earth and brother to all living, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, thus making him my son, I have waited for a seeker who should find me. In the fullness of time thou hast come, Wo the questioner, to the answerer.
"Thy body is of the earth and to earth returns; thy spirit is mine; it is given thee for a space to make according to thy will; then it returns to me better or worse for thy making.
"Thou hast found me because thy heart was pure, and thy search for me tireless. Go back to thy tribe and be to them the voice of the Great Spirit. From henceforth I will speak to thee, and the seekers that come after thee in a thousand voices and appear in a thousand shapes. I will speak in the voices of the woods and streams and of those you love. I will appear to you in the sun by day and the stars by night. When thy people and mine are in need and wish for the will of the Great Spirit, then shall my spirit brood over thine and the words that thou shalt speak shall be my words."
And Wo awoke, facing the east and the rising sun. His body was warmed by its rays. A great gladness filled his soul. He had sought and found and prayer came to him like the song to the bird.
"O Great Spirit, father of my spirit, the sun is thy messenger, but thou art brighter than the sun. Drive thou the darkness before me. Be thou the light of my spirit." As Wo went down the mountain and took the journey back to the home of his people, his face shone, and the light never seemed to leave it, so that men called him "He of the shining face."
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When Wo came back to his tribe, all who saw his face knew that he had found the answer, and they gathered again about the council fire to hear. As Wo stood up and looked into the eager faces in the circle of the fire, he remembered that the Great Spirit had given him no message and for a moment he was dumb. Then the words of the Great Spirit came to him again. "When thy people and mine shall need to know my will, my spirit shall brood over thine and the words that thou shalt speak shall be my words." Looking into the eager faces of longing and questioning, his Spirit moved within him and he spoke:
"I went, I sought, I found the Great Spirit who dwells in the earth as your spirits dwell in your bodies. It is from Him the spirit comes. We are His children. He cares for us more than a mother for the child on her breast, or the father for the son that is his pride. His love is like the air we breathe: it is about us; it is within us.
"The sun is the sign of His brightness, the sky of His greatness and mother-love and father-love, and the love of man and woman are the signs of His love. We are but His children; we cannot enter into the council of the Great Chief until we have been proved, but this is His will, that we love one another as He loves us; that we bury forever the hatchet of hate, that no man shall take what is not his own and the strong shall help the weak."
The chiefs did not wholly understand the words of Wo, but they took a hatchet and buried it by the fire saying, "Thus bury we hate between man and his brother," and they took an acorn and put it in the earth saying, "Thus plant we the love of the strong for the weak." And it became the custom of the tribe that the great council in the spring should bury the hatchet and plant the acorn. Every morning the tribe gathered to greet the rising sun, and with right hand raised and left upon their hearts prayed: "Great Spirit hear us; guide us to-day; make our wills Thy will, our ways Thy way."
And the tribe grew stronger and greater and wiser than all the other tribes--but that is another story.
Tent Making Made Easy By H. J. Holden (Reprinted from Recreation. Apr. 1, 1911. by permission of the Editor.) The accompanying sketches show a few of the many different tents which may be made from any available piece of cloth or canvas. The material need not be cut, nor its usefulness for other purposes impaired, except that rings or tapes are attached at various points as indicated. For each tent the sketches show a front elevation, with a ground plan, or a side view; also a view of the material laid flat, with dotted lines to indicate where creases or folds will occur. Models may be made from stiff paper and will prove as interesting to the kindergartner in geometry as to the old campaigner in camping. In most of the tents a ring for suspension is fastened at the centre of one side. This may be supported by a pole or hung by means {165} of a rope from any convenient fastening; both methods are shown in the sketches. Guy ropes are required for a few of the different models, but most of them are pegged down to the ground.
After making paper models, find a stack cover, a tarpaulin, a tent fly, an awning, or buy some wide cotton cloth, say 90-inch. All the shapes may be repeatedly made from the same piece of material, if the rings for changes are left attached. In Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, a portion of the canvas is not used and may be turned under to serve as sod-cloth, or rolled up out of the way. If your material is a large piece, more pegs and guy lines will be required than is indicated in the sketches. The suspension ring, 1-1/2 inches or 2 inches in diameter, should be well fastened, with sufficient reinforcement to prevent tearing out; 1-inch rings fastened with liberal lengths of tape are large enough for the pegs and guy lines. Also reinforce along the lines of the strain from peg to pole.
Fig. 1.--A square of material hung by one corner, from any convenient support, in a manner to make a comfortable shelter; it will shed rain and reflect heat. This square makes a good fly or a good ground cloth for any of the tents.
Fig. 1. Tent from a square of canvas. 7 x 7 sheet is ample for a one-man shelter; 9 x 9 will house two.
Fig. 2.--A rectangle equal to two squares. A shelter roomy and warm, with part of one side open toward the fire.
Fig. 2. Rectangle tent
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Fig. 3.--Here the rectangle is folded to make a "lean-to" shelter, with the roof front suspended from a rope or from a horizontal pole by means of cords. The two corners not in use are folded under, making a partial ground cloth. A square open front is presented toward the camp fire.
Fig. 3. Baker, or lean-to
Fig. 4.--Same in plan as No.3, but has a triangular front and only one point of suspension.
Fig. 4. Same plan as No.3
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Fig 5.--Uses all the cloth, has a triangular ground plan, a square front opening, plenty of head room at the back and requires two or more guy lines. This shelter resembles a "toque."
Fig. 5. The toque tent
Fig. 6.--Square or "miner's" tent. Two corners are turned under. This tent is enclosed on all sides, with a door in front.
Fig. 6. Miner's tent
Fig. 7.--Conical tent or "wigwam," entirely enclosed, with door in front.
Two corners of the canvas are turned under.
Fig. 7. Conical tent, or wigwam
Fig. 8.--Has a wall on one side and is called a "canoe tent" in some catalogues. It requires two or more guy lines and is shown with a pole support. The front has a triangular opening.
Fig. 8. So-called canoe tent. Requires three guy lines, and can be supported by a rope instead of a pole
Fig. 9.--A combination of No. 8, with No. 1 in use as an awning or fly.
This sketch shows both tent and fly suspended by means of a rope.
The "awning" may be swung around to any angle.
Fig. 9. Canoe tent with fly
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Fig. 10.--Combination of Nos. 1 and 2; they may be fastened together by a coarse seam or tied with tapes. The ground plan is an equal-sided triangle, with a door opening on one side, as shown. There is no waste cloth.
Fig. 10. Combination of Nos. 1 and 2
Fig. 11.--No. 10 changed to a conical shape and suspended as a canopy. The circular shape is secured by the use of small-size gas pipe or limber poles bent into a large hoop. Of course guy lines may be used, but would probably be in the way. Notice that a little more material for making a wall would transform the canopy into a "Sibley"
tent.
Fig. 11. Sibley awning
There are other shapes and combinations, but perhaps these sketches are enough in the line of suggestion.
The diagram Fig. 12 shows a method for laying out, on your cloth, the location of all the rings to make the tents and shelters. No dimensions are given and none is required. The diagram is good for any size.
Most of the fastenings are found on radial lines, which are spaced to divide a semi-circle into eight equal {169} angles, 22-1/2 degrees each; these intersect other construction lines and locate the necessary loops and rings. Figures are given at each ring which refer back to the sketch numbers.
Fig. 12. Showing how ten different tents can be made with but one piece of canvas
Suppose the material at hand is the widest unbleached cotton cloth, 90 inches wide, 5 yards long, or 7-1/2 feet by 15 feet. The accompanying table will give the dimensions for the various shapes from Fig. 1 to Fig. 11.
If in doubt about the location of rings on your canvas, suspend the tent by the centre ring and fasten the loops temporarily by means of safety pins, draw the tent into shape and shift the fastenings as required. The guy lines should have hooks or snaps at one end for ready attachment and removal; the other end should be provided with the usual slides for "take up." The edge of the cloth where the large ring for suspension is fastened should be bound with tape or have a double hem, for it is the edge of the door in most of the tents shown.
TABLE OF DIMENSIONS, 90 IN. MATERIAL
Size
Area, Sq. Ft.
Height, Ft.
Remarks
1
7-1/2 ft. triangle
25
6-1/4
One side open
2
6-1/2 X 15 ft.
65
6-1/4
One side open
3
6 x 7-1/2 ft.
45
4-1/2
One side open
4
7-1/2 x 8 ft.
60
5-1/2
One side open
5
7-1/2 ft. triangle
25
7-1/2
One side open
6
6-1/4 x 6-1/4 ft.
39
7
Enclosed
7
7-1/2 ft. diam.
44
6-1/2
Enclosed
8
5 x 7-1/2 ft.
37-1/2
6-1/2
2-1/2 ft. wall
9
7-1/2 x 8 ft.
60
6-1/2
No.8, with fly
10
15 f