New Ideas for American Boys; The Jack of All TradesBeard, Daniel Carter
General
New Ideas for American Boys; The Jack of All Trades
Beard, Daniel Carter
Amusements; Sports
It is presupposed that people who intend to spend their vacation
in camp are lovers of the beautiful; consequently, in selecting a
camping-place, a spot should be chosen which gives the finest possible
view of mountains, lakes, or rivers, even if some inconvenience must
be suffered in the selection. The camp must be dry and well-drained,
so that in case of sudden storms there will be no danger of the water
flooding the tents, wetting the bedding or spoiling the food. A gentle
sloping ground is best. Avoid locating in the track or below the mouths
of innocent-looking gullies or ravines, that may, in case of rain,
be developed into torrents of muddy water, and sweep the camp like a
cloudburst.
A supply of pure water contributes as much to the enjoyment of the
campers as to the preservation of health. Common-sense will direct
that the camp be selected within easy reach of some bubbling spring
or fresh, uncontaminated brook of running water, but there is another
thing of paramount importance, and that is a handy supply of fuel. The
latter is of even more importance than that of water. With a wooden
man-yoke, water is easily transported for quite a distance, but no one
who has not tried it can realize the difficulty of carrying fuel even a
short distance.
Making the Shack or Shelter.
The Adirondack camp is made from the materials furnished by the forest,
and it is put together in the form of a shack or shelter, by the
woodsmen or guides. Spruce-trees, eight or nine inches in diameter, are
cut down, quickly stripped of their bark, and one of them suspended
between two trees eight or ten feet from the ground, or is supported by
forked sticks. Others are then laid standing up to it, and the incline
is shingled with the bark, to keep out the rain. Your bed is on the
ground beneath the bark roof. Put a log at the head, and a smaller
one at the foot, and cover the intervening space with a thick layer
of flat spruce boughs, neatly laid, with all the unnecessary sticks
thrown out; chop down some young balsams and strip them of all their
twigs; selecting all those of about twelve inches in length, begin at
the foot of the bed and work up, sticking the butt-ends of the balsam
twigs into the spruce boughs. Place them as close together as possible,
with their tops slightly inclining to the foot of the couch. After all
the balsam is planted scatter the fine tips of some hemlock boughs over
the balsam, and spread your blanket over all. Any bag or pillow-case,
filled with hemlock and balsam tips, makes a good, sweet-scented
pillow. All that then remains to be done is to fill up the ends of the
shack with brush, roll a back-log in front of your camp, and start
the fire. At night spread your blankets on the spruce twigs, stretch
yourself out and watch the dying embers of the fire until you gradually
drift into the sweet slumber of the camper.
The Brush-Covered Lean-to
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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