pg. 0
The Patrol Leader
If I Were a Patrol Leader
(After S. P. Walsh) Questions for the Patrol Leader
1. Do I know about every Scout in my Patrol--each fellow's strong and weak points; ambitions; home life; special needs?
2. Can I plan and conduct Patrol meetings worth while enough to insure the bunch attending, and steady enough to provoke a second invitation from the fellow's parents in whose home we meet?
3. Can I salute and report "All present or accounted for," at every Troop meeting roll call?
4. Can I interest the fellows in continuous and thorough work for advancement in their Scout rank?
5.Can I divide the actual leadership of the Patrol so that every Scout gets a chance to do his best part in helping pith the meetings, hikes, games, "Good Turns," new recruits, etc, so that all the fellows in my Patrol have a chance to develop leadership?
6.Cab I patiently handle any boneheads or wise guys or. rough necks, so that they will either come through with the right Scout spirit, Or when every possible chance has been given them, eliminate them for the good of the, Patrol and the Troop'
7.Can I keep the "GOOD TURN" idea strong in the minds of all boys in my Patrol, so that "Good Turns" are a habit?
8. Can I make the fellows proud of our Patrol's appearance, dependability, progress-so that the Patrol spirit will be strong and wholesome'
9. Can I plan a Patrol hike and lead it well enough so that eventually my Scoutmaster can trust me with the Patrol for: a day without adult supervision?
10. Can I wisely lead my Patrol in its part of the Troop enterprises and have brains enough to think of new things for the patrol to do besides--e.g., for farmer boy members?
11. Can I justify my Scoutmaster's confidence in my loyal and thoughtful co-operation under his leadership for the development of the whole Troop?
12. Finally, can I make my own Scout life an unboastful example and encouragement to every fellow in my Patrol, commending thereby respect and confidence?
pg. 85
Chapter IV
Hiking
To hike over hills and through deep valleys, under big trees and along murmuring streams is one of life's real pleasures. Fine air, fine exercise, the fun of seeing old friends in the woods and the fun of meeting new friends --birds, bees, beetles, blossoms, brooks. One can walk the woods for a half-century and still find new joys therein.
And after the hike, a cool plunge and then the call to mess !!! For a Scout to enjoy his hiking he must know some of the things that veteran hikers: have learned and have passed on to us. Indeed, adult leadership of hikes is a real safety measure.
pg. 98
1. Preparation
Clothing-- enough to keep warm in while walking AND something MORE for use when quiet or in the cool of the evening.
Shoes--Hiking is best done in old, heavy soled, but soft-uppered shoes. Avoid "breaking-in" a new pair of shoes on a long hike.' Be sure YOUR shoes are big enough! Canvas shoes are unsuited for hiking.
They tend to weaken the arches.
Stockings--avoid light materials; and wear heavier woolen the year round for walking comfort. They air and ventilate the feet.
Food-food supply should be carefully worked out in advance, perchance with some little, light extra "iron-ration" to use in emergencies.
First Aid Kit--It is wise to carry a simple First Aid kit to meet emergencies for yourself or someone you may need to help.
Other Equipment--Knife, short rope, matches properly protected from moisture, perhaps a canteen with pure water. If going for overnight a pair of medium weight blankets will bring comfort. A poncho should be carried as a protection against the rain and as a ground cloth under blankets at night.
pg. 99
Sanitary Don'ts
Leave your food where ants or animals cannot molest it. Perishable foods will spoil if carried long. Drinking water should be used only after knowing its condition. A Scout is clean, so meeting nature's needs he will see that all excrement is buried. When swimming be sure and have someone near who can rescue you in case of an emergency.
Respect Property
Scouts are often given privileges in great forest preserves and public and national parks, because they respect the property and rights of the owners.
Trees must never he damaged; the Scout Axe is not a plaything indeed many Councils allow only First Class Scouts to carry them.
Fires, should only be builded at proper distances from trees and grass AND must be ABSOLUTELY PUT OUT with water or sand and earth.
Fences, and all improvements, all live stock must be carefully protected for the farmer.
In passing houses, pass quickly without loud disturbances.
Policing Grounds, after Scouts have used a site they should carefully remove all the waste paper,
pg. 100
fragments of food, and similar waste and burn or bury LEAVING THE SITE CLEAN AND READY FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
Do not trespass on railroad property nor enter private grounds or farms without special permission.
4. Remember
(a) A hike is not a speed event or a long distance endurance record. Soldiers on the march rarely average more than 15 miles a day.
(b) To secure your parents' permission before going, and if delayed beyond time of proposed return, try to get word to them.
5. Purpose
Hikes need not be to the woods. They may be to the museum, or to some near-by factory where interesting processes may be seen. Hikes are often made to nearly Historical Shrines--the oldest house,- the first settlement--where some distinguished son of the community was born, to some farm, etc.
Hikes may be made for the shier pleasure of enjoying God's out-of doors AND may also be used to : PASS SCOUT TESTS or learn Scout outdoor craft.
pg. 101
Requirement No. 7
"Proved ability to build fire in the open using not more than two matches -- care for and put it out.'"
WHERE
Pick a dry place or on a rock--away from trees and cleared so that fire cannot spread to the grass or bushes.
WHAT
Get dry twigs, or if in rain split open piece of log and get dry interior. Cut into long thin slivers.
Pile these with some slightly larger pieces on end into a cone or pyramid and light them below and on the windward side. No paper or dangerous kerosene may be used.
CARE
Especial care should be exercised to avoid spread of fire and upon leaving a fire BE SURE it is OUT. Plenty of water or sand or damp earth may be used--especially water, but BE SURE IT's OUT.
pg. 166
Requirement No. 8
"Cook a quarter of a pound of meat and two potatoes in the open without any cooking utensils.''
In passing this test prepared meat may not be used.
The Cooling Fire is a Small Fire.
Cooking Meat
While there are many ways in which to cook meat and potatoes without the aid of cooking utensils of any kind, a most satisfactory method is the one described by Mr. James A. Wilder in his book on the PINE TREE PATROL. It is called "KABOB" and is cooked in the following manner: purchase the required quarter pound of meat and cut it into pieces the size of a half-dollar. Procure a small straight branch and taste of the bark to be sure that it is not bitter. (If it is cast it aside and try again.) Sharpen the small end of the stick selected and impale the piece of meat on it as shown on page 168. After the fire has burned long enough to become "steady" with some coals, place the meat over
pg. 167
it and turn from time to time, salting it the while. Searing it first will produce a' burn on the outside which will prevent the juices from dripping onto the fire and being lost. The length of time required for cooking depends upon the heat of the fire and the desire of the Scout as to whether he likes his food rare or well done. In placing the beef upon the stick always sharpen the small end and impale the meat from this side. On account of the thickness of the stick varying in diameter a piece of meat impaled from the large end will not cling fast and consequently will not turn when the stick is twisted in cooking. Slices of onions introduced between the squares of meat give it a delicious flavor. A word is necessary though, regarding the method of putting the slices of onion on the stick. Peel the outer skin from the onion and with a sharp pointed stick make a hole through it, then slice it at right angles to the above and you will be able to place them on the stick without splitting. Slice the onion first and it will be impossible to make the onion stay together after it has been pierced.
Cooking Potatoes
The safe way to cook potatoes is to use two fires. First dig out a hole larger than needed to hold the potatoes-line it with small stones if they are available. Build a fire in the hole to heat the stones. When this fire dies down--put in the potatoes, cover them with damp earth --then on top of-this build an l8 inch criss-cross fire and let it burn down. Start these potatoes an hour before you want them and cook other parts of the meal on the same fires.
pg. 168
The Scout
The Scout watches and finds his fun, when with any other people, in ways which do not disturb or annoy them in any way.
The heart of good manners is in caring about other people, in being as thoughtful and considerate of them as we would want them to be of us. In entering a house, it means that one cleans his feet. In a Pullman wash--room, it means leaving the basin clean for the next man; in entering a car in cold weather, it means closing the door; in walking on the streets or public stairways it means walking on the right hand side and not crossing in front of people but rather crossing behind them.
Tile spirit of good manners like the spirit of "Tile Good Turn" calls for no unusual setting, but rather it enters into the frequent common relationships of every-day living. Indeed if you will re-examine the Scent Law and The Scout Oath and "The Good Turn" you will find that every true Scoot, every Scout who obeys his Oath and lives The Law IS courteous and thoughtful. And that is one of the reasons why the Scout is honored, because he has learned how to act toward others so as to get along effectively with them. "A Scout is Courteous."
The following article on "Fire by Friction" is not a requirement but every Scout will want to master this method which is widley used to start Council Fires.
CHAPTER III
How to Make Fire without Matches
By DR. Walter Hough, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
I always was attracted by tile evening campfire in the desert. Sitting by it in the night, hearing a coyote
pg. 186
"yap, yap" in the distance, tile fire asserts its importance , almost demands attention. The fire becomes near to you, it seems almost part of you; perhaps most of tile Boy Scouts will know how difficult it is to describe the relationship of fire and man. Perhaps some of the meaning is in the word companionship.
Someone asks whether man was ever without fire and I answer, "I don't know." If we could imagine such a thing, let us cast about for ways by which lie might get it. We think of lightning-struck trees. Right! That is a common
and frequent source used in later times when the need for fire was established. But this imagined fireless man does not know that he needs fire, so we will set him down alongside, not too near, a fire of nature's making, say a flow of re cent lava from a bumptious volcano, where he will get all sorts of fire education, including; quickly getting out of the way of it at times when the mountain lets off. So he gets the habit of fire and begins to drudge, keeping campfires in fuel all over his world.
Campfires, as everyone knows, have a fashion of going out even in the best regulated families, and this was, to say the least, a great inconvenience. We guess that here arose the need for matches. We do not know
pg. 187
how long it was before this need was supplied by fire sticks or "rub-a-lights." Seemingly it was a long while during which the things going to make up the fire drill were brought together gradually as a result of experience, till the "ancestor of matches" began his grindings. Bay Scouts who have gone through the process of making fire by wood friction are sure to feel a great respect for that unknown Edisons of the past who brought together the various inventions making up the complex
Kinds of Wood
Scouts should be on the lookout for wood and tinder. There is nothing so good as questioning nature yourself; you may thus become a discoverer.
The best wood is dry and long seasoned till it begins to show signs of decay, as in a dead branch. It must not be gummy or resinous or fibrous like walnut or pine, or acid like oak, ash and chestnut. The test of all wood is that the dust ground off is real dust and not gritty. Try the dust in the fingers and if it feels sandy try some other wood. 'Elm, linden, poplar, soft maple, sycamore, and buckeye will often furnish good wood. Among the best woods are the roots of the, cottonwood of the west and the willow.
Root wood is better than stem wood as a rule. The flowering stalks of the yucca are excellent for fire making
The Tools
The bow is 17 inches long, 5/8 inch wide, 1/2 inch thick, and has a curve 1/2 inch high on the belly. It can thus be whittled out of a strip 1 1/8 inches wide. The ends are swelled a little and holes put through for the cord.
The thong may be of belt lacing 5/16 inch wide or
pg. 188
of any good pliable leather. One end of the thong is split, put through the hole, the other end put through the slit and drawn down. Merely run the thong through the other hole in the bow The nut is a block 6 inches long, 11/2 inches square. Set in the middle a piece of soapstone and make a small smooth pit in the soapstone (Some recommend a braided thong.)
Bows are of two kinds, elastic and rigid. if elastic the spindle can be set in on a stretched cord, but this sort of how does not give good results. In the rigid bow the spindle is set in with a loose cord, the cord is then drawn tight and given a turn around under tile hand against the how to secure it. Then reach forward the thumb and pinch the cord down against the curved forefinger. By moving the thumb up and down the cord is tightened or slackened as desired. A little practice will show the relation between the pressure on the top of the spindle and the tension of the cord. This has to be learned and thoroughly under control before fire can he successfully made. Keep the spindle straight up and keep the bow away from it, The spindle must not joggle or the hearth shake, or you will lose the fire. Both fire-making pieces may be of the same wood; indeed, it is better that they should he the same. Some tribes, when their wood is not long enough to make a spindle, splice a bit of the good wood in at the point of another piece.
EDITORIAL NOTE -- Two Kinds of bows are indicated here -- one, the rigid bow developed from ancient usage; the other elastic bow as described by Smith. The scout may desire to try these out to see which is the best suited for his own use
As to the tinder or first fuel, this is of many kinds and may be found anywhere by any Scout. Soft finely divided, inflammable material is needed. Cedar bark, inner chestnut bark, inner red elm bark, bird and field mice nests, crushed spruce needles, beaten or charred rope fibre, etc., etc.: whatever comes handy,
pg. 189
rubbed and reduced to a fluffy mass. Have ready also a bunch of long-stemmed grass, a strip of bark, or anything that can be bent over the new fire.
How I Made fire in 6 2/5 SECONDS
By DUDLEY WINN Smith Independence, Mo., Assistant Scout Master and Eagle Scout Now, I believe any Scout can make a fire and can make it fast, provided he has good materials; of course, almost any wood will make a fire, but I consider elm and yucca the very best. The elm should be old and, seasoned by nature., Don't try lumber-yard wood--it is never properly seasoned. The elm wood must be solid, not punky. The yucca stalk, after it is dried, is always good and can always be depended upon for speed; although it wears down more quickly than elm,
The dimensions of my fire set: board of elm or yucca, 3/8 inches or less in thickness, and width and length; spindle, 8-sided, 5/8 inch in diameter about ten inches long. Bow made of and wood, 30 inches long, and having at least a three inch bend and a 3/8 inch wide green lace leather thong attached by holes in each end of bow. Tinder: made of red cedar bark and prepared by roughings up and beating with a wooden club. The top or thunderbird: a block of any wood, shaped to fit the palm, with the top knob, of a glass percolator inserted and sealed in with bees wax.
pg. 190
Some Important Pointers in Speed Fire-Making:
1. -Bore the new fire-pit with tile spindle before cutting the notch.
2. -Cut the notch U-shaped and not V-shaped, also not quite to the center.
3. -Keep the end of the spindle as nearly flat as possible.
4. -In making the flame, take long steady blows and do not wave the tinder.
5. -Take long strokes with the bow-. Eliminate the short choppy strokes.
6. -Bear down hard on the spindle from the start. Do not decrease or increase the pressure.
7. -Hold the board steady, and also the spindle. 8.-Do not let the tinder fill up the notch.
The real test of whether or not you are firemaker is, if YOU can go into the woods and make a fire, using only, natural materials and your boot lace, knife and axe Good luck to prospective record-breakers and beginners!
EDITORIAL NOTE.--Smith rates woods in the following order: Yucca, American elm, red elm, Balsam fir , red ceder, willow root. cypress, basewood , sycamore, cottonwood popular, soft maple, white pine.
Flint and Steel
Steel, when struck a glancing blow against flint or
quartz or agate, etc., will give off sparks. If these be "caught" in charred cotton, fuse rope, candle wicking, charred cotton flannel -- a single spark will start a fire. Such an outfit can be easily carried in one's pocket
PRACTICE WILL PRODCUCE SKILL
pg. 191
Requirement No, 7
"Prepare and cook satisfactorily, in the open, using camp cooking utensils, two of the following articles as may be directed; Eggs and bacon, hunter's stew, fish, fowl, game, pancakes, hoecake, biscuit, hardtack, or a "twist," baked on. a stick, and give an exact measurement of the cost of materials used; explain to another boy the method followed."
In fire building, on page 166, the Scout has already met several kinds of fire- now comes the time to USE them.
The Scout should be able to cook as many as possible of the dishes cited. For his test he must cook palatably any two before the Scoutmaster or examiner.
Eggs
Boiled: Heat water to boiling point. Place eggs in carefully. Boil steadily for three minutes if you wish them soft. If wanted hard boiled, put them in cold water, bring to a boil, and keep it up for twenty minutes.
The yolk will then be mealy and wholesome
pg. 251
Fried: Melt some butter or fat in fryinp-pan or on a piece of tin or metal
; when it hisses drop in eggs carefully. Fry them three minutes.
Scrambled: First stir the eggs up and after putting some butter in the frying-pan, stir the eggs in it after adding a little milk.
Poached: Bring a frying pan of water to boil and drop in your eggs being careful not to break yolk. Serve on toast when egg has hardened to the desired state.
Bacon
Cut quite thin and remove rind. Some like to parboil it first, but this is not necessary. Drop slices in warm frying pan or on piece of tin or thin rock. Bacon can be fried on a sharp stick over hot coals. A "nest" of three or four slices of bacon with the egg, in the centre and over the bacon edges is "not hard to take."
Hunter's Stew
To make a hunter's stew, chop the meat into small chunks about an inch or one and one-half inches square. Then scrape and chop up any vegetables that are easily obtained--potatoes, turnips, carrots, onions, etc.; and put them into the mess kit, adding clean water, or soup, till the mess kit is half full. Mix some flour, salt, and pepper together and rub the meat well into the mixture, then place this in the mess kit or kettle, seeing that there is just sufficient water to cover the food--and no more. The stew should be ready after simmering for about an hour and a quarter.
pg. 252
Fish
Clean well. Small fish should be fried whole with the back bone severed to prevent curling up; large fish should be cut into pieces, and ribs loosened from back bone so as to lie flat in pan. Rub the pieces in corn meal or powdered crumbs, thinly and evenly (that browns them), fry in plenty of hot fat to a golden brown sprinkling lightly with salt just as the color turns. If fish has not been wiped dry it will absorb too much grease. If the frying fat is not very hot when fish are put in, they will be soggy with it.
Fowl
Fish, fowl, rabbits, small pigs may be cooked without utensils in a hole in the ground. A hole a foot and a half each way, and the same depth, is lined with stones then the hole is filled with kindling and twigs and over it a cries cross two foot pile of two to three inch hardwood. In perhaps an hour the wood has burned and the hole is full of hot stones. Rapidly clean out the embers put on a heavy layer of sweet leaves (basswood, sweet gum, wild grape, maple, sassafras or vegetable tops).
Place the chicken or fish on these leaves in a center of the hole with any potatoes, corn on the cob, close to the fish or fowl or animal-- THEN cover with leaves and stones spread over it with wet canvass or burlaps and then cover it completely with earth. Ina couple of hours this IMU is ready! Come quickly!!
pg. 253
Game
After game has been bled, skinned and drawn--it may be boiled, "imued," fried, or broiled.
A simple broiler can be made from a long forked green twig, or meat can be broiled oil a few green sticks over a small fire of coals.
Green Sweet Corn
1. Roast direct on long stick over the coals.
2. 2. Bake in ashes (like potatoes) after first cleaning out silks, then twist husks on tightly again and bury. In about an hour - Come and get it! (see page 255)
3. Boil 30 minutes in enough salted water to cover.
4. When too hard to use as green corn, it may be grated and the grating salted and baked In little patties (old corn may be used if first soaked overnight in water).
Mutton or Lamb Chops (or Pork) these can be cooked in their own grease. Rub the hot pan (or piece of tin or flat stone) with the fat of the chop and then put in and salt as it begins to turn slightly red on top. Turn and repeat salting process. Continue turning until done to suit. The juice will butter your as follows: With the heel make a small trench in the direction the wind is blowing. Use small dry twigs and small fire
pg. 254
Seneca Indian Dinner
One time a Seneca friend named Moses Shongo, one of the finest men I ever knew, told me how to prepare a big meal for a crowd with the least labor. One must dig a hole in the ground about two feet deep, line the bottom with rocks and allow a hot fire to burn in this hole for an hour. Since potatoes cook slower than corn, these are placed in the coals, covered with two inches of moist earth, and another fire built on this, which lasts perhaps half an hour. Then ears of corn with the husks on are laid as thick as possible in the coals, with eggs placed on top carefully, and covered with two inches-of moist earth again. Once more a fire is built and maintained for an hour. When the coals have nearly died out the feast supply is ready to be opened. You may ask why Indians used chicken eggs, when these fowl are not native of America? But the answer is that the custom began long ago by using sea-gull eggs, also wild turkey duck, grouse and even crow, -Radph Hubbard.
Kabob
James A. Wilder of Honolulu cuts hammered flank steak into pieces about an inch in diameter and strings them on a small sharp stick perhaps alternating an onion slice-he rolls it in a bit of flour and THEN after searing it close to the fire he salts it and turns till ready! It's glorious! Try it.
(See Page 167)
pg. 255
Roast Potatoes
Wash and dry potatoes thoroughly, bury them deep in a good bed of coals, cover them with hot coals until well done. It will take about forty minutes for them to bake. Then pass a sharpened hard-wood sliver through them from end to end, and let the steam escape and use immediately, as a roast potato soon becomes soggy and bitter.
Stale Bread
If it has not moulded can be dipped quickly in water --then put in oven to freshen, or may be toasted and put in hot (but not boiled) milk with a bit of butter and a pinch of salt, or it may be fried (French Toast) after dipping slices into eggs whipped with 1/2 cup milk for each egg and a little dash of salt.
Pancakes
Beat one egg, tablespoonful of sugar, one cup diluted condensed milk or new milk. Mix enough self-rising flour to make a thick cream batter. Grease the griddle with rind or slices of bacon for each batch of cakes. Be sure to have the griddle hot.
Biscuit
In general, biscuit or other small cakes should be baked quickly, by a rapid or ardent heat; large leaves require a slower, more even heat, so that the outside: will not harden until the inside is nearly done. For a dozen biscuits use:
1 1/2 pints flour.
1 1/2 heaping teaspoonful baking powder.
1/2 heaping teaspoonful salt.
1 heaping tablespoon cold grease.
1/2 pint cold water.
pg. 256
The amount of water varies according to the quality of hour. Too much water makes the dough sticky and prolongs the baking. Baking powders vary in strength; the directions on the can should be followed in each case.
Mix thoroughly with a big spoon or wooden paddle, first the baking powder with the flour and then the salt. Rub into this the cold grease (which may be lard, cold pork fat or drippings) until there are no lumps left and no grease adhering to bottom of the pan. This is a little tedious, but it doesn't pay to shirk it; complete stirring is necessary for success. Then stir in the water and work it with the spoon until the result is rather a stiff dough. Squeeze or mold the dough as little as possible; because the gas that makes the biscuit light is already forming and should not be pressed out. Do not use the fingers in molding; it makes biscuit "sad." Flop the mass of dough to one side of the pan, dust flour on bottom of the pan, flop dough back over it, and dust flour on top of the loaf. Now rub some flour over the bread board, flour the hands, and gently lift the loaf on the board. Flour the bottle or bit of peeled sapling which is to be used as a rolling pin, and also the edges of the can or can cover to be used as biscuit cutter. Gently roll the loaf to three quarters of an inch in thickness. Stamp out the biscuits and lay them in the pan. Roll out the culls or leftover pieces of dough and make biscuits of them, too. Bake until the front row turns brown; reverse the pan and continue until the rear row is similarly done. ten to fifteen minutes is required in a closed oven, and somewhat longer over the campfire or camp earth or stone oven.
pg. 257
"Twist" Baked on a Stick
Work the dough, prepared as for biscuit, into a ribbon two inches wide. Get a club of sweet green wood (birch, sassafras, poplar, or maple) about two feet long and three inches thick, peel the large end, and sharpen the other and stick it into the ground, leaning toward the fire. When the sap simmers wind the dough spirally around the peeled end. Turn occasionally while baking. Several sticks can be baking at once. Bread enough for one man's meal can be quickly baked in this way on a peeled stick as thick as a broomstick, holding it over fire and turning it from time to time.
Take bread and crackers with you for camp. Pack butter in small jar; cocoa, sugar, and chocolate in small cups or heavy paper; also salt and pepper. Wrap bread in a moist cloth to prevent drying-up; bacon and dried or chipped beef in wax paper. Pickles can be purchased gut up in small bottles. Use the empty bottle as candlestick.
Unleavened Bread
Can be made quickly and will keep almost indefinitely.
2 1/2 pints of flour.
1 scant tablespoonful of salt.
1 tablespoonful of sugar.
Mix with water to a stiff dough and knead and pull. Roll out thin like crackers and mark into squares with knife. Use as little water as possible if you want it to "keep." A teaspoonful of lard or butter worked in with the flour is good but reduces the "keeping" qualities.
pg. 258
Corn Batter Bread
1 pint fresh corn meal.
2 pints milk (or water). 2 eggs.
1 teaspoonful salt.
Beat the eggs until light, add salt, then the meal and milk a little at a time until thoroughly mixed. A spoon of butter or lard will add somewhat to the flavor. Bake about half an hour.
(Hoecake may be made by omitting the eggs and frying the cakes on both sides. Carefully cleaning and greasing the pan each time.)
Clam Bake
Build large criss-cross fire over two feet high. Distribute stones in the pile of wood. When the fire burns down, cover the hot: stones with damp sea weed (not too wet)--then lay on the clams--cover the entire pile With sea weed and let them steam some twenty minutes for little necks and twice that long for round clams.
Steamed Fish Place the large stones heated as for clam bake in a hole some two feet deep and wide enough for your fish.
Fill the hole with hot stones nearly to the top, then
put on a layer of cold stones, on these lay your fish ready to cook. It may be tied to a non-resinous board which would then be turned '"fish side down" or similarly protected before covering the whole thing with clay or earth.
Make a hole into the pit with a stick and pour in half a bucket of water. Close up the hole and let it
Half to three-quarters of an hour will steam your fish
pg. 259
Requirement No, 8
"Read a map correctly, and draw, from field notes made on the spot, an intelligible rough sketch map, indicating by their proper marks important buildings, roads, trolley Lines, main landmarks, principal elevations, etc. Points out a compass direction without the help of the compass".
Map Reading and Map Making
By F. E. MATTHES ii. S. Geological Survey (What a Scout should know about maps.)
In this age of travel, by land, water, and air, a person who can not read a map well enough to find his way with the aid of one is at a great disadvantage. Certainly a Scout should be able to read the simple road maps that are beings used nowadays by motorists, but he should also learn to understand topographic maps, such as are issued by the U. S. Geological Survey. Likewise Sea Scouts should be able to read the charts of coastal waters which are prepared by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Map Reading (Symbols)
The first thing to do is to familiarize yourself with the different symbols, or conventional signs used on maps
(See pages 263, 265)
Scale
Always look first for the scale, otherwise you won't know whether an inch on the map represents 100 feet or 10
pg. 260
miles. The scale is placed usually on the lower margin. It may he given:
a. In the form of a ratio or fraction, as for instance, 1:24,000, or 1/24,000.
b. In the form, 2,000 feet to the inch; two inches to the mile, etc.
c. The scale is always given also in the form of a bar, or lines, divided into lengths, representing miles, thousands of feet , or other units. The bar scale is useful for the scaling off of distances on the map
Direction of North
The top of a, map is not invariably the north side. On all modern maps, however, the direction of true north is shown by an arrow or a simple line.
Why, you may ask, does not the compass needle point the true north? Because it is attracted by the magic poles of the earth, and these do not coincide with geographic poles, which are the points through
pg. 261
First Class--Req. 8
which the earth's axis of rotation passes and to which all the meridians converge. The north magnetic pole is about 1,400 miles distant from the north pole, being situated on the northern edge of Canada,-to be precise near the western coast of the Boothia Peninsula. The south magnetic pole is situated approximately the same distance from the South Pole, in the Antarctic Ocean.
Because the north magnetic pole is so much nearer to us than the north pole, the compass needle points to the west of true north in the eastern parts of the United States, and to the east of true north in the western parts.
Inasmuch as the north magnetic pole is slowly migrating northwestward the magnetic declination in all places in the United States will change in the course of time. The western declination in the eastern states will increase, the eastern declination in the western states will decrease. It is thus necessary on any map to give the particular year for which the figures hold good. The figures quoted above are for 1925. The annual variation is shown on the map.
HRow to Orient a Map (Finding North)
Suppose you are lost in the woods, so badly "turned around" that you can not decide in which direction to travel in order to reach camp. There are several mountain tops in view through the trees, but you can not identify them. You carry a map of the region on which these mountains are shown, but even this map, will not help you in identifying them until it: is properly oriented,--that is to say, fumed so that its meridians actually point to the north. By what methods can you determine north and orient the map?
a. By means of a pocket compass. Turn the map until its magnetic north line points in the direction of the compass needle. Do not use the true north line. Remember that in many parts of the coun-
pg. 262
pg. 263
try the difference between magnetic north and true north is considerable.
b, By means of a watch and the sun, Hold the watch flat with face upward. Hold a match or small straight stick upright at the edge of the watch and at the outer end of the hour hand. Turn until the shadow of the stick falls along the hour hand which hand will then point toward the sun--THEN In the morning South will lie half way between the hour hand and XII (forward).
At noon South will lie directly alone the hour-handshadow line In the afternoon South will also lie half way between the hour hand and XII (backward).
Why?
A day is 24 hours--the watch dial has but 12. From sunrise to noon the sun covers 1-~ of its circle, your watch covers about 1-a (6 a. n. to noon!. 2 hours in the sky circle then corresponds to 1 hour on tile watch circle.
The sun will give you true north, therefore orient with the true north line on-the map. Remember that if your watch is set for daylight savings time, it is really one hour fast.
c, By means of the north star, The north star indicates very closely, though not exactly, the true north, being situated almost in line with the axis of the earth. For that reason it is known also as the Pole Star or Polaris. You should be able to locate it without fail both: by the Great Bear constellation (the Big Dipper) and by Cassiopeia. When either of these is too near the horizon to be visible, the other is high up in the sky. (See Page 375)
pg. 264
The Meaning of Contour Lines
Every contour line is drawn at a definite elevation above sea level and maintains that elevation unvaryingly throughout its, course. It may he regarded as an imaginary shore line. Contour lines on maps are always at uniform heights, or vertical intervals, one above the other. The contour interval is stated on the lower margin.
The spacing of the contour lines on a map shows the degree of flatness or steeples of the country at an); given place. A nearly level plain is shown by contour lines spaced far apart; a gently sloping hillside, by contour lines spaced moderately close together; a steep mountain side, by densely crowded contour lines. How would a vertical bluff or cliff look on a map?
Map Reading To Be Learned in the Field
The quickest and most interesting way to learn to read and use a map is by takings a map with you on a hike. Starting from a definite and readily identified point, such as a cross roads or a bridge, follow closely on the map the route traveled.
Map Making (General Plan)
A sketch map such as is required for the First Class test in map malting should be something more than a
pg. 266
mere freehand drawing. In order to have practical value it should be based on a few simple measurements of distance and direction.
Distance a Scout can readily measure by pacing, and directions he can take with sufficient accuracy with a pocket compass. All he needs in the way of equipment, therefore, is a pocket compass, a pencil, a rubber eraser, a sheet of paper and, for the final plotting of compass bearings, a small protractor.
All measurements of distance or direction being subject to error, it should be a fundamental policy always to provide for a check on the work. This is done in all surveying. The best way to provide for a check is to make a circuit around or through the area to be mapped, ending at the starting point. Such a survey circuit, made up of successive straight courses, whose distances have been paced and whose bearings have been determined by compass, is called a traverse circuit (pronounce trav-erse),
Selection of Area
It is advisable to lay the traverse circuit along country roads. It should be not less than one mile long and hare at least six or eight courses. If no road circuit of appropriate size can be found, Dart of the traverse may be laid across country, preferably along fences that will afford definite lines to follow. However, pacing across country is to be avoided whenever possible, as it is difficult and liable to large errors. Always choose an area outside of a crowded city or town, for accurate work with a compass is impossible in those places owing to the disturbing influences of Steel structures and electric conduits. City parks also are to be avoided, as the drives in them are usually laid in curves, which are difficult to map,
pg. 267
Preliminary Training in Pacing
Before starting out to make his map a Scout should ascertain the length of his stride by pacing off a distance of 100 or 200 feet measured with a tape. He should step off with the left foot, military style, and count only strides of the right foot. Let him pace the distance three or four times without forcing his gait, then take the mean of his counts. If he averages about 20 strides in 100 feet, he takes about a 5-Toot stride. As 5 is easy to multiply with, it is worth while to cultivate a 5-foot stride. If, therefore, he has been averaging slightly more than 20 strides in 100 feet he should slightly lengthen his steps; if his average is slightly under 20, he should slightly shorten his steps.
Some boys can not possibly keep up a 5-foot stride. Let the long legged ones try for an even 6-foot stride, and the short-legged ones for a 4 1/2 foot stride. They should in any event make a table of strides and equivalent distances in feet, to save themselves much laborious multiplying.
The use of pedometers or other counting devices is not recommended. Most professional map makers prefer to do their own counting, and Scouts will do well to catch the habit.
Compass Work
Pocket compasses, indeed all compasses used in surveying and mapping, are graduated in degrees, not in points, and it behooves a Scout, therefore, to familiarize himself with the system of degrees. There are always 360 degrees, but they may be arranged in either of two ways. In the first the compass is divided into four quadrants, each of which is graduated from zero to 90 degrees. North and south are always zero points, east and west are always marked 90. On such a com-
pg. 268
pass a bearing 30 degrees east of north is read N30"E. (not 30"N.E., nor N.E.30"). A bearing of 50 degrees in the southeast quadrant would be read S50"E.; a bearing of 20 degrees in the southwest quadrant S.20"W.; a bearing of 70 degrees in the northwest quadrant N.70W.
On the other style of compass (known as the azimuth compass) the degrees are numbered consecutively around in clockwise direction from zero to 360. North is zero, east is 90", south is 180°, and west is 270". On this compass directions are read simply in degrees.
The best way to take a bearing or azimuth reading with a pocket compass is to stand facing in the direction to be determined, compass in both hands, about breast high; then, the box having been turned until the N is under the north end of the needle, to sight quickly over the pivot and read the degrees in the line of sight on the far side of the dial. At first a pencil laid across the crystal, in the line of sight, or held vertically on the far side of the compass, will be found helpful.
If the needle swings violently it may be calmed down by tilting the compass gently and letting one end of the needle drag for a moment. Do not expect the needle to come to rest altogether. Unless the pivot is worn blunt, the needle will always swing back and forth a little,
pg. 269
and the best you can do is to keep the N. about half way between the right hand and left hand swings. Your reading is likely to be two to four degrees in error, but it will be accurate enough for Scouting purposes.
Never stand on or near a railroad or car track when reading a compass, nor close to any electric power line. steel structure, automobile, bicycle, etc., for the compass needle is strongly deflected by them.
THE Field Survey
The requirements for the First Class test in map making specify that the map shall be drawn from field notes made on the spot. Jot the notes on a rough free-hand sketch map which You draw as you proceed. Such a rough field sketch is likely to be somewhat distorted, still it will be a better guide for the drawing of the final map than any memoranda which you might write in a note book. To facilitate the drawing of the held sketch tack or paste the paper to a light wooden board or card board.
Select for starting point a cross roads, a road fork or other well defined point. Stand in the middle, look
up the first straight stretch of road and take its bearings and mark the bearing on it. Pace the distance tot he first turn in the road. On the way you will pass several objects that are to be shown on the map. Mark on sketch distance Paced to this point, take bearing of next stretch of road and begin a new count of paces. Locate houses and other important objects along or near road, as before. Do so for each course of the traverse circuit until you return to the starting point.
Sketch in with the proper symbols streams, telegraph and telephone lines, fences, crops, orchards, woodland (edges only), grass land, marsh land, etc, As a rule
pg. 270
the interior of the traverse circuit can be sketched wholly by eye, but if it is largely masked by woods, you may have to run a traverse through it. In any event do not guess at it. A Scout map must be reliable.
Some houses and other important objects may be situated too far from the road to be readily located by judging, and they may be inaccessible by reason of: "no trespassing" signs or watch dogs. Such houses may be located by means of two compass bearings taken to it from definite Points on the traverse circuit. When these bearings are later plotted on the map, their point of intersection will determine the location (see sample map). The method is quick, accurate, and saves much weary tramping. Care must be taken to have the two bearings intersect each other at a reasonably large angle.
The Final Map
The final map is to be constructed at home, with the aid of a protractor and a plotting scale. It is recommended, except in certain unusual cases, that Scout maps be drawn on a standard scale of 400 feet to the inch. Experience has shown that the pacing and compass work is too crude for a map on a larger scale, while the drafting becomes too difficult on smaller scales.
The protractor needed for the plotting of compass bearings is a half circle divided into 180 degrees. Small protractors of cardboard, celluloid, or metal, such as may be had for 10 or 15 cents at stores dealing in school supplies, answer the purpose very well.
To facilitate the plotting of bearings it is recommended that the map be drawn on cross-ruled or "graph" paper. One set of blue lines may then serve as magnetic north lines (the entire map is to be drawn
pg. 271
with reference to the magnetic north, it being based on compass bearings).
To plot a given bearing, such as N. 30"E. place the protractor with its center on the point from which the bearing is to be laid off, and with its straight side: parallel to the nearest blue line. Then with a sharp pencil point off the proper number of degrees. Bear in mind that the straight side of the protractor must always lie north-south, never east-west.
Plot the courses of the main traverse circuit first and defer the drafting of road lines and the plotting of houses and other objects until you are satisfied that tile main circuit is correct. Be not aggrieved to find that the main circuit will not close exactly. There is bound to be a small discrepancy,-- the error of closure, Do not try to hide it by fudging; show it just as it is. Every survey, no matter how accurate, has an error of closure, for there is no such things as absolute exactness of measurement. An error of 100 feet (a quarter of an
pg. 272
inch on the scale of mapping) Is not excessive. In some localities, where there is much iron in the ground, half an inch is allowable. If the error should prove to be very much larger it shows that there is a mistake somewhere. You may have misread a bearing, or you may have become confused in counting paces; or you may have misplotted either a bearing or a distance. Go over the plotting first and, if you find no mistake, repeat some of the field measurements.
Draw the final map in pencil only (not in ink). Use a 4H or slightly softer pencil, well sharpened, and make firm, neat lines. Print (do not write! names of villages, roads, streams, mountains, etc. All such names must be readable from the bottom of the map. Leave all the bearings and distances on the courses of the main circuit so that the examiner may check them. Likewise tile bearings taken to distant houses.
Do not undertake to show hills and valleys by means of contour lines, but show bold features, such as lines of bluffs and cliffs, by means of hachures. An example is given at bottom of page 265.
In an upper corner of the map print a title describing the locality. Under it print your name, troop number, and date of survey.
Draw a neat, strong line ending in a half-arrow ii, show the direction of magnetic north. Label it Mag. North. Plot the direction of true north in accordance with the magnetic declination of your locality. Tile city engineer or county surveyor can tell you what the magnetic declination. Show the true north by a full arrow and label it True North.
At the foot of tile map draw a bar scale three inches long. Subdivide the inch at the left end into quarter inches and mark the divisions in hundreds of feet, Above the bar scale print: Scale 400 feet to the inch or Scale 1/4800, (1 inch to 4,800 inches).
pg. 274
Requirement No, 9
"Use properly an axe for felling or trimming light timber or prodluce an article of carpentry, cabinet-making, or metal work made by himself; or demonstrate repair of a decaying or damaged tree. Explain the method followed."
In meeting this requirement, no live trees should be used, only dead timber.
It has also been suggested that where a dead tree is cut, a Scout should plant some trees--a fine thought.
Or some article of handicraft may be made either of wood or metal.
It is recommended that this be some article of actual usefulness about the home, or Troop meeting place, or school, or camp.
For ideas consult your Manual Training Department in school or "Boys' Life" or Dan Beard's books. See Public Librarian.
The article submitted should be in finished form.
pg. 275
"Or demonstrate repair of a decaying or damaged tree."
A decaying tree was first a damaged tree, Trees not only need food and water and cultivation to avoid smothering but they need protection against infection,
Tree Wounds
A tree wound closely resembles a human skin or flesh wound. The same problems are present.
(1) The wound should be quickly cleaned and covered with the torn bark and with grafting wax to prevent drying out; or cow dung and clay plastered over it, or shellac and paint.
(2) The wound must be disinfected; as with corrosive sublimate (2 oz. to 15 gal.); copper sulphate (1 oz. to 1 gal.) Formalin (1 oz. to 2 gal.); creosote; carbolic acid; gasoline; kerosene; lime, sulphur wash, etc.
(3) Use a dressing to keep out enemies and water, The dressing should stick to the wood, should weather well and should be easy to apply. Any of the following may be used: Plastic cement, used by slaters; grafting wax, for temporary use; coal tar; asphalt compounds; white lead and linseed paint.
Most of these need repeated application to keep a surface impervious to insects and water.
The edges of the dressings must come just below the cambium layer to enable it, "skin-like,'' to heal over.
Fillings
Tree cavities should have the decayed material cleaned out; should then be disinfected thoroughly and be filled with rich cement mixture or asphaltum. Then the surface should be shaped to enable the bark to grow over it, as suggested above.
Bracings--where trees have weak crotches, bolts and turnbuckles can be used to strengthen.
Trimming
Decay can be avoided if broken limbs or dead limbs are cut off close to body of tree and then properly treated as any wound.
pg. 276
Requirement No, 10
"Judge distance, size, number, height and weight within 25 per cent."
Many people are poor judges of distance or size. A Scout needs to be able to do these things because sometimes in an emergency a short rope or a board on the ice which is too short may mean the loss of life.
Distance
In judging distances, the Scout should know and use his height, his reach, his finger length, his pace, etc. These serve as units far him.
Practice judging distance. Look at a distance, state what you think it is, then pace it or measure it. This practice can be done by Patrols as a competition, can be played as a game and "Keep score."
JUDGING
"Every Scout should know to an inch what is his usual pace when walking and running. Judging short distances should be practiced first, and then the lengths gradually extended. Begin by judging objects twenty yards away; then increase the distance ten yards at a time until any
pg. 278
space a hundred yards in length or so can be estimated It must be remembered that the distance is judged from the eye to the object without taking into account the contour of the intervening ground. The following points should be consistently kept in mind and studied in judging distances:
The range of objects is usually overestimated:
1. When kneeling or living.
2. When the background and the object are of similar color.
3. On broken ground.
4. In avenues, long streets, or ravines.
5. When the object is in the shade.
6. In mist or falling light, or when heat is rising from the ground.
7. When the object is partly seen.
Points to be noted. The range of objects is usually underestimated:
1. When the sun is behind the observer.
2. When the atmosphere is clear.
3. When the background and the object are of different colors.
4. When the ground is level or covered with snow.
5. When looking over water or a deep chasm.
6. When looking upward or downward.
It is further worth noting that:
At 50 yards the mouth and eyes of a man can be clearly seen.
At 100 yards the eyes appear as points.
At 200 yards buttons and any bright ornament can be seen.
At 300 yards the face can be seen.
At 400 yards the movement of legs can be seen.
At 500 yards the color of clothes can he seen.
Scouts should practice constantly such games as:
(a) Show Window
(b) Kim's Game
(c) Morgan's Game
(d) Far and Near
in order to become expert in estimating numbers. Handling solids will improve the ability to tell at a glance the comparative weights of different objects. Only practice and comparisons will develop ability to make accurate judgments. -From Scoutmastership Notes
--From, Scouting for Boys--Baden-Powell
pg. 279
Height
(1) Know your own height and upward reach.
(2) Practice estimating heights of other people. Your own height and that of other people are visible units far use in estimating other heights.
(3) (3) How tall is that building It has four stories-you need to know something of the average height of ceilings, etc.
MEASURING HEIGHTS AND DISTANCES
By Fredericrick. Vreeland,Camp Fire Club of America
To measure the height of a tree or flag pole a Scout Staff is very useful. Ii A, B, Fig. 1, is a tree, measure off on the ground a distance twelve times the length of your staff and mark the point C by driving a stake. Then measure off from C one staff length toward the base of the tree, and drive the staff in the ground, at b. Place the eye close to the ground at C, having the staff exactly in line with the tree, and note where the line to the top of the tree cuts the staff. We will call this a. The distance from a to b, measured on the staff in inches, will be equal to the height of the tree in feet.
If the ground is not level, or if the eye is not close to the ground, the distance from a to b should be measured to the point where a line to the base of the tree cuts the staff, and not all the way to the ground.
The reason of this is simple. The triangles A, B, C and a, b, C have exactly the same shape, but one is bigger than the other. Since the distance B C is twelve times the distance b, (the height of the tree A B must be twelve times the distance measured on the staff a b, hence every inch on the staff is equal to a foot on the tree.
Of course if it is not convenient to measure just twelve pole lengths from the tree, any other distance may be used, but in that ease you will have to calculate the height from the rule
Every Scout should also know the length of his reach, that is, the distance from his eye to an article, such as a stick or lead pencil, held at arm's length. This can be made useful in a number of ways For example, instead of using the Scout Staff to measure the height of a tree you can use a sighting stick or ruler held upright in the hand.
pg. 280
Hold the stick as shown in Fig. 2 so it covers the tree? with the top
A of the stick in line with the top A of the tree. mark with your thumb the point B, in line with the base B of the tree, and measure its distance from the end of the stick. If the distance of the tree in feet is ten times the length of your reach in inches, then the height of the tree in feet will be ten times the height measured on the sighting stick in inches. For example, if the length of your reach is 24 Inches and the distance of the tree is ten times 24 feet, or 240 feet, then if the height measured on your sighting stick is 5 inches, the height of the tree will be 10 X 5 = 50 feet.
The sighting stick may 'be used also for measuring distances by simply working backward, if you know the size of any object at the distant point. Suppose, for example a Scout wants to know how far away another Scout is. Hold a sighting stick at arm's length and measure off the height of the Scout on the stick. Then the distance is found by the rule:
If the height on the stick be 1 inch, the distance in feet of a Scout 5 feet tall will be five times the length of your reach in inches. If your reach is 24 inches the distance will be 120 feet. If the height on the sighting stick is only one-half an inch the distance will be twice this, or 240 feet, etc.
It is good plan to carry a sighting stick divided to suit the length of your reach.
By two separate observations from two stations, the distance between two inaccessible points can be computed.
Number
In determining the number of objects in any group a certain amount of practice is necessary. This is frequently done by estimating for a small area and then thinking of multiples of that. How many people in the church? So many to a seat-so many seats-this can be rather quickly done.
Weight
In determining weight, one must constantly guard against the illusion of size. A small piece of iron may be much heavier than a large block of wood. Here again skill comes from "Keeping at it."
pg. 281
521
CHAPTER III
Campcraft
By L. L. McDONALD Director Camping, Boy Scouts of America
Campcraft is the how-to-do-it of good camping. The Boy Scout learns Campcraft along with many other useful things in the most interesting way. In fact Campcraft features are so prominent that no Scout can reach First Class without beings well on way in the fundamentals of safe, efficient and enjoyable out-of-door life.
In America, boys and men as a rule, take readily to outdoor life, because so many of our relatives and ancestors have been pioneers, woodsmen, explorers, farmers, surveyors, ranchmen, and prospectors who had a part in discovering and developing of the great natural resources of a new world.
These men had to live in the wilderness so much and found it so fascinating
pg. 521
and wonderful that much of our National tradition and history is a story of camping, and adventure. Our first settlers in New England, Virginia, and the far West had to live first as campers. Every part of the country had to be carefully surveyed and mapped before new settlements could be made. Washington, while a boy of 19, was one of those surveyors and wilderness campers, Then there were Indian wars which required that settlers must be able to he more clever than the Indian in order to follow him and deal successfully with these cleverest of daring hunters, who for many generations had made out-door-life a line art. Daniel Boone and many others had to learn the Indian's tricks and outplay him at his own game.
Then the lumber camps, construction camps, mining camps, made many other expert campers. Lincoln, while yet a boy, was one of those rail-splitters and woodsmen, and also a surveyor.
In the west the term "tenderfoot" was applied to the newcomer who didn't know the ways of the out-doorsman. Why do you suppose the name was chosen? Well, if you've traveled the long wilderness trails, on the plains or through rough country, you won't have to guess. There's a very good reason.
Camping nowadays is done more for the fun of it than anything else, but it is amazing how much there is
pg. 522
yet to be done in the way of exploring and discovering things that have been overlooked or forgotten. We have such a wonderful country, so large and so varied, that even today we can't be really well educated Americans unless we know our great out-of-door places and how to enjoy and appreciate the benefits they offer for recreation and still further development as one of our greatest national resources.
How to become a Camper
The Tenderfoot must first of all learn how to find his way by using a compass. When your compass doesn't work or if you have none, you must depend on observation of land-marks on which you fix your attention. A peculiar shaped tree rock or perhaps a water fall, something that is sure to be there when you go that way again. Did you ever hear of an Indian getting lost in the woods? And yet he never carried a compass. That is because he has formed the habit of keen observation of the features of every landscape, and using it in mind in the same way you recognize people you meet without carrying a picture of each in your pocket by which to identify them. You remember because you are interested. Find something interesting along the road or trail, and you will remember it. There are many ways of marking permanent trails. These are told on page 155. The most practical thing is to observe marks which make each trail or neighborhood different from every other and not to mar it by making too many new marks.
The general slope of the
pg. 523
land, the main streams, lakes, kinds and size of trees. hill-tops, power lines, main roadways and railroads (if there are any), old logging trails and game trails are also good to keep in mind.
Begin right where you are. Practice describing to others how to find their way to various nearby places by natural objects or land-marks. A Scout Camper not only finds the way for himself, but can help others to do so. Another thing is to learn how to find your way at night when many of the usual signs can not: be seen. You are much more likely to lose your way at night, and you may have to keep on going. Stars hill-tops, lights, train whistles, barking dogs may help you to keep your direction.
Of course the best place to learn all these things is in camp, but the more you have developed this sense the happier you will be in camp.
Hiking and exploring are much harder and require far more preparation than camping out in a fixed camp. It is far better at first to go camping with your Troop in some carefully selected place before trying to do any extensive hiking. There is so much to learn you will need all the time you have day and night, to acquire the habit. You must learn to do the many things for yourself that others do for you at home and find different ways of doing them, and different things to do with. The Scout camper learns how to make himself as comfortable as possible under all conditions. The Tender-
pg. 524
foot may think it brave to "rough it" and disregard all comfort. About the second day out he cripples along with blistered feet because he doesn't know that campers must care for their feet. He can't take a street car or a limousine in camp, and comfortable feet are essential.
Next he develops a sunburn and a cold. He has to learn that clothing has real uses. Then he gets bilious and irritable and drowsy because he hasn't learned what and how much to eat. How to build a proper fire, do camp cooking or to sleep comfortably. A camper must get rest and sleep to beep himself well and ready for hard work and play. If it rains he gets wet because he doesn't know how to pitch or ditch his tent. He gets a cold because he shuts his tent so tight that there isn't a breath of flesh air. An old camper knows he must not waist anything and most of all he must conserve all his energy possible by careful eating, proper clothing, shelter from unnecessary exposure, and he must have a comfortable bed in which to rest for sleep is vital.
So turn your attention and ingenuity to ways of making yourself comfortable, but remember that you must be able to do it yourself. Don't depend on or blame someone else if you fail.
How to Start
Here is the way a Troop of Boy Scouts from a large town in the part of Oklahoma which was formerly the old Indian Territory went about it to become good campers. They were all what you might call city boys and, although some of their fathers had been real pioneers and told wonderful stories of adventure in "the good old days," the younger generation, strange as it may :seem, had never yet had a chance to do any camping.
pg. 525
Fathers were too busy and the old range for miles in every direction was fenced, cultivated and "posted." "No hunting, no trespassing and keep off." When the Scout Troop was organized, every boy expected that this would be his chance to go to camp right away. Some asked even before they took their Tenderfoot test "If we join, how soon can we go camping?"
Fortunately, the Scoutmaster was an old time camper and knew they had a great deal to learn first, which boys living out on the ranches or in the woods and mountain country learn by everyday life. So, he told them they would be getting ready right away, but, when they could really have a camp depended on how well they did their regular Scout tests.
pg. 526
A Hike
On a Saturday afternoon, they went on a short hike to the edge of town to an old abandoned brick yard near a small stream where there were trees. Each wanted to cook over a camp fire of his own and they soon began to understand why the Scoutmaster had insisted that before they could have a real Troop Camp, there would be a great deal for them to learn. Of course, they had Scout axes and every Tenderfoot wanted to cut down a live tree to build his cooking fire. But that wouldn't do, and they went to Bet dead timber. Some picked the biggest dead trees they could find, but, of course, the ones who were wise enough to gather small dry branches requiring little or no chopping had their cooking done before the others got fairly started. Hardly anybody had brought salt or sugar in his pack and one boy used up a whole box of matches before he learned to use whittlings, very small twigs and dry leaves before piling on big sticks or logs on his fire. It was dark before they finished this first experiment and, after playing a Scout Game they started for home determined to "Be Prepared" before the next hike. There was much practicing on fire building after school that week and hone folks were answering all kinds of questions on how to fry and bake and broil and stew things over a fire out of doors.
A Treasure Hunt
But cooking wasn't all of camping. The next hike was called a "treasure hunt." By Patrols, they started
pg. 527
on two routes, one going southwest, the other northwest, using the compass, they were to find a large elm tree where a note was to be found telling where to go next. Almost every kind of a tree was called an elm by some boy. The note when found said "Go directly west one eighth of a mile and find a message on or near a cottonwood tree. More use of compass--more discussion of how many feet and bow many paces in one-eighth of a mile and "Who knows a cotton-wood tree?" Then they were to follow a certain stream till they came to a sand stone cliff and get some more directions under some willows. "Sand stone,"' "willows?" Finally, one Patrol located the hidden treasure-a big box of marshmallows-and made so much noise that the other Patrol which had entirely lost their trail came crashing in to share the spoils, displaying a note in which the trail maker had put "Go S. E.," when it should have been "S. W.)' Much discussion and they agreed that instead of lynching or bawling out the Senior Patrol Leaders who made the trail, there should be a court martial at the next Troop meetings to decide who was to blame and what should be done about it.
Sleeping Out
But sleeping out was yet to come on another shed hike. They used grass and hay for beds, and carried shelter tents. One Patrol got ambitious and thatched a hut with long prairie grass. The frame-work was made of small cotton-wood poles lashed together and thatching put on in layers like shingles and tied to the frame by heavy binder twine. They slept on the ground. It rained. The grass roof held, but after this first heavy rain the hut and each shelter tent was always carefully
pg. 528
and thoughtfully ditched--for good and sufficient reasons!
One morning after cooking their own breakfasts they were reporting "Good Turns'' by each telling one "Good Turn" he had observed some other Scout doing. Jimmie McCormack reported "Mr. Pritchard did me a good turn. He actually ate a flapjack that I had cooked for my breakfast!" It takes a lot of practice to make frying pan flap-jacks really fit to eat.
More Hikes
For two or three months, practice hikes and overnight camps to places not more than three or four miles from the city were conducted to discover who was a good enough Scout to go with the party which was to make a real camp in the Arbuckle Mountains. Only those who could qualify would be accepted, for this was to be a Boy Scout Camp.
"Ikie" Landon could always produce from a o m e· where in his pockets or duffle bag, in any emergency just what he needed, buttons, needles, safety pins, a whetstone, string, dry matches, a piece of wire, First Aid supplies, an extra candle, a sharp knife.
pg. 529
Clarence Brody always knew a new game or trick or story for around the campfire. Jack Stevens could bake hunter's biscuits, and macaroni with cheese. Lee Higgins was always forgetting to bring enough to eat, begging eats from the rest of the gang. Dave Hoxie was so often losing his temper or "picking on" some little kid half his size. Dick Lyons was never without a compass and a road map. "Clokey" was thinking he could light fire without matches. Fred was an amateur weather prophet, knew signs, clouds and weather maps--always cheerful. All these facts were being noted (and many more) in selecting Scouts who were to qualify or be left at home.
When August came they had a picked party of nine teen campers.
Money enough had been saved to cover all necessary expense. Many ideas of what was necessary in equipment, food supplies, cooking utensils, First Aid supplies, had been discussed and decided by referring to old campers or published literature in the public library.
Off To the Hills
They hiked till the way to the mountains, tents and provisions only were carried on a wagon. There were no auto roads. They did all their own cooking-pitched their own tents, found their own way by map and compass and did real pioneering. The Scoutmaster went as advisor and took pot luck with the rest, but there was no shirking, no quitters, no quarrelling. The camp had
pg. 530
all the necessary equipment, but no junk, no frills. The party was organized and was camping with a purpose; they were upholding the honor of the Troop, and the Scout Law was the law of the camp. Each had said "On my honor, I will do my best." And everything they could learn about out-door life would be useful in building a bigger Troop and a bigger camp for next year.
Every Scout a Camper
One thing every Scout looks forward to is CAMP! It is one of the big things of Scouting-not only fun but Scout training and also learning to get along with other fellows, too.
As Local Councils and Troops are now universally running camps, every Scout is urged to accept every opportunity to attend and enjoy this camp training.
Indeed, when older Scouts have had sufficient experience as campers they may be used as camp leaders, thus passing on the investment already made in them. In fact, camp leadership is a real business.
Over 400,000 boys camped in Scout Camps during the past year--more campers, by the way, than all other organizations in the United States had put together. As a Scout Camper, therefore, you are a part of the greatest thing of its kind in the world--so enjoy it and learn thoroughly its craft.
pg. 531
(1) American Indian Craft
BY RALPH HUBBARD
"To study and reproduce Indian ways and customs is no mere child's play!" said an eighteen-year old Scout to me after a summer in a Scout-Indian camp. It is such a pity that most boys think of head-dresses, warwhoops, tomahawks and scalps the instant Indians are mentioned! This does them the greatest possible injustice, even though it be natural, since our chief contact with Indians in history has been warfare. There are so many thousand beautiful and desirable things in their lives that it is safe to say they can offer boys a mighty good code of sport and happiness. Good books on Indian Lore are so scarce that it takes time and labor to discover the wholesome, constructive side of the Indian, especially since our schools do not teach much concerning this subject.
So it is that the Boy Scouts of America are adopting Indian Lore into their programs all over the nation, and they are finding it to be about 75 per cent the highest type of Scouting. The boy who studies the crafts, is like the cowpuncher missionary who worked from this
pg. 546
angle among the Utes in Utah, he becomes a friend to all Indians instantly. And one can learn the crafts readily from books since considerable has been written on them, but songs and dances are not to be found so well described in the literature. In fact it is almost impossible to learn the dances from books. No white man can dance as an Indian, but he can try, thereby having a good time and coming in closer understanding with our Red Brothers. The dances are not simply a series of yells and hops and arm-hinging, done with indiscrimination, but, on the other hand, are really scientific. The Reports of the American Bureau of Ethnology, found in most libraries, furnish more and better material on Indians than any other literature. Write the Museum of Natural History, New York City, for these books.
1. Indian Beadwork--(Pamphlet) . $.25.
2. Indians of the Plains--Wissler. $.75.
3. Indians of the Southwest--Goddard, $.75.
The Boy Scouts of America publish these pamphlets:
Beadwork. $.10.
Indian Handicraft. $.40
Why attempt to make a big war-bonnet first thing when a tepee furnishes so much sport and happiness for a whole Troop? To be sure, the rain runs down the poles when you have no "dew-cloth," and you get smoked out when you use "slow sticks" in the fire instead of
pg. 547
"quick sticks," but in time you will learn to handle a tepee so that it will be a real home. When you make a tomtom you will want to dance, which will next call for a costume, but the professional Indian dancers and those who dance a good deal, do not want heavy costumes. A big headdress is beautiful, but a small, light decoration is much preferred.
The Tepee
One might write a huge book on how to make and do Indian things, but our space is so limited that we are offering just a few suggestions, starting with the tepee. As shown in the pattern, the tepee cover is cut from a half circle of canvas or other goods. The overlapping areas used to pin the front together take off some, so that the actual cover when erected would not be half a circle. Using a complete half circle makes the whole structure too squat, and is very hard to manage. If one uses the proportions shown in the diagram, based on the half circle, a tepee can be made any size. On the next page the lifting pole is shown tied at the top even with the margin of canvas.
pg. 548
The tripod poles are tied about eight inches lower than the lifting pole, and they must have the rope around each pole to prevent slipping. In diagram we have the tepee skeleton erected, since the 12, poles have been laid in the tripod which is erected first. The base of the lifting pole is placed at circumference of base and some boy must hold it there while others hoist the pole and cover at same time, letting it fall in its place directly back of the doorway, which latter is usually faced toward the
pg. 549
east. Next come the lacing pins in the front, then the flap poles as shown in first diagram. Various kinds of streamers, bits of horse tails and imitation "medicine" are suspended from the tips of the poles.
Moccasins
Two types of moccasins are shown, first the "Woods Indian." Any Scout with half an eye can make his own pattern from the suggestions here since he must make a
pattern to fit his own feet anyhow. The material in the sole is gathered over the toes and about the instep with strong, waxed thread.
Woods Indians decorate their moccasins with porcupine quills, embroider);, paint and beads as do the Plains people, but more often have no decoration at all. The diagrams show six types of Plains moccasin decorations.
pg. 550
The second type of moccasin is the "Plains Indian," made from a sole cut the shape of the bottom of the foot, and an upper that fits over the instep and heel as shown in diagram. In both types the tongue is sewed on afterwards;
A Tom-Tom
Making a tom-tom requires courage, for the calf, cow, deer or dog skin that is used has to be allowed to partly spoil in order to remove the hair. This is done by soaking the hide in a barrel of water thick with wood ashes or lime. Soft soap will often help the process. The skin side of the material must be scraped clean of fat and flesh then the two heads are
pg. 551
laced as shown in the drawing. Sometimes single-head tom-toms give almost as good tones as double. All sorts of designs are painted on the heads according to the medicine of the tribe and the individual. The material used for drum heads, once shorn of the hair is called "par fleche," a French term used by Indians now, meanings "by the arrow.
Bows and Arrows
Indian bows and arrows are sometimes quite different from the archery materials used in the tournaments by our Scouts of today. The curves of the bow are secured by fastening the bow to a larger piece of wood and crowding blocks between the two where the curves are desired and steaming the whole in some moist earth several days. Hickory is used for curved bows almost entirely and where possible, they are nearly always backed with sinew or "par fleche" since they are only about four feet long.
pg. 552
(2) How to Make a Tent
Open Outing Tent with Hood
This can be made from thirteen yards of 8 oz. Duck canvass, which costs very little.
A Tent for Mosquito Country
Offered by the editor as being especially adapted for use in mosquito country in hot weather. Tent has floor cloth and weather flaps over cheesecloth windows, and two puckering-string round doors, also with flaps.
pg. 553
(3) How to Make a Bow
1. Correctiy propertioned bow. "The perfect weapon is a trifle stiff at the center, and the lower limb is shade stronger than the upper."--Pope.
2. Incorrectly propertioned bow. Bends in center.
3. Incorrectly propertioned bow. Too much bend in mid-limbs.
4. A well proportioned bow when braced.
5. A good bow at rest. Slight following of: the string is not objectionable.
6. Cross sections.
pg. 554
THE BOWSTRING 1.Using Barbour's No. 12 shoemaker's thread, allow about 36 threads for an average of 30-45 lbs. pull. First stretch out on nails, spaced a distance
1 foot greater than length of bow, 3 strands "a," "b," "c," of 12 threads each. Wax each strand separately. Next make 3 strands of 6 threads each "d," "e," "f,"--12 inches long. Wax well. Now taper all ends by laying them upon board and scraping with dull knife. Short strands are now waxed into ends of long strands. 2. Starting 9 inches from end lay up like rope for 4 inches as follows: holding strands as shown, "a" is taken between thumb and forefinger of right hand, twisted away from you and is pulled over "b" and "c". "b" is then twisted away from you and pulled over "c" and "a". "b" then comes over and "b." 3. Form loop and match strands. "a" with "a." "b" with "b". "c" with "c" 4. Wax together. 5. Proceed to lay up as in No. 2 for about 4 inches. 6. Finished loop should be smooth with gradual taper. Opposite end of string is built up the same as loop but is left straight for tying timber hitch around lower nock.
pg. 555
(I) Fun from Games
Follow the Leader (1)
(game for any number)
An active leader is selected who runs, jumps, crawls over, under, through obstacles, etc. everyone following and doing the same. When one misses he goes to the tail of the line.
Buzz-Buzz (2)
(3 some game)
They stand sidewise facing in same direction legs wide apart and with one foot of tie middle Scout, just edge to edge against the "inside" foot of each of the other two. Each "outside" Scout places his "outside" hand over his "inside" ear (thus cuttings off this middle Scout from view). Middle Scout wears a hat. He says Buzz-BUZZ -BUZZ-ZZ like a bee and touches the "head" hand of one of the Scouts who THEN may at once SWING with his free "inside" hand to knock off the hat--the middle Scout meanwhile "ducking" while keeping his feet in place against his fellow players. When hat is knocked off the one doing so may become middle man.
Rooster Fight (3)
(any even number of players)
With hands clasped around knees while in squatting position, two Scouts try to upset each other out of a six foot circle.
pg. 557
Let'er Buck (4)
(any even number of players)
A Patrol selects its best horses and riders, then challenges another Patrol. The "Broncho" must keep his hands on his knees-but otherwise may buck, plunge, dodge, squirm as he pleases to unhorse his rider. Rider must hold on with his knees keeping his: feet back-he may hold the shoulder or back but not the head or neck or about the body or under the arms. If rider touches pound he's thrown. Three rounds--three minutes each. Score 1·3-5 for one, two and three rounds.
Tractor (5)
(4 Scout game)
Two Scouts on hands and knees, and facing in opposite directions, act as "Tractors." Team mate straddles tractor and holding on with his legs, reaches both hands back to grip hands of opponent. At the signal the 'tug of war" begins. The one unhorsed or pulled back, loses.
Slap Jack (6)
(any even number of players)
Scout No. 1 places open hands, palms down, on the upturned palms of No. 2. No. 2 tries to pull one hand away quickly and slap No. 1's hands on the back. When he fails. No. 1 has his chance.
Pillow Fight (7)
(2 Scout game)
Two contesting Scouts straddle a pole, or stand on rail or log and try to unhorse each other by swatting with pillows.
pg. 558
Swat Tag (8)
(any number)
Instead of "drop the handkerchief," one Scout runs around the circle and leaves large newspaper swatter in some Scout's hand (bands being held behind in the circle, everyone facing in). This Scout may then swat the player on his right all the way around the circle if ha is fast enough. Then he puts "the swatter" in one of another Scout's hands and rushes around the circle to get in that fellow's place,
Canoe Tilting (9)
(4 Scout game)
For four Scouts who can swim--two in each of two canoes, one to paddle, the other with a long tilting, spear with heavily padded cloth end--bamboo fish poles are excellent. The aim is to tip the other fellow into the water. [Ernest Thompson Seton developed a "tub-tilting" game played similarly on stationary tubs or stools,]
Steal the Bacon (10)
(our number of players)
Two Patrols line up with thirty feet between the lines. They face each other and number through, thus there are two Scouts for each number - one in each line. Two "ones," two "sevens," etc. The "bacon"--a handkerchief, hat, or
pg. 559
similar object lies on the ground in the exact center. The leader calls "sixes" and the two "six" Scouts dash out, each trying to grab the "bacon" and get "home" before the other "six Scout" tags him. Score: one point for getting safely home, or for tagging the Scout carrying the bacon.
Patrol Hide and Seek (11)
(2 Patrols or more)
Like the old "Hide and Seek" game except when the Patrol Leader has hidden all of his Patrol, lie returns to the base and announces "ready." He may then signal movements of the "It'' Patrol as lie desires. For every Scout "caught" before he tags the base, the "It" Patrol registers 1 score. Sides change when "Its" get a count .of 10, or when entire Patrol is "caught."
Scout Question Ball (12)
(two Patrols)
Fun can be had with all manner of "question material" for this game. Four baser; and a pitcher's bort. Patrols compete (more can play) one side gets to "bat." Game opens by pitcher "pitching" a Scout question at the batter. If be answers correctly (Scoutmaster or Patrol Leader as umpire) he advances to first base-if he fails, he is "out." Three "outs" retire the side. Scores are "forced" forward and "home."
Questions may be on First Aid, Signaling, Flag Respects, or almost any field of knowledge,
Treasure Hunts (13)
(any number of players) A tracking, trailing anti then finally finding game. A trail is laid by trail signs, or by distances and trees, or by compass directions to succeeding points, at each on"
pg. 560
of which a new direction is found which finally locates the treasure-probably "eats" or something of value. The Scoutmaster or Patrol Leader can plan this and lay the trail.
Patrol First Aid Race (14)
(several Patrols)
Patrols line up 50 yards from patient. At the leader's signal, Scouts run 50 yards to patient; apply triangular bandage to head, and spiral reverse from wrist to elbow; put arm in triangular bandage sling; form four-handed seat and carry patient back AT A WALK. Team to furnish bandages, surplus bandages need not be brought back with patient. Judge-a doctor or first aid expert-shall disqualify team if all bandages are not correctly, neatly and firmly done, or if the Scouts run with or jolt the patient.
In official national contests the rescuing team consists of two Scouts, and the injuries (of which the above are a sample) are found written oil a card pinned to the patient's clothing.
Capture the Flag (15)
(2 Patrols or 2 Troops)
The Scouts are divided into two camps, each with a leader and each having its own flag mounted on a light pole or a Scout staff. The players of one camp should be marked by a handkerchief or necktie tied around the arm so that a Scout can tell at a glance whether another Scout is a friend or a foe
Any Scout found in the enemy's territory may be captured by grasping him and holding on while the captor says, "Caught, caught, caught"! If he does not hold on long enough to say "caught" three times, the other Scout is not captured.
A starting point is chosen near the center of the line, and the game starts with the two Troops or camps assembled close together on opposite sides of the line, each
pg. 561
in its own territory. The Scoutmaster explains the rules of the game, then blows one blast on his whistle as a signal for the two camps to set up their flags within one hundred paces of the starting point.
Guards must not stand nearer than fifty feet from the flag. The guards may follow an enemy into the 50-foot zone.
A prisoner may be released by a friend crossing the line and touching him while the prisoner is touching the guard house. Both are allowed to return free into their own territory unless the rescuer is caught by the guards before he touches the prisoner.
If the raider is caught before he reaches his home territory, the flags is set up again at the point where it was rescued and the game goes on as before.
If neither side captures the enemy's flag within the time agreed upon, which may be an hour, the Scoutmaster calls the game off by blowing the assembly call, and the game is won by tile camp that has the most prisoners
pg. 562
Antelope Race (16)
(several Patrols)
This is to be done by Patrols. The Scouts run in single file with hand on the belt of the Scout ahead. Falling down or breaking apart throws out the team. The distance is fifty yards and return, the turn being made to left. The Patrol wins whose leader first breaks the tape, provided the Patrol is unbroken throughout the race.
Skunk Tag (17)
(any number of players)
This game comes from the Sioux Indians. Each player holds his nose with one hand, holds up one foot with the other hand. As long as he keeps this position he cannot be tagged, but if he lets go with either hand he can be tagged by tile boy who is "it."
Signalling 'Bee" or "Spell-Down" (18)
(any number of players)
A Patrol Leader or good Scout signaler takes a position facing two or more Patrols and sends a letter (or words, depending, on their knowledge) to the first Scout in each Patrol in turn. If received correctly that Scout is eliminated and the rotation goes on. The first Patrol to be entirely eliminated wins.
pg. 563
NOTE--This same method can he used in First Aid. Knots, Compass, Judging, Fire Building, Fire by Friction and so on. Its advantage is that: those who are "poorest" get the most practice.
The "Blind Man" Stalking Game (19)
(any number of players)
A Scoutmaster or Troop official is blindfolded-then the Troop Or Patrol members who have kept back 50 yards are turned loose to "stalk" the Blind Man (to touch him) without beings HEARD by him before they touch him. When the "blind man" points at man and cries "halt," the umpire standing by decides the man out. Patrol wins that "touches" first or most. The "blind man should select a place where approach will be difficult.
Prisoner's Base (20)
(2 patrols)
Goals are marked off at both ends of the playground, the Scouts divided into two equal Patrols, occupying the two goals. About ten paces to the Tight of each goal is a prison. A Scout advances toward the opposite goal, when one from that goal starts out to catch him. He retreats, and one from his side runs to his rescue by trying to catch the pursuer who in turn is succored by one from his side, and so on. Every Scout may catch any one from the opposite side who has been out of goal longer than he has. Any Scout caught is conducted to the prison by his captor and must remain there until rescued by some one from his side, who touches him with the hand The one who does this is subject to being caught like any other player.
Knot "Champ-Nit" Games (21)
(two or more Patrols)
Within a Patrol, or between Patrols, knot tying contents may be arranged as a speed contest between pairs
pg. 564
of Scouts or pairs of Patrols. The loser of each match is paired against other losers, until the "champion-laser" or "champ-nit" has emerged.
Note--From the view point of Patrol instruction of its members, such a contest is very valuable, as it gives the extra practice to those who need it most, and in addition it is "lots" of fun.
This "set-up" may be applied to Signaling, First Aid contests, and so on. These contests eliminate the winner and reveal who needs the training and practice.
Relay Games (22)
Relay games are excellent for Competition between Patrols (or between Troops). The carrying of some object by each of the line in turn can be varied in many ways.
It can be used with signaling. Signal the message carried by the runner before you carry one you have to the next "signaler-runner." Some light obstacle across the running space adds zest. Horse and Rider, First Aid carries, and 'Wheelbarrow Race may be variations.
Holding the Front (Patrol) (23)
A very simple Patrol game for hiking. Any of the "followers" may ask the leader a nature question "what is that?" If he cannot answer, the leader up, and so on.
pg. 565