THE JOYS OF CAMPING

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 13, 23 December 1911, Page 9

THE JOYS OF CAMPING

SOME USEFUL HINTS. A writer in an Australian paper (Donald Macdonald) has written much that is useful concerning camping out. - If you have to get a tout, ho has said, it is best to get a military bell tout. Long after they havo been condemned for military use they are quite good enough for Christmas camps. The advantage of tho military tent is that, in addition to having ventilators at tho top, it provides accommodation for many sleepers. On service eight or ten men sleep in a single tent. There is always room for a half-dozen. The flap sides can bo lifted so that you are practically sleeping in tho open air with a cover over you. Only a single pole is required, and tho tent equipment goes with tho tent. It saves so much (rouble that it is well worth tho extra weight in carriage.

Nearly every camper knows how to pitch the ordinary/square tent.". The-lot-", ter way is to cut' two saplings for uprights, each ending in a .fort at about six feet from the'ground. These, cauiiot be driven. They may bo sunk,; and the convenient way is to make the hole' just large enough to. take tlio diameter'of the upright. Lven in hard ground it can be dug out very quickly with an ordinary knife, or even a pointed stick, lifting the looso earth with your hand. In a hole which just fits the upright a few' pegs driven round it make it very firm. A sapling just strong enough to-carry the weight of tho tent forms the ridge-pole.' The side negs for the wall should slope slightly outward. When you havo cut your uprights, placo the ridge-pole in position, spread the tent, fix pointed sido •x!gs, which aro easily driven to suit the distance. Even a very thin tent sloping at an angle of 1' degrees will not admit water. Whatever form of tent or shelter is used, a trench is absolutely necessary, with a drain extending a short distance on the lower slope. For a hasty bivouac or bed in the open, cut eight'pegs, 18in. long, drive them in pairs just far enough apart to take tho shape of the bed, and admit-the width offour saplings, which are dropped in between them, and the space filled first with a layer of bracken or any other scrub, easily obtainable, topped off for ', choice with the gum leaves. In a bivouac it is wise, almost essential', to have a waterproof sheet. A strip of oilcloth does very woll, but jrou can waterproof strong calico so that it will serve. I'ut half a pound of alum into four gallons of water in one vessel, in another half a pound of sngar of lead, and the same quantity of water. When both are thoroughly melted let them settle, drain them, mix together, the clear liquid, soak the material, in it, wring it, and lay out to dry. A few layers of newspaper, either under or over tho waterproof, add considerably to the warmth of a bed. I don't proposo to sprak at any length about camp utensils or equipment, lie .continues, only tho essentials.. One of thein is a tomahawk, not too light,-and with a hammer head, and Well sharpened, some wire nails, and a ball of strong cord. Wjth these you can improvise many things. Kerosene tins made into buckets, with an ordinary wire handle and a couple of corks for a grip, are both cheap and handy. You enn pack away a lot c-f stuff in them.' Tliey are very conveniently carried on a pole, Chinese fashion,- if you have to trek for nnv distance, -and serve for camp pots and buckets. Some light, strong bran bags are also worth taking, both to make mattresses and a bush safe, and they can be used its packages for. carrying clothes and blankets, while provisions and breakables are packed in' tho kerosene tins. No matter where you camp (lies accumulate, and the greatest care has to bo' taken about provisions. A bran bag makes a vsry good safe. Cut a-'couple if sticks as long as-the diameter of the lvig, and lash them across with a cord. One of theso is placed in the bottom of tho bag as a spreader, another fixed near the top. From that you can hong meat. Ton have then only to close the neck of the bag, fasten a cord about it, and pull it tip any tree. The higher it is pulled up, if in the shade, the better. A small butcher's knife is the best kind that you can carry. It should be kent very sharp, nnd, for choice, carried in a leather sheath. A hurricane lamp, with, a tin shield and reflector on one side, is best ''or camp purposes, but don't carry keroM>no with vou if yon can it in the locality where you camn, or, if .vou have to take it along, let it bo a separate package. not mixed with provisions. The .town camper has not, even yet, realised the value of the canvas water lvag, which is the bushmon's best friend. You can' n ut tepid water into a canvas water bag. hang it in the shade for an hour, nnd eet a cool, even a cold, drink. • T f vou have no water bag. one way of pooling water is to place it in a billy. Attach the billv with the lid on. by a long cord to a bough, and swing it backward and forward, Another way is to our some water from the billy into the 'id, then niece the reveled lid on I lie n of the billy. In this way it ccols fairly quick!}".

The cardinal virtues in camn are—(l) cleanliness. (2) precautions against fire. If you throw refuso broadcast about a camp, flies ants, and all sorts of iufcects congregate, and bccomo a nuisance. Dig a trench somo distanco away from tho camp tiro and tents. Have some kind of receptaclo for a dust-bin—a sheet of bark will serve. Carry all refuse aivav, and put it into this open trench, throwing in a little earth at intervals. Taking tho law of average in regard to prevailing winds, a camp fire should, in summer, be a little north-east from the tent. The better way is to dig a trench just under tho. diameter ot the pots and billy. Very little tire, indeed, is required for cooking. The universal mistake is to havo the firo too large, either for boiling, 'frying, or roasting. Remove all leaves and litter from round about the fire trench. Where drinking water is taken from waterholes, ponds, anywhere, indeed, excepting clear running streams, it is wise to boil it if used for drinking. That makes it absolutely safe.

SIGNIFICANT. , THE NEW FORCE IN INDIA. ' ;lf the; 1903 Durbar marked the-end Of an era—the era of medieval India as personified in tho barbaric splendour of nar tive rulers—that of 1911 certainly marks the commejcement of a new era in respect - of one of the highest human forces that play on tho world's stage— the -influence and. power of womanhood, says a writer in the "Sydney Morning Telegraph." Tho statement that two highly-placed women rulers abandoned the purdah or curtain, aud took their places bv the side of the great British ladies in the entourage of Queen Mary, is immensely significant of tho startling clianra that 'has coma over the spirit of India of recent years. This act which not so long ago might have led to revolution is the outward and visible sign of the emancipation of womanhood, the wiping away of a reproach which has, from the Eunv pean aud Christian point of view, besmirched, the fame of India and the East for centuries. Students of history need not ™ minded that fr °m behind tho purdah the woman of India, like her sister of tho Turkish harem, has. been no inconsiderable factor in tho govern- ■ nient or misgoyernment of the country in which she lived. Her influence has ( 'ot course, .varied with her character and Iter ambitions, but seclusion notwithstanding, she. played her part, and no unimportant one either, in the history, of her- race. King George's Durbar has witnessed the remarkable scene of women taking, an open and accepted part in the various ceremonies, and Queen Mary'o reply to the "sisterhood of India," as they offered their gifts and paid their homage, voices tho satisfaction felt by the-modern world at the evolution that is taking placo in the ideas of tho Hindus as to the proper status of their womcnmi"' the moral effect upon a susceptible race of "the " jiresenco and bearing of their Emperor, it is sufficient to say the incident of. his' Hu > s ,F Ollsl <lMation .'for the veteransof tho Indian army will bearTruit in the samo way as such acts do in other parts of the It is no small gafn to the cause of Empire that his Indian subjects should find in their EinS one who is personally interested in their' iveH-bemg. Quite apart from the sense ot feHowship in a world-wide Empire which the people must feel as the resuH of the solemn and dramatic proclamation at the Durbar, thero will the verv fact of the IvinVs ami personality a feeling of pride an 3 action that. will, go" a long way to neu' tra lse tho inciment disloyalty'tin^ ? R, r -f-\ hilo i bl, - k as a menace to Butish rulo in that wonderful land.