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The two ropes are laid alongside one another, then with each end an overhand knot is made around the standing part of the other. Pull the standing parts to tighten. Turn the end of one rope A over its standing part B to form a loop. Pass the end of the other rope across the bight thus formed, back of the standing part B over the end A, then under the bight at C, passing it over its own standing part and under the bight again at D.
The Mariner's Compass. Boxing the Compass consists in enumerating the points, beginning with north and working around the circle as follows:. The watch is often used to give the compass point exactly. Thus: Point the hour-hand to the sun; then, in the morning, half-way between the hour-hand and noon is due south.
If afternoon, one must reckon half-way backward. Thus: at 8 A. The south is at two o'clock. The "half-way" is because the sun makes a course of twenty-four hours and the clock of but twelve. If we had a rational timepiece of twenty-four hours, it would fit in much better with all nature, and with the hour-hand pointed to the sun would make 12 o'clock, noon, always south. If you cannot see the sun, get into a clear, open space, hold your knife point upright on your watch dial, and it will cast a faint shadow, showing where the sun really is, unless the clouds are very heavy.
Finding Your Latitude by the Stars. The use of the stars to the scout is chiefly to guide him by showing the north, but the white man has carried the use a step farther: he makes the Pole-star tell him not only where the north is, but where he himself is.
From the Pole-star, he can learn his latitude. It is reckoned an exploit to take one's latitude from the North Star with a cart-wheel, or with two sticks and a bucket of water. The first attempt I made was with two sticks and a bucket of water. I arranged the bucket in the daytime, so that it could be filled from rim to rim; that is, it was level, and that gave me the horizon line; next, I fastened my two sticks together at an adjustable angle. Then, laying one stick across the bucket as a base, I raised the other till the two sight notches on its upper edge were in straight line for the Pole-star.
The sticks were now fastened at this angle and put away till the morning. On a smooth board--the board is allowable because it can be found either far on the plains when you have your wagon, or on the ship at sea--I mapped out, first a right angle, by the old plan of measuring off a triangle, whose sides were six, eight, and ten inches, and applied the star angle to this.
To make a scout's sundial, prepare a smooth board about fifteen inches across, with a circle divided into twenty-four equal parts, and a temporarily hinged pointer, whose upper edge is in the middle of the dial.
Place on some dead level, solid post or stump in the open. At night fix the dial so that the twelve o'clock line points exactly to north, as determined by the Polestar. Then, using two temporary sighting sticks of exactly the same height so as to permit sighting clear above the edge of the board set the pointer exactly pointing to the Pole-star; that is, the same angle as the latitude of the place, and fix it there immovably.
Then remove the two sighting sticks. As a timepiece, this dial will be found roughly correct for that latitude. The angle of the pointer, or style, must be changed for each latitude. May, There are as many different kinds of log cabins as of any other architecture. It is best to begin with the simplest. The tools needed are a sharp ax, a crosscut saw, an inch auger, and a spade.
It is possible to get along with nothing but an ax many settlers had no other tool , but the spade, saw, and auger save much work. For the site select a high, dry place, in or near the woods, and close to the drinking-water. It should be a sunny place, and with a view, preferably one facing south or east. Clear off and level the ground. Then bring your logs.
These are more picturesque with the bark left on, but last longer peeled. Eight feet by twelve feet outside makes a good cabin for three or four boys. Cut and carry about twelve logs, each ten feet long; and twelve more, each fourteen feet long. The logs should be at least six inches through. Soft wood is preferable, as it is easier to handle; the four ground logs or sills, at least, should be of cedar, chestnut, or other wood that does not rot. Lay two of the fourteen-foot logs on the ground, at the places for the long sides, and seven feet apart.
Then across them, at the end, lay two short ones, eleven feet apart. This leaves about a foot projecting from each log. Roll the last two into their resting places, and flatten them till they sit firmly. It is of prime importance that each log rest immovably on the one below. Now cut the upper part of each end log, to an edge over each corner. Next put on two long logs, roll them onto the middle, taking care to change off, so the big end at a given comer may be followed next time by the small end and insure the corner rising evenly.
Roll one of these large logs close to where it is to be placed, then cut on its upper surface at each end a notch corresponding with the ridge on the log it is to ride on.
When ready, half a roll drops it into place. Repeat the process now with the other sides, then the two ends, etc. As the walls rise, it will be found necessary to skid the larger logs; that is, roll them up on two long logs, or skids, leaning against the wall. When the logs are in place to the height of four and a half feet from the ground, it is time to decide where the door and window are to be; and at that place, while the next long log is lying on top, bottom up, cut out a piece four feet long and four inches deep.
Roll this log into place. One more log above this, or certainly two, will make your shanty high enough for boys. Put on final end logs, then two others across the shanty. Roll up the biggest, strongest log of all for the ridge sometimes two are used side by side ; it should lie along the middle of the four cross pieces shown in Fig. The two cross logs, B and C, and the ridge log should be very strong, as the roof is heavy. Now we are ready to cut the doorway and window.
First, drive in blocks of wood between each of the logs, all the way down from A to the ground, and from B down to D, and C to E. Saw down now from A half-way through the ground log F. Then from B down to half-way through the log D; now continue from G, cutting down to half through the ground log. Use the ax to split out the upper half of the ground log, between the saw-cuts and also the upper half of the log D.
Hew a flat piece of soft wood, five or six inches wide, about two inches thick, and as long as the height of this doorway. Set it up against the ends of the logs A to F.
Bore an auger hole through it into the end of each log these holes must not be in line lest they split the jamb , including the top and bottom ones, and drive into each a pin of oak.
This holds all safely. Do the same on the other side, H to E, and put a small one down B, D, which is the side of the window. Now we are ready to finish the roof. Use the ax to bevel off the corners of the four cross-logs, A and B.
Then get a lot of strong poles, about five feet long, and lay them close together along the two sides of the roof till it is covered with poles; putting a very heavy one, or small log, on the outer edge of each, and fastening it down with a pin into the ridge log. Cut two long poles and lay one on each of the lower ends of the roof poles, as at A, B, and C Fig. Pack this down. It will soon squeeze all that foot of straw down to little more than one inch, and will make a warm and water-tight roof.
As the clay is very heavy, it is wise, before going inside, to test the roof by jumping on it. If it gives too much, it will be well to add a centre prop. Now for the door: Hew out planks; two should be enough. Fasten these together with two cross-pieces and one angle-piece, using oak pegs instead of nails, if you wish to be truly primitive.
For these the holes should be bored part way with a gimlet, and a peg used larger than the hole. The lower end of the back plank is left projecting in a point. This point fits into a hole pecked with a point or bored with an auger into the door-sill. Bore another hole near the top of the door A , and a corresponding one through the door-jamb between two logs.
Set the door in place. A strip of rawhide leather, a limber willow branch, or a strip of hickory put through the auger hole of the door and wedged into the hole in the jamb, makes a truly wild-wood hinge. A peg in the front jamb prevents the door going too far out, and a string and peg inside answer for a latch.
The window opening may be closed with a glass sash, with a piece of muslin, or with the rawhide of an animal, scraped clear of hair and stretched on a frame. Chinking is best done from the inside. Long triangular strips and blocks of wood are driven in between the logs and fastened there with oak pins driven into the lower log till nothing but small crannies remain.
Some cabins are finished with moss plugged into all the crannies, but mud worked into plaster does better. It should be put on the outside first, and afterward finished form the inside. It is best done really with two plasterers working together, one inside and one out. The fireplace may be in one corner, or in the middle of the end.
It is easiest to make in the former. Across the corner, peg three angle braces, each about three feet long. These are to prevent the chimney falling forward. Now begin to build with stone, using mud as mortar, a fireplace this shape. The top corner-piece carries the rafter that may be cut off to let the flue out.
Build the chimney up outside as high as the highest part of the ridge. But the ideal fireplace is made with the chimney on the outside of the cabin, at the middle of the end farthest from the door. For this you must cut a hole in the end log, like a big, low window, pegging a jamb on the ends as before. With stones and mud you now build a fireplace inside the shanty, with the big chimney carried up outside, always taking care that there are several inches of mud or stone between the fire and any of the logs.
In country where stone cannot be found, the fireplace is often built of mud, sustained by an outside cribbing of logs. If the flue is fair size, that is, say one quarter the size of the fireplace opening, it will be sure to draw. The bunk should be made before the chinks are plastered, as the hammering is apt to loosen the mud.
Cut eight or ten poles a foot longer than you need the bunk; cut the end of each into a flat board and drive these between the long logs at the right height and place for the bunk, supporting the other end on a crosspiece from a post to the wall.
Put a very big pole on the outer side, and all is ready for the bed; most woodsmen make this of small fir boughs. There are two other well-known ways of cornering the logs--one is simply flattening the logs where they touch. This, as well as the first one, is known in the backwoods of Canada as hog-pen finish. The really skilful woodsmen of the North always dovetail the comers and saw them flush: Fig.
Sometimes it is desirable to make a higher gable than that which one ridge log can make. Then it is made thus: Fig. This is as much slope as a clay roof should have; with any more, the clay would wash off. This is the simplest way to build a log-cabin, but it illustrates all the main principles of log building. Shingle roofs and gables, broad piazzas outside, and modern fitting inside, are often added nowadays in summer camps, but it must be clear that the more towny you make the cabin, the less woodsy it is, and less likely to be the complete rest and change that is desired.
For fuller instructions, see "Log-Cabins and Cottages. Wicks, Forest and Stream, N. The height of a tree is easily measured when on a level, open place, by measuring the length of its shadow, then comparing that with your own shadow, or that of a ten-foot pole. Thus, the ten-foot pole is casting a fifteen-foot shadow, and the tree's shadow is one hundred and fifty feet long, apply the simple rule of three.
But it is seldom so easy, and the good old rule of the triangle can be safely counted on: Get a hundred or more feet from your tree, on open ground, as nearly as possible on the level of its base. Set up a ten-foot pole A B, page Then mark the spot where the exact line from the top of the tree over the top of the pole touches the ground C.
Now measure the distance from that spot C to the foot of the ten-foot pole B ; suppose it is twenty feet. Measure also the distance from that spot C to the base of the tree D ; suppose it is one hundred and twenty feet, then your problem is:. To make a right angle, make a triangle whose sides are exactly six, eight, and ten feet or inches each or multiples of these.
The angle opposite the ten must be a true right angle. There are many ways of measuring distance across rivers, etc.
The simplest, perhaps, is by the equilateral triangle. Cut three poles of exactly equal length; peg them together into a triangle. Drive in three pegs to mark the exact points of this triangle A,B,C. Then move it along the bank until you find a place F,E,G where its base is on line with the two pegs, where the base used to be, and one side in line with the point across the river D.
The width of the river is seven eighths of the base of this great triangle. Another method is by the isosceles triangle. Make a right-angled triangle as above, with sides six, eight, and ten feet A,B,C ; then, after firmly fixing the right angle, cut down the eight-foot side to six feet and saw off the ten-foot side to fit. Place this with the side D B on the river bank in line with the sight object X across.
Then take the triangle along the bank in the direction of C until C' D' are in line with the sight object, while B' C' is in line with the pegs B C. Then the length of the long base B C' will equal the distance from B to X. To measure the space between two distant objects, D and E. B G equals the space between D and E then. If the distance is considerable, it may be measured sometimes by sound.
Thus, when a gun is fired, a man is chopping, or a dog barking, count the seconds between the sight and the hearing of the sound, and multiply by eleven hundred feet, which is the distance sound travels in a second. Occasionally, the distance of an upright bank, cliff, or building can be measured by the echo. Half the seconds between shout and echo, multiplied by eleven hundred gives the distance in feet. The usual way to estimate long distances is by the time they take to cover.
Thus, a good canoe on dead water goes four to five miles an hour. A man afoot walks three and a half miles an hour on good roads. A packtrain goes two and a half miles an hour, or perhaps one and a half on the mountain trails. Some answered, "Yes; once or twice. It is quite certain to come sooner or later; if you go camping, you will get lost in the woods. Hunters, Indians, yes, birds and beasts, get lost at times. You can avoid it for long by always taking your bearings and noting the landscape before leaving the camp, and this you should always do; but still you will get lost some time, and it is well to be ready for it by carrying matches, knife, and compass.
When you do miss your way, the first thing to remember is, like the Indian, "You are not lost; it is the teepee that is lost. It cannot be so unless you do something foolish. The first and most natural thing to do is to get on a hill, up a tree, or other high lookout, and seek for some landmark near camp.
You may be sure of this much:. The worst thing you can do is to get frightened. The truly dangerous enemy is not the cold or the hunger so much as the fear. It is fear that robs the wanderer of his judgment and of his limb power; it is fear that turns the passing experience into a final tragedy. Only keep cool and all will be well. If you see no landmark, look for the smoke of the fire. Shout from time to time, and wait; for though you have been away for hours it is quite possible you are within earshot of your friends.
If you happen to have a gun, fire it off twice in quick succession on your high lookout; then wait and listen. Do this several times and wait plenty long enough--perhaps an hour. If this brings no help, send up a distress signal--that is, make two smoke fires by smothering two bright fires with green leaves and rotten wood, and keep them at least fifty feet apart, or the wind will confuse them.
Two shots or two smokes are usually understood to mean "I am in trouble. If you have a dog or a horse with you, you may depend upon it he can bring you out all right; but usually you will have to rely on yourself. The simplest plan, when there is fresh snow and no wind, is to follow your own track back. No matter how far around or how crooked it may be, it will certainly bring you out safely.
If you are sure of the general direction to the camp and determined to keep moving, leave a note pinned on a tree if you have paper; if not, write with charcoal on a piece of wood, and also make a good smoke, so that you can come back to this spot if you choose. But make certain that the fire cannot run, by clearing the ground around it and by banking it around with sods.
And mark your course by breaking or cutting a twig every fifty feet. You can keep straight by the sun, the moon, or the stars, but when they are unseen you must be guided by the compass. I do not believe much in guidance by what are called nature's compass signs. It is usual to say, for example, that the north side of the tree has the most moss or the south side the most limbs, etc.
While these are true in general, there are so many exceptions that when alarmed and in doubt as to which is north, one is not in a frame of mind to decide with certainty on such fine points. If a strong west wind, for example, was blowing when you left camp, and has blown ever since, you can be pretty sure it is still a west wind; but the only safe and certain natural compass guides are the sun, moon, and stars. Of course, they go around it once in twenty-four hours, so this makes a kind of clock.
The stars, then, will enable you to keep straight if you travel. But thick woods, fog, or clouds are apt to come up, and without something to guide you are sure to go around in a circle. Old woodsmen commonly follow down the streams.
These are certain to bring you out somewhere; but the very worst traveling is along the edges of the streams, and they take you a long way around. All things considered, it is usually best to stay right where you are, especially if in a wild country where there is no chance of finding a farm house.
Make yourself comfortable for the night by gathering plenty of good wood while it is daylight, and building a wind screen on three sides, with the fire in front, and something to keep you off the ground. Do not worry but keep up a good fire; and when day comes renew your two smokes and wait. A good fire is the best friend of a lost man.
I have been lost a number of times, but always got out without serious trouble, because I kept cool. The worst losing I ever got was after I had been so long in the West that I qualified to act as a professional guide, and was engaged by a lot of Eastern farmers looking for land locations. This was in the October of on the Upper Assiniboin. The main body of the farmers had remained behind. I had gone ahead with two of them.
I took them over hundreds of miles of wild country. As we went northward the country improved. We were traveling with oxen, and it was our custom to let them graze for two hours at noon. One warm day, while the oxen were feeding, we went in our shirt sleeves to a distant butte that promised a lookout. We forgot about the lateness till the sun got low. Even then I could have got back to camp, but clouds came up and darkness fell quickly.
Knowing the general direction I kept on, and after half an hour's tramp we came to a canyon I had never seen before. I got out my compass and a match and found that I had been circling, as one is sure to do in the dark. I corrected the course and led off again. After another brief turn I struck another match and learned from the compass that I was again circling. This was discouraging, but with corrected course we again tramped.
I was leading, and suddenly the dark ground ten feet ahead of me turned gray. I could not make it out, so went cautiously nearer. I lay down, reached forth, and then slowly made sure that we were on the edge of a steep precipice.
I got out my match box and compass and found I had but one match left. Shall I use it to get a new course from the compass, or shall we make a fire and stay here till morning? We groped into a hollow where we got some dead wood, and by using our knives got some dry chips from the inside of a log.
When all was ready we gathered close around, and I got out the one match. I was about to strike it when the younger of the men said:. There was sense in this. I have never in my life smoked. Jack was an old stager and an adept with matches. I handed it to him. With the help of the firelight we now found plenty of dead wood; we made three blazing fires side by side, and after an hour we removed the centre one, then raked away all the hot ashes, and all lay down together on the warm ground.
When the morning came the rain ceased. We stretched our stiffened limbs and made for camp. Yes, there it was in plain view two miles away across a fearful canyon.
Three steps more on that gloomy night and we should have been over the edge of that canyon and dashed to the bottom. How to Make Fire by Rubbing Sticks. I tried it once for an hour, and I know now I never would have got it in a thousand years as I was doing it.
Others have had the same experience; consequently, most persons look upon this as a sort of fairy tale, or, if they believe it to be true, they think it so difficult as to be worth no second thought. I have taught many boys and men including some Indians to do it, and some have grown so expert that they make it nearly as quickly as with an old-fashioned sulphur match.
When I first learned from Walter Hough, who learned from the Indians, it took me from five to ten minutes to get a blazing fire--not half an hour, as some books have it. But later I got it down to a minute, then to thirty-one seconds from the time of taking up the rubbing-sticks to having a fine blaze, the time in getting the first spark being about six seconds.
My early efforts were inspired by book accounts of Indian methods, but, unfortunately, I have never yet seen a book account that was accurate enough to guide anyone successfully in the art of fire-making. All omit one or other of the absolute essentials, or dwell on some triviality. The impression they leave on those who know is that the writers did not.
The surest and easiest method of making a friction fire is by use of the bow-drill. Two sticks, two tools, and some tinder are needed. The two sticks are the drill and the fire-board, or fire-block. The books generally tell us that these must be of different kinds of wood. This is a mistake. I have uniformly gotten the best results with two pieces of the same kind--all the better, indeed, if they are parts of the same stick.
This is a very important question, as woods that are too hard, too soft, too wet, too oily, too gummy, or too resinous will not produce fire. The wood should be soft enough to wear away, else it produces no punk, and hard enough to wear slowly, or the heat is not enough to light the punk, and, of course, it should be highly inflammable. Those that I have had the best luck with are balsam fir, cottonwood roots, tamarack, European larch, red cedar, white cedar, Oregon cedar, basswood, cypress, and sometimes second-growth white pine.
It should always be a dry, sound stick, brash, but not in the least punky. In each part of the country there seems to be a kind of wood well suited for fire-making.
The Eastern Indians used cedar; the Northern Indians, cedar or balsam fir; the plains Indians used cottonwood or sage-brush roots. Perhaps the most reliable of all is dry and seasoned balsam fir; either the species in the North woods or in the Rockies will do. It gives a fine big spark or coal in about seven seconds. When in the grinding the dust that runs out of the notch is coarse and brown, it means that the wood is too soft; when it is very fine and scanty it means that the wood is too hard.
The simplest kind of bow; a bent stick with a stout leather thong fastened at each end. A more elaborate bow with a hole at each end for the thong. At the handle end it goes through a disc of wood.
This is to tighten the thong by pressure of the hand against the disc while using. Simplest kind of drill-socket; a pine or hemlock knot with a shallow hole or pit in it. It is a descendant of Baden-Powell 's original handbook, Scouting for Boys , which has been the basis for Scout handbooks in many countries, with some variations to the text of the book depending on each country's codes and customs.
The original edition of the handbook was based on Baden-Powell's work. Subsequent works were done by other authors. William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt wrote the 6th, 7th, and 9th editions. Frederick L. Hines wrote the 8th, and Robert Birkby the 10th, 11th and 12th editions. The first Official Handbook , subtitled A Handbook of Woodcraft, Scouting, and Life-craft was published from July until March and appeared in eight distinct variations.
It was written by Ernest Seton and drew greatly on Baden-Powell 's Scouting for Boys , it included information on the organization of Scouting, signs and signaling, and camping, as well as Scouting games and a description of several Scouting honours. Notably, this book did not place emphasis on first aid, knife and axe use, or map and compass work, as later editions would.
Because this edition was intended solely as a temporary guide until an authoritative handbook could be made, it is now known as the Original Edition Handbook. The cover art was an illustration by Baden-Powell. There were about 28, copies printed, not 68, as previously thought. The Official Handbook for Boys was published in June As with the Original Edition , many now-standard Scouting skills were passed over, including knife and axe use and map and compass work.
This edition resulted from the BSA revision of the advancement requirements with minimal changes in content and organization. Both the 6 th and 7 th edition are unique from earlier editions due to their larger size and their full-color artwork.
Don Lupo painted the cover with Scouts wearing different hats. This edition introduced the most radical change in the BSA program. Emphasis was away from traditional outdoor program and toward the inner-city. Skill Awards replaced the standard requirements with outdoor merit badges being taken from the required list for Eagle.
This was the last cover painted by Norman Rockwell. The artwork in the fourth printing of this edition was redrawn to show the new uniform design. Unlike former editions, this one contains over nine hundred photographs throughout.
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