Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-13
copyrighted 1897

The number of persons who leave the cities
for few weeks during the summer to enjoy
the novel and healthful delight Of camping
out" increases annually and would doubtless be
yet larger but for the baleful ignorance gener-
ally prevalent concerning its modus operandi.
Those who have never tried it are very liable
to have exaggerated ideas of its cost and diff
culties- To commence with. the outfit
actually necessary is small and simple. The
proper provisioning of a camp is by no means
costly or difficult, and camp cooking is easy
and by no means an uncomfortable part OF the
enjoyment and fun of free forest life.
The TENTS AND CONTENTS.
Primarily you want a tent, and, that is
something to last for many years if properly
taken care of. you may well get good one,
a s'wall' tent with a fly" A couple of men
can get along quite well with shelter" but
the superior size and convenience of the wall
justifies the comparatively small additional out
lay upon it. And do not buy one of the flmsy
muslin ones that are very imperfect shelters
while they last and soon wear out. bJt good
duck" tent with Fly" of lighter body. Next,
your cooking apparatus is a most important
essential. BY no means permit yourself TO De
beguiled into taking along an oil stove Ii
is thing that inevitably leaks, no mat
ter what the dealer may say to the con-
trary. and by some internal fatality
applicable only by the little understood law OF
''the innate cussedness of inanimate things s.
always dribbles its evil-smelling contents on
your blankets or. worse vet, on your provi-l
sions. Take along with you a couple of alcoho
lamps, of that kind that afford good big flames.
They do not cost much and may come in very
handy for small cooking or making coffee IN
the tent during exceptionally bad weather, or
for quickly and conveniently getting up an
early breakfast. But, remember, they are only
for emergencies. As rule you must do your
cooking by an open fire of wood Goals. And,
BY the way do not carry your alcohol in bottles
or a demijohn, but in tight tin cans. Eschew
glass as far as possible in your camping outfit
COOKING UTENSILS.
You want good-sized iron pot for making
stews and soups in: Dutch oven;" two sheet
iron mess pans, one of them with three long,
low ''ears" riveted on its edge; two frying pans,
or three, of different sizes. so that they Will
nest together; two wire ''boilers;" big gal
vanized iron pot and two tin pals; one coffee
pot and one teapot of heavy tin or granite"
ware. Have iron balls on the two big pots
and riveted handles and spouts on the coffee and
teapOts, but no handles to stick out and be in
the way on any Of the other utensils. Use
pair of blacksmith's pliers to handle them
with about the fire. Get a couple of stout iron
spoons with handles cut off to or inches
long and cylinder sockets soldered to them. so
that you can put stick handles to them when
wanted of any length you desire. One stout
meat fork and two keen butcher knives, one
large, the other small. will be all you
will need. For tableware there is moth
ing better than bright, w.clean tin
plates, cups and spoons, and nothing is less ex-
pensive. Plain wooden-handled knives and
forks, OF course. You want pepper and salt
holders with double tops, the under ones per-
forated, and for them tin is good any
thing. Cayenne pepper you had better keep
In a strong bottle well cOrSed. If you run
your eve back over that list of utensils and
tableware, you will observe that if you
reasonable intelligence in selecting suitable
sizes, the whole lot when packed will be nested
together in the two big iron pots and the Dutch
oyen-possibly excepting the coffee pot. which
Is always likely to be servieeable and neces-
sary nuisance. Jam in somewhere couple of
pieces of iron curved like the letter S, with the
curves about inches wide on one end and
inches on the other, length about foot
They will be needed to hang the pot over the
open fire. See that some of your tin plates are
large enough to serve covers TO the frying
pans. A strong cheap chatting dish is 80 serv-
lceablo almost to be essential