Evening star., 1901-09-07
CAMPS IN THE ADlRONDACkS
HOW HOMES ARE QUICKLY ESTAB-
LIsHED IN THE WOODS.
Hunters Cabins Constructed Of Logs
Felled mt the Site-Privileges
in the Hills.

From the New York Sun.
There are still some hunters who go into
rough camp in the Adirondacks without
the aid of Persian apparatus and the ap-
pliances of civilization. Even these, to be
sure, do not scorn wire nails and crosscut
saws for emergencies once met by the use
of wooden pegs and the woodman's ak,
but the best guides are able to work
wonders with a few simple tools and the
homely skill acquired through long ex-
perience of the woods Two or three guides
armed with the implements of their trade
will in few hours transform bit of the
untamed wilderness into convenient and
comfortable abiding place.
The ground of the Adirondack wilderness
is covered with such a growth of moss and
such deposit of pine needles That Il al
fords an excellent foundation for the rough
camp of the hunter. Clearing d nearly
level space twenty-five feet square of its
small underground, the guides are ready to
begin the building of the rough camp. 1t
is an unwritten law of the wilderness that
may need for building his camp and main
tanning his camp fire. Few hunters abuse
this privilege by cutting down large trees
or spreading forest fires.
Enough trees from six to eight inches In
diameter are felled to furnish suitable legs
for the hut that is to be the basis OF the
camp house. Sometimes, indeed, the nut
is wholly of logs save the bark roof. Some
times 1t is almost wholly of bark. When
the camp is not to be occupied long. the
logs are built up only two and half to
three feet, and as a rule upon three sides
only. The fourth side is left open.
Immediately over this opening, at suit
able height, Is placed the ridgepole Of the
house, supported by tall upright pole on
either side of the opening. The roof Is a
canvas tent-fly, which opens at the 1ear
ho nff f1n 1Ocy xypl md
tends few feet beyond the ridgepole, so
as to form pent roof porch over the
open front. Guy ropes tied to poles set
well outside the opening to the iight and
to the left hold the fly secure in front, and
it is secured in the same fashion at the
rear. The gables Of the house are made
of canvas or of bark nailed to the logs.
Quick With the AK.
The work of building such house is we'll
worth novice's watching, for the guides
ply their axes with astonishing precision
and skill. A tree is felled with few
strokes almost as quickly sawn into suit
able lengths. and then the logs are notched
and laid with the utmost neatneSs ana
great speed. Whenever it is necessary
short pieces of round wood are notched and
placed between the logs so as TO preserve
the level of the rising structure The
chinks that remain are filled with the
thick moss which covers the ground almost
everywhere in the forest, and the result is
a watertight structure, clean, sweet-smell-
ing and comfortable.
Much of the interior of the cabin is given
up to the beds. These are made by taking
spruce boughs Of moderate size, thrusting
one end into the ground and laying the
thickly feathered ends over one another
until there is a deep covering for the whole
space to be given up to the beds. Next
over the spruce boughs is laid a thick COW
ering of young balsam boughs, which are
at once soft and elastic. Over the green
,o4fr th,1S mo- a rnhhpr n
kets, and over these again warm Woolen
blankets Other wooden blankets cover the
sleepers Such a bed is warm, fresh and
elastic. None is more likely to insure sound
sleep and pleasant dreams.
Twelve or fifteen feet in front of the cab
in is placed the camp fire, permanent part
of the camp. There go to the making of
this sylvan hearth two large logs, placed
three and half feet apart, and as much
smaller wood as may be needed. The large
logs are expected to last several days, and
are not so much to furnish heat as for
resting place for the other fuel This lat
ter consists of dry birch bark and dead
pine boughs for kindling, and whatever
wood comes handy for the larger fuel.
Here are cooked all the bread, meat and
vegetables that go to feed the camp. tin
oven placed in front of the glowing embers
roasts meats and bakeS johnny cake, and
in the same fashion a wire griddle broils
steaks, ham and chicken. Bread is toasted
on the griddle or on fOrked sticks.
The fire serves not only for cooking, but
also for comfort, companionship and aes
thetic decoration. Its heat and smoke,
blowing across the mouth of the cabin, af-
ford warmth and keep off insects its blaze
and sparkle make loneliness impossible
even to the man left sole occupant of the
camp; it's faint blue column, rising amid
the trunks of the great trees, with the
solemn silence of the wilderness all round,
adds a singular grace and a subtle sugges-
tion of the human presence to the scene.
Surroundings for Camp.
The surroundings of wisely chosen
camp site are always delightful. Great
pines rise $50 feet above the ridge pole Of
the cabin, a leafy screen of balsam sur
rounds the whole camp, a thick carpet Of
moss, beautified with curious lichens, bril-
liant mushrooms and ferns of many varie-
ties, stretches as far as the eye can reach.
A few yards beyond the space cleared for
the convenience of the camp begins tangle
Of fallen trees in every stage Of decay, from
that Of mere heaps of forest mold to that
of the fallen giant whose leaves are still
green, though his heart is rotten.
spring rising naturally from the spongy
ground, or discovered by the of the
shovel. furnishes the camp with wholesome
water. Within hundred yards flows the
little stream or sparkles the lake, the one
or the other the invariable highway of the
hunter. Snugly laid ashore amid the tall
grass or the alders are the long, narrow
canoes, so light Of draft that they can be
streams, and so light in weight that they
can be carried on the back Of the guide
when rapids or shadows make navigation
impossible
All the sights and sounds and odors are
Of the wilderness. The squirrel chatters
overhead, the kingfsher dives and screams,
the little paths of the creatures skirt the
stream the fresh smell of pine and balsam,
of sweet fern and wild cherry constantly
assail the nostrils, mingled with the whole
some, pungent. creosotic odors Of the ever
living camp fire.
There is nowhere jarring note: what
ever suggests civilization is thrust out of
sight The costumes Of the hunters, the
brown faces of the guides, and all the ap-
pointments Of the camp attuned to the
wilderness. The killing of deer and the
catching of fish are merely incidental to the
return to nature, with some hardly more
than an excuse for the complete separation
from brick and asphalt. the ledger and the
counting house, and all the sordid cares
that make up the daily lives of those who
dwell in cities
A Preliminary Squirt.
From the Chicago Record-Herald.
She-"I fear you will find me full of