The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1902-09-03
WOMEN FOREST GUIDES.
A NEW PHASE OF LIFE IN THE
ADIRoNDAcKS.
How Their Services Came to Re In de-
mand-tonveniences OF Modern Life In
the Wilderness - what 1t IL Necessary
for woma an to Know In This Vocation.

III tne management OF primitive tnSti-
tutions in these regions, and in many
cases they are the sole heads of quaint
and romantic little establishments.
The reason is not far to seek. II Is
10 SO long ago that the wilderness
was sacred to men. and seldom .trod-
den by the feet of the weaker sex.
This is not the rule today. In the
great tide Of people that sweeps every
year into the northern forests there
are as many, If not more women than
men. Their wants are more numerous
and complex than those of their broth
ers, and only one of their own sex
can supply them satisfactorily. The
development of camp life Is shown by
needs which bring the women guides
to New York City. There is fame in
every calling and of the several guides
and camp managers in the North
Woods three have attained high emf.
nence in their calling. Each of these
Is marksman, skilled angler, mas
ter of woodcraft, an authority upon
the geography of her district, house
Keeper. and camp chef-a rare but
interesting combination of virtues.
In commenting upon forest life for
women. one of them said recently:
Nothing amuses me more than the
talk of people about the discomfort
OF roughing II, whose idea of the woods
are the trees in Central park. As a
matter of fact, modern life in the
wilderness is pleasanter and easier
thaa IN big city. II was not always
So Twenty years ago. any one who
spent a summer in the Adirondarks
or North Woods had to undergo con-
siderable annoyance and veXation.
But the very trials aroused the Amer
ican inventive spirit, and brought la
bor-saving contrivances. which did
away with first one bother and then
another until there was nothing left
but pure enjoyment. At the present
time you can have anything you
please in the North Woods, provided
II does not weigh too much. That is
the only limitation. The light buck.
board wagon will carry goods up to
an upright piano, but beyond that it
is difficult to transport anything on
account of the roughness of the road,
the high gradients. and marshy reach
es. This practical limit shuts out
grand pianos, massive furniture, and
hotel safes.
Everything else we have. At one
time our camp stove manufacturers
kept on making them lighter and
lighter. using steel in place of wrought
and cast iron and having Interchange
able parts, so that hundreds of camps
now employ French ranges equal to
anything in first-class hotels. There
has been the same progress in wash
smachines, ice cream freezers, bed
frames, and the general equipment
of the log cabin or lean-to.
The eXternals of the camps are as
primitive now as ever. The walls and
roofs are of rough timber and the
windows are small and filed with lit
tie panes of glass. The virgin forest
comes close up to the shady porch or
TO the window-sils. But within The
cabins are fine linen and all the para
pbernalia of comfort and civilization.
\ curious illustration may be found
in city belle dressed with heavy
walking boots and a flannel suit, broil-
ing, over a French range, two-poulJ
trout she drew from the water half
an hour previous, or roasting the game
which she herself killed week be-
fore in the underbrush, 100 yards
from the porch. With sensible wom-
en- who spend their vacations in the
woods, much of the time Is devoted
to practical education. The first
thing to learn is woodcraft, which is
not mysterious science belonging
to few Indians and trappers, as is
commonly believed. but simply COM
mon sense applied to forest life. The
greenhorn must learn how to tell the
points of the compass from the sun
by day and the stars by night and by
the trees and shrubbery. when neither
sun nor stars are visible. This is
acquired more rapidly by women than
by men. The former are better gift
ed in vision or perception, and mas
ter the matter in almost no time
Next comes learning a trail, a deer
run. or the lay of the valley. In the
great wilderness of the north there
are very few roads, but any number
Of thoroughfares which are as old as
Columbus and older. Most of them
were made by the Wild animals, and
follow the lines of least resistance
Others are blazes made by hunters
ard trappers. Both of these are cas-
H., learned, unless the student is hope
lesly stupid, absent-minded, or for
getful.
There is dear old college profess
sor who comes to the Square Lake
country on the great Moose run and
who invariably celebrates his vacation
by getting lost once week. Former
ly he worried over it, but now he sits
down and waits until we find him.
We have an understanding with him
whereby when he does not appear
for ~ hours we start out and hunt
him. Formerly he gave us more fun
than a moose or caribou. but after