The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-10-10

A NEW PHASE oF LIFE IN THE
ADlRoNDkckS.

lot woman 20 AnoW IN rms #oea7Aons
This 10 the time Of year when she
CAMPS Of the North Woods. Cang9a,
and the Adirondacks receive tae
health-Beeker and sportsman G late
years women have come to the fore
In the management of primitive insti-
buttons In these regions, and tn many
cases they are the sole heads O. quaint
and romantic little establishments.
The reason Is not fgg TO seek. It is
no so long ago that the Wilderness
was sacred to men, and seldom tr0d-
den by the feet of tie 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. Toe
development of camp life is shown by
needs which bring the women guides
to New York Caty. There is fame I'M
every calling, ard of the several guides
and camp managers in the North
Woods three have attained high emf
hence in their calling. Each Of these
Is mrksman, skilled angler a mas
ter Of woodcraft, an authority upon
the geography Of her district, 3 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 it, 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
tha.. in a big city. 1t was not always
so. Twenty years. ago, any one who
spent a summer in the Adirondacks
or North Woods had to undergo con-
siderable annoyance and vexation.
| But the very trials aroused the Amer
lean 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
1t 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 1t
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 il first-class hotels. There
has been the same progress in wash
Ing machines, 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 filled with lit
tie panes of glass. The virgin forest
comes close up to the shady porch or
to the windowsills. But within the
cabins, are fine linen and all the para
phernalia of comfort and civilization.
A curious illustration may be found
in a city belle dressed with heavy
walking boots and flannel suit, broil-
ing, over a French range, two-pould
trout she drew from the water half
an hour previous, or roasting the game
which she herself killed a week be-
fore in the underbrush, a 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 a mysterious science belonging
to few Indians and trappers, as is
commonly believed, but simply com
mon sense, applied to forest life. The
greenh0rn 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 deel
: run, or the lay of the valley. Ia the
great wilderness Of the north there
are very few roads, but any nunlbe1
. Of thoroughfares which are as old a
e Columbus and older. Most Of then
a were made By the wild animals, AM
enlln.., tha Inns of laast Resistance