Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-07-03

really Marcy man. VIKING TO get
down to bare living necessities, could
subsist for two weeks in the woods
with nothing except canoe. a heavy
blanket, an ak, big knife, a tin pint
cup. Il folding canvas water jug, five
hundred matches i'm a Theoretically
sealed tin box. compass and fifty
pounds of food.
This fifty pounds of food would con-
tain all sorts of desicated, dried and
compressed stuffs comprising the need
ed fats, sugars and other elements in
proper proportion.
Most now '"s in camping would prob
ably prefer to carry other camping lux
uries and cut down on the food. calcu-
lating that they could catch and shoot
enough to provide grub"
But no experienced camper would
dream of that. Professional hunters
and Indians might go forth into the
woods with a gun. blanket and a little
Hour and find their own food. That is
because when they go they follow the
trail of the game.
But the camper can't do that If
there is one thing that can he count ed
on with absolute certainty in this
world. it is that when a man is hun
griest he may depend on finding neither
lin, fur nor feather even if he be in the
heart OF the game country.
Many good men, more or less famil-
lar with the wilderness, have starved
because they tried to live on the
country"
1t can be done, nut it, ."ttcr not to try.
This rugged camper, ,ith the mini
rum outfit, makes Il house for himself
nights by the simple cXpedient of turn
ing his canoe upside down, rolling in
his blankets and slipping under it. II
he catches fish or kills game. he broils
it at the end of pointed green stick
over his open fire. or he buries it
wrapped in leaves, in the embers till it
is baked.
His cup is stewpan, coffee and teapot,
soup kettle and drinking utcnsil.
Now, that is really rOughng it,
None but the elect can enjoy it.
The average man would be unhappy
without a variety and amount of food
that will make the weight of provisions
alone at least sixty pounds for two
weeks trip for each man. He would
need pork and bacon, flour, baking
powder, coffee, tea, sugar, salt, lard,
dried potatoes. beans. milk powder, rice
and dried onions.
Lately American campers have begun
TO adopt the excellent pressed combi-
nation food which forms part Of the
German army ration and is known as
crbswurst. which means pea sausage.
That is what it a GO do %
pea meal. meat and vegetables 1t
comes in rolls weighing about half
pound each, and it is a first-class
ration. being both nOurshing and pala-
table, and possessing the advantage of
being 4 food that Il man can eat for
many days in succession without get
ting too sick of it.
Now, sixty pounds OF grub makes q;
quite sufficient load to carry if the
camping grounds are to be reached on
foot. A good husky man could pack a
hundred pounds on Il slow tramp with
lots of resting spells. or one hundred
and fifty pounds for Il short distance if
he is experienced. BIT the average
man wouldn't be able to carry more
than his sixty pounds of food with conf
fort.
That means that he will have to
make two trips to mis- camping grounds
the first ona with his tent and other
Cuffie. and the second with the food
The smallest and most simple tent
weighs five pounds. complete with
poles. stakes and lopes. By going
light" the rest of The outfit can be
kept down to forty-trroe pounds. as
follows: Cooking outfit. Twelve pounds:
gun and ammunition. fifteen pounds:
rod and tackle. thr"e-CLaIter pound:
axe, two pounds: water bottle. three
quarter pound. The olttl'. with tent.
thus will weigh forty-eight pounds and
make a big pack.
OF course, all this applies only to the
man who goes camping without Il
guide. The camper who hires guides
need not study things this way. Tha
guides will DO it for him.
Canoes the Ideal Campers Craft.
Comparatively few camping parties
go any distance on foot. BY all odds
the best way to go camping is to travel
in canoe. That is the true American
way. The canoe is the typical Ameri- |
can craft, and ideal for the wilderness
in almost all parts of North America
A sixteen or seventeen-foCt canoe will |
hold two men and 400 pounds of duffle |
without impairing its scaworthiness i'm |
any except really bad weather, and it |
will not be unduly hard to paddle. The |
only hard work will come when pom
looms have to be made and it is neccs- |
sary to unpack stuff and carry it AMI |
canoe to the next launching place For !
this reason a canoe load will be ydad |
into separate packs of forty or fifty or
sixty pounds each. according to the
strength of the men.
Two men can outfit for a two weeks
camp at d total cost Of S10t. which will |
provide everything. from canoe to extra |
shoes, with the exception Of guns and |
fishing tackle and food. This amount |
will be divided as follows: Tent of the |
A pattern. SO: four pairs of blankets, |
80: cooking outfit, nested in one pot,
s12: canvas bags to hold food and other !
stuff, IS; canvas bucket. ak in sheath, |
two sever-inch sheath knives and COM
pass. $40; extra clothing, $24; canvas
covered canoe, $35.
This brings the cost of each man to |
s26.25 a week; but of course, the outfit |
will remain serviceable for many sea