Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-12-29
GASToN.
GETTING LOST IN THE WOODS.
And Then Finding Your Way Out
Again.


Men will often turn nearly or quite
squarely around and either go in a cir
Gle or sometimes turn back in the OPP
posite direction, all the time thinking
they are keeping a straight course. 1t
is hard to tell why they do this, says
Manly Hardy in Forest and Stream.
Sebattis Dana of the Penobscot In
dams, once told me that when he was
moose hunting with two other Indians
1t came on to snow hard and they star
ted for their camp. All thought that
they knew the way, and they had trav-
eled some time when they came upon
the fresh tracks of three men who were
travelling in the same direction as
themselves After following for some
time they came to place where some
one had pulled a piece off rotten stub
in passing. Sebattis recognized 1t as
a place where he had slipped and bro
ken off the stub in recovering himself.
A closer inspection showed that they
were following their own tracks.
They started again, but soon came
around to their tracks the second time.
Sebattis felt sure that he could go
straight and took the lead, but shortly
they were back again to their own
tracks. Finally one of them climbed
a tree and could see the lake, near
which they camped, close by them; but
even then he had to throw a branch
toward it to get a right start. Soon
after they reached camp it stopped
showing, and they went back to exam
inc their tracks. Sebattis told me that
at the time when he was in the lead he
had gone straight toward the lake till
within plain sight of it. and then all
three had turned squarely about and
gone back in the direction whence
they had come.
l have known Of a man coming out
close to the edge of good road and
then turning and going back. He did
not see the road at all, but happened to
look up and caught sight of telegraph
wire over his head.
An uncle of mine told me that he had
lived at a farmhouse in northern New
York all summer. Occasionally he had
gone through a piece of woods to visit
at another farmhouse. One bright day
in the fall he started to go there.
The way seemed longer than usual, but
he had no doubt that h was going In
the right direction until he came out
of the woods and found that he had
come out at a place which was strange
to him. Seeing a house near by, he
went up to it to inquire the way. 1t
was not until he was in the act OF
knocking on the door that he realized
that he had returned to the same
house where he had lived all summer.
He had got turned around, and this
caused familiar things to look strange
to him. When a man is in such a
state of mind that he cannot tell a
main road or a clearing when he sees
it, it is useless to talk of his being able
to follow any of the many ways which
some of these Sherlock Holmeses have
written of.
Some instructors tell us that there
are more branches on the south side
OF trees. while others tell us that there
is more moss on the north side of trees
and rocks. Trees branch most to-
ward the open spaces, where there is
room to spread their branches, wheth-
er it is north or south. Firs and
spruces branch very nearly symmetri-
cally no matter what the situation.
AS to moss. sometimes trees moss more
on one side and sometimes on the 9TH