The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-02-03

they could see them, and it was calm, so that the tops were not bent by the wind, they would find that they bend in all directions. I have walked along in open places and roads testing this by compass, andonemight as well rely on which way the leaves fall as on be- ing guided by the treetops.
 Another hint which is useful except in time of real eed is that the gum ex- uded by pine and fir trees is softer on the soutb side of the tree than on any other Now, a person may travel miles without seeing any gum at all, and to find it upon both sides of tree would be a very unusual thing. | hardly think that a man could average. findig one such tree in day, and even if he did by chance find one in cold weather the gum on both sides would be hard. In point of fact the gum which has recently exuded is soft, no matter on which side of the tree it is, while old gum is always hard Then : again, the gum on trees is not confined to the north and south sides of the trees, but is as likely to be found upon t'AS Sehest anu NDoL SANSp IA LAaS VI hS~~ have been wounded on those sides.
 Another Tlint to the lost tells us 1 that by cutting down a tree the rings will be found wider upon the south side. The majority of those out hunt ing do not carry axes, but if one did he would find veryfew cases where the | grain of the wood would show any dif- | ference. In some cases, where a tree stands so it's side is fully exposed to the sun; there might be slight differ ence, but a man might starve to death cutting down trees before he could tell l the north from the south.
 Of cours, these hints, as to moss, 1 tips of the trees, and the rest, are well enough to bear in mind, for there are rare occasions when they may prove useful But thie point is that they are far from safe things to depend upon, and the tenderfoot who thinks that because he knows them he is in no danger of getting lost is likely to i be grievously, and perhaps dangerously, disappointed. A person will ask what possible means are there, then, for de- 1 termining directions And t6e answer would be that except for the very few persons whose sense of direction is all most an instinct, the best and safest guide is the compass. A man who is l going into the woods can always man. age to carry a little pocket compass
 with himm, and then he is absolutely certain at least of the direction in which he is walking. Of course, even with a compass tenderfoot may stray away from camp furtner than he in tended and have a hard time finding it,
 but he will be certain of not walking in a circle or wandering back and forth when he thinks he is getting ahead
 Some men, especially among the In- dians, seem to almost carry a compass in their heads, so that they never get turned about or are in doubt as to the direction inwnich they are proceeding. But such a gift is extremely rare among men who are experienced in
 woodland life and practically unknown among men who have lived in q city
 The best precaution that a tenderfoot going into a big forest for his vaca-
 ton can take is to always carry little compass withehlm. It will be found
 to be worth more than all the signs as
 to moss, tree tips and the rest com-
 bined, and may savehim from the wear mess and often dangerous experience
 of getting lost in tIle woods Roches-
 ter Union Advertiser.