The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-03-31

-.
aa, tes, One Of the connoGesc eX-
per;cnca, OF people who - = tA1
WOOL, IS - stray away f'JI2 we
rails and familiar landmarks 60.
Lose taeir bearings. Eye@y year
rings Us quota of stories OF hot i, =
,lal "o.; =. Of search parties organ
;zea Of days spent in fruittess quest.
ana perhaps of the finding OF tie lost
oae5 in WretcheI condition. - eyed,
s-l.vaI 5 t:netimes temporarily in
sane from me fright and hariships.
Such experiences as thee are usul.-
Il de to panic. They seldom hap
pen to the man who is able To act
with calmness and Judgment. sum
Iner visitors to the woods are pecu-
l;aily likely 10 be lost but so MAJ
also people who are accustomed TO
living in tie woods. No man III d vii!
countr. is altogether certain when he
goes to the woods that &c VIII lint
his wa back without difficulty. TO
m alter how many times he mas been
over the same ground. 4 snow. i
forest fire. even windfall in the for
est, may have obliteIated his guide
marks and changed utterly the APP
pearance Of things.
Every man who goes into the woods
should MAKE up his mind that il ease
he is los he will observe a few sim
pie, Common sense rules Of conduct.
In he first place, he should resolu'e-
" refuse 10 be frightened. The imme-
dat e|act CT the discovery that one
is lcst is usually complete demoral-
Zatioa. TIE victim falls into q pane
Of fear and wants to extricate him.
self imma lately. He runs about IL
d:iferen- directions, hallooing, until
what little sense he had left IS com
Dle.ely gene. Avoid that II You
should Miss your trail or be in doubt
a. 10 Your whereabouts, the best
course i first to sit down where you
are and think over matters. II is not
a sar!0us affair, be assured Of mat
There are few regions in this c0un-
trv where a man is not within days
walk IF some settlement, and II the
season be summer, you have nothing
t. fear Consider the matter care
fil.y, u.s. your memory and your rea-
soG. Make up your mind about the
proper direction to follow. then take
your colr:e, and refuse to change 1t
wit:,ou. good and sufficient cause.
Don't hurry: take your time and when
not try to travel at night. A night
spent out OF doors in the summer
doesn't hurt anybody.
If yCu have SO lost the sense of d.
rec.ioa that you cannot make up
your mind what course to take it is
usually best to follow a stream. In
a rough country there is almost al
ways flowing water. Streams always
lead to settlements. The way may
be long and the going tortuous, but
stick TO your stream and it will bring
you cut.
Keep your eye on the sun, If 1t is
out. and get your directions from H.
Study the contours of the hills and
mountains, the appearance OF the
trees and of the stream. Try to find
something familiar. Don't look Tor
moss on the trees to determine your
direction 1t is not a safe guide.
DONE throw away food or clothing
in order to travel faster. You will
probably need both.
Keep your confidence. When ev-
erything else is gone, hold on to that.
Getting lost in the woods is after all
under certain restrictions, rare kind
of sport. There is certainly excite !
ment enough about it to stir the most
faded. with plenty of opportunity for
the exercise OF GOODNESS and common
sense. A country like the Adiron
dacks furnishes ideal conditions for
getting lost-and getting back again
Settlement is nowhere so far away
that you are not within few hours
walk of a hotel or summer cottage, |
and think of the romantic pOssbili- |
ties Of such an experience.-Bostop
Transcript.