Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1908-12-08
Lost IN the Weeds.
CURIOUS AND USEFUL BrnARKs By
AN EXPERT.

Let the man who 10 lost IN the WOODS
be careful not to overexert himself. His
chief dangers lie In panic and overexer-
ton, and though he may be In great
hurry to find shelter, I must warn him
to 20 slowly. Two miles An hour on an
average, through the snow In the woods
Is all that man In bis condition will DO
able to stand without overfatigue and its
attendant dangers, overheating and per-
spiration. By exercising caution, . man
may live through week OF what ne 70
undergoing. To mako this article brief,
however, we shall suppose that he re-
gains the road by the afternoon OF the
first day. he doesn't yet know OF course
just where he Is. He should examine
the tracks OF the person who last passed
that way. It being afternoon, he must
follow In the direction taken BY the last
passing vehicle or team, as shelter Will
be nearest In that direction. Had 1t
been morning he would have taken the
opposite direction, as whoever made
the tracks must have come from the
place where he obtained shelter the
previous night
We must make our traveller who is lost
in the woods az comfortable az possible
while waiting for the sky to clear. Let
him first find place as well sheltered
as possible. A fallen tree will best serve
him. But before deciding on bis camp.
ing place he should look about to see
that there is plenty of dead wood. Then,
from an area of six feet square beside
the fallen tree, he must clear away the
snow, using his feet If nothing else 10
available, and in the space thus cleared
kindle fire of birch bark and dry wood,
piling on the wood, until the fire entirely
covers the cleared ground. While there
is good fire burning he may gather q
large number of boughs of spruce, bal
sam or cedar. If these are not to be
had, the best substitute for bed making
is brush. When several armfuls have
been gathered and placed near the fire
to extract the frost, let him begin gath
ering dry and dead wood, and not until
he thinks he has enough for two nights
can he be reasonably sure of having sufti-
cient quantity for one night. After the
fire has been burning about an hour all
may be cleared away. The ground will
be found dry and quite warm. Then
this space is to be covered with the
gathered boughs and on the leeward
side of the bed thus prepared fire
should be built. This fire ought not to
be large, as a draught would be created,
and, moreover, the smoke would be an
noyipg to the sleeper. He Is now assur-
cd OF warmth sufficient to prevent him
from freezing.
Let US now take the case of . man lost
In the woods in winter storm, twenty.
five miles from the nearest railroad or
travelled road of any kind. In the first
place, how does he know that he is lostf
Because, as soon as he misses his bear
ings, he will invariably begin travelling
In circle and eventually recross his
tracks. All people naturally step far.
Their with one foot than the other. Some
circle to the right, others to the left, or
without direction all describe . circle.
1t il storming, so that the lost man
cannot find his direction by the sun.
theoretically, there are great many
ways of finding direction in the woods
moss grows thickest on the north side
of tree, branches are heaviest on the
south side, Norway pines lean toward
the east, etc., but these things depend
so much upon surrounding conditions
such as light and shade, moisture and
dryness or the slope of the ground. that,
will only serve to confuse him. So let
him stop right where he is and wait for
the sun or the stars, the only positive
means of determining direction without
q compass.-Outing.