The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-10-10
SCOUTS NEED A SHE[TERER0M COLD;
HERE'S THE WAY To BUILD A GOOD ONE
GOOD POINTERS ON PRACTI-
CAL WORK OUTDOORS FOR
THE PATROLS IN TACOMA.
BY @. L. Gilman.

4
boy scouts, they should have seen
for fire and house right ready
for them.
If you boys have followed these
articles from the start you already
know how to build fire.
Now most everybody knows
that an open fire out doors is
about the coolest thing in the
world. 1t roasts one side of you
and lets the other freeze. In d
house a fire keeps you warm all
over because the walls keep the
heat in and throw it back to the
side of you away from the fire.
Just bear this in mind, and you
will understand the idea of the
shelter | am about to describe to
you. The idea is the main thing
to have, because conditions vary
so in different parts of the coun-
try that the right way and mater
ials to make a shelter in one part
of the country may not do at all
in another.
What you want Is wall which
will throw the heat back at you
and keep both sides of you warm,
and something over you to keep
off the rain, snow or dew. The
pictures shows such a shelter. It's
made on the principle of the old
fashioned Dutch oven, and when
built of canvas is usually called a
baker tent" Experienced woods
men prefer this sort of a shelter
to regular tent in-cold weather.
Supposing the weather is cold,
as it usually is this time of the
year. Select as sehltered a place
deep in the woods or in a hollow
AS you can find. Then start
fire. The smoke will show which
way the wind is blowing.
Your shelter should be to the
windward of the fire, so that the
smoke and sparks will blow away
from you, ann so that it will keep
the wind off you.
The shelter in the picture is
made with forked sticks stuck in
the ground to hold up the ridge
pole. In the woods, more often
than not, you will find two sap
lings growing conveniently so you
can lay your pole from crotch to
crotch, or lash it to them with
Irvine or any tough vine, such as
grape or woodbine, you may find
handy. 1t should be about four
feet from the ground. Cup sap
lings eight feet long, leave stubs
of the branches about six inches
long on them and lay them on the
ridge pole with the stubs slanting
up. These stubs will keep the cross
poles from rolling to the ground.
This done, you are ready to
thatch. Thatching is like shing-
ling. You lay a row across the
bottom and then lay on another
row tapping the top of that.
Thatching materials varies with
the kind of woods you are in. The
thick fans of the balsam are fine.
So are the tall ferns which you
will find in many pieces of woods.
Big dried weeds, grass, slabs of
bark broken off dead logs and
trees are all good things. Each
row must be firmly anchored be-
tore the next is laid on. Dirt,
rocks and turf should be packed at
the lower edge to make it tight
against the wind.
A good scout will show 1t by
picking a camp site where these
things and firewood are plentiful.
Your fire should be banked up
en- its side away from the shelter
to throw as much heat into it as
possible. This can be done by
building it against stump or fall
len log, by building it high with
heavy green wood on the far side
or by making bank of stones or
turf.
Before you camp get the permits
sion of the owner of the land, and
then. try to do him so many good
turns by helping about his work,
If he is a farmer, or fixing up
broken places in his fences or in
any other way which you can find,
that he will be glad to have you
come again.
When you build fire pull all
inflammable material away from
| it, so that 1t cannot spread, and be
sure that 1t Is out before you
leave. If water is not handy, you
can quench the embers by burying
them with dirt.
The writer of these articles has
been commissioned "chief war cor
respondent" by Col. Peter s. b.
mus, commander in chief of the
Boy Scouts of the United States.
He would be glad to have a pic
ture of your patrol to use in IL
Illustrating these stories. Not just
a picture of you doing nothing, but
a picture showing how you scout.
Have your war correspondent turn
a m o,,ah x1snt.xr11 H.. I'M, - m -. -.