The mirror., 1919-05-15

al%I@|NISTANT pastures are al
e 9SSSMR ways thought to be green
HSA%4E est and foreign travel has
lg2g always been the most al
Turing to Americans until the war
barred the way, but here in our
own States nature has painted
scenery and provided places of
beauty that equal those found
abroad, although on account of
the vastness of our land many of
these beauty spots were too remote
to be visited by many people until
the advent of the automobile. With
the construction of many miles of
fine highways, however, and num-
erous facilities provided by in
genius inventors for Transforming
an automobile into q travelling
home with cooking and sleeping
accommodations, thousands of the
city people are spending their va
cations in the National Parks and
Forest Reserves of the West. To
encourage this use of the national
Fairgrounds the officers of the
Forest Service are cooperating to
the fullest extent in directing
tourists where to 60 and how to
obtain suitable camping sites.
Large detail maps showing every
road, stream, town and the char
acter of the country are provided
for the different National Forests,
and these are furnished free to
those who will use them. By the
use of these maps it is possible to
take long trips into perfectly new
regions without fear of getting
lost or suffering for want of sup
plies; the maps even show where
eggs, butter and other supplies can
be obtained and where fishing and
hunting may be indulged in.
The local rangers, too, in their
daily patrol of the roads in their
districts offer advice to campers
and direct them to where cool
springs can be found and where
good camping sites are located.
These rangers often show the
campers how to make good sleep
ing quarters out of fallen timber
and how to build their camp fires
to get the best results and to pre-
vent their starting grass or for
est fire. Uncle Sans wants all Of
his citizens to use the forests. but
in doing so he wants them to avoid
injuring these natural resources.
So universal has become the use
of the automobile that it is now a
common practice for families to
take long trips in their machines,
sleeping by the wayside and cook
ing over camp fires. A canvas
tent spread over the car, a few
cooking utensils. a hamper of such
essentials as coffee, sugar and salt,
poultry and vegetables bought en-
route, fish caught in a nearby
brook, provide the necessities of
life in the open. After one has
tried this sort of living for short
time he refuses to put up in the
countryside hotel unless weather
conditions are adverse. The re.
freshing sleep in the open air, the
keen appetite for simple, whole
some food and the feeling of ex-
hilaration which life in the open
gives put one in the proper spirit
to enjoy the beauties of nature met
with on every hand. Being inde-
pendent of trains and hotels, and
with the means of making camp
anywhere, an automobile trip
through one of the National For
ests is about the most enjoyable
experience one can have.
Practically all of these forests
are located in mountainous regions
with their variety of scenery.
There is a majestic beauty in the
great forests of towering trees,
some 80 close together that the sun
never penetrates the cathedral-like
dimness of the forest floor strewn