Pueblo chieftain., 1921-05-22
quired as covering. This is partly due
to the ground air being damper. more
penetrafinp and partly IN the veiRht

quired as covering. Th18 10 parity que
to the ground air being damper. more
penetrating. and partly to tho weight
OF the body destroying the Insulating
value Of the dead air chambers in the
fabric. In favor of the cot may be
said that 1t raises the sleeper somewhat
above the strata of ground air. above
crawling insects and wandering SER
pents, above the mud and rivulets Incl
dental to camp life. above the dirt and
debris of the floor. 1t keeps tho blank
cts cleaner than would he the case
with the bed on the ground. 1t affords
comfortable place to sit and lounge
during the day and evening. There
is really no legitimate objection to the
cot when 1t is rightly used. The fixed
bunk so common to cabins. cottages
useful PURPOSE. In general 1t is just
a framework OF hewn logs or sawn lum-
bcr built securely into the space 1t is
to cccuppy. Tho bottom may be of
boards. poles, canvas. or regular
springs: the mattress of woods mater
ial or of n homegrown variety. Lit
tie moro can be said without actually
going into designs, which would hardly
seem necessary with an article which
individual requirements and materials
at hand must usually determine. There
is n type of bunk. however, which
seems worthy of special mention. II
is the folding type. especially suited TO
the cabin or cottage where space is
at premium. The berst kind 1 have
ever seen was built into a cottage hav
ing n large living room which was
ceiled. walls and ceiling. One side OF
this room had three windows and four
folding hunks, one at either end of
tho room and one between cach pair OF
windows. The bottom of each bunk
was n section or door OF the ceiling.
hinged at the bottom at a point about
= foot from the floor. These sections
occupied the full spaces between the
windows and At the ends, being about
three feet wide. Below and above the
windows were cuphoards with doors de-
signed to contain tho bedding. with
the beds and doors closed. the wall re-
sembled any other wall OF tho room.
except that the windows were recessed
about foot, ths distance needed to
contain tho beds when folded, and
that in each bed space two pegs some
seven feet from the floor projected.
serving at the other end. I trust that
YOU get the general scheme from this
description. Perhaps tho most lux
urious of camp mattresses is the air
or pneumatic bag. When inflated Just
right. II fits the Irregularities of the
human body as no other mattress can.
Weight is the chief objection to its
use, and even that may be great re-
duced by adopting the two-thirds
length. It is designed to carry the
hhoulders and hips; its taper delivering
the legs gently to the ground at about
the knees. 1t should be known that
the air mattress is an ice cake in cold
weather. requiring a mattress atop rs
docs the cot. A. small air pump is
fnc thing to accompany the mattress.
especially II It must be inflated daily.
It's easy to blow oneself black in the
face" when dog tired. One more pre-
caution-pneumatic mattresses are like
pneumatic tires-they puEcture. The
varied designs OF mattresses. or pads.
which on may buy or make at home are
of cotton. wood. kapok or cork. Cotton
is. perhaps. most often chosen because
IT Is cheaper. The objection to it Is
that It will absorb many times its
own weight OF water, and once wet II
dries slowly. However. IT is usually
better than nothing at all and may we'll
be taken and used under such circum-
stances. Wool is not subject to this
criticism. so II is by far the best. a
short wool pad. jsut long enough to
support the hips and shoulders, Is
bully rig for the fairly light OUTFIT.
II should be made of wool bat with
closely woven cotton fabric cover.
strongly quilted Kapok and cork
serve all right as bed pads, alth o