The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1922-03-16

searching party hours of gruelling toll
or push blindly on until you fall into
the snow, too tired to care-too weak
to help yourself if you did care
pushed. The snow will cover you up.
1t will be your last camp. l have
seen several such last camps. They are
not pretty to see
word here in regard to helping the
searching party In the outlands SIM
ply apply the rule of three By night
three fires lighted in row on some
three smokes similarly placed means
help. Night or day, or during a
storm or fog, three shots in rapid sue
cession, then long interval and three
more, means help. At night, though
one shot is as effective as three, as no
stray hunter is apt to be firing his
gun by night
Suppose now that the darkness has
passed. or the storm or fog has clear
ed, and you are still lost BY day your
knowledge of the relative position of
the sun in the different seasons will
put you right, so on a clear night will
the north star guide you. If you don't
know the north star, it is time to make
his acquaintance-he is always ready
obscure the heavens there are still
ways to set yourself right In cedar
sWamps and heavy timber the moss
forms more thickly low down on the
q.
trust to examination of one trunk,
though. Examine many and the pre-
conference of moss will be to the
northWard Also on many soft wood
and some hardwood trees, in localities
having winter severe enough to freeze
the sap, weather scars will be found
on the southwest side of many expos
ed trees Do not look for weather
You won't find them The position of
the tree must be such that the after
noon sum can strike the southwest
side Of its trunk, and thaw the sap.
IL Is tnis thaWlng and freezing that
cracks the bark, and makes the wealth
er scar. In this connection, however,
you must beware of fire scars. which
In some instances are hard to distin-
gulsh from weather scars. A fire scar
generally shows dead wood beneath
1t, weather scar rarely does, as the
bark is generally grown completely
together.
Another guide in winter is the posi-
ton of snowdrifts. But here extreme
care ana an absolute knowledge of
conditions are necessary. You must
know to certainty that particular
wind, those direction you remember
drifted that particular snow. Older
snow, or newer snow drifted by wind
that perhaps you do not remember, will
set you all wrong. Best acquire much
experience in snow before attempting
to use the drifts as a guide.
The direction of the flow of streams
will often set you right though al
ways remember that in a hilly coun-
try you may have crossed one or sew
eral more ridges than you think you
have, and thus come out onto an en-
tirely different watershed.
If You Carry a Compass, Garry Two
Lastly, there is the compass. How
ever indispensable this instrument may
be to navigators upon the waters. it is
decidedly nonessential upon land. I
have noticed popularity about the
compass. The sourdough, the only
man who is fit to carry one, rarely
does so. The chechako or tenderfoot
is almost sure to have one, and he
are addicted to it's use either throw it
away. or get another. Because the
first time you will really need it will
be the first time you get lost, and then
space, set it down. and gravely con-
suit it But you will know so much
better than the little needs does
which way is north that you will de-
the matter with the tarnal thing! You
will shake it a little up and down and
sidewise, and although the needle is
ossilating freely upon its pivot, you
know it is pointing wrong. So you
stick it in your pocket in disgust, and
follow your own north, which is prob
ably southeast or due west.
However. it is curious psychology
cal fact that while a tenderfoot will
rarely believe his compass if it indi-
Gates north in a different direction
from his notion of it, yet rarely will
that same tenderfoot doubt two COM
passes placed side by side, both their
needles pointing in the same direction.
going wrong in precisely the same
way. Your sourdough knows that so
long as his needle is balanced his COM
pass is right. Therefore, if you must
be guided by compass, carry two.
The Mistakes the Glide Boys Made
To return now to the Fife Lake trag-
edy. There would have been no Fife
Lake tragedy had John and Willie
Glide known how to avoid making the
mistakes they made, and had realized
the Importance of not making them.
The first mistake was, obviously, in
disregarding the advice of their moth
er who was wiser in weather lore than
they. ..
Second: They started. out in cold
drizzling rain without waterproof
clothing. A word here regarding win
ter underclothing. Wool is far super
ior to cotton. Even though you are
able to keep dry, even a medium heavy
wool undergarment is better than
heavy cotton one, for if you have a
!, hard trail you are going to perspire,
and the wool quickly absorbs this body
moisture, and thus reduces the posi-
bil1ty Of chill when you sit down to
rest. Furthermore, upon any venture
into the woods in winter there is the
possibility of getting thoroughly soak
ed to the skin. You may break
through thin ice, or a. sudden rise in
temperature may bring down tor
rent of rain. It is possible to remain
reasonably warm and comfortable in
wet wOolens at temperatures even be-
low zero, while cotton garments cling
to your skin with cold clammy chill
that is deadly.
Third: They carried no matches! In
point of Importance this mistake cas-
lily takes first place. And right here 'et
me say that even though their pockets
had been full of matches, unless at
least part of those matches had been
carried in a waterproof container they
would have been absolutely useless.
For when found the two bodies were
soaking wet to the skin, and the water
from their saturated clothing had run
down into their rubber boots. No mat
ter how hard the wind blew, or how
thick the snow fell, had the boys had
the means of making fire they would
have experienced no danger. For in
the cedar swamp there was an album
dance Of dry fuel, birch bark, dead
cedar limbs, dead balsam, ETC., that
could have been gathered in a few mo-
ments, and awaited only the touch Of
match to spring into lifegiving fire.
The boys had a knife with them. but
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