The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-10-18

SUU SCI AMUO y square mllo Oh
thicIKet 50 dense that you can.
not sec the sun and you become
bewildcred and plunge and
thrash about for hours. but final.
" do get out and find your way
back to camp YOU may have
Deem Iostyes, no doubt about Il
but did find my own way
out eventually.
The life we lead up there Il
rough. It is 80 rough and in
every particular the very antithesis
of what we are accustomed to the
balance Of the year, that I am
wont to wonder the why OF it;
why we-lile It; why we prefer Il
to the more comfortable methods
Of vacationing. Some say there is
a trace Of savagery In us which
crops out in this manner. There
must be some psychological ex
PLANTATION for men choosing to sleeu
on balsan boughs on the ground.
as we usually do climb out Of this
bed early when 1t Is chilly and
sometimes more than chilly; wash
up in the lake when the wind is
blowing ones shirt around his head
(Sudwarth prefers to jump into the
Jake every morning1, eat q hearty
breakfast Of bacon and flapjaclSs,
all deliciously favored with wood
ashes; wear very heavy shoes Or
shoepacks. heavy rough clothes,
carry packs across the portages:
paddle canoeS: break through faint
trails; fah and stumble; sweat and
cuss; labor and haul, and enjoy
IL all.
There must be some kind Of ex.
PLANTATION for It which ] am uHI.
able to give, but let me mention
some Of the other WashIngto
who have from year to year done
likewise with US and you readers
may then determine whether we
three. the originals OF these Can
adam trips. are peculiar or or not.
AS the names occur to me, there
are Doctor Crossen. Henry Sohon,
Doctor John Sharp, +. c. Dulin,
B. F. Bridget, Doctor darcy Ma
gee, Charles j. James, Doctor
Stearnes, Charlie Rossiter, John
Murrell, Frank Bolgiano. Howard
Wilkins, Harry Grove and Earl
Culley, besides q number of others
from other cities who have been
glad to join with the so.called and
somewhat well known Din that sec.
tion) Washington party.
The answers to the foregoing
query have been many on the part
of these different members, but !
believe after all the theories have
been advanced and discounted. we
agree on these things: It is the
magic of the forest-whatever that
is; it is the fascinating charm Of
the solitude: the absolute quiet
around us at night; the presence Of
the wild brothers Of the bush; the
wonderful beauty Of the lakes espe,
cially at night when occasionally
the Northern skies are brilliant
with the radiating bars Of quivering
northern lights; the isolation from
all business or professional matters
and from people generally; the dis.
covery Of hidden beauty spots, cas-
cades and pools and sometimes
punches Of fungus growth In a
complete riot Of color, hidden, away
where It wastes its beauty unseen,
except for us.
Writers OF the Northern country
such as Stewart Edward White
and Albert Bigelow Paine, often
refer to the so-caIled ''call OF tho
Wild" but 50 far az / have read,
they don't precisely undertake to
define that nor to explain why the
''land of the little sticks should
lure one beyond the section Of big
trees or why the stiffness and soil
tude Of the North should have tho
call over the society and compan
ionship of people Of your own kind.
But to some Of us, it does and I
make bold enough to claim that It
recompenses us in way that our
less fortunate friends, who cannot
hear the call, could not understand.
even If we tried to explain It.
THE END.