In the matter of fire the New York Conservation Commission adds these

cautions:

“The great cause of forest fires to-day is carelessness in its

numerous forms. Many fires are due to smokers and to abandoned camp

fires. Many people use the woods who do not appreciate that the

forest floor is nothing but decayed vegetation and that after a few

days of continued dry weather it becomes so dry that the dropping

of a match, cigarette or burning tobacco is as likely to cause a

fire as if the same burning material was dropped into a basket of

dry waste paper. Underneath these dry leaves is in most instances a

heavy mat of rotted leaves. After periods of drought, this

material, called ‘duff,’ becomes very dry and inflammable, and will

hold fire for a long time. Under no circumstances should camp fires

be set on this kind of soil.

“A camp fire should be set on a brook bed or shore, or on some

camping ground where there is no ‘duff,’ and in all cases the

inflammable material around the edge of the fire should be removed,

so that it cannot spread. Every camper should be sure the fire is

out before it is left.”

Special attention is paid to the New York State Parks and Reservations

because New York is our most populous state and because its system of

parks and reservations is one of the most extensive. The New York

system of parks but illustrates the great wealth of opportunity open to

the motor camper.

In addition to the Interstate Palisades Park, with its thirty thousand

acres administered by an interstate commission, the State of New York

has no less than thirty-two state parks and also eight great forest

reserve parks, most of which are administered by the Conservation

Commission through the Superintendent of State Forests, his assistants

and deputies.

The parks proper are not very extensive and are mainly for the

preservation of points of historic interest, such as the Stony Point

Battlefield (35 acres), Bennington Battlefield (171 acres), Lake George

Battlefield (35 acres), Washington Headquarters at Newburgh, and

locations of scenic beauty such as Watkins Glen (103 acres), Niagara

Falls State Reservation (112 acres). Some of these parks are not

administered by the Conservation Commission, but by special

commissions, like the last-mentioned, which is administered by five

commissioners appointed by the Governor.

The forest preserves proper of New York are mainly:

First, the Adirondack Park, which comprises 3,313,564 acres, of which

forty-nine per cent is owned by the people of New York State;

twenty-two per cent is owned by lumber and pulp companies; fifteen per

cent is in private parks; six per cent is in small private holdings;

two per cent is held by companies interested in minerals; and six per

cent is improved lands. For purposes of comparison it may be said that

the Adirondack Park is slightly larger than the State of Connecticut.

Second, the Catskill Park, which is readily accessible to the motorists

of the Metropolitan District of New York City, and which includes

576,120 acres, of which the state owns 116,364 acres. This park

includes the central portion of the Catskill Mountain region. While of

less extent than the Adirondack Park, the Catskill Park contains a

wealth of wonderful scenery. Excellent macadam and dirt highways enable

the motor camper to reach almost all parts of the Catskill Park. There

are at least twenty-six delightful camp sites, all provided with

fireplaces, that are open to the motor-camping public. A complete list

of these public camp sites is given in Chapter XIII, where will be

found a tabulated list of public camp sites throughout the United

States. There are also half a dozen other Forest Reserve Parks of

lesser extent than the two above-mentioned.

Winter Camping

People usually think of motor camping as a diversion of the summertime.

To be sure, camping is simpler and easier in warm weather, and that is

also the season when most folks can get vacations.

But summer camping is not the only seasonal camping. The fall season is

one of the pleasantest times to camp. The nights may be cold and even

frosty, but the sharp tang in the air will make the experience all the

more delightful. In fact, some who are seasoned to motor camping hold

that it is only when the leaves begin to fall that nature puts at the

disposal of the autoist a copious supply of material by which more

satisfactory sleep can be secured. These assert that with a few armfuls

of leaves a camp bed can be created that will make the house bed feel

like a row of boards in comparison. Another advantage which is adduced

by the autumn camper is the comparative exclusiveness that can be

secured. A great many of those who tour in summer, not appreciating the

enjoyment to be had during the autumn, will stay at home week-ends, or

attend the football games. This will give those who do venture forth

less crowded roads on which to drive and doubtless exclusive use of

their favorite places. Some are selecting semi-permanent sites, which

they expect to improve each week-end, and they are fairly sure that on

their return to them each time they will not be occupied by others, as

would be apt to be the case in the summer.

While most of the summer campers may not admit that they are

inconvenienced in any way by mosquitoes, bugs or insects of any sort,

those who contemplate camping in the fall are quick to agree that one

advantage of this sport in cooler weather will be the absence of many

such pests. They advise, however, that motorists should take along with

their tents a few extra blankets as a protection against the nippings

of Jack Frost.

In the winter time motor camping is mostly confined to the crowd of

motor campers who to the number of many thousands follow the sun to the

Southland. In some places that are central, and, so to speak,

crossroads of this travel, as at Tampa, for example, the “tin can

tourists,” as those driving a popular make of car are sometimes called,

and this, with their own hearty acceptance of the term, have assembled

in convention to the number of thousands. One winter these “tin can

tourists” assembled in the city just mentioned to the number of several

thousand and formed an organization entitled “The Tin Can Tourists of

the World.” This organization was rather informal and seems to have

gone out of active existence.

As time goes on the number of motor campers trekking South each winter

is bound to increase, for those who can spare the time to get away from

home will sally forth and head their cars loaded with camping equipment

into the South so as to escape the rigors of the season in the North. A

few days’ cruising will take the motor camper away from winter into

summer and at a cost about equivalent to that of staying at home,

particularly when coal bills are taken into consideration.

But there is another class of winter campers. We refer to those whose

blood is warm and who can rough it a little even in the face of snow

and ice. These hardy souls enjoy camping out during the winter season

with a zest that summer cannot afford.

The winter week-ender gets a spice and a thrill from life in the open

under the frosty skies of winter that the summertime cannot supply.

When camping during the wintertime seek a sheltered place protected

from the wind. In mid-winter the swamps are found the best of places

for camping. The mud and water are frozen hard. If possible get under

the lee of a dense growth of underbrush, hackmatack or other conifers

to keep the wind from blowing the camp fire smoke into your eyes.

The winter camper should not fail to dress as warmly as possible. The

best way is not to wear overcoats and thick, heavy underclothes. Much

better, put on two, three or even four suits of light underwear and

they will keep you warmer than heavy ones. As many as five light

jerseys may be worn without making the body bulky and without

interfering with your activities in walking, climbing or swinging the

ax. The advantage of this arrangement is that you may peel them off

like the skins of an onion as you grow warm; and put them on again as

you grow cold. Don’t go burdened with too much truck. Take two good

blankets, your poncho and your shoes, well oiled, or wear rubber-footed

boots, such as may be secured from Boy Scouts Headquarters in New York.

Wear two or three pairs of good woolen stockings. If you can secure a

pair of buckskin mittens, they will keep your hands warm when pulled

over woolen gloves. Take along some stubs of candles, not to burn at

night, but with which to light your fires. It does not require much

skill to light a candle, even on a windy day, but it sometimes requires

a great deal of patience to light a fire on the same sort of a day.

If the winter camper likes he may provide himself with an Indian tent—a

circular tent with a hole at the top. With such a tent the fire for

cooking may be made on the ground within the tent. The smoke will draw

pretty well out of the hole at the top of the tent. The miner’s tent,

which is conical in shape, with the pole in the middle, can with little

difficulty be used in the same way as the Indian tent. If you are going

to have any fire in the tent, other than in an oil or gasoline stove,

it will be wise to fireproof the tent. To fireproof a tent all that is

required is to get a few cents’ worth of alum at any drug store.

Dissolve the alum in water and soak the tent fabric in the solution

until it is thoroughly wetted, after which dry it out.

Whether you sleep in your car or sleep out in a tent, you will find in

cold weather that a good sleeping bag is a great source of comfort.

They come in many varieties and are fully described elsewhere in the

book. Here suffice it to say that a mighty comfortable and inexpensive

home-made sleeping bag may be constructed by taking flexible, enameled

oilcloth, a high-grade horse blanket or a pure wool house blanket.

Continue the bag back of the head and neck so as to form a hood over

the head. This bag can be improvised with large safety pins to hold it

together. Have the flexible oilcloth in two pieces. Pin the pieces

together, roll in the blanket and slide in. Change your stockings if

you would avoid cold feet.

CHAPTER VIII

FIRE AND FOOD FOR THE CAMPER

Raw Foods—Hotels—Various Fuels Compared—Fireplaces Provided at Most

Camp Sites—Wet Weather Fire-making—Primitive Cooking

Methods—Prepared Foods—Corrective Foods—Camp-fire Cooking—The

Dingle Stick—Forestry Regulations Concerning Camp Fires—Coffee and

Flapjack Making—Wayside Markets—Men Cooks—How to Cook a Quick

Meal—Improvised Fireplaces—A Varied Dietary—An Ideal Meal—A

Balanced Menu—Recipes for Camp Cooking—A List—Biscuits, Flapjacks,

Corn Bread, Corn Meal Mush, Fish, Rabbits, Squirrel, Game Birds,

How to Boil Potatoes, Baking in Clay, etc.

The motor camper will always require fire because food and drink cannot

be properly or palatably prepared without the assistance of fire. It

may be thought that this rule like others admits of exceptions, and

perhaps this is so. There are some people who do not seem to believe in

fire, at least in connection with the preparation of food. Their

religion seems about the opposite of that professed by the “Fire

Worshipers.” As the Brahmins of India will not eat anything that has

ever been alive, so these people will not eat anything that has been

cooked. We might term those we have in mind the “Raw Food Worshipers.”

They are not very numerous, still there are enough of them to make it

worth the while for grocers to carry the products they demand in the

way of raw wheat crackers, raw oat biscuit and the like. We have met

these people on the road, and it must be confessed that they appear to

be a well-fed, well-fleshed folk, whether made so because of a diet of

raw food or not is somewhat uncertain as sequence is not always

consequence. These people, naturally, will not need instruction

concerning camp fires.

There are still others met with along the road who are not interested

in the subject of fire and the preparation of food. We refer to those

motor tourists who tour but do not camp—those who always travel on

until a hotel is found where they may eat and lodge. This is an easy

and from some standpoints an attractive way of traveling, but very much

more expensive than motor camping.

In some circumstances it may be the wise way of procedure. We have

known of many bridal couples that have spent their honeymoons motor

touring. We would not advise a newly married couple to try motor

camping. While motor camping may offer more adventure and real

enjoyment than motor touring with its eating and sleeping at hotels en

route, it is more perilous in its effects upon the disposition. The

infinite variety of experience that motor camping offers is likely to

bring some things that will tend to cloud the honeymoon, and the young

couple had best have a year or two of experience in trying out the

problem of living together before undertaking camping. It may here be

remarked that where a camping party includes more than the family it

would be well to be sure in advance that all composing the party are

congenial and ready to work together in harmony.

Coming to the question of fire, it may be said that the easiest thing

to do is to take along a stove of some sort.

The gasoline stove has one advantage, the advantage that lies in the

fact that its fuel is the same as that used in the engine of the car.

There are disadvantages, too. Gasoline is somewhat dangerous, and being

very thin leaks very readily. Gasoline will leak through a seam that

will be sufficiently tight to hold oil. The jolting that is inevitable

in connection with motoring, particularly with some of the more popular

cars, has a surprising efficiency in opening up the seams of an

ordinary gasoline stove. There have been many instances where small

leaks have led to the explosion of these stoves. These explosions often

have resulted in severe burns, and sometimes in death. Village

tinsmiths along the motor highways testify that they frequently have

gasoline stoves brought to them by motorists to have leaks stopped.

The various kinds of gasoline stoves specially designed for the use of

the motor camper are described in Chapter VI.

Oil stoves have their advantages. They are safe, convenient and

reliable. The fuel is readily obtainable almost anywhere, and is

economical. Oil stoves, however, have the disadvantage of requiring

more attention in the line of cleaning than gasoline stoves because the

oil is not as volatile as the gasoline, and so will remain on the parts

of the stove and gather dust. This combination is sure to make the

stove smelly and a sort of a nuisance in camp. Scrupulous attention in

keeping the stove always clean will obviate almost completely the

tendency to smelliness. Stoves using a wick are much greater offenders

in the way of smelling than the stoves that operate without a wick. The

motor camper will find the wickless stove, especially the pressure oil

stove, by far the most satisfactory oil stove to use.

Wood stoves, and stoves that will burn any solid fuel, are offered in

wide variety by the various dealers in sporting goods. Most of these

are very convenient, and the collapsible kind take up very little room.

These stoves operate very well with twisted newspapers. If the motor

camper instead of throwing away, burning up, or almost giving away his

old newspapers to the rag man will bundle up fifty pounds or more of

them in a flat package he will have a week’s supply of first-class fuel

for his camp stove. Pick up a paper, fold it across once or twice,

twist it up tight and hard, thrust it in the stove, light it, and the

result will be a good hot fire.

The most useful types of these wood stoves are also discussed and

described in Chapter VI, which deals in part with camp equipment. In

the same chapter appliances using solidified alcohol are described

likewise. These little devices are convenient and very useful for the

purpose of heating milk or water for tea or coffee. They are also

invaluable where a baby is with the campers. The Theroz and Sterno

outfits use this solidified alcohol. The former offers the fuel in the

form of cans filled with small cubes of the article, the latter in

small cans filled with the fuel in undivided bulk. The little kits

which use this kind of fuel are inexpensive, and are mentioned in

Chapter VI.

Most motor-camping parks provide either fireplaces or stoves of some

sort. In many of the state and national forests the sites set aside for

motor campers are provided with fireplaces. Open fires are not usually

permitted at these camping sites where fireplaces or other facilities

for fire are already provided. But where no provision has been made to

help the camper with his fire, there is no objection to his providing

himself with an open fire. Those in charge of state and national

forests strongly advise the motor camper to supply himself with a

stove. The foresters say: “Camp stoves should be taken wherever they

can be transported. They are safer than open fires, more convenient,

require less fuel, and do not blacken the cooking utensils.... In the

absence of a stove an open fire must be built. A safe and serviceable

fireplace can be made of rocks placed in a small circle so as to

support the utensils. Where rocks are not obtainable poles may be

used.”

If the camper stops with his car in an ordinary bit of woods he is

almost sure to find plenty of dead wood for his fire. When gathering

these dead sticks do not take those lying flat on the ground as they

will be damp and so will burn poorly.

Preparing the Ground

When preparing the ground for an open fire without a fireplace, see

that the ground is cleaned bare for several feet around the spot where

the fire is to be built. If the surface soil of the ground is humus or

in any way resembling peat, it will be best to dig down to the sand

clay or rock underneath. At least go down to clear soil and do not

build a fire on ground containing vegetable matter. Fire will creep in

some of the lighter forms of loam after a prolonged drought, and the

camper must make sure that his fire is built upon ground that will not

burn.

Kindling Fire in Wet Weather

Usually there will be no difficulty in kindling the fire unless the

weather be wet. In this latter event, particularly in a rainstorm, it

may be very difficult to start a fire in the open. If the camper has

brought along some short pieces of dry wood which he can whittle into

coarse shavings, or if he has along a store of dry pieces of birch

bark, he may shelter the spot where he means to start a fire under the

skirt of his raincoat, get together a few of the driest pieces of wood

that he has, and then piling together under the shelter mentioned some

of the shavings, light them and as they start to burn gradually add

small pieces of the driest wood, sheltering it until it gets well

started. Starting a fire under the circumstances just described will

not be easy, and several attempts may fail before success is attained.

Making a fire in the wet is an art that must be learned through trial

and experience like any other art, and is not achieved easily.

When the weather is fair and the ground dry a fire in the open is

easily kindled. If the weather be dry and windy, great care must be

taken lest sparks or embers from the fire blow away and start up a fire

at a distance. It is surprising how far sparks or small embers will

carry on the wind and start fires. The camper cannot be too careful

with his fire. When he breaks camp and leaves he should not only see

that his fire is out, but he ought to get a pail or two of water and

drown out the last possible remaining spark. Unfortunately some campers

are very careless with the open fires that they kindle. Because they

leave fires that seem to be out when they are not, these fires often

burn up again after the camper has gone on his way and spread

disastrously. For this reason farmers and foresters look with marked

disfavor on all open camp fires.

How to Summon the Flames

The wise motor camper will keep his matches in waterproof boxes, and

will also use wax matches, or at least those whose stems have been well

paraffined. In the absence of matches a cigar lighter can be used to

start a fire. A somewhat more difficult method of kindling a fire is to

use a steel and flint lighting set. Still more difficult to accomplish

is to start a fire the way the Boy Scouts do with two pieces of wood.

To do this successfully it will be necessary to get one of those

fire-making outfits sold at National Boy Scouts Headquarters. There are

many Boy Scouts that can quickly, i.e., within a minute, make a fire

with one of these outfits, but the scout is rare indeed who can make

his drill from a cottonwood root, get his base of harder wood, gather

his punk, string his drill bow, and start a fire with nothing but these

implements. If the motor camper wants some real fun out of the process

of building his fire let him buy one of the Boy Scout outfits for

making fire from wood and try, try, try again until he becomes expert

at such fire-making. He will feel as proud as Prometheus bringing fire

from heaven.

Cooking Over an Open Fire

There are two ways of cooking over an open fire. The pot may be slung

over the fire from a hook on a pole, or the pan may be set over the

fire, resting upon a support underneath. In the latter way the fire may

be confined between two green logs and the pan placed across the logs

close to the fire. Or a folding wire broiler may be set across over the

fire and the stew pan, camp kettle, or coffee-pot put on the broiler.

A Small Fire Adequate

The beginner usually makes too big a fire. A very small fire, carefully

fed as required, will cook better than a large fire which is apt to

make a lot of smoke and blacken and burn everything put over it.

A Simple Outdoor Meal

The ingenious and resourceful motor camper can cook a great variety of

very appetizing food with almost no utensils to help him, using simply

an open camp fire. Any one who has been a boy in the country knows how

to roast potatoes in hot ashes. If not careful the potatoes will be

burned, but probably not so badly as to entirely spoil them for food.

But a burnt potato will not taste bad by a camp fire. Why, after the

camper has been out for a week he will almost be able to eat, like, and

digest gravel.

If the camper has taken along a few packages of prepared self-raising

flour, let him cut a green club about four feet long. Then peel off the

bark at one end for about the distance of a foot. Next hold or prop the

bare end of this club slant-wise over the fire until it is roasting

hot. Take some of the prepared flour and mix it with water into a very

stiff dough. Mold this dough into a long strip, and when the club is

almost burning hot wrap the strip of dough around it. Replace the club

over the fire, turning it now and then to prevent burning, and to get

the dough cooked evenly. In fifteen minutes or so—depending upon the

heat of the fire—you will have as fine a piece of hot biscuit as any

one could wish.

For successful camp cooking one should know how to make fresh

breadstuffs, palatable soups, good, nourishing stews, and a few tasty

desserts. The camper should know also how to make such beverages as

tea, coffee and cocoa; how to broil wild meats and fish of all kinds;

how to make flapjacks and fritters without burning them or getting them

greasy. Furthermore, the camp cook should know how to serve these

things without letting them get cold and indigestible.

A Delightful Dessert

Speaking of desserts, here is one that is both palatable and

corrective. The last word refers to the need of the camper for food

that will be slightly laxative to counteract the effects of the

concentrated foods that he is likely to use. Take dried apples,

apricots, peaches and prunes—all in a dried condition—soak in water

overnight. Mix all together, adding water and sugar. Stew slowly for

twenty minutes and you will have a tutti-frutti stew that will give a

dessert which the camper will eat with rapturous relish.

Cooking Over the Fire

The most common way of cooking over a camp fire is to cut two forked

stakes or small posts and drive them into the ground far enough away

from the fire so as to be in no danger of burning. The crotch of each

fork is open to the fire, and in this crotch, which should stand a

couple of feet up from the ground, a pole an inch or so through is

laid. Over this pole above the fire is placed an iron hook, or a couple

of hooks, with which the camper has provided himself at a hardware

store before starting forth on his tour. From the lower loop of the

hook hang the camp kettle or other utensil for cooking.

The dingle stick is another device sometimes used by the motor camper

in cooking over his camp fire. This stick is an inch-thick sapling with

one end stuck into the ground and the other end adjusted over the fire

to a proper height by two forked stakes. Have brass chains with pot

hooks attached to hang from the end of the stick. If there are no

chains or hooks use forked, short branches with a notch in the lower

end to take the bail of a pail.

Two small logs side by side and two short ones laid across underneath

them and a small fire of twigs between the logs will do nicely for

cooking emergency rations.

Whatever may be said in favor of stoves and the more artificial methods

of preparing food for the motor camper, it must be said that food

cooked on the open fire will taste best. But, on the other hand, when

it rains pitchforks, the little stove in the tent is a friend in need

and a friend indeed.

Besides there are not only the state and national forestry regulations

that apply to open fires. In addition to these in some states the

counties take a hand in the matter, and in one open fires will be

permitted, while in the county adjoining they may be taboo.

The two-burner Theroz kit burns solid alcohol that will not melt, and a

thirty-cent can of cubes lasts the two burners about an hour. The heat

from Theroz is not quite so hot as gasoline, but it can be put out

instantly and what remains unburnt may be put away for the next time.

Furthermore, any sort of solid alcohol is absolutely clean and sweet,

with no appreciable smell. The fuel alcohol stove that is used in a

single burner outfit arranged like a gas range is convenient, although

not as safe as solid alcohol, and is hot enough to boil water in seven

minutes. Such a stove comes with an alcohol reservoir that holds a

quart, and the whole outfit weighs about ten pounds.

Essential Food Supplies

Returning to the subject of food for the camper, it will be agreed that

the menu is largely a matter of personal taste. But there are certain

items which are included in every outfit and which are regarded by all

as necessities, no matter how widely personal tastes may differ with

regard to other supplies. No one can imagine a camp without coffee, and

the smell of boiling coffee is as much a part of the camp atmosphere as

the rustle of the leaves among the trees.

A popular custom in the West, where so much camping is done, is to

measure the coffee—ground coffee is preferable, thus eliminating the

coffee mill—a heaping tablespoon to the cup, and two cups to the

person, and to tie it up in double cheesecloth bags. The advantage of

this is that the coffee is clear and not so apt to boil over. Besides,

any unskilled or hurried cook can measure the water and drop the bag.

In the East prepared coffee is coming to be used in preference to

coffee in the bean. There are several kinds of this prepared coffee,

such as the Mouquin and George Washington brands, which come in cans

and are about equal in price and quality. The only difference in

quality is that the former of those mentioned is a little more on the

order of “French coffee,” namely, it is a little more bitter. This

prepared coffee is somewhat more expensive than coffee in the bean, but

all that is required to prepare it for drinking is to take a

teaspoonful of the coffee, place this in the cup and fill up with

boiling water, adding milk, cream or sugar to the taste.

After coffee come flapjacks. “Add water and bake” sounds good even at

home, and out in the woods it has a special appeal. There are a number

of prepared pancake flours on the market which make light, nourishing

flapjacks.

Another important item is eggs. Plainly, they are not built for

roughing it; but taken out of the shell and dried they become an

altogether dependable article for the camper. Care should be taken,

however, in making a choice of an egg powder, for many substitutes are

on the market that never had any relationship to a hen. Real egg powder

when cooked can hardly be told from the genuine article made from a

fresh egg. It can be scrambled or made into an omelet that will be in

every way satisfactory.

Both enjoyment and health require a varied menu for the camper. The

numerous wayside markets which may be found every mile or so along the

main highways afford the camper an opportunity of picking up a variety

of supplies which will serve to diversify the camp menu.

To the average person much of the enjoyment of motor camping will

depend upon the quality of the meals that are supplied. If the day be

started with a good breakfast of steaming coffee, a rasher of crisp

bacon with hot flapjacks and crisp fried potatoes, the day is well

begun and everything else is likely to pass off delightfully. But begin

with dish-water coffee, lukewarm in temperature, soggy, half-done

flapjacks, soft, stringy bacon and limp, greasy potatoes, and the rest

of the day will be equally distasteful.

Man a Better Camp Cook Than Woman

The reason why as a rule a man will make a better camp cook than a

woman is because he has had no experience as a cook in the use of

modern conveniences. The woman who cooks splendidly in the home, with

gas range and electric cooking utensils always at hand, is likely to be

lost when out camping in the woods she tries to prepare breakfast with

the limited equipment of a camp cooking kit, or a camp fireplace. She

is still more in the wilderness as an efficient worker if she has

nothing more than an open camp fire to work with. But, man or woman,

the camp cook can live and learn, and the simpler and cruder the

facilities with which to work the more zest there will be in getting

the cooking done well. And food never tastes quite so good as when

flavored with a dash of wood ashes and the pungent savor of wood smoke

from a camp fire.

A camp meal for a party of three or four is comparatively simple to

prepare, and it can be speedily and effectively served as well. It need

not be elaborate, but it should be hot. Circumstances oftentimes demand

that the whole process of preparing and serving breakfast be brief.

When the fish are jumping one had almost rather do without his cup of

hot coffee than spend twenty minutes making fire and bringing the water

to a boil. But when one learns how, he finds that such delay is not

necessary. A substantial breakfast of eggs, bacon and coffee can be

prepared in from ten to fifteen minutes, and the fire built, even in

the rain, within this time limit. Few motorists know the essentials of

a successful fire for cooking. A fire that could be built within the

limits of an ordinary soup plate will cook quicker than the bonfire

that the motor camper usually builds. What is needed is not a big fire

for warmth or for drying out wet clothing.

A Typical Process of Getting a Meal

Three or four cobblestones, bricks or even tin cans will do for a

fireplace. If no stones, bricks or even cans are at hand, dig a small

hole in the ground. All that is necessary is to find something that

will support a skillet or frying pan in a steady and even position. A

small fire directly under the skillet will work wonders. There is not

much heat, but what there is goes right to the spot where it is needed

to do the work. The camper soon learns how to make this small fire,

feed it bit by bit, and control it even in rain or wind. To be sure of

this little fire under all circumstances it will be advisable for the

camper to have along with him a few short pieces of dry wood which can

easily be split up. Should rain be falling when the fire is being made

these small pieces of split wood can be kept dry as they are being fed

to the fire by covering them with a piece of rubber cloth or oilcloth.

With a bright blaze started in this the miniature fireplace, the next

thing to do is to heat water for the coffee before the rest of the

cooking begins. The skillet being clean and free from grease, the water

can be brought to a boil without receiving any taste from its

container. A quart thermos bottle should be filled with water, and when

the fire has been started the water should be poured into the skillet

as it rests on the stones over the fire. In a surprisingly short time

the water will be hot and the coffee may be made in the skillet, or if

a prepared coffee is to be used, the scalding water may be returned to

the thermos bottle to be kept hot until the meal, when it will be added

to the prepared coffee in the cup. In either case the hot fluid is

returned to the thermos bottle. Using the skillet to heat the coffee

water will save much time and insure the coffee being in a steaming

condition when needed.

The coffee being made, the hot skillet goes back over the fire to

receive the bacon, eggs or whatever else is to be cooked. The skillet

can be used with equal success for frying, stewing, boiling, or even

for making flapjacks, as required. A surprisingly large variety of

dishes may be successfully prepared with this simple cooking utensil.

In fact a skillful camper needs only a skillet, and finds all other

pots and pans simply burdensome. The skillet will serve all needful

purposes in cooking.

When the cooking is done the skillet should be wiped free from grease,

filled with water and placed over the fire. By the time the meal is

over the water will be sufficiently hot to be used in washing the

dishes.

Many people feel unsatisfied and uneasy unless they can sit down to

their three square meals a day. In the three square meals are included,

as a rule, an oversupply of some food elements and an insufficiency of

others. This lack of balance in the diet of the average man has much to

do with the various ills to which his body falls heir.

Not a little of the benefit to be derived from a motor camping trip

will be the benefit derived from the simple fare that will be had on

the camping trip. He will get all the more good from it if the party

adopts the Indian plan of two meals a day—breakfast and supper, morning

and night.

A Balanced Diet

Some wise motor campers sally forth with hampers stuffed with fruit,

sandwiches, grape juice, loganberry juice, lemons, sugar, dates,

raisins, nuts, olives, powdered cereal coffee, malted milk, evaporated

milk, and salt. A small oil stove and some “canned heat” are included.

Fresh eggs, cottage cheese, and vegetables that do not require cooking,

like lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes and also fruit, can, as a

rule, be bought at farmhouses along the way. Bread may be bought as

needed. Whole wheat bread also may be bought in some places, for there

is coming to be a demand for this real life-sustaining bread.

Stopping in some attractive place with these supplies, thoroughly

sustaining and well-balanced meals can be provided with little work.

Eggs may be cooked, and cereal coffee made or hot malted milk prepared.

This sort of a menu may not seem like a real HE camplike layout, but it

will supply a better balance of diet and in addition to the fresh air

that the camper gets will do him a vast amount of good both physically

and otherwise.

Such a meal consisting of one or two eggs or cottage cheese, a few

nuts, whole wheat bread, olives, lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, apples,

pears or peaches, with some dates or raisins, will supply the body’s

needs and have as sustaining qualities as meats and rich desserts.

A menu of this description will supply in abundance the iron and lime

and other mineral salts, as also the life-promoting vitamines. It will

in addition give natural encouragement to bowel activity, and the

camper will not have to resort to pills for this purpose.

The change from the usual heavy meals to this simpler and lighter diet

will do the average man a world of good.

Then, too, while journeying through the country the motor camper may

with profit add to his diet from the green growing things which may be

eaten raw. The so-called “raw food fiends” have a degree of fact back

of their theory concerning the superior value of raw foods from a

nutritive standpoint. Children like to eat the tender young peas that

they shell to be cooked for dinner. Most country children like to eat

raw turnips, those of the white variety. They also like to nibble

tender young carrots, and young sweet corn is sweeter and more tender

raw than cooked. Let the motor camper try out these foods in the raw.

They can be secured from the farmers along the way.

We are aware that most campers will scoff at these suggestions, but if

they will test them it will be found that one of the greatest benefits

derived will be the laxative effects of this kind of fare.

Those who look upon the suggestions given above as faddish have already

found full instructions for preparing the more conventional fare.

Most vegetables may now be bought in the dehydrated form, and these

after soaking in water overnight are almost as good as when fresh and

form a most desirable addition to the camp menu. As is well known, they

have very little weight, and so a large supply may be carried along.

Many prefer powdered milk to the evaporated form for the camp supply

box. A supply of sweet chocolate is taken along by many as a quick and

satisfying nutriment.

The amount of food to be taken will vary greatly, twelve or fourteen

pounds of all kinds per person per week is usually an ample total.

Camp Cooking

Recipes. The quantities given are for but two people. When the number

is greater, corresponding quantities of materials should be used.

Biscuits. There are many brands of prepared flour which contain baking

powder, shortening and other ingredients. These flours require nothing

more than the addition of enough water to make a soft dough before

baking. The baking may be done in a skillet, by simply placing the

dough on the bottom of the skillet after greasing and heating. When

done on one side the dough should be turned.

If the camper has a reflector oven or a stove oven, roll out or even

pat out with the hand the dough to a thickness of half an inch; then

with the top of a baking powder can cut out the biscuits one by one and

bake until brown. If there be no baking-powder can at hand the biscuits

may be roughly shaped with the hand.

If the flour used is not “prepared,” mix in a pan one pint of ordinary

flour with a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder. Add a tablespoonful

of fat (butter, lard, or other shortening), half a teaspoonful of salt,

and three tablespoonfuls of evaporated milk, putting in also just

enough water to make a soft dough. Handle the dough as little as

possible. Rub flour on the bread board, or, lacking a board, on the

bottom of a pan or any flat surface, and then cut out as above. A knife

can be used for cutting if nothing else is at hand. Put into a greased

pan and place baker before the fire. If there is a good hot fire, the

biscuits will be done in about twelve minutes. Stick in a fork, and if

no dough sticks to it when withdrawn the biscuits are done.

Flapjacks may be mixed up as biscuits, but the dough should be thin

enough to run. This dough is then to be poured or dipped onto the hot

skillet, griddle, or pan, baked until one side is done and then turned

with a turner, unless the camper is skillful enough to turn his

pancakes by tossing.

The prepared flour is by all odds the best for pancakes because all you

have to add is water. But if the camper prefers to do his own mixing

let him mix as for biscuit, but in addition put in a tablespoonful of

dried eggs. A large spoonful of batter will make a moderate sized

pancake.

Corn Bread. The best corn bread is made by taking the old-fashioned

whole corn meal, and buttermilk or clabbered milk, with baking soda.

All that was necessary was to take a quart of buttermilk, a couple of

pinches of salt (according to taste), a teaspoonful of baking soda, and

then add the corn meal until there was a thick batter. This was then

poured into a deep pan which had been greased and baked for half an

hour. The difficulty with this recipe is that the fundamental

ingredient is unobtainable. The corn meal that can be bought in stores

is almost always a bolted, devitalized stuff that is very

unsatisfactory for corn bread. In some rural districts one can, once in

a while, come across a country miller who grinds the old-time corn

meal. If the camper comes across such an one, let him buy some of this

meal and try it out as above.

Here is one of the modern recipes for what is called corn bread. Into a

bread pan put one half pint of flour and one half pint of corn meal,

thoroughly mixed with a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, and half

a teaspoonful of salt, a dessert spoonful of desiccated eggs, a half

teaspoonful of sugar, and a tablespoonful of cold pork fat, lard or

vegetable substitute. Add three dessertspoonfuls of evaporated milk and

sufficient water to make a thick batter. Stir well, pour into a greased

pan and place baker before fire of hot coals.

Corn Meal Mush may be made by pouring slowly into a quart of boiling

water to which has been added a half teaspoonful of salt, one cupful of

corn meal, stirring constantly. If you wish to avoid its being lumpy,

better feed in the corn meal through your fingers, so as to scatter it

as it reaches the water.

Fish is best broiled. Rub fat on the grid to prevent sticking. If the

fish is large remove head and entrails, split down the back and lay on

the broiler with slices of bacon or pork placed across. Pepper and salt

to suit taste. To fry small fish, put in pan with plenty of bacon or

pork fat. Turn frequently to insure thorough cooking. When done spread

with butter and brown for a few minutes. To bake small fish wrap each

in wet paper and cover in hot ashes.

Squirrels should be broiled, using only young ones. After skinning and

cleaning, soak in cold salted water for an hour. Wipe dry and place on

a grid with slices of bacon laid across for basting. To fry old ones,

parboil slowly for half an hour in salted water and fry in fat or

butter until brown.

Rabbits, after being cleaned and skinned, should have the head removed.

Then cut off the legs at the body joint and cut the back into three or

four pieces. Parboil in salted water. To stew leave in pot, add pepper,

a tablespoonful each of rice and beans and a teaspoonful of dried

onions. Add water so that the pieces of meat keep covered and boil

until the meat will separate from the bones. To fry, remove from the

pot when parboiled, sprinkle the meat with flour and fry in butter or

fat until brown. Use only young animals for frying. To roast, remove

from pot and place in pan, spread a piece of pork on each piece of

rabbit, and baste frequently until done.

Game Birds should first be plucked, then cleaned, singed, and the head

and legs removed. To fry, cut into convenient pieces and parboil until

tender. Sprinkle with pepper, salt, and flour. Fry in pork fat. When

done stir into frying pan a half cupful of flour until dark brown, add

some of the liquor in which the bird was parboiled and bring to a boil.

Pour this gravy over the bird on the dish. To broil, split the bird up

back and place on the grid. Baste with drippings from a piece of pork

held above on a stick. Cuts of larger birds like ducks or prairie

chickens may be sliced off and held over the coals on sticks. To

fricassee, cut into convenient pieces and parboil. When tender, drain

off the water and sprinkle the pieces with salt, pepper, and flour. Fry

some slices of pork and add to the fat some flour, stirring until

brown. Pour into this the liquor in which the bird was parboiled and

bring to a boil. Put the pieces of bird in a hot dish and pour the

gravy over them.

How to Boil Potatoes. This may seem superfluous, but of a truth most

campers do not have much success in boiling potatoes, but get a soggy

product which is anything but appetizing.

Peel the potatoes and allow them to stand in water for a short time.

Then place the pot over hot coals. When boiling add salt and when the

potatoes are done drain off the water thoroughly. Put the pot with the

lid on back over the fire for a minute. Then, holding the lid on

firmly, shake the pot well, and turn out the potatoes. They will be

mealy and delicious. To bake potatoes, wrap each potato in wet paper

and place in hot ashes until done, which will be in about half an

hour—depending somewhat on the size of the potatoes and the heat of the

ashes.

To make mashed potatoes, take a cup of dried (dehydrated) potatoes and

a cup and a half of boiling water. Boil and stir for three minutes, and

then add a dessertspoonful of evaporated milk. Salt, pepper, and butter

to taste. To make potato cakes, prepare as above, add a teaspoonful of

flour and form into small cakes. Sprinkle with flour and fry in pork

fat.

Pork fat is frequently mentioned in these recipes. A vegetarian will

perhaps be better satisfied by using a vegetable substitute.

Baking in Clay where clay is procurable gives satisfactory results.

Cover bird or fish drawn, or undrawn, with a coating of wet clay a

couple of inches thick. Place in live coals and cover with hot ashes.

In about an hour the clay will be baked hard. Crack open lengthwise and

remove the meat, which will be tender, well-flavored and juicy. If

baked undrawn the entrails should be removed after baking.

CHAPTER IX

CAMP HEALTH AND RECREATION

Making a Pleasure Rather Than a Business of Camping—Coöperation in

the Camp—Rightly Selecting the Camp Site—Playing by the

Way—Basket-ball, Quoits, etc.—Exercise—Emergencies, First Aid—Prone

Pressure Method of Restoring the Unconscious—Poisons and

Antidotes—Position of Tent—Supposed Hardships of Camping Mostly

Illusory—Keeping Dry—Keeping Out Insects—Sample List for a Medicine

Kit—Care of the Car—Evening Sports.

A motor-camping trip is not a business trip, but a journey whose object

is recreation and rejuvenation. Consequently the pace should be easy

and the intervals of rest frequent. Those who push on relentlessly,

driving forward from morning until evening, and then camp for the night

only to journey on again the next day, miss much of the good that may

be gained from a camping tour.

The trip should be by easy stages, without definite objectives for each

day. The aim should be enjoyment and leisure rather than “to get

there.” If a place proves unattractive tarry but for a night, but

otherwise camp for several days, or until the local attractions have

been sufficiently explored for satisfaction.

Organize the Work

Whether the party be large or small, it will be wise to have it pretty

carefully organized. Divide up the chores, so that each one will have

his part to perform in connection with the common enterprise. When the

stop is made for the night have it understood in advance just what each

one is to do in arranging for the camp and the preparation of the

evening meal. Even each small boy who may be along should have his

appointed task to perform. He will enjoy the outing all the more and

instead of being a burden will prove a valuable help. As in the

evening, so in the morning light, everything should be ordered and

every one should have a part in the day’s order.

The motor camper who coöperates with his fellow campers on the basis of

“self-service” will get the real fun and enjoyment which a camping trip

can supply. The camper who is unwilling to “help out” had best arrange

his trip with those who patronize the hotels and travel on the ten

dollar a day per capita basis.

The camping site should be as carefully selected as may be. If the stop

is made at one of the camping parks, there will be small choice save in

the matter of the park, because in most of these public parks there

will be some one who will assign each camper his appointed place. Where

the park is large, and some of them include many acres, there may be

considerable choice of location. This will be more likely to be true

early or late in the usual camping season of summertime, for then the

parks are not likely to be crowded. At the height of the season,

however, some of the more popular parks along the main cross-continent

motor-ways are obliged from lack of accommodations to turn many cars

away.

Choosing the Camp Site

It is well while moving to cast about for a suitable camping site by

mid-afternoon. If the intention is to make use of a public motor park,

and the first one found does not seem altogether desirable in point of

being roomy, shaded, or in the provisions made for the comfort and

convenience of campers, drive on to another and keep on until the best

camp site available is found. This advice applies all the more to the

camper who intends to camp by himself on private property and who will

have to arrange for camping permission, etc., before settling himself

for the night.

A location by a stream, lake or bay is desirable. Such a location is

important, if feasible, because of the attractiveness of a water view,

and, still more, because bathing facilities are conducive to both

health and happiness. The importance of bathing facilities is pretty

well understood by almost every one. Some motorists pack along folding

canvas bath tubs, and these are certainly very convenient. But, if a

stream is alongside or near by the camp site, or there is other water

suitable for bathing, it will be much easier to bathe in this water

than in the little bath tub. Of course, unless the water is very shoal

those who cannot swim should exercise great care. For that matter those

who cannot swim might well take advantage of the leisure of a camping

trip to pitch camp where there will be a chance to learn this very

healthful and vitally important art.

Water Supply

In selecting a camp site, other than in a camping park provided with

water, as these mostly are, the question of a water supply for drinking

purposes is exceedingly important. As mentioned elsewhere, the wells of

the countryside and the wayside springs are more or less open to

suspicion. So, too, are the brooks, as they may receive drainage from

farmhouses near their course or from barnyards. If the camp is near a

swamp, the water there may be dark, but that is no sign of especial

impurity as the color may be due to discoloration from the vegetation

and turf of the bog. This bog water is quite likely to be free from

contamination. But no matter what the source of supply, an attitude of

suspicion is the wise one, and the water should only be drunk after

boiling. In extremity the writer has drunk unboiled water out of

ditches and stagnant ponds without ill results, but this is not

advised, and the motor camper will, as a rule, have facilities for

boiling his drinking water. We have heard of motorists, when hard put

to, drawing hot water from the radiator of their machine in order to

get a hot drink, but seldom, indeed, would there be any such necessity.

Games

There are many forms of recreation that the motor camper may enjoy,

particularly when camping away from the crowd. A basket ball may well

form part of the camping equipment. It will not be hard to find two

trees sixty feet apart. If baskets have been carried along with the

ball, they may be attached to these trees at the regulation height of

ten feet, with wire nails which will not injure the trees, and a lot of

fun may be had from the games played on the hazards of an uneven court

in the woods. If no regular baskets have been brought along, slender

branches of underbrush may be cut and bent into hoop form, and, ends

being tied up or otherwise secured, quite satisfactory baskets may be

had by fastening these hoops to the trees at the right elevation.

Then, too, where there are any boys along a ball and bat of the

baseball sort will not be lacking and quite a bit of sport and exercise

may be had by the campers in the evenings from this source.

If there is water near, swimming will give a lot of recreation and

contribute to the health of the campers.

In fact, a little ingenuity will discover many games and exercises that

will contribute to the interest and enjoyment of the evening camp.

The municipal motor camps often have entertainments arranged for those

using these camp sites. Often music, usually band music, will be

provided. In some places the camp managers get the campers together of

evenings for all sorts of amusement, and in other cases the campers get

together for acquaintance and entertainment spontaneously on their own

initiative.

First Aid

Another thing that the motor camper should not forget is provision for

emergencies. He should know how to render first aid in case of injury,

how to resuscitate those who have been drowning, how to treat various

forms of common poisoning with a knowledge of the antidotes for these

poisons. This subject cannot be gone into fully in this book. There are

books entirely devoted to the promotion of safety and assistance to the

injured when the emergency arises. As for drowning, many people who

have been in a condition of suspended animation owing to submersion in

the water have been allowed to die who might have been resuscitated had

those present known how. And it is not necessary to have appliances,

such as a pulmotor, at hand. In fact, the best method of resuscitating

the drowned is the prone-pressure method in which no apparatus whatever

is employed. The old method of rolling the drowned person over a

barrel, or the later method of sending for a pulmotor was mistaken.

Both have been abandoned by progressive physicians and the Red Cross

Life-saving Department.

The motor camper is quite unlikely to have a physician anywhere near by

who can be summoned, and so should know what to do in an emergency,

particularly when one of the party has apparently been drowned. For

that matter, sending for a physician in case of drowning is usually

entirely futile, for it is seldom that a physician can be brought until

it is too late to succeed with resuscitation. The prone-pressure

method, which we are about to describe, has succeeded where animation

has been suspended until after more than two hours of effort. There

have been many cases where it would most likely have saved life, where

life was lost, because, instead of promptly applying this treatment, a

physician and pulmotor were sent for and neither could be procured

until the lapse of considerable vital time.

The Prone-pressure Method of Resuscitation

1. Lay the patient on his stomach on a flat surface. Draw the arms

above the head. Bring the right wrist under the forehead so that it

will support the head and turn the head slightly to the left. Be sure

that the nose and mouth do not touch the ground.

2. Clean the patient’s mouth of mucus, blood, chewing gum or other

extraneous matter by a stroke of the finger. The prone position

facilitates the removal of liquids from the mouth by causing the tongue

to fall forward.

3. Kneel astride the patient, facing his head, and place your hands on

his lowest ribs, with your fingers curving close to his body. Be

careful to avoid pressure on the pelvis and to keep your hands away

from the spine.

4. Lean forward, keeping the arms straight, and put the weight of the

upper part of your body on your hands. The pressure should be applied

gradually, not in a sudden thrust. The Boy Scout Book suggests saying

alternately as the hands go down and back again, “Out Goes the Water,”

“In Comes the Air,” exerting and relaxing pressure to suit the words.

5. Keep this up steadily about twelve times a minute. Follow your own

regular rate of respiration—count or use a watch. The downward pressure

forces the diaphragm up into the chest cavity, decreasing the air space

and forcing the water out of the lungs. When the pressure is relaxed

the diaphragm goes back into place and the air rushes in.

6. Do not cease your efforts as soon as your patient begins to breathe.

Continue until the breathing is quite regular. Then when the patient is

able to sit up, stimulants, such as aromatic spirits of ammonia, may be

given in spoonful doses. The stimulant should be given in water. After

this the wet clothing should be removed and the patient put to bed.

If the patient is not revived at the end of an hour do not give up.

Keep him warm and continue. Many persons have been resuscitated after

two hours and more of uninterrupted effort.

It will be a good plan, if the camping place is near the water and any

swimming is to be done, or even bathing only, to practice the prone

pressure method as a game until practice makes perfect. With children

the method may be dramatized and made very interesting to them.

The prone-pressure method of resuscitation is the best to employ in

case of unconsciousness from lightning stroke, other electric shock, or

poisoning by the inhalation of gas.

Poison Antidotes

As for poisons, it is assumed that the motor camper will not carry with

him the more violently poisonous disinfectants, such as carbolic acid,

corrosive sublimate or even formaldehyde. The limit in the disinfectant

line should be a can or two of chloride of lime. Some of the household

cleaning and polishing materials contain poisons such as oxalic acid.

Carbon tetrachloride and chloroform are frequently mixed with gasoline

for cleaning purposes. This sort of a fluid is not inflammable when

properly prepared, but may cause anesthesia. The most dangerous poisons

to have about the camp are white arsenic, which is found in fly poisons

and rodent poisons, and Paris green, which is used to poison various

plant pests such as potato bugs. The motor camper, however, will not be

likely to suffer exposure to these poisons.

It is the children that most frequently get poisoned, and on a camping

tour they are most likely to get poisoned by things found in the woods

or near the camp. The most common source of poisoning is the poison

ivy. This is sometimes very painful, but seldom dangerous to life.

Pokeberries are said by some authorities to be poisonous, but in some

sections of the country poor people gather them and use them as filling

for pies, the same as elderberries, without any apparent ill results.

In some regions the deadly nightshade, with its attractive but very

poisonous purple berries, is fairly plentiful, and when eaten by

children, as it sometimes is, proves quickly fatal.

When you have reason to suppose that any one has been poisoned by

something that has been eaten, lose no time, but proceed at once to

take steps to expel the poison from the victim’s system. Effective

emetics are mustard and warm water (one tablespoonful of mustard to a

quart of water), salt and water, ipecac and water (one teaspoonful of

ipecac to a quart of water), or even warm water. If you have no warm

water at hand, give cold water to dilute the poison till you can heat

warm water. If neither warm nor cold water is available immediately,

vomiting may be induced by thrusting a finger down the patient’s

throat. Give from two to four glasses of fluid to dilute the poison.

Milk, tea, soda water, will do if no plain water is at hand. About ten

minutes after the vomiting has been produced, give another dose of

emetic to make sure that the poison is out of the system.

The treatment is slightly different in the case of acid and alkaline

poisons. Alkali is neutralized by acid and vice versa. For instance,

suppose the baby drinks a bowl of lye water (alkali), dilute vinegar or

lemon juice in water and make him drink as much of it as possible. An

acid usually becomes comparatively harmless as soon as neutralized by

an alkali. Nevertheless, the system should be cleansed by a good

purgative. Castor oil is effective. Since both acids and alkalis are

harmful to the interior of the stomach, some other substance should be

taken after the antidote. Milk, oil, white of eggs, flour and water may

be used. There are a few exceptions to milk and oil, but it is always

safe to give whites of eggs in any kind of poisoning. Stir the whites

of four eggs into a quart of water. Make the patient drink it all, if

you can.

The fumes of ammonia may be useful in the case of acid poisoning, as

they will tend to neutralize any acid that may have entered the

respiratory tract. Always put the ammonia on a handkerchief or piece of

cloth, and give only enough to relieve the patient.

In case the hands and feet of the patient become cold, the lips turn

blue, or cold perspiration appears on the forehead, put him to bed.

Cover him up warmly, use hot water bottles, and give him a cup of

strong tea or coffee as hot as it can be taken.

Where poisonous mushrooms have been eaten, as is sometimes done by

children, or where there is ptomaine poisoning from bad food, the use

of emetics is not advised, although their use can do little harm, and

sometimes the poison may not have yet passed beyond the reach of such a

remedy. As a rule, however, the symptoms of these vegetable poisons, as

they usually are, will not appear in acute form until the poisoning

agent has passed into the lower digestive tract. Then about the only

thing to do is to give large and repeated doses of Epsom salts to drive

the poison down and out of the system as soon as possible.

The above suggestions are not intended to take the place of treatment

by a skilled physician, but they are for emergency use by the motor

camper who cannot be reached quickly by any physician.

The Medicine Chest

The contents of the motor camper’s medicine chest will depend somewhat

on his preference as to the school of medicine. Yet certain simple

remedies will doubtless be acceptable to any of the medical systems. A

Red Cross First Aid Kit should, of course, be included in the camper’s

outfit. So, too, should Epsom salts and some other cathartic, such as

cascara tablets or castor oil. Spirits of camphor taken in small doses

helps most people to stop or throw off a cold. Sun cholera tablets are

of value in diarrhea, which often develops from a change of drinking

water. Mustard is valuable for external application as a counter

irritant in case of colds, or when needed to mix with water as an

emetic. An excellent remedy for sprains is the iodine emollient known

as Iodex. It relieves the sprain and will not burn and blister as will

the tincture of iodine, which is also poisonous.

If the reader has a family physician, it would be well to ask this

physician to make up a medicine kit for the camping trip.

The articles mentioned above are harmless, and about all that the motor

camper should use without the expert advice of a physician.

There are some who may prefer something more elaborate than the simple

articles previously mentioned. A camper of many years’ experience

itemizes the following as the requisites of a medicine kit:

Quinine pills or tablets.

Rhubarb pills or tablets.

Bicarbonate of soda or soda mint tablets.

Bismuth subnitrate.

Chlorate of potash.

Warburg’s tincture.

Sun cholera pills.

Small rolls of antiseptic bandages.

Box zinc ointment.

Bottle tincture of iodine.

Permanganate of potash.

Bottle of iodoform.

Some powerful stimulant.

Adhesive surgeons’ plaster, but not court-plaster.

The stimulant is included to relieve those faint from loss of blood,

drowning or injury. Permanganate of potash solution will relieve pain

from insect bites and poison ivy. Antiseptic tablets are for slight

scratches, cuts or bruises.

Be careful to have everything plainly labeled and poisons marked in

heavy black letters and with skull and cross-bones.

Location of the Tent

There are a number of little things in connection with the arrangement

of the camp and its tent which are not likely to occur to the

inexperienced camper which nevertheless are quite important when it

comes to his comfort. One of these little things is the exact location

of the tent and its position. If there is any option in the matter it

will be well to have the tent face a little south of east. This brings

sunshine into the tent’s entrance the first thing in the morning at a

time when it is most needed and welcome. This position of the tent also

insures considerable protection against cold northwest winds. The

camper will be more comfortable under all weather conditions if his

tent is pitched in this position.

Then again, be careful to choose a well-drained and fairly open

situation for the camp—one well exposed to sun and air, and yet look

out for shelter. In case of wet weather the open situation will allow

the tent to dry out sooner, and a fringe of timber to the west or

northward will often enable the tent to safely weather a blow that

would otherwise send it kiting.

Be careful not to camp near dead timber which might be liable to blow

down on you in a storm with unfortunate results.

Until the camper has had a little experience he is apt to exaggerate

the hardships of camping. Colds and minor ailments are not apt to

attack those who have taken to the open in a camping trip. Even a

drenching is likely to be more unpleasant than dangerous to health,

provided the precaution of getting into dry clothing and shoes as soon

as possible is followed. If the shoes are wet and there is no dry

article to change to, the chill of the wet may be cured and the shoes

made warm as toast by heating a few small stones in the camp fire or on

the camp stove, and then placing these in the shoes for a few minutes.

Be a little careful not to heat the stones hot enough to burn the

shoes.

Keeping the Tent Dry

If the camper is careful to keep the inside of his tent dry he will not

mind a day or two of wet weather. The tent if not of waterproofed

material should be protected by a fly to make sure of keeping it dry.

Still the ordinary tent of duck without any fly can be kept dry if the

occupant is careful not to allow anything to touch the inside surface

of the tent, and thus start a drip.

It is a good plan to raise the sides or walls of a tent during the heat

of the day so as to thoroughly dry it out, particularly if there has

been a wet spell.

The matter of insect pests is of importance. A tent with a good floor

cloth will help to keep out mosquitoes, which are likely to be the most

obnoxious pest encountered by the motor camper. Mosquitoes, however,

are by no means found everywhere. There are many sections of the middle

and mountain states where one has to travel hundreds of miles to find

one of these pestiferous songsters, but along the coast, especially the

Atlantic coast, they are pretty sure to be bothersome. They are hard to

get used to, and hard to keep out of tent or car at night. Screens are

of some avail, but are not altogether a specific. Neither are the

various mosquito lotions. About the best thing to use is the oil of

citronella, which may be bought at any drug store and which is

inexpensive. Sometimes a smudge of punk or browse is fairly effective

in keeping the creatures out, but the remedy is about as bad as the

disease, unless one does not mind having his tongue taste like ham for

a good part of the day. Citronella, too, is very offensive to some, but

most people get used to it, and find it a very good protection against

the activities of the mosquito.

The ordinary mosquito net is not much protection against most of the

mosquito tribe. Scrim or bobbinet is much closer in weave and so much

more effectual in keeping these insects out.

Exercises

It may be asked, what about taking exercise while motor camping? In

these days most every one has his “Daily Dozen,” or two dozen flexes or

genuflexes, that he takes in order to keep fit. Now, should these be

kept up when in camp? Really, each one will have to settle this for

himself according to his bent. Most campers will have considerable

exercise in keeping the car fit, and that exercise will go a long way

at the same time in the direction of keeping the car owner fit. Even if

the car is in perfect mechanical condition, the chassis, the body, the

upholstery will require no small amount of cleaning, washing, rubbing

and dusting or brushing if it is to be kept from quite speedily showing

the signs of travel. If the car should develop temperamental

tendencies, such as even the most expensive cars occasionally exhibit,

the question of sufficient exercise will not become acute.

If the camper uses a tent, as most campers do, there will be no small

amount of exercise involved in setting it up, driving in the pins and

seeing that all guy lines are taut and secure.

Care of the Car

Many campers are inclined to neglect the care of their cars, as is very

evident by the unkempt and dusty appearance that so many of them

present. They are likely, too, to be equally careless and disorderly in

securely adjusting the tent and in keeping everything in the way of

tools in an appointed place so as to be always findable, until after

waking in the night a time or two in a wind and rain storm to find the

sleeping tent ballooning because of a loosened stake, and then being

carried away while the rain comes down, soaking everybody, because the

ax has been mislaid and there is nothing to use as a means of pounding

down the stakes that hold the tent except bare fists. After one or two

such experiences the importance of order and its advantages over

disorder are likely to be quite clearly realized.

Aside from the exercise afforded by the effort employed in regularly

tightening up any parts of the car and its gear that may have been

loosened by travel, the gathering of food for the fire and other chores

involved in camp life, the camper will often go hunting or fishing when

in a region where hunting and fishing may be had.

In the evening, after the meal and the chores are done up, if the

campers are not all too old and stiffened, there will be exercise in

the way of playing ball, tossing quoits and other games for which the

camper should provide in advance by including the necessary bats,

balls, quoits, etc., along with the other supplies taken for the trip.

CHAPTER X

SLEEPING QUARTERS

(See also Chapters IV, V, VI)

Importance of Comfortable Sleeping Arrangements—Methods of Sleeping

in the Car—Sleeping on the Ground—Beds of Boughs or Browse—Autumn

Leaves—Folding Cots—Air Beds—Sleeping Bags—Combination Bags and

Beds—Home-made Mattresses—Sleeping in Hammocks—Night-caps—The

Touring and Sleeping Outfit of a Tourist Veteran of Ten Years’

Experience—Driving Out the Sleep Disturbers, Flies and Mosquitoes.

In the Car

As Sancho Panza remarked, “Blessed be the man who first invented

sleep.” Certainly sufficient and restful sleep is a prime essential if

the motor camper is to enjoy his camping trip and is to get full

measure of profit from his experience.

In the selection of sleeping accommodations in a motor-camping tour

much depends upon the familiarity of the campers with outdoor

conditions. There are some people who can curl up under a thick blanket

on the bare ground, and there sleep in perfect comfort. There are

others who shiver and stay awake even though completely inclosed in a

warm, soft sleeping bag under a waterproof tent; and there are still

others who find rest and comfort only when sleeping snugly in the car

itself. For these last it may be enough to remove the tonneau seats,

place them lengthwise and thus provide the foundation for sleep.

Every one of the variations just mentioned may be found within the

average motoring party of four or five people: one will want to sleep

in the car, one in a bag, and the others on and under blankets in a

tent. Therefore, a sleeping bag, a removable tonneau seat with the back

of the front seat folding down so as together to form a couch, and a

couple of small folding cots are desirable on a camping trip.

Comfortable sleeping arrangements are most essential. The arrangements

for comfort, especially in the matter of keeping warm, will depend a

little on where the tour is to take the camper. If he tours through the

state of Maine he will find the nights cool and must provide

accordingly. If his destination takes him through the middle states

south of the Great Lakes and west to the Missouri River and somewhat

beyond, or in the Middle Atlantic States from New York south and

including New York, he usually will find the nights in summer warm. If

the tourist travels through a mountain region, even the Catskill

region, he will need to take an amount of thought concerning covering

by night that is entirely unnecessary where the night temperatures are

mild and balmy. Should the camper tour through the Rocky Mountain

region he will find the nights cold and in the high Rockies even

freezing.

Woolen Blankets Needed

Good bedding, beds, and proper shelter are very important both for

comfort and health. Blankets or sleeping bags are essential, and the

blankets should be of pure wool. Some blanket safety pins should be

included in the equipment for the night. In cold weather sleeping bags

are a decided advantage over blankets. A comforter, especially one

filled with wool, is warm and provides a satisfying protection against

the chill of a cold night. Such a comfortable may be bought at a

reasonable price in almost any fair-sized department store; or it may

be home-made where the wool batting with which to fill it can be

procured. This last, however, is not always the case, although in most

city stores this article is obtainable. Such a comfortable should be

inclosed in an outer covering of light, washable material, otherwise it

will very soon become very much soiled.

For the sleeper who prefers to roost high and dry in his auto body

there is considerable choice of arrangements. He may do as already

suggested, turn around his cushions, and with suit cases and duffle

bags make out a pretty good foundation on which to sleep. Nevertheless,

by making a comparatively modest investment, he may get a folding bed

which can be packed into a small roll so as to take little room when

not in use, but which when used will give him a bed incomparably more

satisfactory than one made of cushions and other odds and ends.

One of these car beds, called the “Utility Auto Bed,” will fit any car

from Fords to Packards. It is very comfortable. No mattresses are

needed. It is made of heavy, olive drab canvas. The frame is made of a

strong but light-weight material. The whole folds into a small bundle

which weighs twenty-three pounds. This bed is listed at $15.00. This

bed can also be used out of the car.

Another very comfortable article is the Red Seal Auto Bed. It is truly

a luxurious bed, affording with its strong spring flexible mattress

complete rest and homelike comfort. It has a strong steel frame, light

but rigid, constructed in a manner that makes erection or folding a

simple and quick matter. The mattress is of high-grade duck and

non-stretchable webbing, reënforced with leather where attached to the

springs. This bed is also equipped with strong tensile steel springs

that prevent sagging of the mattress, thus assuring perfect

satisfaction and comfortable sleep. It can be used as an extra bed in

the house. This bed when on a floor stands 17 inches high, with a

length of 6 feet 4 inches and a width of 47 inches. It rolls into a

bundle 47 inches in length with a diameter of 5 inches. The weight is

46 pounds, and the list price $24.50.

In the Tent

Where the camper prefers to do his sleeping in a tent, he has the

choice of the tent floor for a bed, a bed made for the occasion by

laying blankets over straw, leaves, cedar boughs, hemlock fans, or

other browse, or, finally, a camp cot.

If the ground is dry with a gravel or sandy foundation a sleeper can be

quite comfortable lying on a canvas spread directly on the ground

itself. This is true particularly during July and August in those

regions where the nights are warm. The writer has been very comfortable

with nothing under him but a canvas tarpaulin spread on the ground of

his tent over the gravel surface of the tent floor. This, with a single

blanket, has been all that he found necessary for comfortable sleep.

Many prefer to make up a bed of leaves, cedar boughs or other springy

material, which is thrown upon the tent floor and covered with

blankets. To properly confine this foundation within the bounds of the

bed it is well to stake out the map of the bed, and then lay poles cut

to the right lengths within these stakes to bound the bed and keep the

bedding of boughs or leaves in place under the blankets. In the autumn

leaves can easily be gathered in quantities, and these certainly make a

fine easy bed. Boughs form a more problematical material for bedding.

Small cedar branches or twigs well covered with blankets make a good

springy bed with a refreshing balsamic odor. Hemlock fans are a little

rougher than cedar and so do not make as soft a bed. Sometimes where

evergreens are not found, other browse, such as male fern, is used. The

male fern will make an easy bed, but its odor is offensive to some.

Folding Cots

There are any number of varieties of folding cots for those campers who

prefer to sleep in that way. Many of these are quite inexpensive and

fold up very compactly. There is a “Gold Medal Cot,” listed at $4.50,

which folds into a package 4 inches by 5 inches by 3 feet 2 inches long

and weighs 17 pounds. This cot is made of the highest grade olive duck

and will support a weight of over 1,000 pounds.

What is called “The Improved Yankee Cot” is another strong, convenient

and comfortable camp cot. It folds into a package 32 by 4 by 5 inches,

weighs 16 pounds and is guaranteed to support 600 pounds. This cot,

when opened, is 6½ feet long, 27 inches wide and 18 inches high. It is

made of twelve-ounce double-filled brown duck. The woodwork is of

air-dried rock elm, and the steel supports are 14-gauge and all

japanned.

Sleeping Bags

There will be no need of bed or cot where the camper prefers a sleeping

bag. This may be laid down on the tent floor, or even placed out in the

open.

There are sleeping bags which are designed to be used in the open and

which supply their own protection of the head from the inclemencies of

the weather. When the weather is fair many prefer sleeping with no

covering below the stars.

The “Kenwood Sleeping Bag and Tent in One” has 4½, 5½ or 6½-pound inner

bags of soft, warm, new wool. For very cold weather these bags can be

arranged to nest one within the other so that the camper sleeping out

may add or remove the thicknesses of his covering as the temperature

may change. There are special double flaps over chest and shoulders,

and no rest-breaking buckles, snaps, buttons or lacings. A 5½-pound

waterproof canvas cover with extra long fly gives complete outdoor

protection. This sleeping bag is generously roomy. It is 7 feet long by

5 feet 8 inches around. The canvas fly is propped up, forming a dog

tent above the head of the sleeper.

Camp Mattresses

Another combination camp and bed is the “Airtube Camp Mattress.” This

is a mattress with a shelter tent attached. It is impervious to

moisture, and the camper can sleep on the wet ground. The mattress is

formed of 3½-inch Rubber Pneumatic Tubes, incased in separate cells, in

a light, serviceable cover. It is easily filled by lung power, and

requires only about fifteen pounds air pressure. It conforms to the

body and to uneven ground. The tent is made of army khaki cloth and

completely covers and incloses the bed at both the head and foot, the

peak being at the head, with a triangular screened window in the face

of the tent-head for ventilation.

There is a combination sleeping air bed and sleeping bag called the

“Perfection.” When the air bed is deflated it rolls up into a small

compact bundle. The distinct feature of this combination is that

mattress, blankets and bag are three separate articles that make one

complete outfit and still can be used independently. Thus the mattress

with its separate cover can be removed from the bag and used in the

home or otherwise when not wanted in the open. The lining, also being

removable, can be taken out for cleaning and drying, which is an

advantage not to be overlooked, as where the lining is fastened to the

bag it is nearly impossible to get it thoroughly dry when once wet.

This sleeping bag is made of the best quality eight-ounce waterproof

Densol Cloth in a dark brown color, and is closed with a row of braided

loops which insures a tight and strong bag when laced, yet one that can

be instantly opened and spread to the air. The lacing can be ended

anywhere desired. Thus in cold and rainy weather it can be laced all

the way up, leaving only a small opening for the head, and in warm

weather can be left partly open. At the top of the cover is an extra

flap, which can be drawn over the head when used in the open.

There are a number of very good air beds and air pillows on the market

which need not be described, as they are familiar to the public. In

inflating an air mattress a tire pump may be used, but most of them can

easily be inflated by lung power, and the exercise involved will be

good for the camper’s lungs.

Another portable bed is the “Army Bed Roll.” As the name suggests, it

is a bed that rolls up. The outside is of heavy waterproof khaki duck.

The mattress is filled with curled hair. When spread out on a tent

floor it makes a very comfortable bed.

There are mattresses made of Kapok which are in favor with some campers

because of the extreme lightness of the material which gives these

mattresses their name. Kapok is a product of the East Indies. It is a

silky fiber similar to the silk found in the pods of the ordinary milk

weed of our fields. It is about the lightest substance known, at least

of the fiber sort. It is many times lighter than cork, and so is used

in the best grade of life preservers. Kapok beds are very light and

soft and so are attractive to the motor tourist both on the score of

convenience and comfort because so easily portable and restful. Kapok

mattresses when used in sleeping bags serve to make them exceptionally

warm.

Cots if made without a mattress, as most of them are, will need as much

covering beneath the sleeper as above him if the weather be cold.

Newspapers laid on the canvas of a cot will make it much warmer when

warmth is an object. The same is true when newspapers are spread

between blankets, or upon a rubber sheet laid on the ground. If the

ground is not perfectly dry a rubber sheet or rubberized canvas will be

needed if the sleeper wishes to sleep on the floor of his tent.

In the West they have an arrangement that they call a “Slab,” which is

a bag the exact length and width of the cot and is laid upon it as a

mattress and serves fairly well to keep the cold from striking up. This

bag is made of what is called ticking and is similar to the mattresses

still used in some sections, which are bags the size of the bed filled

with straw or corn husks. In fact, except for the bulkiness, such a

home-made mattress serves many very satisfactorily. In almost any part

of this country east of the Missouri River the camping tourist can

readily get some straw from a near-by farmer and fill his bed tick with

it. Where the stay is to be for some days this will involve very little

trouble. To get straw each evening would be rather bothersome.

The insulating properties of the air make an air mattress warmer than a

cot, but in cold weather the air mattress is cold, unless reënforced

with plenty of blankets on its surface.

In cold weather there are many advantages in sleeping in the car. If it

gets cold the engine can be run a while to warm things up a little. In

addition to those car-body beds previously described there are several

others on the market which are excellent for the purpose. Any one with

tools and a little ingenuity can rig up his own sleeping outfit and

without infringing on any patents have as good a bed as the market

affords.

Sleeping in the car gets one away from the intrusion of the creeping

and crawling things that abound on the ground, and which will succeed

more or less in getting into the tent where that is used for sleeping

quarters. Then, too, in time of wet and storm the car is sure to be

dry. On the other hand, the sleeping quarters in the ordinary car are

very close and crowded. There will be no trouble about ventilation, but

pretty much all the space in the tonneau will be occupied by the bed.

Hammocks

Some motor campers get along finely by sleeping in hammocks slung from

the sides of the car at the ends to near-by trees or even to tent

poles. There are some wide hammocks that answer very well as beds. The

snug hammocks that are used in the navy are of strong canvas, but they

are very hard to get into and at first quite uncomfortable. It takes

several nights to get used to one of these hammocks, and some people

never get to enjoy them.

There are really no very satisfactory sleeping hammocks on the market.

The navy hammock can be bought of dealers in navy supplies. The

ordinary porch hammock can be bought almost anywhere, but it is not

very satisfactory as a bed. However, one can buy a wide hammock made of

heavy canvas of tan color with metal spreaders and cotton ropes for

about five dollars which will make a pretty good sleeping hammock for a

camper. Where a hammock is used care should be taken to have the head

higher than the foot and to have it strung as taut as possible,

otherwise the sleeper will be doubled up something after the manner of

a jack-knife.

Although sleeping in a hammock is attended with some difficulty, any

fairly active man or youth ought to find it quite satisfactory in fine

weather. In bad weather some provision will need to be made to secure

shelter from the rain. In the winter season no one will want to sleep

in a hammock because it would be very difficult to keep warm in one in

freezing weather.

A very useful article in cold or chilly weather is a night hood, or

night cap. This should be of wool. Such a protection is mighty

comfortable of a cold night. Also, in cold weather, the best way to

have warm feet is to take off the shoes and day socks and put on heavy

sleeping socks.

Perhaps we should not leave the subject of sleeping accommodations

without describing one or two other interesting outfits for the tourist

camper. One of these is the “Comfort Sleeping Pocket.” This is a

luxurious puncture-proof air bed in a water and wind-proof felt-lined

covering. The outer covering or pocket is made of “Wearproof” duck,

lined with heavy red felt, wind and waterproof, light and strong. It is

shaped to the body to save weight and bulk, but is very roomy. There is

“lots of room” to “turn over,” for blankets, circulation, etc. There is

one opening only, which is closed by snap buttons and an overlap. While

cold and weather-proof, it allows for throwing the pocket open for

airing. An extension flap at the head, 25 by 36 inches, may be used as

a wind-shield, storm hood or head covering. The inside air bed is made

with a patented longitudinal device which prevents the “rolling”

sensation common in old-style air beds. The inside air bed is four feet

long, four inches thick at the top, gradually diminishing toward the

foot. There is no abrupt drop at the end. A pump is not needed as lung

power is sufficient to inflate the bed. As an added protection, the air

bed is inclosed in a felt sub-pocket.

There is also an air pillow, felt covered, 11 by 16 inches, which is

fastened to the bed with snap buttons and which is a part of this

outfit.

The other device which we mention here is a light tent of the lean-to

type with what is called the “Brownie Camp Pad” to support the head,

shoulders, back and hips of the sleeper. The “Brownie Camp Pad” is an

abbreviated air bed which is placed on the sewed-in floor of what is

called a Utility Combination Tent. This is an air-bed combination for

the fellow who goes “light but right” and who requires something light,

strong, practical and inexpensive. The entire combination weighs only

eleven pounds, and when rolled up makes a very small compact package.

When the motor tourist camps in one of the municipal camping parks he

will seldom, if ever, receive assistance in the matter of sleeping

quarters, but these public camping sites are usually lighted with

electricity, they have public comfort stations, and many other features

which are detailed elsewhere. They usually provide, too, a degree of

shelter against bad storms, which have a habit of coming up in the

night to the dismay of the camper. These public camping places are not

only sheltered from the wind, but are well drained and mostly wooded,

so that in a night storm the camper has little to fear from the

elements.

An auto camper who has been at the camping game for the past ten years,

who has kept at week-end camping right along and who has crossed the

continent a couple of times, camping along the route, has out of his

long experience reached this as his standard outfit. He takes an “Auto

bed” with a 7 by 7-foot tent; a six-pound cotton pad or mattress for

the bed; a two-burner gasoline camp stove; one heavy double blanket;

one wool-filled quilt; a blanket roll; two eight-quart milk cans for

water; and a refrigerator basket. The whole affair packs into very

small space.

The tent and bed appeal on account of the roominess of the tent and the

spring feature of the bed. The outfit is heavier than some, but can’t

be beat, he says, “for sleeping comfort.” He considers the bed and tent

the main part of any auto camping outfit, as an uncomfortable selection

of either one will probably do more to discourage the new camper than

anything else. The outfit, bed, tent and pad, fold into small space.

Everything is carried clamped to the running board and weighs about

seventy-five pounds.

This camper uses half of the double blanket under the sleeping pad,

then the bed is made up and the other half of the blanket is pulled

over the top. This makes a sort of a bag and prevents the clothes

pulling out at the foot. One wool blanket and a wool-filled comfort he

has found to be warmer and less heavy than two blankets.

For a blanket roll he took a piece of heavy canvas about seven feet

long by thirty-five inches wide and sewed lighter pieces or wings on

each side and end, then waterproofed the whole thing. The blankets,

folded lengthwise, will just fit in the center when the roll is spread

out. Then the sides can be folded over and the ends rolled up. A couple

of small pillows can be carried inside. It has been found that this

roll keeps dust and wet from bedclothes better than any other way.

The other items of this veteran camper’s outfit consist of a tin

cooking set which nests into a six-quart pail and is somewhat heavier

than an aluminum outfit, but was chosen because the wife preferred it

with its steel frying pan. For a table he used the rack, which is under

and supports his rear seat cushion, for a model, and cut a new one out

of one-half-inch board to take its place. It has folding legs of

three-eighths-inch iron rods sharpened at the end so that they can be

pushed into the ground. For chairs he uses the cushions.

An extra plug socket in the tonneau makes an easy way to get a

connection for a trouble light to hang up in the tent at night. An

extra rear view mirror is clamped to the rear top bow and serves as a

toilet mirror. Other units which this camper advises, but which he does

not always bother with himself are vacuum bottles, folding canvas pail

for wash basin, and a roll of paper towels. These towels may serve as

napkins, and a strip utilized as a table cover.

Rainy weather and chilly nights drive flies into the tent in swarms

which prove a great nuisance in the early morning when the camper is

trying his best to sleep. The best way to get them out is to darken the

tent as much as possible, open the entrance on a wide crack and shoo

them out, using towels vigorously for this purpose. This is fine

exercise and is recommended as a substitute for the “Daily Dozen.”

Mosquitoes seek shelter from the hot sunshine by day, when the camper

is in a region where these winged creatures abound, and are drawn by

artificial light by night. It is easiest to get them out in the early

morning, as they are highly sensitive to light and atmospheric

conditions. In the early morning, too, after having dined well upon the

camper by night, they feel more like taking the air. But, seriously

speaking, always remember that mosquitoes prefer cool, moist air and

dim light rather than darkness or sunshine. If there are any lurking

inside during the day to avoid the hot sunshine they may be driven out

just at dusk without much trouble—in fact, they will go out voluntarily

if an opening is provided. But they are more stupid than flies and need

some gentle persuasion to start them moving and aid them in finding an

exit. Some importance attaches to choosing just the right time for this

operation and closing the exit before twilight, when it becomes a

matter of indifference to the mosquito whether he is indoors or out.

CHAPTER XI

PRIMITIVE CAMPING

How Two Adventurers Can Rough It—Simple Supplies—Making One’s Own

Coffee Pot—Plentiful Food in the Wilds.

Although most campers prefer some of the comforts of civilization even

when in the wilderness, there are adventurous souls who like to reduce

the trappings of their everyday life to a minimum. This chapter is

written to indicate how the woods can be made to yield nearly all that

the camper may require if he is sufficiently ingenious, informed, and

anxious to rely on his own resourcefulness.

A couple of husky young fellows need take nothing more with them than a

couple of pup-tents, or hammocks for beds, or, again, if they have a

flivver they can sleep nicely in a bed arranged over the seats of a

touring car or sedan. In fact, by hinging the front seat-back of a

touring Ford, and piecing out the car cushions with a suit case or two,

it is possible to make out quite comfortably without any further

sleeping equipment aside from blankets or comfortables. Another way to

go it cheap is to have a hammock apiece to swing from the car to a

near-by tree. A canvas fly stretched from the top of the car to a tree

or trees sufficiently near, and over the hammocks, will serve to keep

off the rain.

These several suggestions might be multiplied indefinitely, and they go

to show how infinitely various are the simple arrangements that may be

made by the economically inclined motor camper.

If the husky young fellows already mentioned wish to go it wild as well

as cheap, if they are willing to hustle and rough it a little, they can

camp almost anywhere east of the Rocky Mountains, and in most sections

of the Pacific Slope, and live off the land without other supplies. Of

course, they will have to be somewhat resourceful, and not too much of

tenderfeet.

Here is how to do it. For simple equipment they will naturally require

blankets, ax, hunting knife (Boy Scout knife will do), skillet, tin

pail, tin plate, knife, fork, and spoon apiece.

As for safety’s sake it will be best to drink boiled water, it will be

well to take a supply of ground coffee in tins. Most people find boiled

water taken in the form of coffee more palatable.

If not sufficiently sturdy to make a fire without them, matches in a

waterproof container should be included. However, the real pioneer can

make out without pail, skillet or matches. If he is doubtful of his

skill at making fire without matches, he may provide himself with one

of the fire-making outfits sold for about a dollar by the Boy Scouts’

supply house in New York. This outfit will enable him to make a fire

from two pieces of wood in about a minute. If the motor camper has to

make his own fire with pieces of wood, he will be better master of his

fire, will use it more skillfully, and extinguish it more carefully.

Making His Own Coffee-pot

He will need a container in which to make coffee or boil food. The tin

pail would answer, or the skillet. But we are supposing that these have

been discarded. If so, the pioneer camper can make his own container

from a short length of log. It can be done. It has been done. Here is

how to make a dug-out coffee-pot in which coffee can be made or food

boiled. Cut a small log of young maple or black birch (cottonwood or

other soft wood will do) about two feet long and six inches through.

Flatten this on one side. Chamfer out on this side a shallow hollow or

trough one and three-quarter inches deep, three and a half inches wide,

and fourteen inches long. Finish it out with a knife and hot coals.

This trough or container will hold one quart of water. Cut a pouring

lip at one end.

Boiling Water in Wood

Now you are ready to proceed. First fill your container with water.

Next heat six stones about the size of a hen’s egg in the camp-fire

until they are red-hot. Quartz stones are the best. You will be likely

to find some in the bed of any near-by stream, or in any gravel

formation. Slip these hot stones into the water carefully, one at a

time, and at the end of your wooden pot. Six of these stones will bring

to a boil a quart of water in less than five minutes. Of course, in

winter with water ice-cold it will take a little longer. It will

probably take you an hour or more to make the wooden bowl as described.

However, the bowl does not wear out, and you can keep it for future

use. On the other hand it may be more fun to make a new bowl at each

camp.

To make coffee or tea put a pinch of tea or a small spoonful of coffee

in your drinking cup, pour it full of the boiling water, let it stand

for four or five minutes, and it will be ready to drink.

Soup may be made in one of these wooden bowls from prepared soup stock

such as Erbswurst, or from any other of the prepared, dried soups on

the market. To make soup place two teaspoonfuls of the powder in your

bowl, pour in a quart of water, stir up, and then begin slowly adding

your red-hot stones, one at a time, at one end of the trough. Ten

stones will keep the soup boiling for ten minutes—stones, as mentioned,

the size of a hen’s egg. In about fifteen minutes one-half of the soup

will be boiled away and there will be left a pint of rich, satisfying

soup.

Cat-tail Roots Are Good to Eat

However, we have been supposing that this pioneer camper proposes to

live off the country, and that he has taken no supplies with him,

unless it be his coffee, tea, and tobacco. In such a case he will have

to find wild food. This is more easily done than might be thought. For

example, in almost every section you will not have to travel far

without finding the common cat-tail reeds. You will find them along the

coastal shores. They are almost sure to be growing in the swampy spots

found in the folds of the landscape or in the marshes along the rivers

and the margins of lakes. Wherever there is a swamp, there you are

pretty sure to find some of these cat-tails. They usually stand in the

muck or in very shallow water.

Dig out some of these cat-tail stalks with your hand-ax, or grub them

out with your fingers. If you have a shovel along the job will be

easier. Dig up some of these cat-tails and you will find running from

each clump of these reeds to the next clump a root about an inch in

diameter; botanically this root is called a rhizome. The root will be

covered with a brown fibrous bark which can easily be stripped off. The

core within this bark can be boiled like an Irish potato, is more

nutritious, and tastes better. During the starvation times of the

Valley Forge winter Washington’s soldiers discovered that these

cat-tail roots were good to eat and partly lived on them.

After you have procured some of these cat-tail roots, slice them across

with your knife into thin slices, and boil in your wooden pot as

directed for soup and you will find them both satisfying and

appetizing.

The Blue Flower Water Lily Is Tasty

There are other roots, too, besides the cat-tails. Alongside most

streams, ponds, or swamps the arrow-leaf, blue-flowered water lily will

be found growing. This grows in shallow water, and the roots, or rather

tubers, lie practically on the surface of the bottom of the water, and

are very easily dislodged. Being lighter than water, too, they will

float up to the surface when torn loose. These tubers reach about the

size of black walnuts, and may be cooked as the cat-tail roots and with

equal satisfaction. The tubers of the yellow water lily are good also,

but as they lie under from two to four feet of water they are not so

easily gotten at.

Still another root that makes fair eating is the bulb of the wood lily.

These may be found in clearings and at the edges of forests. A slightly

different variety of the same plant is somewhat frequent in open fields

and is known as the meadow lily. These bulbs are rather loose in

formation and may be easily pulled apart. They cook quickly.

For those who like something pungent, wild onion and wild garlic will

fill the bill.

The motor camper who is going it wild and living off the country can

find much that is edible if he will keep his eyes open. For example,

there are the berries, varying with the season—wild strawberries,

raspberries, blackberries, blueberries; even elderberries and

pokeberries are not to be despised. The writer is aware that some

people think the pokeberry poisonous, and in fact it is so

characterized in some books. Nevertheless, in some sections of the

country the poorer folk use them as filler for pies, and the children

eat them raw without any apparent ill effects. However, they are not

especially palatable, being rather tasteless.

Wild Rice Is Palatable

In many localities east of the Rocky Mountains, and particularly in the

Northwest after September, what is called wild rice will be found

growing in shallow lakes or ponds. This is not the white rice of

commerce, but its little stick-like seeds are far more nutritious, and

more tasteful also, than tame rice. Two young fellows in a canoe or

sharpie, one to row, while the other with a stick knocks off the rice

into the boat by striking the heads, can gather a bushel of the grain

into the bottom of the boat in the course of a forenoon. However, this

rice takes about an hour to boil until done, and it is difficult to

cook it successfully without a skillet or other metal container. If

parboiled for fifteen minutes in the wooden pot already described, and

then left to soak overnight, it can be cooked done the next morning in

another fifteen minutes.

The wild motor camper, if he looks about him, will find many appetizing

herbs which he can boil in his skillet. He can find such herbs as

yellow or curly dock (which tastes like spinach), the dandelion, the

young pokeberry shoots, which may be treated in cooking like asparagus,

and numerous other herbs, according to the section through which he

journeys.

This wild camper, naturally, will take along gun and fishing tackle.

One thing he must not forget, and that will be to familiarize himself

with the fishing and game laws of the state through which he tours. In

another part of this book general information will be found concerning

the fishing and game laws of the various states, the open and closed

seasons for the different kinds of fish and game, as also the fees

charged for licenses to fish or hunt. Yet, as these laws are constantly

changing from time to time, it would be wise for the prospective fisher

or hunter to write to the State Fish and Game Commissioner for the

latest information.

Muskrats Are Plentiful

We are aware that in many sections of our country the fish are few and

the game equally scarce. Yet there is nearly always some kinds of fish

that may be found and taken lawfully, as also some kinds of game.

Then, too, there are some kinds of toothsome fish and game that the

hunter or fisherman is not likely to consider. In the game line take

the humble musquash. This is the only wild animal that is holding its

own against man, and is actually increasing in numbers in the settled

sections of this country. It is usually called a muskrat, but it is not

a rat and has no musk. It tastes like squirrel and is equally

palatable. It is nocturnal in its habits, and about the only way to

take it is to trap it. This last is not especially difficult, but the

average wild motor camper probably does not know how. To catch the

musquash it is necessary to use a small steel trap which should be

placed in the water at the entrance to the burrow of the animal which

can be located at the edge or bank of stream, pond, or lake by watching

for the little tracks which the animal makes in the mud.

Another wild creature is a shell fish which the ordinary motor camper

would never think of. We refer to the crawfish which is found in almost

all the muddy streams of the Mississippi Valley, and can be netted, or

caught on a hook. This little animal when boiled gets red like a boiled

lobster, and tastes better than lobster. Of course, almost everywhere

along the seashore one may find clams, mussels and the like for food.

Shell fish may also be found in some fresh-water streams.

The fish or game after being scaled or skinned and dressed may be fried

in the skillet, or even boiled in the sort of wooden pot already

described. However, the most satisfactory way to prepare it if you are

motor camping wild is to roast it on a wooden spit. The spit may be a

wooden rod or stick from which the bark has been peeled. This may be

thrust through the fish or game, and the roasting done in front of or

over the camp fire. Fish should be secured to the spit by being tied on

with string or strips of bark. Otherwise as it cooks it is likely to

fall off into the fire, or to the ground.

Jerusalem Artichoke a Food

The resourceful and observant wild motor camper will discover many

sources of food in addition to those already alluded to. In many parts

of the country he will find the tall stalks of the Jerusalem artichoke

(really a variety of sunflower), also known as the Indian potato. The

potato-like tubers of this plant were eaten by the Indians who

cultivated the Jerusalem artichoke for these tubers. They are good

boiled, and even raw they taste much better than raw Irish potato. This

plant has a yellow flower, looking somewhat like the yellow daisy or

black-eyed susan, except that the central button is yellowish green.

Acorns Can Be Made Edible

Still another source of food for the wild motor camper are the nuts.

These, of course, are not available until fall. The most easily

obtainable nuts, if we may call them nuts, are the different varieties

of acorns. Some of them are quite astringent, but acorns from the white

oak are least so, and even those most astringent may be dried over the

fire, pounded up, placed in a cheese-cloth bag, and leached by pouring

water through the mass until it runs clear without any yellowish tinge.

Boil what remains to a mush and it will be found quite eatable and

nourishing.

Late in the summer the globular mushroom may be found on grassy slopes.

It is called the beef-steak mushroom. When dried it becomes the common

puff-ball. Sliced and fried it is better and more nourishing than the

egg plant. It is not untasty raw. When old and dry, this mushroom makes

a valuable fire-punk and will carry fire for a long time. When young

and fresh, it is solid white all the way through, and may be easily

peeled and sliced.

Beware of Certain Mushrooms

Other varieties of mushrooms had best be viewed with suspicion, unless

you are expert at distinguishing them. Never eat mushrooms with white

or yellow gills growing out of a bulb or cup—they are deadly.

CHAPTER XII

WHERE TO GO

The Motor Camper’s Continental Range—The Consequent Need of

Provision for All Touring Emergencies—The Great Continental

Highways—East and West, Bankhead, Dixie, George Washington,

Lincoln, Old Trails, National Parks, Pikes Peak, Ocean to Ocean,

Old Spanish, Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt International, Park to

Park, Yellowstone—North and South, Atlantic, Dixie, Jackson, King,

Jefferson, Lee, Meridian, Mississippi Valley, Pacific, Pershing,

Puget Sound to Gulf—Also Many Others of Less Importance Listed and

Described—Description and Lists of National Parks and Forests,

State Parks and Forests and a Few Leading Municipal Camping Parks,

Followed in Next Chapter by a List of These Camp Sites Arranged

Alphabetically by States—Description of Methods in Vogue in

National Parks and Forests in Connection with Motor Campers, and

Provision Made for Their Comfort—The National Parks Listed—Dates of

Seasonal Opening of Various National Parks—State Parks and Forests

in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland,

Massachusetts, Minnesota, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North

Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota,

Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin—The Most Striking Municipal Camping

Parks, Such as Boise, Idaho, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, Wyoming,

Denver, and Alameda, California—Desirability of Attracting Motor

Campers.

The American motor camper has a continental range. Since the

construction of the great transcontinental highways our people have

roamed back and forth east and west from coast to coast and north and

south from the Canadian border to the Gulf.

The summer touring is mostly from East to West and vice versa. In

winter the movement is from North to South and back again with the

approach of warmer weather.

A transcontinental tour is now a comparatively easy matter, provided

the motorist carries along the necessary equipment. Formerly a motor

trip across from coast to coast was somewhat hazardous, and sure to be

at least an expensive and a tiring undertaking. Rapidly improving road

conditions on the main routes of travel are fast making the

transcontinental journey one of enjoyment and interest.

The camper, for an ocean to ocean trip, requires but little, if

anything, more in the way of equipment than is needed for a week-end

tour. With the steady increase of cross-country travel the traveler can

secure all necessary supplies in practically every village along the

main highways.

In taking such a long tour as across the continent it is well to pay a

little more care to the camping outfit. Here the increased comfort will

fully compensate for some added outlay. It is recommended also that the

tourist be sure to have along a shovel, ax, one hundred feet of

five-eighth-inch rope, and a tarpaulin. The likelihood of mud on some

of the trails east of the Rocky Mountains makes this equipment

advisable. Two desert water bags should be taken along if the route

leads through arid country. They may be hung at some place on the car

where the evaporation of the water which soaks through will cool the

contents. Fill with soft water whereever that is procurable, and at

every opportunity.

For a long tour load the car light. You will not need to load up with

gasoline or oil cans. Remember that you will have no difficulty in

obtaining gasoline along the main traveled routes, and need not carry

an extra supply. But it will be well to fill your tank at every

station, whether it is empty or not, for thus you will be sure to have

a sufficient supply of gas until you reach the next place. Of course it

will be wise to have extra parts, and before starting on such a long

tour the car should be equipped with new casings on all wheels and two

spares with the addition of a few good inner tubes. If you have bad

luck with blow-outs, new casings can be bought at almost any town along

the route.

You will be able to buy needed food supplies along the route, but it

will be just as well to carry some emergency rations, such as chocolate

bars, seeded raisins and malted milk tablets.

The Main East and West Highways

The main east and west highways in alphabetical order are:

The Bankhead Highway, from Washington, D. C., southwesterly to San

Diego, Cal., a distance of 3,450 miles, and leading through Richmond,

Raleigh, Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Little Rock, Dallas, Fort Worth,

El Paso, Douglas, Tucson, Phœnix to San Diego. The colors are yellow

and white bands with letters B. H. on white band.

The Dixie Overland Highway, from Savannah to San Diego, a distance of

2,814 miles, and passing through Montgomery, Meridian, Shreveport,

Dallas, Fort Worth, Roswell, El Paso, Douglas, Bisbee, Tucson, Phœnix

to San Diego. Colors: Black letters D. O. H. on yellow and black sign.

George Washington National Highway, from Savannah northwesterly to

Seattle, 3,943 miles, and going through Atlanta, Memphis, St. Louis,

Kansas City, Omaha, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Deadwood, Butte, Spokane

to Seattle. Colors: Red, blue and red bands with white letter W on wide

blue band.

Lincoln Highway, from New York to San Francisco, 3,323 miles, through

Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Canton, Lima, South Bend, Chicago Heights,

Cedar Rapids, Omaha, Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Oakland.

Colors: Red, white and blue bands with letter L on the white.

National Old Trails Road, New York to Los Angeles, 3,281 miles, passing

through Philadelphia, Hagerstown, Wheeling, Columbus, Indianapolis, St.

Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Pasadena.

Colors: Red, white and blue bands.

National Parks Highway, from Chicago to Wenatchee National Park, 2,436

miles, passing through Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Fargo,

Bismark, Dickinson, Billings, Butte, Missoula, Kalispell, Spokane.

Colors: Red and white bands.

Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway, New York to San Francisco, 3,606

miles, through Newark, Reading, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Columbus,

Dayton, Indianapolis, Springfield, Chillicothe, St. Joseph, Colorado

Springs, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Reno, Sacramento, Oakland. From New

York to Pittsburgh known as the William Penn Highway. Colors: Red and

white bands. The Pershing transport route.

Old Spanish Trail, Jacksonville to Los Angeles, 2,956 miles, reaching

Tallahassee, New Orleans, Lake Charles, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso,

Douglas, Tucson, Phœnix, San Diego to Los Angeles. Colors: Red and

yellow bands.

Roosevelt National Highway, Washington, D. C., to Los Angeles, 3,368

miles, via Richmond, White Sulphur Springs, Huntington, Lexington,

Louisville, Vincennes, St. Louis, Jefferson City, Kansas City, Topeka,

Denver, Grand Junction, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles. Colors: Orange,

black and orange bands.

Theodore Roosevelt International Highway, Portland, Maine, to Portland,

Oregon. Via. Montpelier, Burlington, Plattsburg, Oswego, Rochester,

Niagara Falls, London, Ont.; Port Huron, Mich.; Bay City, Duluth, Grand

Forks, Spokane, Seattle to Portland, Ore. Colors: White, red and white

bands with letters T. R. in white on wide red band.

Yellowstone Trail, New York to Seattle, 3,594 miles, via Albany, Utica,

Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland, Toledo, South Bend,

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Billings (Livingston to

Yellowstone Park), Butte, Missoula, Spokane to Seattle. Colors: Black

letters on yellow sign.

Then there is the great highway that circles around by way of a number

of the national parks which is called:

The National Park to Park Highway, which begins at Denver and returns

to the starting point (4,403 miles) via Rocky Mountain National Park,

Cheyenne, Casper, Yellowstone National Park, Great Falls, Glacier

National Park, Spokane, Seattle, Tacoma, Mount Ranier National Park,

Portland, Crater Lake National Park, Sacramento, Yosemite National

Park, Roosevelt National Park, Los Angeles, Zion National Park, Grand

Canyon National Park, Flagstaff, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Springs to Denver again.

North and South Highways

The national highways running north and south are fully as numerous as

those that are transcontinental. Arranged in alphabetical order, the

leading ones are:

Atlantic Highway, from Calais, Maine, to Miami, 2,308 miles, via

Portland, Boston, Providence, New Haven, New York, Philadelphia,

Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Augusta, Macon, Jacksonville, St.

Augustine, Palm Beach, Miami.

Dixie Highway, East Division—Detroit to Miami, 1,561 miles, via Toledo,

Dayton, Cincinnati, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Augusta, Savannah,

Jacksonville, Palm Beach, Miami. West Division—Chicago to Fort Myers,

1,672 miles, via Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga,

Atlanta, Macon, Americus, Thomasville, Tallahassee, Orlando, Kissimmee,

Fort Myers. Colors: White and red, with letters D. H. on red.

Jackson Highway, Chicago to New Orleans, 1,066 miles, via Indianapolis,

Louisville, Nashville, Columbus, Meridian to New Orleans. Colors: Black

letters J. H. on white band.

King of Trails, Winnipeg, Canada, to Laredo, Tex., 1,991 miles, via

Grand Forks, Fargo, Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Omaha, Kansas City,

Muskogee, Dallas, Waco, Austin, San Antonio to Laredo. Colors: Black

letters K. T. on yellow band.

Jefferson Highway, Winnipeg, Canada, to New Orleans, 2,277 miles, via

Minneapolis, St. Paul, Des Moines, Kansas City, Joplin, Muskogee,

Denison, Shreveport, Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Colors: Blue, white

and blue band with letters J. H. combined on the white.

Lee Highway, Washington, D. C., to New Orleans, 1,155 miles, via

Staunton, Roanoke, Bristol, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Birmingham,

Meridian to New Orleans. Colors: Blue letters “Lee” on diagonal white

band with blue and red background.

Meridian Highway, Winnipeg, Canada, to Galveston, Tex., 1,908 miles,

via Grand Forks, Fargo, Yankton, Wichita, Enid, Wichita Falls, Fort

Worth, Waco, Houston to Galveston. Colors: White band with red band

added at turns.

Mississippi Valley Highway, Duluth to New Orleans, 1,635 miles, via St.

Paul, Cedar Rapids, Burlington, St. Louis, Cairo, Jackson, Macon,

Meridian, Hattiesburg to New Orleans. Colors: White and orange bands.

Pacific Highway, Vancouver, British Columbia, to Tia Juana, Mexico,

1,807 miles, via Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Portland, Salem, Medford,

Sacramento, Oakland, San José, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego.

Colors: Black letters on white signs.

Pershing Way, Winnipeg, Canada, to New Orleans, via Crookston, Mankato,

Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Hannibal, St. Louis, Memphis, Little Rock,

Opelousas to New Orleans. Colors: Red, white and blue bands with letter

P. on wide white band.

Puget Sound to Gulf, Seattle to Corpus Christi, 2,791 miles, via Walla

Walla, Baker City, Boise, Twin Falls, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne,

Denver, Pueblo, Amarillo, San Antonio to Corpus Christi.

Branches of Main Highways

Many of these main highways have important branches which have not been

indicated in this brief summary. There are other important trunk line

routes, such as the Albert Pike Highway from Hot Springs, Ark., to

Colorado Springs, Colo.; The Alton Way (white, black and white bands),

from Chicago to St. Louis, 295 miles; the Arrowhead Trail (marked with

arrowhead in circle), from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, 853 miles;

and the Big Four Route (yellow, black and yellow bands), Terre Haute to

St. Louis, 211 miles; and to Hannibal, Mo., 343 miles.

Other Important Trails

Other important trails for the motor tourist which are now available

are:

The Black and Yellow Trail (black and yellow bands), Chicago to the

Yellowstone National Park, 1,610 miles.

The Black Diamond Trail (black diamond on white band), from

Springfield, Ill., to Nashville, Tenn.

The Black Hawk Trail (black head on white band), from Dixon, Ill., to

Beloit, Wis., 60 miles.

The Black-Hills-Denver-Diamond Highway, from Denver, Colo., to

Deadwood, S. Dak., 460 miles.

The Blue Grass Trail (white, blue and white bands), across Illinois

from Momence, Ill., to Burlington, Iowa. And across Iowa from

Burlington to Omaha.

The Blue Trail (marked with blue bands), from Glacier Park Station,

Mont., to Banff, Canada, 327 miles.

Boone Way, from Lexington, N. C., to Louisville, Ky.

Buffalo Trail, from Great Falls to Billings, Mont., 253 miles.

California-Banff Bee Line Highway, from Los Angeles, Cal., to Banff,

Canada, via Spokane, Wash.

Cannon Ball Trail (black ball on white band), from Chicago, Ill., to

Hannibal, Mo., 341 miles.

Caterpillar Trail (green name on orange band), from Peoria to Pontiac,

Ill., 60 miles.

Chicago, Kansas City and Gulf Highway (black letters C. K. C. G. within

red cross on white band). From Chicago to Galveston.

Corn Belt Route (white band with yellow ear of corn), from Effner,

Ind., to Burlington, Iowa.

Cross-State Highway (white cross on black band), from Hannibal to St.

Joseph, Mo.

Custer Battlefield Highway (red, white and red bands), from Omaha,

Neb., to Glacier National Park, Mont.

Denver-Yellowstone Highway, from Denver to south entrance of

Yellowstone Park.

Diamond Trail, from Freeport to Galesburg, Ill., 124 miles.

Dixie Bee Line (yellow letters on black band), from Danville, Ill., to

Louisville, Ky.

Egyptian Trail (black figure on yellow band), from Chicago to Cairo,

Ill., 497 miles.

F. F. F. Highway (letters F. F. F. and arrows), from Fort Worth, Tex.,

to Las Vegas, N. M., 639 miles.

Fort Smith, Paul’s Valley and Wichita Falls Highway, Fort Smith, Ark.,

to Wichita Falls, Tex., 331 miles.

Geyser-to-Glacier Highway, from Yellowstone to Glacier National Park,

546 miles.

Grant Highway, from Chicago, Ill., to Portland, Ore., via South

Entrance Yellowstone Park.

Great White Way (wide white band), across Iowa from Davenport to Omaha,

337 miles.

Hawkeye Highway (blue letter H. on white band), across Iowa from

Dubuque to Sioux City, 340 miles.

Indian Head Trail, from Galesburg, Ill., to Minneapolis, Minn., 413

miles.

Kansas-Oklahoma-Texas and Gulf Highway, from Florence, Kan., to Dallas,

Tex., 514 miles.

Kickapoo Trail (white, red and white bands), from Peoria, Ill., to

Muscatine, Ia.

Lakes-to-Gulf Highway (black letters L. G. on white bands), from

Duluth, Minn., to Galveston, Tex., 1,826 miles.

Lee Highway, from Gettysburg to New Orleans.

Lewis and Clark Trail, from Lewiston, Idaho, to Missoula, Mont.

Liberty Highway (red bands), from New York to Erie, Pa., 496 miles.

Logan-Lee Highway (red, white and blue bands with L. L. H. on white),

across Illinois from Rock Island to Paducah, Ky., 441 miles.

Mackinaw Indian Trail (black figures on white band), from Peoria to

Bloomington, Ill., 42 miles.

Mark Twain Route, from Chicago to Kansas City, 555 miles.

Mohawk Trail (red bands), from Albany to Boston, 182 miles.

North Iowa Pike, across Iowa from McGregor to Sioux Falls.

Omaha-Lincoln-Denver Highway (black letters O. L. D. on white bands),

from Omaha to Denver, 627 miles.

Omaha-St. Louis Highway (red, white and red bands), from Omaha to St.

Louis, 476 miles.

Ozark Trail, from St. Louis, Mo., to Las Vegas, N. M.

Perry Highway, from Pittsburgh to Erie, Pa., 136 miles.

Park-to-Park Highway, from Yellowstone to Glacier National Park via

Missoula.

Potash Highway, from Grand Island to Alliance, Neb.

Rainbow Trail, from Pueblo to Grand Junction, Colo., 238 miles.

Red Ball Route (marked with red ball), from St. Paul, Minn., to St.

Louis, Mo., 487 miles.

River-to-River Road (white, black and letter R.), across Iowa from

Davenport to Omaha, 349 miles.

Robert E. Lee Highway, from New Orleans to San Diego.

Scott Highway, from Duluth, Minn., to Fort William and Port Arthur, 210

miles.

Southwest Trail (black letters S. W. on white bands), from Chicago to

Laredo, Tex., 1,706 miles.

Utah-Idaho-Yellowstone Highway, from Salt Lake City to West Entrance of

Yellowstone Park, 360 miles.

Waubonsie Trail (black, white and black bands), across Iowa from Keokuk

to Lincoln, Neb.

Yellowstone Highway (yellow and gray bands, black letters Y. H.), from

Denver to East Entrance of Yellowstone Park, 638 miles.

Y-G Bee Line Highway, from Yellowstone to Glacier National Park via

Great Falls, 355 miles.

Great Variety of Camping Sites

The National Parks and Forests, the State Parks and Forests, and the

Municipal Camping Parks offer a great variety of camping sites for the

motor-camping tourist. The accommodations offered in the National Parks

and Forests are, for the most part, more remote than any other class of

camping sites, and the facilities offered consist mainly of fireplaces,

and, in some cases, of simple shelters also. The State Parks and

Forests are much more limited in extent than the National Parks and

Forests, but they are becoming very numerous. The State Parks and

Forests, however, usually do not offer much more than camping

privileges, though some states—New York, for example—make some

provision for campers, building fireplaces and rude shelters.

It is the municipal camping parks that are most numerous and that make

most extensive provision for the comfort of the touring camper. Many

cities like Denver and Los Angeles expend large sums of money in the

equipment of extensive camping parks that in the course of a season

entertain many thousands of campers.