Clapboards. How to Chop a Log in Half. How to Flatten a Log. Also SomeDon'ts 87
XX. Axemen's Camps 92
XXI. Railroad-Tie Shacks, Barrel Shacks, and Chimehuevis 96
XXII. The Barabara 100
XXIII. The Navajo Hogan, Hornaday Dugout, and Sod House 104
XXIV. How to Build an American Boy's Hogan 107
XXV. How to Cut and Notch Logs 115
XXVI. Notched Log Ladders 119
XXVII. A Pole House. How to Use a Cross-Cut Saw and a Froe 122
XXVIII. Log-Rolling and Other Building Stunts 126
XXIX. The Adirondack Open Log Camp and a One-Room Cabin 129 [xiii]
XXX. The Northland Tilt and Indian Log Tent 132
XXXI. How to Build the Red Jacket, the New Brunswick, and the Christopher Gist 135
XXXII. Cabin Doors and Door-Latches, Thumb-Latches and Foot Latches and How to Make Them 139
XXXIII. Secret Locks 145
XXXIV. How to Make the Bow-Arrow Cabin Door and Latch and the Deming Twin Bolts, Hall, and Billy 151
XXXV. The Aures Lock Latch 155
XXXVI. The American Log Cabin 161
XXXVII. A Hunter's or Fisherman's Cabin 169
XXXVIII. How to Make a Wyoming Olebo, a Hoko River Olebo, a Shake Cabin, a Canadian Mossback, and a Two-Pen or
Southern Saddle-Bag House 171
XXXIX. Native Names for the Parts of a Kanuck Log Cabin, and How to Build One 177
XL. How to Make a Pole House and How to Make a Unique but Thoroughly American Totem Log House 183
XLI. How to Build a Susitna Log Cabin and How to Cut Trees for the End Plates 191 [xiv]
XLII. How to Make a Fireplace and Chimney for a Simple Log Cabin 195
XLIII. Hearthstones and Fireplaces 200
XLIV. More Hearths and Fireplaces 203
XLV. Fireplaces and the Art of Tending the Fire 206
XLVI. The Building of the Log House 211
XLVII. How to Lay a Tar Paper, Birch Bark, or Patent Roofing 218
XLVIII. How to Make a Concealed Log Cabin Inside of a Modern House 230
XLIX. How to Build Appropriate Gateways for Grounds Enclosing Log Houses, Game Preserves, Ranches, Big Country Estates, and Last but not Least Boy Scouts' Camp Grounds 237
[xv]
Shelters,
Shacks, and Shanties
[1]
SHELTERS, SHACKS, AND SHANTIES
I
WHERE TO FIND MOUNTAIN GOOSE. HOW TO PICK AND USE ITS FEATHERS
It may be necessary for me to remind the boys that they must use the material at hand in building their shacks, shelters, sheds, and shanties, and that they are very fortunate if their camp is located in a country where the mountain goose is to be found.
The Mountain Goose
3
From Labrador down to the northwestern borders of New England and New York and from thence to southwestern Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, the woodsman and camper may make their beds from the feathers of the "mountain goose." The mountain goose is also found inhabiting the frozen soil of Alaska and following the Pacific and the Rocky Mountains the Abies make their dwelling-place as far south as Guatemala. Consequently, the Abies, or mountain goose, should be a familiar friend of all the scouts who live in the mountainous country, north, south, east, and west.[2]
Sapin--Cho-kho-tung
I forgot to say that the mountain goose (Figs. 1 and 2) is not a bird but a tree. It is humorously called a goose by the woodsmen because they all make their beds of its "feathers." It is the sapin of the French-Canadians, the cho-kho-tung of the New York Indians, the balsam of the tenderfoot, the Christmas-tree of the little folk, and that particular Coniferae known by the dry-as-dust botanist as Abies. There is nothing in nature which has a wilder, more sylvan and charming perfume than the balsam, and the scout who has not slept in the woods on a balsam bed has a pleasure in store for him.
Balsam
The leaves of the balsam are blunt or rounded at the ends and some of them are even dented or notched in place of being sharp-
pointed. Each spine or leaf is a scant one inch in length and very flat; the upper part is grooved and of a dark bluish-green color.
The under-side is much lighter, often almost silvery white. The balsam blossoms in April or May, and the fruit or cones stand upright on the branches. These vary from two to four inches in length. The balsam-trees are seldom large, not many of them being over sixty feet high with trunks from one to less than three feet through. The bark on the trunks is gray in color and marked with horizontal rows of blisters. Each of these contains a small, sticky sap like glycerine. Fig. 1 shows the cone and leaves of one of the Southern balsams known as the she-balsam, and Fig. 2 shows the celebrated balsam-fir tree of the north country, cone and branch.[3]
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Showing the use of the mountain goose.
[4]
Balsam Beds
The balsam bed is made of the small twigs of balsam-trees. In gathering these, collect twigs of different lengths, from eighteen inches long (to be used as the foundation of the bed) to ten or twelve inches long (for the top layer). If you want to rest well, do not economize on the amount you gather; many a time I have had my bones ache as a result of being too tired to make my bed properly and attempting to sleep on a thin layer of boughs.
If you attempt to chop off the boughs of balsam they will resent your effort by springing back and slapping you in the face. You can cut them with your knife, but it is slow work and will blister your hands. Take twig by twig with the thumb and fingers (the thumb on top, pointing toward the tip of the bough, and the two forefingers underneath); press down with the thumb, and with a twist of the wrist you can snap the twigs like pipe-stems. Fig. 3 shows two views of the hands in a proper position to snap off twigs easily and clean. The one at the left shows the hand as it would appear looking down upon it; the one at the right shows the view as you look at it from the side.
Packing Boughs
After collecting a handful of boughs, string them on a stick which you have previously prepared (Fig. 4). This stick should be of strong, green hardwood, four or five feet long with a fork about six inches long left on it at the butt end to keep the boughs from sliding off, and sharpened at the upper end so that it can be easily poked through a handful of boughs. String the boughs on this stick as you would string fish, but do it one handful at a time, allowing the butts to point in different directions.[5]
