Boy Scouts Handbook Part 40

Rains

Rain with east wind is lengthy.

A sudden shower is soon over.

A slow rain lasts long.

Rain before seven, clear before eleven.

A circle round the moon means "storm."

"The evening red, the morning gray Sets the traveler on his way; The evening gray, the morning red Brings down showers upon his head."

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"When the gra.s.s is dry at night Look for rain before the light."

"When the gra.s.s is dry at morning light Look for rain before the night."

Clear

"When the dew is on the gra.s.s Rain will never come to pa.s.s."

A heavy morning fog generally indicates a clear day.

East wind brings rain.

West wind brings clear, bright, and cool weather.

North wind brings cold.

South wind brings heat.

Direction of the Wind

The way to find which way the wind is blowing is to throw up little bits of dry gra.s.s, or to hold up a handful of light dust and let it fall, or to suck your thumb, wet it all around and let the wind blow over it, and the cold side of it will then tell you which way the wind is blowing.

Weather Flags

The United States Weather Bureau publishes a "Cla.s.sification of Clouds" in colors, which may be had for the asking. If you are near one of the weather signal stations, daily bulletins will be sent to camp upon request; also the weather map.

A set of flag signals run up each day will create interest. The flags are easily made or may be purchased.

Keep a daily record of temperature. A boy in charge of the "weather bureau" will find it to be full of interest as well as offering an opportunity to render the camp a real service. He will make a weather vane, post a daily bulletin, keep a record of temperature, measure velocity of wind, and rainfall.

How to Get Your Bearings

If you have lost your bearings, and it is a cloudy day, put the point of your knife blade on your thumb nail, and turn the blade around until the full shadow of the blade is on the nail. This will tell you where the sun is, and decide in which direction the camp is.

Face the sun in the morning, spread out your arms straight {158} from body. Before you is the east; behind you is the west; to your right is the south; the left hand is the north. Gra.s.s turns with the sun.

Remember this when finding your way at night.

Building a Camp Fire

There are ways and ways of building a camp fire. An old Indian saying runs, "White man heap fool, make um big fire--can't git near! Injun make um little fire--git close! Ugh! good!"

Make it a service privilege for a tent of boys to gather wood and build the fire. This should be done during the afternoon. Two things are essential in the building of a fire--kindling and air. A fire must be built systematically. First, get dry, small, dead branches, twigs, fir branches, and other inflammable material. Place these on the ground. Be sure that air can draw under it and upward through it.

Next place some heavier sticks and so on until you have built the camp fire the required size. An interesting account of "How to Build a Fire by Rubbing Sticks," by Ernest Thompson Seton, will be found in Chapter 11. In many camps it is considered an honor to light the fire.

Never build a large camp fire too near the tent or inflammable pine trees. Better build it in the open.

Be sure and use every precaution to prevent the spreading of fire.

This may be done by building a circle of stones around the fire, or by digging up the earth, or by wetting a s.p.a.ce around the fire. Always have the buckets of water near at hand. To prevent the re-kindling of the fire after it is apparently out, pour water over it and soak the earth for a s.p.a.ce of two or three feet around it. This is very important, for many forest fires have started through failure to observe this caution.

Things to remember: First, it is criminal to leave a burning fire; second, always put out the fire with water or earth.

"A fire is never out," says Chief Forester H. S. Graves, "until the last spark is extinguished. Often a log or snag will smolder unnoticed after the flames have apparently been conquered only to break out afresh with a rising wind."

Be sure to get a copy of the laws of your state regarding forest fires, and if a permit is necessary to build a fire, secure it, before building the fire.

Kephart, in his book on "Camping and Woodcraft" (p. 28), says: "When there is nothing dry to strike it on, jerk the head {160} of the match forward through the teeth. Or, face the wind. Cup your hands back toward the wind, remove the right hand just long enough to strike the match on something very close by, then instantly resume former position. Flame of match will run up stick instead of blowing away from it."

---------------------------------------------------------------- {159} FOREST FIRES!

The great annual destruction of forests by fire is an injury to all persons and industries. The welfare of every community is dependent upon a cheap and plentiful supply of timber, and a forest cover is the most effective means of preventing floods and maintaining a regular flow of streams used for irrigation and other useful purposes.

To prevent forest fires Congress pa.s.sed the law approved May 5, 1900, which--

Forbids setting fire to the woods, and

Forbids leaving any fires unextinguished.

This law, for offenses against which officers of the FOREST SERVICE can arrest without warrant, provides as maximum punishment--

A fine of $5000, or imprisonment for two years, or both, if a fire is set maliciously, and

A fine of $1000, or imprisonment for one years, or both, if a fire is set carelessly,

It also provides that the money from such fines shall be paid to the school fund of the county in which the offense is committed.

THE EXERCISE OF CARE WITH SMALL FIRES IS THE BEST PREVENTIVE OF LARGE ONES. Therefore all persons are requested--