Healthful Sports for Boys Part 14

Now the camping outfit, including enough provisions for the proposed stay, must be carried, and unless the stay is to be short, a wagon or pack animals should be provided for this purpose. In the army and out West mules are used for this purpose, but any quiet horse will do just as well.

The old sawbuck saddle, shaped like the letter X, answers very well, but the Mexican pack, known as the aparcho, is much better. It is made of a plated straw matting, on which is fastened a strong wicker-work saddle, and a properly folded blanket, for you must be careful that the animal's back does not get sore. The saddle is fastened by pliant ropes, or broad belts of leather, called in the West "cinches," to fasten which securely requires some skill, as they pa.s.s through a circular ring and are secured by a hitch or peculiar knot that holds well and can be unfastened with a quick jerk.

For a journey of ten miles or more I would not advise you to make the pack load more than two hundred pounds, though I have known mules to carry three hundred pounds at a pace of twenty miles a day over rough trails.

If the pack is heavy, it may be lightened by having each camper carry his own blankets, in a roll, the case resting on the right shoulder. I would advise each to carry a canteen if there is danger of your being long away from good water.

You should have the following articles: A long-handled frying pan, a bunch of a half dozen pieces of telegraph wire, each two feet long, with which to make a spider or broiler; by simply laying them across the fire or over the hot coals you have a gridiron; you may bundle it up when its work is done; three or four a.s.sorted tin buckets for cooking purposes and for water; a tin coffee pot; a long iron fork; a long iron spoon; some cheap tin cups, plates and spoons, and some forks and knives.

Do not depend upon the fish and game for food supply, but take along some boneless bacon and fat pork. With the latter, you can cook your fish, and the former is good for a relish with whatever fresh meat you may secure. Then you should have some good ground coffee in a tightly closed box. Some tea in a screw-top gla.s.s preserve jar, sugar, salt, prepared flour, corn meal, rice, beans, oatmeal, condensed milk, evaporated cream, crackers, and as much canned or dried fruits as you can transport without overloading--these are not necessaries, but all of them will come handy.

_Worth Remembering_. It is not well for a lot of boys, no matter how strong and intelligent, to go off camping unless one of their number has had practical experience in that kind of life. It would be better to have a man in the party and to follow his instructions, as a soldier obeys his superior.

Before starting off it will be well to learn just what each member of the party can do best, and a.s.sign him to that work for the time.

Afterwards it might be advisable to take turns at the work thought to be least agreeable.

Cooking, washing dishes, gathering fuel and keeping the camp in order are just as essential as hunting or fishing, more so, indeed; for cooking, etc., are necessary, while fishing and hunting are pleasures.

Keep your own person clean and carry along needles and thread so that you may be able to repair the rents in your own clothes.

Before going into camp every boy should know how to wash, dry and fold his own flannel shirt, stockings and handkerchiefs.

The captain of the camp should write out his orders and post them so that they can be read by all; nothing should be left to chance.

Under all circ.u.mstances keep your temper and remember your companions are ent.i.tled to a good time as well as yourself.

Don't be selfish, and don't go camping with boys who have that vulgar characteristic.

CHAPTER XX

CAN YOU RIDE A "BIKE?" SOME THINGS WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THE WHEEL, AND SOMETHING ABOUT OTHER THINGS

To begin with, I am not going to tell you how to ride a bicycle. The only way to learn that is to get a wheel, and if it bucks you off, mount again and keep on trying until you master the machine.

I have heard folks say that the bicycle is going out of fashion. That is sheer nonsense! What have boys, or st.u.r.dy young men, or st.u.r.dy old ones for that matter, to do with fashion? The bike is here, and it has come to stay, and to go on revolving as long as folks live on a revolving world.

Bike parties that make explorations lasting for days, or even for weeks, are now not unusual, and if they travel prepared to make camp wherever night overtakes them, the more healthful the sport and the more novel and independent the tour. You should know how to carry the necessary baggage on your wheel. It is customary in ordinary wheeling to strip a machine of every ounce of weight not necessary. Many riders travel without even a tool bag, pump or wrench. The additional weight of a few tools cannot be sufficient to make much difference to a rider.

If you are a "scorcher" and are out to pa.s.s everything you meet, the less weight you carry the better time you can make. But the wheel is used by most boys for other purposes.

The pathway of the biker is not always straight and smooth, as every boy who has ridden a wheel knows. The collision can always be avoided by good eyes and reasonable speed, but no eyes are keen enough to note, and no skill alert enough to avoid the broken gla.s.s, or the bits of sc.r.a.p iron that beset the path and puncture the tire.

REPAIRS

A friend a.s.sures me that he has mended a punctured tire with chewing gum. Now I do not think well of the chewing gum habit, but if the stuff can be found to have better uses, I am not the one to discourage it. So it might be well to carry a supply to fill punctured tires.

This is said to be the way to use it. Let all the air out of the tire, then with a flat piece of wood force the gum into the hole--of course the gum must be "chewed" first to make it soft. Plaster some over the hole, then bind the place with a strip of rag on your handkerchief.

This done, pump in the air and ride with care.

A broken handle bar is bad, but a subst.i.tute that will work can be made if you have some strong string and a stout pocket knife. Cut two sections of a springy sapling, and bind them securely to the front fork, one on either side, and sufficiently long to reach just above the broken bar. Next tie securely a stout stick of proper length to the broken bar, and tie to this the end of the uprights. If properly done, this will enable you to finish your journey, which for a long distance is much pleasanter than walking and leading your wheel.

A rope tire will often enable the rider to reach home. A few yards of clothesline, borrowed, begged, or bought from some wayside house, will enable you to make a solid tire. Remove the rubber tire, tie it to your handle-bar, and take the rope and bend one end diagonally across the hollow in the rim of the wheel. Wind the rope carefully around, over the bent end of the rope, around again alongside of the first length until the rim is covered. Keep the line tight, and wind it until it fills up the hollow and is considerably higher in the middle than at the sides. The neater this work is done, the more comfortable will be your ride home. When the rope tire is complete, pry up the side lap and force the free end of the rope diagonally under it until it comes out on the other side. Draw it taut and cut off the end flush with the outer wrapping. Now pour water all over the rope until it is thoroughly wet; this will cause it to shrink and become firm and hard.

Have a stand for your bicycle when not in use, and keep the wheel clean and well oiled. No boy is worthy to own a tool or a toy, or anything else that is perishable, if he is too lazy or too careless to have a pride in it, and to keep it in the highest state of efficiency.

The very best time to make needed repairs is when the need is discovered. Never wait until the time comes to use the thing again.

The boy who gets into that habit is disqualifying himself for the battle of life, in which promptness, accuracy and energy are the prime requisites to success.

If you cannot take care of your things, or prefer to resign that duty to others, then resign your ownership too, and let some more deserving comrades own them.

I have often wondered why "the rope"--as our western cowboys call the lariat, and the Mexican lariata--has not become a national sport, for its proper use requires great skill, and it is distinctly an American inst.i.tution.

Children of the Mexican herders begin practicing with the lariat as soon as they can coil a rope. I have seen them catching cats and chickens with their little lariats, and their dexterity surprised me.

The lariat may be of any length from twenty to eighty feet. It consists of a long, strong, flexible rope, with a running noose at the end thrown. I have seen them made of hemp, horse hair and raw hide-- the latter are by far the best, provided they are flexible and soft enough. The raw hide is cut and specially tanned, but for practice an ordinary thin rope will do.

The noose is made by fastening a small iron eyelet to an end of the rope, and through this the other end is drawn.

The greater part of the rope is held coiled in the left hand, while the noose is circled above the head with the right, and thrown when the proper swing has been reached.

A post makes a good target. It should be, to start with, not more than ten feet away. After a time the distance can be increased, and the nature of the target changed.

You will be surprised, if you try this, at the skill you will gain, and the pleasure the lariat will afford to yourself and companions.

CHAPTER XXI

THE OLD SCOTCH GAME OF GOLF-SOMETHING ABOUT HOCKEY AND SHINNY

In Scotland, where the game comes from, golf has been p.r.o.nounced "goff" for more than five hundred years.

Now that our President and other great men have taken to golf, everybody reads about the popular game, but very few know anything about it but the name. To such, the following facts may be of use. The game is interesting, and its rules can be soon learned, but like everything else we do for pleasure or profit, it takes a good deal of practice before one can pose as an expert. Boys take to golf and soon excel their seniors.

The equipment for golf consists of a large field, called "the links,"

to play in, a set of sticks or clubs with which to make the strokes, and a ball to be hit at.

The start is made from a point called "the tee." The player's purpose is to send the ball, which may be rubber or gutta percha, and is about one and three-quarter inches in diameter, into a small hole.

This hole may be from twenty to a hundred or more yards away, and the skill consists in doing the trick with the fewest possible number of strokes. The player who makes the most holes with the fewest strokes wins the game. This sounds very simple, and it is simple to understand, but not so easy to do.

THE LINKS

Many of the best links are laid out where the soil is sandy and the gra.s.s spa.r.s.e and stiff. Such links dry quickly after a rain, and the ball is easily played and seen. The course in this country for the regulation game is sometimes three miles long; shorter courses can be laid out for informal work and practice. The links do not extend in a straight line. It is much better to have them wind about and end near the start. By carefully planning the curves, a golf course may be made to occupy limited grounds.