Pluck on the Long Trail

E >> Edwin L. Sabin >> Pluck on the Long Trail

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17

"Wish to communicate." Three smokes side by side.

"Enemy discovered." Two puffs, repeated at fifteen-minute intervals. Boy
Scouts need not have the intervals so long. One minute is enough, for a
standard.

"Many enemy discovered." Three puffs, at intervals.

"Come to council," or "Join forces." Four puffs, repeated.

"March to the north." Two smokes, of two puffs each.

"March to the south." Two smokes, of three puffs each.

"March to the east." Three smokes, of two puffs each.

"March to the west." Three smokes, of three puffs each.

Plainsmen and woodsmen understand the following signals also:

"Camp is here." One smoke, one puff at intervals.

"Help. I am lost." Two fires, occasional single puffs.

"Good news." Three steady smokes.

Scouts' patrols can invent their own code of smokes, by number of
smokes, by puffs, and by intervals between puffs. Of course, the single
fire is much more easily managed by one person.

Note 45, page 116: The Red Fox Scouts probably carried with them a
liquid carbolic and antiseptic soap, which comes put up in small
bottles with patent shaker stoppers. A few drops of this in some water
makes a splendid wash for wounds, and is harmless. Druggists and
surgical supply stores can furnish Scouts with this soap. Being
non-poisonous, good for a gargle as well as for external use, it is
superior to many other antiseptic washes. A spool of surgeons' adhesive
tape, say three-quarter inch wide, a roll of sterilized absorbent
cotton, and a roll of sterilized gauze will of course be included in the
Scouts' first-aid kit.

CHAPTER XI

Note 46, page 124: Bichloride of mercury is a strong antiseptic, and
much favored for disinfecting dishes and other vessels used by sick
people. It is convenient to carry, in a form known as Bernay's tablets.
They come white or blue, and one is dissolved in water to make a
solution. They are very poisonous, internally, and Scouts must look out
that none of the solution enters the stomach. Of course, there are many
antiseptic substances for washing wounds: potash and borax are good,
especially in the form of potassium permanganate and boric acid.
Anything in a tablet or a powdery form is easier to pack than anything
in a liquid form. Wounds must be kept surgically clean, which means
"aseptic" or perfectly free of poisoning microbes, or else there may be
blood-poisoning. So Scouts should be careful that their fingers and
whatever else touches a wound also are surgically clean, by being washed
well in some antiseptic. Cloths and knife blades, etc., can be made
clean by being boiled for ten minutes.

CHAPTER XII

Note 47, page 133: When a Scout would climb a tree which looks hard,
particularly a large-trunk tree, he can work a scheme by connecting his
ankles with a soft rope or a handkerchief, or the like, measuring about
two thirds around the trunk. Then when he hitches up along the trunk he
gets a splendid purchase. Several strands of rope are better than one,
so that they will not slip. And if the rope or cloth is wet, it will
stick better.

Note 48, page 140: All Scouts should know how to wigwag messages. There
are three alphabets which may be used in telegraphing by wigwagging with
a flag or with the cap: the American Morse, such as is used in this
country by the regular telegraph, the Continental Morse, and the Army
and Navy. The American Morse is dots and dashes and spaces; but the
Continental Morse is different, because it does not have any spaces. It
is employed in Europe and in submarine cable work. The United States
Army and Navy have their own wigwag alphabet, which is named the Myer
alphabet, in compliment to Brevet Brigadier-General Albert J. Myer, the
first chief signal officer of the Army, appointed in 1860. Commonly the
system is known as the Army and Navy.

Scouts will find that knowing the American Morse or dot-and-dash
telegraph signs will be of much value because these can be used both in
wigwag and in electric-wire work; but Scouts to be of assistance to
their country in military time must know the Army and Navy alphabet,
which is easier to learn.

Instead of the dot and the dash and the space, the figures 1, 2, and 3
are used. The figure 1, like the wigwag dot, is a quick sweep of the
flag to the right, from the perpendicular to the level of the waist, or
one quarter of a circle. The figure 2 is a similar sweep to the left.
The figure 3 is a "front," or sweeping the flag straight down, before,
and instantly returning it to the upright again. The perpendicular or
upright is the beginning of every motion. The "front" ends things:
words, sentences, messages, etc.

Here is the Army and Navy alphabet: "A," you see, would be dip to left,
and return; to left, and return. "B," a left, a right, a right, and a
left.

A 22
B 2112
C 121
D 222
E 12
F 2221
G 2211
H 122
I 1
J 1122
K 2121
L 221
M 1221
N 11
O 21
P 1212
Q 1211
R 211
S 212
T 2
U 112
V 1222
W 1121
X 2122
Y 111
Z 2222

FIGS.

1 1111
2 2222
3 1112
4 2221
5 1122
6 2211
7 1222
8 2111
9 1221
0 2112

ABBREVIATIONS

a is for after
b before
c can
h have
n not
r are
t the
u you
ur your
w word
wi with
y yes
1112 tion

SIGNS

End of word 3
End of sentence 33
End of message 333
Numerals follow (or end) X X 3
Signature follows Sig 3
Error E E 3
I understand (O. K.) A A 3
Cease signaling A A A 333
Cipher follows (or ends) X C 3
Wait a moment 1111 3
Repeat after (word) C C 3 A 3 (give word)
Repeat last word C C 33
Repeat last message C C C 333
Move little to right R R 3
Move little to left L L 3
Signal faster 2212 3
Permission granted P G 3
Permission not granted N G 3

The address in full of a message is considered as one sentence, ended by
3 or a "front," and return to perpendicular.

This Army and Navy alphabet is easier to read, because it does away with
the pausing or lengthening of the motions, to make the spaces which help
to form some of the Morse letters. Every letter is reeled straight off
without a break.

Two flags are used in wigwagging. A white flag with a red square in the
center is used against a dark background; a red flag with a white square
in the center is used against the sky or against a mixed background. But
of course in emergency anything must be tried, and for a short distance
the Scout can use his hat or cap, or handkerchief, or even his arm
alone. The motions should be sharp and quick and distinct, with a
perpendicular between each motion and a "front" between words. The Army
rate with the large service flag is five or six words a minute.

The beam of a searchlight is used just as a flag is used, to sweep
upward for "perpendicular," downward for "front," and to right and to
left. Another system of night signaling is by lantern or torch; but it
should be swung from the knees up and out, for right or 1, up and out in
opposite direction for left, or 2, and raised straight up for "front" or
3. Four electric lamps in a row, which flash red and white in various
combinations, colored fires, bombs and rockets, also make night signals.

For daytime signaling the United States Army favors the mirror or
heliograph (sun-writing) system. The 1 is a short flash, the 2 is two
short flashes, the 3 is a long, steady flash. This system can be read
through 100 and 150 miles.

The United States Navy employs a two-arm or a two-flag system, which by
different slants and angles of the arms or flags signals by the Army and
Navy code. It is called the Semaphore system--like the semaphore block
signals of railroads. It is more convenient for windy weather, because
the flags are shorter and smaller than the flags of the three-motion
wigwag.

Scouts should have in their library a copy of the United States Signal
Corps booklet, "Manual of Visual Signaling," which can be had at a small
price from the Government Printing Office at Washington. This tells all
about the different systems of day and night signaling, and shows
alphabets, signal flags, codes, ciphers, and so forth.

The Indians of the plains and mountains have had systems of signaling as
perfect as those of the Army and Navy. In early days of the Army on the
plains, the Indians passed news along among themselves over long
distances faster than it was passed by the military telegraph. They used
a smoke code; and they used also mirror-flashes, blanket-waving,
pony-running, foot-running, and hand gestures.

Their secret signals were never told; no threats or bribes could make an
Indian divulge his tribal or his band code. Not even the white men who
lived with the Indians could learn it. Once some Army officers watched a
Sioux chief, posted on a little knoll, drill his red cavalry for an
hour, without a word or a gesture; all he used was a little
looking-glass held in the palm of his hand.

However, some of the signs were general. A tremulous motion or flash
meant game or enemy. Several quick flashes, close together, meant "Come
on." A beam to the left meant "By the left"; to the right meant "By the
right."

When looking for buffalo, the number of flashes would tell how many
bands of buffalo were sighted, and a quivering motion would bid the
hunters to "Come on."

Scouts will find some blanket signs handy. If the blanket is too large
to manage, fold it once.

"Who are you?" Hold the blanket by the two upper corners, in front, and
bend with it far to the right and to the left.

"We want peace." Hold the blanket by the two upper corners, in front,
and bending forward lay it flat upon the ground.

"Keep away," or "No." Hold up the blanket, grasping the two upper
corners. Cross the arms, still with hands grasping the corners. Bring
right arm back to front and right, almost opening the blanket again.
Repeat.

"Go back" or "Hide." Hold up blanket by two corners opposite right
shoulder, and swing it to right and down, several times.

"Alarm!" Toss the blanket several times, as high as possible.

"Something (or somebody) in sight." Hold up blanket by the two corners
opposite right shoulder. Then swing the right corner around to left and
to right. Repeat.

"Come on" or "Approach." Hold blanket up by two upper corners in front
of the body. Swing the right arm and corner to the left. Repeat.

Pony-running signals are usually in a circle, or forward and backward,
on the side of a hill or the crest. If the movements are fast, then the
news is exciting and important. If they are made in full view of the
surrounding country, then the danger is not close. If they are made
under cover, then the danger is near. If they are made under cover and
the rider suddenly stops and hides, then everybody must hide, or
retreat, for the enemy is too strong. The bigger the movements, the
more the enemy or the more the game. A dodging zigzag course shows that
the scout is pursued or apt to be pursued. A furious riding back and
forth along a crest means that a war party is returning successful. Boy
Scouts can make the motions on foot, and by a code of circles and figure
eights, etc., can signal many things.

Signals by the hand and arm alone are convenient to know.

"Who are you?" is made by waving the right hand to right and to left in
quick succession.

"We are friends" is made by raising both hands and grasping the left
with the right, as if shaking hands.

"We are enemies" is made by placing the right fist against the forehead,
and turning it from side to side.

"Halt" or "Keep away" is made by raising the right hand, palm to the
front, and moving it forward and back.

"Come" is made by raising right hand, back to front, and beckoning with
a wide sweep forward and in again, repeating.

For distance two-arm signals are better than one-arm; and Scouts should
have a short code in two-arms. Both arms stretched wide may mean "Go
back" or "Halt"; both arms partly dropped may mean "No," partly raised
may mean "Yes." And so on. These were plain signals.

Note 49, page 141: A sprain, such as a sprained wrist or ankle, for
instance, is a serious injury, and must not be made light of or
neglected. If not properly and promptly treated, it is likely to leave
the cords or ligaments permanently weak. When treatment may begin at
once, the injured joint should be laid bare, even if by cutting the shoe
instead of unlacing it and pulling it off, and the coldest water should
be applied lavishly. The joint may well be plunged into an icy spring or
stream, or held under a running faucet. If the joint can be kept
elevated, so that the blood will not flow into it so readily, so much
the better.

If some distance has to be covered before the injured person arrives in
reach of treatment, the shoe might as well remain on, to act as a
bandage and a support--although it probably will have to be cut off
later. If the joint is not the ankle joint, a tight, stout bandage
should be fastened around. Nobody should try to step upon his sprained
ankle or use his sprained wrist, or whatever joint it may be.

After swelling has set in very hot water is said to be superior to very
cold water; the very hot and the very cold have much the same effect,
anyway. But the water application should be kept up for at least
twenty-four hours, and the wounded place must not be moved one particle
for several days. When the time comes to move it, it should be wrapped
with a supporting bandage.

General Ashley probably had a hard time with his neglected ankle.

CHAPTER XIII

Note 50, page 147: The cache (which is a French word and is pronounced
"cash") or hiding-place is a genuine scout invention. Long ago the
trappers and traders of the plains and mountains, when they had more
pelts or more supplies than they could readily carry, would "cache"
them. The favorite way was to dig a hole, and gradually enlarge it
underground, like a jug. The dirt was laid upon a blanket and emptied
into a stream, so that it would not be noticed. Then the hole was lined
with dry sticks or with blankets, the pelts or supplies were packed
inside, and covered with buffalo robe or tarpaulin; and the earth was
tamped in solidly. Next a fire was built on top, that the ashes might
deceive Indians and animals. Or the tent or lodge was erected over the
spot for a few days. At any rate, all traces of the hiding-place were
wiped out, and landmarks were noted well.

It was considered a serious offense for one white man to molest the
cache of another white man, unless to save his own life. And to rob a
cache of the furs was worse than stealing horses.

All caches were not alike. Some were holes, others were caves into
banks. When Scouts of to-day make a cache, they must record the location
exceedingly well and close, or they are apt to lose the spot. It seems
very easy to remember trees and rocks and all; but anybody who has laid
a rabbit down, while he chased another, and then has thought to go
straight and pick it up again--or anybody who has searched for a
golf-ball when he knew exactly where it lit--will realize that a cache
may be very tricky.

Note 51, page 152: The homeopathic preparation of aconite is highly
recommended by many woodsmen and other travelers as a good thing to have
in the trail medicine kit. A few drops will kill a fever or a cold.
Dover's Powder (in small doses, by causing perspiration and thus
checking a fever or throwing off a cold), quinine, calomel (for
biliousness and to clean out the intestines when they are clogged with
waste and mucus), Epsom salts or castor oil (to clean out the bowels
also), an emetic, like sirup of ipecac (to empty the stomach quickly in
case of emergency), some mustard for making a plaster for the chest (in
croupiness or cold inside the chest), or for mixing with warm water to
make an emetic, extract of ginger or sirup of ginger (for summer
complaint and griping looseness of the bowels if long continued),
perhaps some soda mint tablets (for sour stomach caused by overeating),
are other simple remedies. Of course the Scout should learn to read the
little clinical thermometer, and one should be carried in the trail kit.

It is much better to know exactly how to use a few simple standard
remedies, than to experiment with a lot of powerful drugs and very
likely make terrible mistakes. To give a medicine without being certain
just why and just what it will do is as bad as pointing a gun at
somebody without knowing whether or not it is loaded. Doctors study hard
for years, before they begin to practice; and Scouts cannot expect to
make doctors of themselves in a few months. Head cool, feet warm, bowels
open, moderate eating--these are United States Army rules, and Scouts'
rules too. "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure"!
Scouts who take care of their bodies properly will rarely need medicine,
and should be proud of the fact.

Note 52, page 153: In 1909, in California alone, out of 388 forest fires
243, or almost two thirds, were caused by human beings' carelessness;
and 119, or almost one third, were caused by camp-fires! The money loss
to the state was $1,000,000; but this was not all the damage. A forest,
or a single tree, is not replaced in a year, or in ten years; and the
stately evergreen trees grow slowest of all.

California claims that if a few plain rules were observed, in that state
alone 500 out of 575 forest fires would not occur. Some of these rules
are:

1. Never throw aside matches, or lighted or smoldering stuff, where
anything can possibly catch from it.

2. Camp-fires should be as small as will serve. (Most campers build
fires too large, and against trees or logs whence they will be sure to
spread.)

3. Don't build fires in leaves, rotten wood or sawdust, or pine needles.

4. Don't build fires against large or hollow logs where it is hard to
see that they are not put out. They eat in.

5. Don't build fires under low evergreens, or where a flame may leap to
a branch, or sparks light upon a branch.

6. In windy weather and in dangerous places camp-fires should be
confined in trenches, or an open spot be chosen and the ground first
cleared of all vegetable matter.

7. Never leave a fire, even for a short time, until you are certain that
it is out. Wet it thoroughly, to the bottom, or else stamp it out and
pile on sand or dirt.

8. Never pass by a fire in grass, brush, or timber, which is unguarded
and which you can see is likely to spread. Extinguish it; or if it is
beyond your control, notify the nearest ranch, town, or forest official.

These regulations are for Boy Scouts to remember and to observe, no
matter where the trail leads.

CHAPTER XIV

Note 53, page 161: A fire line is a cleared strip, sometimes only ten,
sometimes, where the brush is thick, as much as sixty feet wide, running
through the timber and the bushes, as a check to the blaze. An old
wood-road, or a regular wagon-road, or a logging-trail, or a pack-trail
is used as a fire line, when possible; but when a fire line must be
cleared especially, it is laid from bare spot to bare spot and along
the tops of ridges. A fire travels very fast up-hill, but works slowly
in getting across. Scouts should remember this important fact: The
steeper the hill, the swifter the fire will climb it.

There are three kinds of forest fires: Surface fires, which burn just
the upper layer of dry leaves and dry grass, brush, and small trees;
ground fires, which burn deep amidst sawdust or pine needles or peat;
and crown fires, which travel through the tops of the trees. Fires start
as surface fires, and then can be beaten out with coats and sacks and
shovels, and stopped by hoe and spade and plow. The ground fire does not
look dangerous, but it is, and it is hard to get at. Crown fires are
surface fires which have climbed into the trees and are borne along in
prodigious leaps by the wind. They are the most vicious and the worst to
fight.

The duty of Scouts is to jump upon a surface fire and kill it before it
becomes a sly ground fire or a raving crown fire.

Note 54, page 171: Even the best surgeons nowadays "fuss" with deep
wounds as little as possible. They clean the deep wound, by washing it
as well as they can, to remove dirt and other loose foreign particles;
then they cover gently with a sterilized pad, and bandage, to keep
microbes away, and Nature does the rest. In the days when our fathers
were boys, salves and arnica and all kinds of messy stuff were used; but
the world has found that all Nature asks is a chance to go ahead,
herself, without interference.

Unless a bullet, even, is lodged where it irritates a nerve or a muscle
or disturbs the workings of some organ of the body, the surgeon is apt
to let it stay, until Nature has tried to throw a wall about it and
enclose it out of the way.

So the less a Scout pokes at a deep wound, the better. He can wash it
out with hot water, and maybe can pick out particles of visible dirt or
splinters with forceps which have been boiled for ten minutes. Then he
can bandage it loosely, and wait for Nature or a surgeon.

CHAPTER XVI

Note 55, page 186: The Elks by this time had lost their pack-saddles and
panniers, which had been cached with other stuff after the two burros
were stolen by the renegades. They had lost also their lash ropes with
the cinchas; so that it was necessary to throw some pack-hitch that did
not require a cincha and hook. One of the easiest of such hitches is the
squaw-hitch. The tarps were spread out and the camp stuff was folded in
so that the result was a large, soft pad, with nothing to hurt Apache's
back. Then the hitch was thrown with one of the ropes, as follows:

[Illustration: Fig. I.]

[Illustration: Fig. II.]

[Illustration: Fig. III.]

Figure I is a double bight, which is laid over the top of the pack, so
that the two loops hang, well down, half on each side. "X"-"Y" is the
animal's back. Take the end of the rope, "c," and pass it under the
animal's belly, and through loop "a" on the other side; pass rope end
"d" under and through loop "b," the same way. Next bring them back to
the first side again, and through the middle place "e," as shown by
dotted lines of Figure II. Keep all the ropes well separated, where they
bite into the pack and into the animal's stomach, and draw taut, and
fasten with a hitch at "e." The result will look like Figure III.

The diamond hitch _can_ be tied by using a loop instead of the cincha
hook.

Note 56, page 193: Pack animals and saddle-horses do much better on the
trail if they can be permitted to graze free, or only hobbled. They like
to forage about for themselves, and usually will eat more and better
grass than when tied by a picket rope. During the first three or four
days out, horse or mule is apt to wander back to the home pasture.
Hobbles can be bought or made. When bought, they are broad, flexible
strips of leather about eighteen inches long, with cuffs which buckle
around each fore leg above the hoof. Hobbles can be made on the spot by
twisting soft rope from fore leg to fore leg and tying the ends by
lapping in the middle.

It is safer to picket a horse by a rope upon the neck rather than upon
the leg. He is not so apt to injure himself by pulling or running. A
picket rope is forty feet long. To loop it securely about the neck,
measure with the end about the neck, and at the proper place along the
rope tie a single knot; knot the end of the rope, and passing it about
the neck thrust the knotted end through the single knot. Here is a loop
that cannot slip and choke the horse, and can easily be untied.

Sometimes the loose end of the picket rope may be fastened to a tree, or
to a bush. A horse should be picketed out from trees, or in the center
of an open space, so that he cannot wind the rope about a tree and hold
himself too short to graze. Sometimes the free end is fastened to a
stake or picket-pin driven into the ground. But if there is no pin, and
no tree or bush is handy, then a "dead-man" may be used. This is an old
scout scheme. The rope is tied to a stick eighteen inches long, or to a
bunch of sticks, or to a bunch of brush, or to a stone; and this buried
a foot and a half or two feet, and the earth or sand tamped upon it.
Thus it is wedged fast against any ordinary pull. By this scheme a horse
may be picketed out on the bare desert.

When an animal is allowed to graze free, a good plan is to have a loose
rope twenty or thirty feet in length trail from his neck as he grazes.
This is another scout scheme, used by Indians, trappers, and cowboys.
When the animal declines to be bridled or grasped by the mane, the
trailing rope usually can be caught up. Indians and trappers when riding
depended much upon this trailing rope, so that when thrown they could
grab it instantly, and mount again.

CHAPTER XVII

Note 57, page 206: Flowers as well as animals have their place and their
rights; and they as well as the animals help to make the great
out-of-doors different from the in-doors. A Scout never destroys
anything uselessly or "for fun."

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17