496 
Forest and Stream 
MAKING A CLEANING ROD 
D id you ever break the cleaning rod 
for your gun and suddenly find 
yourself out of anything of the kind, 
after a long day through the fields? I 
did that once, and I am going to tell you 
how I made a new one. 
Two of us had started early one morn- 
ing over a crisp blanket of snow. Shep, 
between us, went along because he liked 
to, though he cpuldn't have caught a bun- 
ny to save his life. Just as the sun was 
going down behind black clouds in the 
west, we returned home with five cotton- 
tails and a big black-tailed jack between 
us. No thought of the missing cleaner 
came to mind until after supper. Then 
I remembered that I had broken the 
bristolcd end off the day before trying 
to punch out a lodged wad of cloth. 
Taking a lantern I went to the shop. 
There I found some smooth wire, an 
iron rod, a length of two-by-four and a 
broom handle. A hole was bored 
through the two-by-four. Then to the 
barn with a pair of shears ! The small 
handful of stiff tail hairs Maud never 
missed and they were taken to the shop. 
Here I drove the two-by-four ana 
broomstick into the ground (not far, for 
the ground was frozen) and rigged it up 
as shown in figure 1. The wire was 
looped about the broom-stick, through 
the hole and then about the rod, and 
drawn tight. The hairs were roughly 
cut into fairly short lengths and the 
whole handful laid ready. When the rod 
was turned the wire was twisted and be- 
fore it had been turned many times the 
hair was inserted between the two wires 
for a length of one and one-half inches. 
The twisting then continued until the 
two strands were tightly wrapped about 
each other. 
The broom handle was then removed, 
the other end cut off next to the bristles 
and these trimmed down with the shears. 
When I went into the house and tried 
it on the gun barrel badly in need of it, 
this rod worked as well as any. 
Dale R. Van Horn, 
E are depending upon the 
friends and admirers of our 
old correspondent Nessmuk to 
make this departmeyit tvorthy of 
his name. No man knew the woods 
better than Nessmuk or tvrote of 
them ivith quainter charm. Many 
of his practical ideas on camp- 
ing and “going light” have been 
adopted by the United States 
Army; his canoe has been preserved 
in the Smithsonian Institution; and 
we hope that all good tuoodsmen 
u'ill contribute to this department 
their Hints and Khiks and trail- 
tested contrivances ., — [Editor.] 
HOW TO PRESERVE FISH 
THIS year and last year I have had 
^ experience in carrying trout from 
Chadwick’s Camp, Kokadjo, Maine, to 
New York City and with surprisingly 
good results. It occurs to me that this 
inform.ation may be of interest to some 
of your readers. Out of many different 
kinds of packings, I find the following 
gives the best results: 
The trout should be cleaned within an 
hour or two after they are caught. In 
cleaning, they should not be washed, but 
should be wiped inside and out with dry, 
clean cloths. The head should be re- 
moved. Sprinkle inside the trout, along 
the backbone, a small amount of salt, 
probably not using more than a quarter 
of a teaspoonful in a trout that would 
weigh half a pound. 
Then wrap the trout in wax paper (I 
had only the light wax paper — heavier 
weight would be much better). Place 
one end of the wax paper inside the 
trout so that the paper comes between 
the sides of the belly. Then roll the fish 
in it, folding over the ends. Roll this 
in turn in a half sheet of newspaper. 
After having each fish so packed indi- 
vidually, wrap the entire quantity in two 
or three thicknesses of paper, then place 
in a cardboard-box. 
Do not place on ice, but put in a cool 
place and keep as cool as possible until 
you arrive at your final destination. 
Then wash the trout in a good, strong 
solution of soda and put on ice until you 
are ready to broil. 
The foregoing was evolved after many 
experiments in carrying trout wdth the 
entire head on with the head on and 
the gills removed; with charcoal inside 
the trout instead of salt ; without any 
salt at all. 
Those packed in charcoal I had to 
throw away. All those with heads on 
(regardless of whether the gills were re- 
moved or not), the head was invariably 
spoiled. Friends in camp told me that 
the salt would destroy the flavor of the 
trout. In broiling these, I marked them 
in such a way that I could distinguish 
between those which had salt inside and 
those which had none. No difference 
was perceptible. Those having the salt 
were a little firmer than those without, 
and except for the fact that my trout 
appetite was somewhat jaded (having 
had trout always twice and sometimes 
three times a day for two weeks) those 
which I broiled at home Sunday evening, 
which were caught the preceding Friday 
afternoon, were just as good as those 
broiled at noon on the hospitable shores 
of Second West Branch Pond. 
M. L. Beard, New York. 
A SKELETON AXE SHEATH 
I HAVE often wondered why, in speak- 
ing of “going light,” the ordinary axe 
sheath has not come in for some word. 
After some little experimenting I have 
found the following skeleton sheath to 
reduce the weight of the duffle to such 
an extent that one is enabled to carry an 
extra emergency meal in place of the 
old heavy sheath. 
Lay your axe on a piece of heavy 
wrapping paper, mark the outline of first 
one side and then the other. Take a 
strip of heavy leather, from to 1 ioch 
in width and mark out “a” in both “A” 
