February, 1919 
FOREST AND STREAM 
77 
The head may also be made of cork, 
but being' the part that gets the banging 
about, it is much more satisfactory to 
make it of wood. Use a piece of two x 
four soft pine with clear grain. Saw 
roughly the shape of the head and work 
down with a sharp knife, being particu- 
lar to leave the neck long enough. It 
can be cut down at the last if necessary. 
The diagrams give the general shape and 
size of body and head, but dimensions de- 
pend upon the size of cork blocks. 
Having the head and body, now comes 
the highly important task of putting 
them together. With a half-inch bit, 
bore an inch and a half into the body 
(where the neck is going to fit on) and 
the same distance into the neck. (A vise 
is almost necessary for the latter pro- 
cess.) Now, whittle out a peg of pine 
three inches long and one-half inch in di- 
ameter, with flanges or barbs at one end. 
Pour a little shellac into each hole and 
immediately insert the peg, putting the 
barbed end into the cork. If your work 
is well done, the head will set firm on 
the body. NOTE: You can tilt the head 
by changing the angle of the hole in the 
body; you can have the duck looking 
ahead, to the right or to the left, de- 
pending on how the peg is inserted. 
The duck is now in rough shape. It 
is enough to use putty around the neck 
joint and at the seam where the two 
pieces of cork come together. A friend 
of mine uses putty to “smooth up’’ the 
bird, all over, but this gets you no better 
results — it, of course, does satisfy your 
asthetic sense. 
About the painting, you will have to 
exercise your own discretion. Let me 
say here, by the way, no brother need 
be discouraged through supposed lack of 
artistic ability. I have seen some mighty 
finished articles by fellows who could not, 
on a wager, paint a fence sign in legible 
fashion. If you are in doubt as to the 
markings of the different varieties of 
ducks, go to the attic and bring down 
some of the dust covered “boys” or con- 
sult some authentic colored plate or con- 
fer with a brother sportsman. I find 
that a foundation of black serves best 
for the different kinds. Do not be afraid 
to outdo the white. Use glossy paints. 
Balance the duck with a piece of flat 
lead, as usual. The cork will require a 
third more than wood. Put in the screw 
eye or staple at the bottom front, use 
brass-headed tacks for eyes — set fairly 
low in the head — and you have a duck as 
much a game-getter as the best, costing 
you not more than two bits. 
And think of the good time you’ve had 
puttering around! 
But the real big, satisfied, feeling will 
come in the nip of next season when, en- 
tertaining some fellow hunter you slap 
yourself on your inflated chest and say, 
“Behold the workmanship of an artist!” 
Then hear him exclaim, “You don’t say 
so!” (Meaning what?) 
You will be surprised how expert you 
become after the apprentice lot. You 
will doubtless produce some specimens 
which you will display — if your wife will 
allow it — on, the mantle shelf along side 
of that painting by Michael Angelo or 
the marble bust of Lincoln, as master- 
pieces of workmanship. 
Here’s success to your efforts! 
Gordon J. Platt, Vermont. 
For Suspicious Travelers 
I HAVE had occasion to travel consid- 
erably and it has been my misfortune 
to be obliged to put up at many indif- 
ferent country hotels. Some of these 
were not at all clean and inviting. I 
make a practise of carrying a small box 
of powdered alum and if the bed in which 
I am to sleep does not look inviting or 
looks a little suspicious, I sprinkle the 
alum powder freely between the sheets 
and around the pillow. I never have any 
unpleasant nocturnal visitors. This is 
not exactly a fishing or hunting hint, as 
the “birds” in question are not included 
as game fish or animals or even as bait, 
but many sportsmen who have had sim- 
ilar* unpleasant experiences will be glad 
to know of this reliable preventive. 
M. M. Todd, Boston, Mass. 
To Keep Cobbler’s Wax Soft 
D oubtless all of us who make or 
mend our own tackle have suffered 
more or less from the mean ways of 
cobbler’s wax — in summer it is like soup, 
in winter granite. It adheres to your 
fingers, whilst declining to do so upon 
the desired object; and in winter, when 
you want to dress flies, it becomes all 
but hopeless. Yet I, for one, confess to 
finding no efficient substitute, and lately 
have found a way of softening its hard- 
ness. The usual plan for this is to keep 
the article in water, which upsets, mak- 
ing a mess of the table, and of the op- 
erator a “dem moist unpleasant body”; 
or to put it in your breeches pocket, and 
forget all about it. 
Now this may be avoided by keeping 
it in a box with a tiny bit of camphor, 
which keeps the surface so soft that a 
bit of old glove on its face will be found 
sticky enough to wax thread. I find the 
best boxes are those small iin boxes 
in which throat tablets, matches, etc., are 
sold. The ends are simply turned down, 
not soldered, so that if desired they can 
be bent down to allow of waxing stouter 
cords. I have also tried mixing cam- 
phor with my wax, but like the simpler 
plan better. 
I find a pricker made from an old 
salmon h’ook (straightened) very use- 
ful, especially where a whip-knot has to 
be made on a broken thread of silk; the 
barb acts like that of a crochet needle. 
M. Q., London, Eng. 
