FOREST AND 
S T R E A M 
September, 1919 
,/■ 476 
AN OUTDOORMAN’S 
REFRIGERATOR 
M ost of us who take to camping as 
the pastime supreme have at vari- 
ous times encountered stubborn prob- 
lems. Of these, one of the most aggra- 
vating is to find that ants and bugs 
by the multitude have made a trysting 
place in the unused food. 
Or again, find during the heat of the 
day that the butter melts, the bread dries 
crisp, bacon and other materials have 
softened to an unsavory pulp. 
During the twenty-three years of my 
experience as an ardent outdoorsman I 
have experimented with about every sort 
of contrivance that any one has sug- 
gested, ranging the entire gamut from 
tin receptacles to holes in the ground. 
Some of the things I have found useful 
sometimes when conditions were right, 
but tide, weather and topographical ele- 
ments have been encountered in my 
sportsman’s life that precluded the usage 
of any one device or scheme all the time. 
Unquestionably the most popular 
method of protecting foodstuffs is to 
make a cache in the earth. This has 
many disadvantages, mainly those of 
moisture and earth bugs — the danger of 
river or stream overflow, or the wetting 
it might get from a summertime cloud- 
burst. The average meat safe that will 
be secure makes itself prohibitive on ac- 
count of weight and, secondarily, owing 
to its purchase cost. 
As in other kinks which I happened to 
stumble on, two primal features are al- 
ways uppermost in my mind — the elimi- 
nation of cost and weight. I suggest 
for the benefit of campers who think 
as I do, a simple, light, and practically 
costless — an outdoorman’s refrigerator. 
A slatted oblong wooden bushel meas- 
ure, the top of an empty orange or lem- 
mon ' box, a small strip of leather or 
canvas, some stout cord, or small rope 
and the materials are at hand for what 
I consider by long experience from usage 
the very best article of its kind that 
has been suggested. 
The bushel measure can be secured 
without cost from almost any produce or 
grocery firm. These boxes are noth- 
ing more than a series of one-inch high 
slats placed one upon the other, the ends 
being fastened by a long wire running 
through them from top to bottom. 
Turn the box on its side, nail two 
wooden cleats from front to back, one 
I 
E are depending upon the 
friends and admirers of our 
old correspondent Nessmuk to make 
this department worthy of his 
name. No man knew the woods 
better than Nessmuk or wrote of 
them with quainter charm. Many 
of his practical ideas on camping 
and “ going light ” have been 
adopted by the Uni'.ed States 
Amtiy; his canoe has been preserved 
in the Smithsonian Institution; and 
we hope that all good woodsmen 
will contribute to this department 
their Hints and Kinks and trail- 
tested confrirances.— [E ditors.] 
on each side about the mid section. This 
is to support the shelf. For the shelf 
itself cut through the top of an orange 
box, about one inch short of center. The 
shorter end makes the shelf and the 
cthei-, held in place by leather or canvas 
hinges, supplies the top covering for the 
box. 
N )W turn the box on its bottom, push 
the shelf against the side away from 
the cleats and in the open space pack 
your rations for the week-end trip. Take 
two rieces of stout ccrd of the right 
length, knot each end, then, just above 
the knot on each lower corner, drive a 
staple; another in the middle over the 
cord and again one on each corner. This 
gives you four loose ends to fasten the 
box to a tree limb. 
Where gnats or bugs or both are plen- 
tiful, and they usually are, it is well to 
line the box with cheese cloth or mos- 
quito bar. To keep away ants and ver- 
min, take one sheet of ordinary fly pa- 
per, cut it into four sections and twist 
cne about each of the ropes about six 
to ten inches above the top of the box. 
If a tree limb is not convenient, cut 
four sticks with forks, push these into 
the ground, loop the rope ends and place 
them over the forks. In this case put 
the fly paper over the sticks between the 
box and the ground. 
In a country where marauding ani- 
mals — bears, wolves, etc., are apt to make 
inroads on the larder, try this: select 
two trees near each other, too small 
for a bear to climb, yet strong enough 
to hold the weight of the box. Bend 
the tops, fasten a rope between the two 
and about six feet above gpround lash 
the box to this suspension rope, keeping 
the receptacle equi-distant between the 
trees, then peel the bark on both up 
to the bottom of the box. 
In the bottom of the refrigerator fold 
a piece of brown or dark green oil cloth 
at night. Tie this around the box leav- 
ing both ends open and the food is amply 
protected against storm and moisture. 
The elementary knowledge of camp craft 
of course suggests that salt be kept in 
a wooden box. 
Hanging as it does off the ground and 
shaded by leaves or limbs, with a free 
circulation of air, this contrivance will 
keep the food cool, fresh and dry and 
in another manner serve the very useful 
purpose of acting as a grub box for the 
trip to camp, as the wood is made of 
tough material jointed with heavy iron 
wire. It will stand up under terrificly 
hard usage — and it costs nothing to 
make. Frank Winch. 
A BEACH TENT 
F or the benefit of those who are be- 
ginning to take an interest in beach 
camping I will describe a little tent that 
is a modification of several that I have 
made and tried during the past few sea- 
sons. It is good in several respects, I 
think. It requires no long poles (you 
won’t find them on the beach) it re- 
quires very few pegs, and is water and 
