March i6, 1912 
327 
FOREST AND STREAM 
TRAPPERS’ HARDSHIPS. 
Five days on the trail with the temperature 
40 degrees below zero, without water and with 
only a partridge to eat, was the experience of 
E. W. Ditlmeier, a trapper, who reached Ed¬ 
monton, Alberta, on Jan. 24 after almost four 
months engaged in trapping about 125 miles 
northwest of Edmonton. 
A. A. and E. W. Ditlmeier, two brothers of 
Helena. Mont., left on Oct. 8 for Edson. It 
was during the first week in November that the 
latter met with the terrible experience which 
might easily have cost him his life. 
The brothers were camping on the Little 
Smoky River. On Nov. 7 they left camp sepa¬ 
rately to lay their traps and look for game. A 
blinding blizzard came up and E. W. became 
lost in the storm. He lost all idea as to where 
the camp was, but had not lost his direction. 
Consequently he set out southwest with the in¬ 
tention of striking the base line which lay in 
this direction. He followed the course of the 
river, knowing that in this way he would be 
sure to locate the line. 
Unfortunately, he was travelling through a 
low, brushy country and this combined with 
the storm and the fact that the base line had 
become considerably overgrown made it impos¬ 
sible for him to see it and he passed it unknow¬ 
ingly. Unconscious of the fact that he had 
passed the line, he kept his southwesterly 
course, following the river and still looking for 
the line. For three days he kept up the search 
for the line wondering if it had disappeared from 
the face of the country. 
The weather was bitterly cold, being in the 
neighborhood of 40 degrees below zero. On the 
first night Mr. Ditlmeier walked all night, and 
on the second night he slept between two fires. 
“The blazing brush was so close to me,” said 
Mr. Ditlmeier in relating his experiences to the 
Edmonton Bulletin, “that the buttons were 
burnt off my coat.” 
All the third day he continued his fruitless 
search for the base line by means of which he 
hoped to find his way back to camp. 
Meanwhile his brother, who had returned to 
camp, had become alarmed at his non-appear¬ 
ance and set out in search for him. He took 
only a loaf of bread and a few slices of bacon. 
By keeping continually on his brother’s tracks, 
he managed to overtake him on the third day. 
Without food and water they immediately 
commenced to retrace their footsteps for camp. 
On the fourth day they shot a partridge, which 
they cooked over a fire. 
“That partridge certainly tasted good,” said 
one of the brothers to the Bulletin, “even 
though we ate it without salt and pepper and 
without any water to wash it down, and there 
were no leavings.” 
On the fifth day they reached camp and im¬ 
mediately began to attack their provisions with 
zest which threatened serious depletion for a 
time. Neither brother suffered seriously as a 
result of the rather hazardous five days on the 
trail. 
It has been a very poor season for trapping 
north of Edson. 
“Had we been after bear we could have ob¬ 
tained plenty, but we did not want them as we 
had no horses and they were too heavy to get 
out without equipment,” said A. A. Ditlmeier. 
“What we wanted was moose, but we saw prac¬ 
tically no tracks while we were there and were 
unable to get any. We covered an area of about 
45 square miles extending from where the ferry 
crosses the Little Smoky, about 80 miles north 
of Edson to where you can jump over the river, 
about 125 miles north of Edson.” 
A “DRINK” FOR THE FISH. 
Last summer, when the Sheffield Anglers 
were visiting the town of March, in Cambridge¬ 
shire. the following incident took place on the 
banks of the River Nene: A Sheffielder, who 
had been fishing for two hours without getting 
a.bite, suddenly took sixpence from his pocket, 
and, throwing it into the river, exclaimed: 
Have a drink, old lad, thou’ll take nowt to 
eat.” — Angler’s News. 
PLANNING A HOUSEBOAT 
Houseboating has come among us to stay, and promises to be even more 
popular than in England itself. Every one who is interested in houseboats or 
who contemplates taking up this feature of outdoor life, should read Mr. Albert 
Bradlee Hunt’s practical, and, at the same time, beautiful work on the house¬ 
boat and its adaptation to American waters. 
Houseboats and Houseboating 
Covers the entire range of its title, considers the use and opportunities of the 
houseboat ; their relation to city and suburban life; construction, furnishing, 
motive power, and all the thousand and one details, the knowledge of which 
spells the difference between success and failure in houseboat building and 
houseboat life. 
Details, plans, drawings and specifications illuminate the text, while life on 
houseboats is interestingly described. Some of the more noted English and 
American houseboats and the life thereon are also described at length, with 
illustrations. Buckram, heavy paper, sumptuously illustrated. 
Postpaid, $3.34. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY 
127 Franklin Street, New York City 
A PROBLEM’S SOLUTION 
Log Cabins and Cottages; How to Build and Furnish Them 
A seasonable book when all minds are bent on the problem of getting close to nature. Mr. Wicks 
in this delightful bock offers timely advice to every one who wants to build a simple summer home 
at one with its surroundings of wood or stream or shore. 
This is a thoroughly practical work, treating of the how, the where, and the with what of camp 
building and furnishing. It is helpful, too, in regard to furnishing, and withal a most beautiful 
work. Cloth, profusely illustrated, $i.yo postpaid. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 127 Franklin Street. NEW YORK CITY 
THE ANGLER*S WORKSHOP 
Rodmaking for Beginners 
By PERRY D. FRAZER 
Not only Americans, but anglers of Great Britain and nearly every European State, 
South Africa, Australia, Canada, are making their fishing rods under the simple instruc¬ 
tions laid down by the author in this useful little manual. A Japanese, after reading the 
book, took up rod repairing for his fellow countrymen as a business. An Englishman 
followed it in making several of the sixty-five rods that he has in his collection. A 
Russian appreciated the book so much that he suggested a Russian translation. The 
British sportsmen’s papers have quoted from it time and time again. In that country it 
has helped bring about a great change in rod types, and to attract attention to the ex¬ 
cellence of American fishing rods. In fact, “Rodmaking for Beginners” has become the 
standard manual wherever fishing with rod and reel is practiced. 
The reason is obvious. The book is written in plain English, and all the details are 
set down so simply that a boy can follow them. All of the types of rods used on fresh 
and salt water are described and specifications given. Separate chapters cover all details, 
and the one on split cane rodmaking is the only comprehensive treatise on that subject 
ever published. 
Cloth, 180 pages, four full-page illustrations, 60 working drawings, making plain every 
feature of the text. Postpaid, $1. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO., 127 Franklin Street, NEW YORK 
