534 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Waterproof Boot of Extreme Lightness 
A Knee-high Moccasin that had its Origin in the Arctics, but which 
Commends itself to the Outdoor Man of any Clime 
By Old 
I DON T know who first invented or designed 
the present form of sporting boot, but I do 
know that the average hiker along trodden 
and untrodden trails in the wilderness has been 
forced by example, necessity and lack of some¬ 
thing better to lift from four to six pounds extra 
weight on his feet over interminable distances, 
and at much physical discomfort. The modern 
sporting boot looks “sporty” in pictures. It may 
give to the wearer that devil-may-care outdoor 
effect so much striven for on magazine covers, 
but you never find the tough old woodsman or 
the man who works at his trade away from civil¬ 
ization indulging much in the knee-high, laced- 
up, leaden-weighed magazine-cover boots. The 
'old timer has been through the mill, and he re¬ 
serves his carrying power for what he can pile 
on his back. Some mathematical genius figured 
out recently just how many pounds a man lifts 
by toting heavy boots so many steps per mile 
over a given stretch of miles. The tonnage was 
fearful. 
Also it is a superfluity of the most foolish de¬ 
scription. The real woodsman wears light shoes 
or moccasins. An occasional wetting of his 
feet does not matter much, for he wears wool 
socks and wrings them out or dries them as 
often as possible. I will admit that in a snake 
country, protection of the legs is ‘necessary, but 
I am speaking now of the northern woods, where 
the snake question does not enter the problem. 
There are many people, however, who do not 
like wet feet, and who cannot stand wet feet. 
For such people little has been done. Think of a 
knee-high moccasin or boot weighing twelve or 
fourteen ounces, perfectly impervious to watei, 
yet made of leather. That is what the far north 
has been waiting a long time to give us. Sports¬ 
men who have gone into Newfoundland or ven¬ 
tured further up the Labrador coast, even into the 
Arctic, are thoroughly familiar with the hair seal 
moccasin or boot, the most comfortable foot 
wear ever designed for man, so light that it 
scarcely can be said to possess weight at all. and 
so pliable that it can be turned inside out like a 
glove for drying. 
The picture I am sending you will show how 
this boot looks. It is .not pretty, I will admit, 
and for many people it might not be comfortable 
unless used with an inner sole or soled on the 
bottom with a stiff piece of leather, but it is wa¬ 
terproof to the top and amazingly comfortable, 
especially in a canoe. I ordered a pair of these 
boots from a general store in St. Johns, New¬ 
foundland, a few weeks since. They came to hand 
promptly, but as they had been taken out of raw 
stock, directions for making them waterproof 
were sent with the shipment. 
These directions are as follows: 
First soak them in warm water over night. 
Then steep them in bark for twenty-four hours 
with chips or other material inside to allow the 
bark to reach every spot. After twenty-four 
hours in the bark, turn them wrong side out and 
hang them out to dry but not harden. When 
dry put them into the bark again, wrong side out 
Camper. 
for twenty-four hours or longer if convenient. 
“When taken out of the bark a second time let 
them dr'y but not harden and when dry, soak 
them in seal or cod oil over night and then 
hang them out to dry next morning. 
“Treated this way the boots will last long and 
remain waterproof, but if worn green the first 
day s tramp will drive out all the natural oil and 
the boot won’t last, more especially in warm 
weather. If treated as above, they may be soled 
by a shoemaker when the bottoms are worn thin, 
and used with great satisfaction for many sea¬ 
sons.” 
Of course soaking in bark water means simply 
a tanning process. As seal oil and cod oil are not 
The Sealskin Boot-Weighs Less than a Pound. 
common commodities in city stores, and as they 
usually smell to high Heaven any ordinary- 
waterproofing process by means of oil prepara¬ 
tions can be substituted. The cost? The New¬ 
foundland store charged me $3.00 for the boots, 
and 24 cents additional for parcel post carriage. 
Uncle Sam collected another nickel for delivery, 
but said nothing about duty, and as the package 
was opened for inspection I infer that no duty 
is levied on such small shipments. 
Boots like these as a rule are made by the 
Eskimo women in Labrador. They are similar 
to the Eskimo boot, used all over the Arctic, 
both east and west, but of course in colder cli¬ 
mates the hair is left on for warmth. 
INDIANS WHO FORETOLD WET SUMMER 
PREDICT LONG WINTER. 
The season so far verifies the weather predic¬ 
tions of the Indians who occasionally visit the 
Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Col¬ 
orado for trading purposes, but who never stay 
an hour longer than is necessary because of their 
dread of the "little people” whom they believe 
still inhabit, in spirit form, the prehistoric cliff 
dwellings that have made the Mancos Valley 
famous the world over. Last fall the Mesa 
Verde prairie dogs deserted their villages for 
new ones, and the Indians have been shaking 
their heads over it all winter. “Rain, much rain,” 
they say; “rain all summer.” So far they seem 
to have predicted right. 
And now they are again shaking their heads. 
Cold, much cold,” they say; “bad winter com¬ 
ing. And why ? Because this summer game 
has been unusually plentiful on the Mesa Verde. 
Deer are more frequently seen than for years. 
Rabbits and hares are so numerous one can 
scarcely go about without seeing them in large 
numbers. Coyotes and mountain lions are also 
unusually plentiful, which may be explained by 
the abundance of the small game on which they 
live. 
4,451 INDIANS IN NEW YORK STATE. 
There are 609 fewer Indians on the reserva¬ 
tions of New York State than ten years ago. 
But three tribes, the Onondagas, Tonawandas, 
and Tuscaroras, show any gain in numbers, ac¬ 
cording to the official census figures made public 
by Francis M. Hugo, Secretary of State. The 
total number of Indians now living on the eight 
reservations is 4,451, as compared with 5,060 in 
1905. According to the Federal enumeration of 
1910, the population of the Indian reservations 
was 5,729, but included whites and other per¬ 
sons, as well as the redskins. 
Out of the 4,451 now on the reservations, not 
less than 762 admit they are pagans, and 748 
speak little or no English. 
In the eight reservations there are 87,676 acres, 
of which the Indians are this summer cultivat¬ 
ing 30,556, or an average of 6.08 acres for each 
man, woman and child. The census figures show 
that the St. Regis, Onondagas, and the Tusca¬ 
roras are the largest tillers of the soil; the Alle- 
ghanys and the Cattaraugus Indians the least. 
At the Onondaga reservation 4,266 acres out 
of 7 , 3 °° are under cultivation: St. Regis, 10,638 
out of 14,030; Cattaraugus, 4,447 out of 21,680; 
Alleghany, 3,858 out of 30,469; Shinnecock, 71 
out of 400 acres; Tonowandas, 2,527 out of 
7 , 548 ; Tuscaroras, 4,749 out of 6,249. 
The pagans are shown as follows: Onondaga, 
113; Cattaraugus, 300; Alleghany, 287; Shinne¬ 
cock, 5; St. Regis, 0; Tonowanda, 57; Tusca- 
rora, 0. 
The 748 found speaking little or no English 
are divided in the following manner: Onon¬ 
dagas, 34; St. Regis, 232; Cattatraugus, 86; Al¬ 
leghany, 101; Shinnecock, o; Tonowandas, 239; 
Tuscaroras, 56. 
L 
