36 
FOREST AND S T R E A M 
January, 1918 
TJ/'.E are depending upon 
try the friends and ad¬ 
mirers of our old cor¬ 
respondent Nessmuk to make 
this department worthy of his 
name. No man knew the 
woods better than Nessmuk 
or wrote of them with quaint¬ 
er charm. Many of his prac¬ 
tical ideas on camping and 
“going light” have been adopt- 
Horsehair Snares for Rabbits 
HAVE found that a good snare is one 
of the best means of catching rabbits 
and during the winter I set quite a line of 
them in a swamp near my farm. We have 
always been fond of them as food, and 
this winter I intend to reduce the cost of 
living still 1 further and help to save the 
beef for the boys at the Front—and we 
will not have any “meatless days” either, 
if my snares work well. You will see from 
the rough drawings enclosed that my dif¬ 
ferent methods of setting snares depend 
on the place where they are set. Of 
course, I always choose a runway, and I 
twist my snares by the old Indian method, 
which I will describe. 
Take about 20 horsehairs, tie the butts 
together in a double knot, then divide into 
half and tie a double knot in each end, 
with the butts in the middle. Then secure 
one end to a nail in a post end, as I have 
shown in my drawing. Now you are ready 
to twist it. Hold the free end in your 
fingers securely and twist to the left until 
tight. Now take hold of the center butt- 
knot and lift it up, thus bringing the two 
ends together. Do not let go of it and keep 
it taut until the ends are firmly grasped, 
then let go the butt-knot. It will start to 
twist to the right; when it stops twisting 
tie the two ends together in a double knot 
to keep it from untwisting. Separate the 
hairs at one end and slip the other end 
through as shown in the drawing of the 
finished snare. You have a snare which 
will not kink and will always hold its loop. 
Be sure to use black or brown hair, never 
white, which for some reason is never used 
by the old trappers. You would think that 
white would be better and would show 
less against the snow, but for some reason 
old trappers avoid it. Maybe it is only a 
superstition, but all I have to say is: Try 
it and see how many rabbits you catch. 
When you set the snare, you can use a 
spring pole or just a long sapling. The 
lower way shows how I set snares on a 
runway that passes under a fence. Be 
sure to secure the snare at the bottom in 
the cleft of a tiny stick. This keeps it from 
swinging in the wind and letting the rab¬ 
bit run under it. 
John Bailey, New Brunswick, Canada. 
Unbreakable Condiment-Holder 
USED a piece of a broken bamboo fish¬ 
ing rod to make a condiment holder 
which was a success in every way. It was 
unbreakable, non-corrosive, did not spill the 
contents among other foodstuffs and cost 
nothing at all to make. 
Select a smooth place and saw the rod 
across in two places about two inches from 
a joint in the wood. This gives two cells 
of equal size, as the joint extends across 
PEG ABOUT THE SIZE OF MATCH SPLIT DOWN AN EIGHTH OF AN INCH FOR HOLDING 
THE LOOP TO PREVENT ITS SWINGIN6 IN THE WIND. 
the cane and forms a partition. In one 
cell put salt and cork the end tightly with 
an ordinary cork; put pepper in the other 
cell and close with a tight-fitting cork. 
t r 
^CORK. BAMBOO.-^ CORK.-^ 
You have to try this contrivance to see 
how really handy it is. 
I enjoy reading the hints sent in by other 
sportsmen, especially those sent in by Jim 
Ferguson. I wish he would write more 
about his outfit and his experiences on the 
trail. It mifSt be great fun to travel round 
the country as he does. Give him my re¬ 
gards. 
Nevill K. Morris, Long Island. 
Trench Candles—A New Fuel 
HERE is no doubt but that when the 
present war is ended the sportsman’s 
“bag of tricks” will contain many new ap¬ 
pliances and methods borrowed from mili¬ 
tary experience. Even now a number of 
such are making their appearance, as can 
be readily seen by the perusal of any up- 
to-date sportsman’s magazine. 
Having recently read of the trench can¬ 
dles used by the soldiers of the Allied na¬ 
tions for heating rations under such con¬ 
ditions as would render smoke and a large 
flame extremely dangerous, I became curi¬ 
ous as to their use in the field. A few 
experiments proved their great value, espe¬ 
cially so when one does not wish to gather 
firewood just to make coffee or heat soup, 
etc., or in case of a recent shower having 
drenched all the kindling in the vicinity, 
on which occasion they may be used to 
start the camp-fire, as the length of time 
they will burn, twenty to thirty minutes, is 
sufficient to start even green wood. 
Trench candles are made by rolling 
newspapers into a compact roll about an 
inch in diameter, secured by pasting along 
the edge of the last sheet. This roll is 
then cut into pieces about an inch and a 
half long, which are boiled in paraffine 
for about five minutes. After cooling these 
candles are firm and hard and for use are 
stood on end and lighted. 
Now for the proof of their practical 
utility. On one occasion my companion 
and I cooked bacon and eggs, using only 
part of a candle; at another test soup for 
three was prepared without exhausting the 
fuel. As a result of these and many other 
experiments my outfit always contains 
these handy articles and I consider myself 
prepared for warm noon lunches and fires 
on rainy days. 
PEPPER. 
SALT. 
P. M. Fink, Tennessee. 
