November, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
657 
Sling Strap and Its Many Uses 
ERE are a half dozen ways the leather 
sling strap can be used and I guess 
another half dozen could be figured out. 
This sling strap came with my Winches¬ 
ter light weight cal. 45-70 moose-gun. I 
believe it is the other way around—I 
bought the strap and the rifle came along 
with it, as so far the strap has done me 
No. 6. As a shoulder strap on the lunch 
bag and cartridge bag. It is quickly ad¬ 
justed from one shoulder. 
No. 7. As a carry strap. Adjust the slid¬ 
ing loop around the package then button the 
other end in one side of the sliding buckle 
this forms a hand hold. 
No. 8. As a belt to hold the trousers in 
place. To hold the two ends together a 
more service. And here are some of its 
uses: 
No. 1. Shows complete. 
No. 2. As an aid to carry other guns 
when going to or from the hunting field 
with buckle end around the grip and the 
button end around the barrel. 
No. 3. The button end holds the D-ring 
and its loops for carrying small game. The 
sliding buckle placed so the loop is full. 
The arm is to be run through the loop so 
the weight rests on the shoulder. 
No. 4. As a small game carrier with a 
set of D-ring loops at each end to be car¬ 
ried across the shoulder. 
No. 5. As a lead strap for the dog: The 
button end fastens to the collar ring, and 
the sliding loop can be adjusted around the 
wrist. 
square ring is needed. Get it from the 
harness man. 
I wear a sweater a great deal when 
camping and tramping and it has to be 
washed quite often. So to keep it from 
spreading all out of shape I sewed a strip 
of canvas 6" by 1" on each side so it 
comes along the top of each shoulder when 
the sweater is on. But the garment is 
about ten inches wide where each strip is 
sewed, so the fullness has to be neatly 
gathered in. This keeps the sweater in 
shape and the sleeves from falling down 
over my wrists in unhandy folds. 
I want to caution some of the newer 
campers and hunters on the matter of 
catching, or rather curing, colds. Do not 
go out doors feeling chilly; exercise a little 
in the camp, just enough to start the blood 
circulating briskly but not so as to get into 
a perspiration. If you have a cold, be 
careful about using your handkerchief; do 
not place it to the nose and then draw in 
a deep breath as it will carry several mil¬ 
lion germs (more or less) to keep up the 
work their brothers have begun. Draw in 
a deep breath before placing the handker¬ 
chief to the nostrils. I have seen severe 
colds quickly cured by putting the nose 
in a cup of water and inhaling it into the 
nostrils. It will strangle a bit but will not 
hurt one. Some people put salt in this 
nose bath, but pure water will clean the 
passages and that means cure the cold. 
Jim Ferguson, New York. 
A Breath from the Fir Woods 
E VERY person who has camped in the 
North Woods knows how invigorating 
and delicious is the scent of the evergreen 
trees. Almost every camper has been com¬ 
missioned by some stay-at-home friend to 
“pick a pillow.” I rashly promised several, 
when starting on my vacation, that I would 
bring them enough of the fragrant fir tips 
to make cushions, and I was amazed and 
discouraged when I discovered how long it 
took to gather enough tips for even one. 
So instead of picking the tips I stripped off 
the tiny spills, beginning at the lower part of 
each fine twig. I placed these on a paper 
and allowed them to dry quickly in the sun. 
When I arrived home I bought several 
small covered jars such as are used for rose 
leaf pot-pourri and filled each with the fir 
needles. When a breath from the woods is 
desired, the cover of the jar needs only to 
be lifted and the scent of the fir soon fills 
the room. This little souvenir of my vaca¬ 
tion proved as acceptable as a pillow and the 
work involved is much less, not to mention 
the inconvenience of having to carry several 
bags of fir twigs across numerous portages. 
Mrs. H. C. M., Boston, Mass. 
Beans Baked in the Ground 
T HE baked bean is the favorite fruit of 
most campers in spite of the fact that 
very few novices can bake them successfully 
in the ground. My “hint” in this regard is 
to have the bean pot hot when the beans are 
put in, to rake the coals from the bean-hole 
at the last minute and to cover the top of 
the bean pot with coals, then a layer of 
ashes, then a thin layer of earth and keep 
a small fire burning on top. A night in the 
ground under these conditions should assure 
a well-baked, savory dish of beans, too good 
for any but honest men. Beans cooked in 
this manner are easily digested. 
W. J. D., Portland, Maine. 
