320 
SCOUTING FOR GIRLS 
blow; in cold weather, protection against the prevailing 
wind. 
9. Privacy. 
“ Water, wood, and good drainage may be all you need 
for a “one-night stand,” but the other points, too, should 
be considered when selecting a site for a fixed camp. 
“Water — Be particularly careful about the purity of 
your water supply. You come, let us say, to a mountain 
brook, that issues from thick forest. It ripples over clean 
rocks, it bubbles with air, it is clear as crystal, and cool 
to your thirsty throat. ‘Surely that is good water/ But 
do you know where it comes from? Every mountain 
cabin is built close to a spring-branch. Somewhere up 
that branch there may be a clearing; in that clearing, a 
house; in that house, a case of dysentery or typhoid 
fever. I have known several cases of infection from 
just such a source. It is not true that running water 
purifies itself. & 
“When one must use well-water let him note the sur- 
rounding drainage. If the well is near a stable or out 
house, or if dish water is thrown near it, let it alone. A 
well in sandy soil is more or less filtered by nature, but 
rocky or clayey earth may conduct disease germs a con- 
siderable distance under ground. Never drink from the 
well of an abandoned farm : there is no telling what may 
have fallen into it. 
“A spring issuing from the living rock is worthy of 
confidence. Even if it be but a trickle you can scoop 
out a basin to receive it that soon will clear itself. 
“Sometimes a subaqueous spring may be found near 
the margin of a lake or river by paddling close in shore 
and trailing your hand in the water. When a cold spot 
is noted, go ashore and dig a few feet back from the 
water’s edge. I have found such spring exit in the 
Mississippi some distance from the bank, and by weight- 
