the same principle as you would build 
a form for concrete work, and fill in the 
space with a sort of mortar composed 
of mud and stones. If the earth used 
happens to be of the right sort a fairly 
passable job will result; the pole frame- 
work will burn out on the inside, bak- 
ing the clay hard and firm. 
RUT: if ordinary mud is all that is 
to be had, the fireplace keeps 
crumbling and not only makes a deuce 
of a mess but is actually dangerous. 
A man can’t be too careful of fire, for 
if a fellow gets his outfit and grubstake 
destroyed by this agency he is certainly 
in a fine pickle. 
Another objection to a fireplace is 
the excessive amount of wood required ° 
to keep it going. Of course wood 
doesn’t cost the trapper anything but 
there is a lot of work in connection with 
the gathering and cutting it into suit- 
able lengths. And while on the subject 
it may be wise to say something in 
regard to keeping a supply of wood on 
hand. Many trappers carry a small 
crosscut saw into the woods with them, 
cutting a plentiful amount of blocks at 
each cabin where they may be split into 
fuel as needed. 
Closely allied to the question of arti- 
ficial heat for the cabins comes the 
matter of bedding. Don’t ever imagine 
for one minute that you can “rough it” 
to the exclusion of good heavy blankets. 
Now and again the professional moun- 
tain trapper will spend a night before 
an open fire under a spruce or balsam 
with no protection except the clothes 
‘he has on. But to practice this regu- 
larly is worse than foolhardy. Nor 
can one manage with merely enough’ 
blankets for one bunk—there are other 
cabins he will be staying in! It is 
highly impractical, unless one has dogs, 
to pack bedding from one camp to an- 
other. There is always something to 
carry—a few traps for newly discov- 
ered sets or maybe some extra grub 
for one of the sidelines. 
Bedding is bulky packing at best, 
and one cannot be handicapped with it 
except on special occasions. The only 
solution to the difficulty is to have 
enough. blankets for each cabin—say 
three single or two double ones. This 
will mean from eight to ten pair of 
blankets. 
HUPson’s BAY COMPANY “point” 
blankets are the favorite in the 
north country and the U. S. Army 
blankets in the States. The H. B. Co. 
blankets are so popular they are imi- 
tated by inferior products. One fall a 
moose hunter visited me, coming from 
Wisconsin to my camp in northwestern 
Alberta. He had written me about 
blankets and on the way through Ed- 
Page 647 
monton bought what he was told was a 
H. B. Company four-point blanket. Of 
course he was proud of it and showed it 
to me about the first thing. One glance 
was enough to convince me it was a 
cheap imitation. The “points” (merely a 
way of figuring the size) of the blankets 
are marked in parallel black bars in op- 
posite corners, four bars designating 
four points, etc. This size in the genu- 
ine article weighs around three pounds 
to the point or twelve pounds per pair. 
The hunter’s blanket was marked with 
the bars all right, but the genuine seal 
of the H. B. Company was lacking’ where 
it is sewed in one corner of the real 
product. Just now, if one is trapping 
in the U. S., slightly used army blankets 
may be picked up at very reasonable 
cost. These are single blankets and not 
as heavy as the H. B. Company’s, but 
very warm and durable for the weight. 
HUNTING or skinning knives and 
axes are a mighty neccessary ad- 
dition to the mountain trapper’s outfit. 
Marble’s woodcraft style of knife is 
the best we have ever personally used. 
It is exceptionally good for skinning all 
the larger animals, such as bear, deer, 
and moose. In an emergency, a skilled 
trapper could use it passing fair on a 
weasel. It has a stiff nicely beveled 
blade that is excellent for carving meat 
or slicing bread. But nothing is per- 
fect in this world and I once discovered 
that Marble’s woodcraft knife made a 
mighty bum excuse for a razor! Maybe 
I didn’t give it a fair show, for my 
beard had been growing six months. 
While on the subject we will give a 
few remarks in regard to skinning 
knives, to be used 
in removing’ the 
pelts from the fur- 
bearers. A_ good 
pocket knife is bet- 
ter than any stiff, 
clumsy hunting 
knife; a small slen- 
der blade being 
ideal for slitting 
the fur and for 
working around 
eyes, ears and toes. 
A heavier blade, 
slightly rounding 
at the end, is best 
for removing sur- 
plus flesh and fat 
from the main portion of the pelt. 
Now, we have “axes to grind.” For 
the main ‘cabin a rather heavy pole axe 
or a medium double-bitted axe is very 
necssary, for there most of the wood 
cutting is done. And of course good 
serviceable axes are needed in building 
the cabins—presuming the trapper has 
such work to do. Very few professional 
trappers carry a belt axe; usually a 

longer-handled heavier axe is taken 
along in a pack sack. To me there is 
nothing more cumbersome than an axe 
carried on a belt, beside the average 
belt axe is virtually useless in cutting 
a sizable tree. 
HEY are good “weapons” for boy 
scouts and campfire girls, but be- 
lieve me, when it’s forty below and you 
want a fire in a hurry, something more 
substantial is appreciated. Unless the 
trapper carries some sort of axe with 
him he will need to have one at each 
camp, or to have a plentiful supply of 
wood already cut. 
Pack sacks are as common to trap- 
pers as water for duck ponds, they act 
as a sort of catch-all when a fellow 
wants to go somewhere and doesn’t 
know how long he will be gone. A few 
traps, snare wire or cord, strips of raw- 
hide for mending snowshoes, a pair of 
sox, change of moccasins and different 
kinds of food are only some of the 
things that go into a trapper’s pack. 
All small furbearers taken from the 
traps are thrown, unskinned, into the 
pack sack while the furs from the 
larger animals are removed to save 
packing the heavy carcass. 
A TRAPPER might as well leave his 
coat home as to forget his pack 
sack. The style of the Duluth pack 
sack fits in well with general require- 
ments. Some like the pack basket best 
but personally we consider the sack bet- 
ter on account of its wider range of 
uses. It’s a good idea to have a head 
strap and, what’s more, to break your- 
self into using it. The old saw, “a 
change is as good 
as a rest” will be 
found applicable to 
packing. Easing 
the load from 
shoulders to head 
relieves that pain- 
ful strap - cutting 
effect. 
Many have de- 
bated the question 
of what is best in 
the line of firearms 
for the trapper. 
The tyros all want 
to know if a .45 
Colt’s is heavy 
enough to protect 
them against wolves and bears and if 
a 25-20 won’t be all right for moose! 
Of course we were all greenhorns once 
and I am sure the writer was about 
the greenest of the green! I took four 
weapons into the wilds the first year 
and enough ammunition to stage a 
young war. Since then I have rarely 
carried more than two. First let me say, 
that with the possible exception of a 
