Motor Camping

Whether the party be large or small, it will be wise to have it pretty carefully organized. Divide up the chores, so that each one will have his part to perform in connection with the common enterprise. When the stop is made for the night have it understood in advance just what each one is to do in arranging for the camp and the preparation of the evening meal. Even each small boy who may be along should have his appointed task to perform. He will enjoy the outing all the more and instead of being a burden will prove a valuable help. As in the evening, so in the morning light, everything should be ordered and every one should have a part in the day’s order.

The motor camper who coöperates with his fellow campers on the basis of “self-service” will get the real fun and enjoyment which a camping trip can supply. The camper who is unwilling to “help out” had best arrange his trip with those who patronize the hotels and travel on the ten dollar a day per capita basis.

The camping site should be as carefully selected as may be. If the stop is made at one of the camping parks, there will be small choice save in the matter of the park, because in most of these public parks there will be some one who will assign each camper his appointed place. Where the park is large, and some of them include many acres, there may be considerable choice of location. This will [124]be more likely to be true early or late in the usual camping season of summertime, for then the parks are not likely to be crowded. At the height of the season, however, some of the more popular parks along the main cross-continent motor-ways are obliged from lack of accommodations to turn many cars away.

It is well while moving to cast about for a suitable camping site by mid-afternoon. If the intention is to make use of a public motor park, and the first one found does not seem altogether desirable in point of being roomy, shaded, or in the provisions made for the comfort and convenience of campers, drive on to another and keep on until the best camp site available is found. This advice applies all the more to the camper who intends to camp by himself on private property and who will have to arrange for camping permission, etc., before settling himself for the night.

A location by a stream, lake or bay is desirable. Such a location is important, if feasible, because of the attractiveness of a water view, and, still more, because bathing facilities are conducive to both health and happiness. The importance of bathing facilities is pretty well understood by almost every one. Some motorists pack along folding canvas bath tubs, and these are certainly very convenient. But, if a stream is alongside or near by the camp [125]site, or there is other water suitable for bathing, it will be much easier to bathe in this water than in the little bath tub. Of course, unless the water is very shoal those who cannot swim should exercise great care. For that matter those who cannot swim might well take advantage of the leisure of a camping trip to pitch camp where there will be a chance to learn this very healthful and vitally important art.

In selecting a camp site, other than in a camping park provided with water, as these mostly are, the question of a water supply for drinking purposes is exceedingly important. As mentioned elsewhere, the wells of the countryside and the wayside springs are more or less open to suspicion. So, too, are the brooks, as they may receive drainage from farmhouses near their course or from barnyards. If the camp is near a swamp, the water there may be dark, but that is no sign of especial impurity as the color may be due to discoloration from the vegetation and turf of the bog. This bog water is quite likely to be free from contamination. But no matter what the source of supply, an attitude of suspicion is the wise one, and the water should only be drunk after boiling. In extremity the writer has drunk unboiled water out of ditches and stagnant ponds without ill results, but this is not advised, and the motor camper will, as a rule, have facilities for [126]boiling his drinking water. We have heard of motorists, when hard put to, drawing hot water from the radiator of their machine in order to get a hot drink, but seldom, indeed, would there be any such necessity.

There are many forms of recreation that the motor camper may enjoy, particularly when camping away from the crowd. A basket ball may well form part of the camping equipment. It will not be hard to find two trees sixty feet apart. If baskets have been carried along with the ball, they may be attached to these trees at the regulation height of ten feet, with wire nails which will not injure the trees, and a lot of fun may be had from the games played on the hazards of an uneven court in the woods. If no regular baskets have been brought along, slender branches of underbrush may be cut and bent into hoop form, and, ends being tied up or otherwise secured, quite satisfactory baskets may be had by fastening these hoops to the trees at the right elevation.

Then, too, where there are any boys along a ball and bat of the baseball sort will not be lacking and quite a bit of sport and exercise may be had by the campers in the evenings from this source.

If there is water near, swimming will give a lot of recreation and contribute to the health of the campers. [127]

In fact, a little ingenuity will discover many games and exercises that will contribute to the interest and enjoyment of the evening camp.

The municipal motor camps often have entertainments arranged for those using these camp sites. Often music, usually band music, will be provided. In some places the camp managers get the campers together of evenings for all sorts of amusement, and in other cases the campers get together for acquaintance and entertainment spontaneously on their own initiative.

Another thing that the motor camper should not forget is provision for emergencies. He should know how to render first aid in case of injury, how to resuscitate those who have been drowning, how to treat various forms of common poisoning with a knowledge of the antidotes for these poisons. This subject cannot be gone into fully in this book. There are books entirely devoted to the promotion of safety and assistance to the injured when the emergency arises. As for drowning, many people who have been in a condition of suspended animation owing to submersion in the water have been allowed to die who might have been resuscitated had those present known how. And it is not necessary to have appliances, such as a pulmotor, at hand. In fact, the best method of resuscitating the drowned is the prone-pressure method in which no apparatus [128]whatever is employed. The old method of rolling the drowned person over a barrel, or the later method of sending for a pulmotor was mistaken. Both have been abandoned by progressive physicians and the Red Cross Life-saving Department.

The motor camper is quite unlikely to have a physician anywhere near by who can be summoned, and so should know what to do in an emergency, particularly when one of the party has apparently been drowned. For that matter, sending for a physician in case of drowning is usually entirely futile, for it is seldom that a physician can be brought until it is too late to succeed with resuscitation. The prone-pressure method, which we are about to describe, has succeeded where animation has been suspended until after more than two hours of effort. There have been many cases where it would most likely have saved life, where life was lost, because, instead of promptly applying this treatment, a physician and pulmotor were sent for and neither could be procured until the lapse of considerable vital time.

The Prone-pressure Method of Resuscitation

1. Lay the patient on his stomach on a flat surface. Draw the arms above the head. Bring the right wrist under the forehead so that it will support the head and turn the head slightly to the left. Be sure that the nose and mouth do not touch the ground. [129]

2. Clean the patient’s mouth of mucus, blood, chewing gum or other extraneous matter by a stroke of the finger. The prone position facilitates the removal of liquids from the mouth by causing the tongue to fall forward.

3. Kneel astride the patient, facing his head, and place your hands on his lowest ribs, with your fingers curving close to his body. Be careful to avoid pressure on the pelvis and to keep your hands away from the spine.

4. Lean forward, keeping the arms straight, and put the weight of the upper part of your body on your hands. The pressure should be applied gradually, not in a sudden thrust. The Boy Scout Book suggests saying alternately as the hands go down and back again, “Out Goes the Water,” “In Comes the Air,” exerting and relaxing pressure to suit the words.

5. Keep this up steadily about twelve times a minute. Follow your own regular rate of respiration—count or use a watch. The downward pressure forces the diaphragm up into the chest cavity, decreasing the air space and forcing the water out of the lungs. When the pressure is relaxed the diaphragm goes back into place and the air rushes in.

6. Do not cease your efforts as soon as your patient begins to breathe. Continue until the breathing is quite regular. Then when the patient is able to sit up, stimulants, such as aromatic spirits of ammonia, may be given in spoonful doses. The stimulant should be given in water. After this the [130]wet clothing should be removed and the patient put to bed.

If the patient is not revived at the end of an hour do not give up. Keep him warm and continue. Many persons have been resuscitated after two hours and more of uninterrupted effort.

It will be a good plan, if the camping place is near the water and any swimming is to be done, or even bathing only, to practice the prone pressure method as a game until practice makes perfect. With children the method may be dramatized and made very interesting to them.

The prone-pressure method of resuscitation is the best to employ in case of unconsciousness from lightning stroke, other electric shock, or poisoning by the inhalation of gas.

As for poisons, it is assumed that the motor camper will not carry with him the more violently poisonous disinfectants, such as carbolic acid, corrosive sublimate or even formaldehyde. The limit in the disinfectant line should be a can or two of chloride of lime. Some of the household cleaning and polishing materials contain poisons such as oxalic acid. Carbon tetrachloride and chloroform are frequently mixed with gasoline for cleaning purposes. This sort of a fluid is not inflammable when properly prepared, but may cause anesthesia. The most dangerous poisons to have about the camp are white [131]arsenic, which is found in fly poisons and rodent poisons, and Paris green, which is used to poison various plant pests such as potato bugs. The motor camper, however, will not be likely to suffer exposure to these poisons.

It is the children that most frequently get poisoned, and on a camping tour they are most likely to get poisoned by things found in the woods or near the camp. The most common source of poisoning is the poison ivy. This is sometimes very painful, but seldom dangerous to life. Pokeberries are said by some authorities to be poisonous, but in some sections of the country poor people gather them and use them as filling for pies, the same as elderberries, without any apparent ill results. In some regions the deadly nightshade, with its attractive but very poisonous purple berries, is fairly plentiful, and when eaten by children, as it sometimes is, proves quickly fatal.

When you have reason to suppose that any one has been poisoned by something that has been eaten, lose no time, but proceed at once to take steps to expel the poison from the victim’s system. Effective emetics are mustard and warm water (one tablespoonful of mustard to a quart of water), salt and water, ipecac and water (one teaspoonful of ipecac to a quart of water), or even warm water. If you have no warm water at hand, give cold water to dilute the poison till you can heat warm water. If neither warm nor cold water is available immediately, vomiting may be induced by thrusting a finger [132]down the patient’s throat. Give from two to four glasses of fluid to dilute the poison. Milk, tea, soda water, will do if no plain water is at hand. About ten minutes after the vomiting has been produced, give another dose of emetic to make sure that the poison is out of the system.

The treatment is slightly different in the case of acid and alkaline poisons. Alkali is neutralized by acid and vice versa. For instance, suppose the baby drinks a bowl of lye water (alkali), dilute vinegar or lemon juice in water and make him drink as much of it as possible. An acid usually becomes comparatively harmless as soon as neutralized by an alkali. Nevertheless, the system should be cleansed by a good purgative. Castor oil is effective. Since both acids and alkalis are harmful to the interior of the stomach, some other substance should be taken after the antidote. Milk, oil, white of eggs, flour and water may be used. There are a few exceptions to milk and oil, but it is always safe to give whites of eggs in any kind of poisoning. Stir the whites of four eggs into a quart of water. Make the patient drink it all, if you can.

The fumes of ammonia may be useful in the case of acid poisoning, as they will tend to neutralize any acid that may have entered the respiratory tract. Always put the ammonia on a handkerchief or piece of cloth, and give only enough to relieve the patient.

In case the hands and feet of the patient become cold, the lips turn blue, or cold perspiration appears on the forehead, put him to bed. Cover him up [133]warmly, use hot water bottles, and give him a cup of strong tea or coffee as hot as it can be taken.

Where poisonous mushrooms have been eaten, as is sometimes done by children, or where there is ptomaine poisoning from bad food, the use of emetics is not advised, although their use can do little harm, and sometimes the poison may not have yet passed beyond the reach of such a remedy. As a rule, however, the symptoms of these vegetable poisons, as they usually are, will not appear in acute form until the poisoning agent has passed into the lower digestive tract. Then about the only thing to do is to give large and repeated doses of Epsom salts to drive the poison down and out of the system as soon as possible.

The above suggestions are not intended to take the place of treatment by a skilled physician, but they are for emergency use by the motor camper who cannot be reached quickly by any physician.

The contents of the motor camper’s medicine chest will depend somewhat on his preference as to the school of medicine. Yet certain simple remedies will doubtless be acceptable to any of the medical systems. A Red Cross First Aid Kit should, of course, be included in the camper’s outfit. So, too, should Epsom salts and some other cathartic, such as cascara tablets or castor oil. Spirits of camphor taken in small doses helps most people to stop or [134]throw off a cold. Sun cholera tablets are of value in diarrhea, which often develops from a change of drinking water. Mustard is valuable for external application as a counter irritant in case of colds, or when needed to mix with water as an emetic. An excellent remedy for sprains is the iodine emollient known as Iodex. It relieves the sprain and will not burn and blister as will the tincture of iodine, which is also poisonous.

If the reader has a family physician, it would be well to ask this physician to make up a medicine kit for the camping trip.

The articles mentioned above are harmless, and about all that the motor camper should use without the expert advice of a physician.

There are some who may prefer something more elaborate than the simple articles previously mentioned. A camper of many years’ experience itemizes the following as the requisites of a medicine kit:

• Quinine pills or tablets.
• Rhubarb pills or tablets.
• Bicarbonate of soda or soda mint tablets.
• Bismuth subnitrate.
• Chlorate of potash.
• Warburg’s tincture.
• Sun cholera pills.
• Small rolls of antiseptic bandages.
• Box zinc ointment.
• Bottle tincture of iodine.
• Permanganate of potash. [135]
• Bottle of iodoform.
• Some powerful stimulant.
• Adhesive surgeons’ plaster, but not court-plaster.

The stimulant is included to relieve those faint from loss of blood, drowning or injury. Permanganate of potash solution will relieve pain from insect bites and poison ivy. Antiseptic tablets are for slight scratches, cuts or bruises.

Be careful to have everything plainly labeled and poisons marked in heavy black letters and with skull and cross-bones.

There are a number of little things in connection with the arrangement of the camp and its tent which are not likely to occur to the inexperienced camper which nevertheless are quite important when it comes to his comfort. One of these little things is the exact location of the tent and its position. If there is any option in the matter it will be well to have the tent face a little south of east. This brings sunshine into the tent’s entrance the first thing in the morning at a time when it is most needed and welcome. This position of the tent also insures considerable protection against cold northwest winds. The camper will be more comfortable under all weather conditions if his tent is pitched in this position.

Then again, be careful to choose a well-drained [136]and fairly open situation for the camp—one well exposed to sun and air, and yet look out for shelter. In case of wet weather the open situation will allow the tent to dry out sooner, and a fringe of timber to the west or northward will often enable the tent to safely weather a blow that would otherwise send it kiting.

Be careful not to camp near dead timber which might be liable to blow down on you in a storm with unfortunate results.

Until the camper has had a little experience he is apt to exaggerate the hardships of camping. Colds and minor ailments are not apt to attack those who have taken to the open in a camping trip. Even a drenching is likely to be more unpleasant than dangerous to health, provided the precaution of getting into dry clothing and shoes as soon as possible is followed. If the shoes are wet and there is no dry article to change to, the chill of the wet may be cured and the shoes made warm as toast by heating a few small stones in the camp fire or on the camp stove, and then placing these in the shoes for a few minutes. Be a little careful not to heat the stones hot enough to burn the shoes.

If the camper is careful to keep the inside of his tent dry he will not mind a day or two of wet weather. The tent if not of waterproofed material should be protected by a fly to make sure of keeping it dry. Still the ordinary tent of duck without [137]any fly can be kept dry if the occupant is careful not to allow anything to touch the inside surface of the tent, and thus start a drip.

It is a good plan to raise the sides or walls of a tent during the heat of the day so as to thoroughly dry it out, particularly if there has been a wet spell.

The matter of insect pests is of importance. A tent with a good floor cloth will help to keep out mosquitoes, which are likely to be the most obnoxious pest encountered by the motor camper. Mosquitoes, however, are by no means found everywhere. There are many sections of the middle and mountain states where one has to travel hundreds of miles to find one of these pestiferous songsters, but along the coast, especially the Atlantic coast, they are pretty sure to be bothersome. They are hard to get used to, and hard to keep out of tent or car at night. Screens are of some avail, but are not altogether a specific. Neither are the various mosquito lotions. About the best thing to use is the oil of citronella, which may be bought at any drug store and which is inexpensive. Sometimes a smudge of punk or browse is fairly effective in keeping the creatures out, but the remedy is about as bad as the disease, unless one does not mind having his tongue taste like ham for a good part of the day. Citronella, too, is very offensive to some, but most people get used to it, and find it a very good protection against the activities of the mosquito.

The ordinary mosquito net is not much protection against most of the mosquito tribe. Scrim or [138]bobbinet is much closer in weave and so much more effectual in keeping these insects out.

It may be asked, what about taking exercise while motor camping? In these days most every one has his “Daily Dozen,” or two dozen flexes or genuflexes, that he takes in order to keep fit. Now, should these be kept up when in camp? Really, each one will have to settle this for himself according to his bent. Most campers will have considerable exercise in keeping the car fit, and that exercise will go a long way at the same time in the direction of keeping the car owner fit. Even if the car is in perfect mechanical condition, the chassis, the body, the upholstery will require no small amount of cleaning, washing, rubbing and dusting or brushing if it is to be kept from quite speedily showing the signs of travel. If the car should develop temperamental tendencies, such as even the most expensive cars occasionally exhibit, the question of sufficient exercise will not become acute.

If the camper uses a tent, as most campers do, there will be no small amount of exercise involved in setting it up, driving in the pins and seeing that all guy lines are taut and secure.

Many campers are inclined to neglect the care of their cars, as is very evident by the unkempt and [139]dusty appearance that so many of them present. They are likely, too, to be equally careless and disorderly in securely adjusting the tent and in keeping everything in the way of tools in an appointed place so as to be always findable, until after waking in the night a time or two in a wind and rain storm to find the sleeping tent ballooning because of a loosened stake, and then being carried away while the rain comes down, soaking everybody, because the ax has been mislaid and there is nothing to use as a means of pounding down the stakes that hold the tent except bare fists. After one or two such experiences the importance of order and its advantages over disorder are likely to be quite clearly realized.

Aside from the exercise afforded by the effort employed in regularly tightening up any parts of the car and its gear that may have been loosened by travel, the gathering of food for the fire and other chores involved in camp life, the camper will often go hunting or fishing when in a region where hunting and fishing may be had.

In the evening, after the meal and the chores are done up, if the campers are not all too old and stiffened, there will be exercise in the way of playing ball, tossing quoits and other games for which the camper should provide in advance by including the necessary bats, balls, quoits, etc., along with the other supplies taken for the trip. [140]