Conveniences
After pitching your tent, put everything in order. Run a stout line, either of rope or rustless wire, between the two upright poles, about a foot below the ridge pole. A very convenient thing to throw clothes over. In some camps they have a shelf suspended from the ridge pole, divided into compartments, one for each boy in the tent. Nails driven in the upright poles afford convenient pegs to hang things on. Be sure the nails are removed before taking down the tent or a rip in the canvas will be the result.
A bundle of elder leaves in a tent will keep away flies. If ants show a desire to creep into your tent, dust cayenne pepper into their holes and they will no longer trouble you.
When there is no wooden floor in the tent, strew small hemlock twigs. They make a fine carpet and the odor is both pleasant and healthful.
In addition to the different styles of tents shown in the illustrations on page 43, the following description of how to make a ten-foot teepee is given by Charles R. Scott in his Vacation Diary:
Making a Teepee
Sew canvas together making oblong ABCD 20 by 10 feet; with E as centre and EA as a radius, draw half-circle AFD. From remaining canvas cut smoke flaps LKCM and ONBP. Sew piece of canvas at C and B making pocket for ends of smoke poles. Sew ML to HI and PO to GJ on one large piece of canvas. Sew lash to E to tie teepee to pole. Sew 6 or 7-foot lash to K and N to set smoke flaps with. Make holes in pairs from L to D and O to A for lacing pins. Ten poles 12 feet long are needed. Make tripod of nine of these and tie teepee at E to pole two feet from top and place over tripod.
In "Recreation," April, 1911, in an article on "Tent Making Made Easy," H. J. Holden tells how to make ten different tents with but one piece of canvas.
[Illustration: The Ten Foot Teepee]
Tent Wisdom