Stránka:book 1912.djvu/307

Campcfcraft or the Summer Camp 275 For an all-evening Council-fire, at least three times as much should be in stock as on the fire when started. Here are some wrong methods. The high pyramid or bonfire, (a) goes off like a flash, roasts every one, then goes dead. The shapeless pile (b), is hard to light and never bright. The bonfire is always bad. It wastes good wood; is dangerous to the forest and the camp; is absolutely un- sociable. A bonfire will spoil the best camp-circle ever got together. It should be forbidden everywhere. FIREARMS Experience shows that it is unwise to have firearms in camp. And no one under fourteen years of age should be allowed the use of a gun or pistol under any circumstances. The didn't-know-it-was-loaded fool is the cause of more sorrow than the deliberate murderer. For any one to point a firearm at another is a crime. If he didn't know it was loaded, he should be still more severely punished. Never let the muzzle of the gun sweep the horizon. Never carry a gun full-cock or hammer down. The half- cock is made for safety. Use it. Never pull a gun by the muzzle. Never shoot at anything about which you are in doubt.