VIII PRACTICAL HINTS FOR THE HANDY MAN

Mosquitos, Gnats and Wasp Stings

When camping out, these troublesome insects can inflict much torture, and one way of keeping them out of a tent is to hang up a piece of raw meat outside it for them to settle upon. To paint freely woodwork and canvas with petroleum and ordinary oil mixed together is another way of keeping insects at a distance. For the stings themselves, a mixture of common soda and salad oil mixed together is a great means of allaying the irritation. Pull out the sting if it is still visible and bathe with warm water and common salt, then with oil and soda. Rubbing the body freely with oil or fat is a preventive of insect bites, and it is said that those who will eat spices freely, particularly cinnamon, will never be bitten.

Screening Sun-Rays

Where light is wanted yet the sun’s rays must be kept out, of cellar or room, the best way is to mix whitewash and ordinary blue, coating the window with this inside. When afraid of sun-rays on the head remember not only to protect the head itself but also the nape of the neck and the spine. A thick pleat of something in the lining of the coat or shirt and high collar are very necessary in order to guard these nerve centres both from excessive cold and heat.

Roof-Fire Risks

Roofs, more especially those covered with shingles, boards, tarred felt or any form of thatch, are a source of danger from fire. An excellent and simple way of protecting them is to run a fairly large pipe, with small perforations all along its course, along the ridge pole, connecting it with the house water supply if in town or with the water cistern in the country. By turning a tap, which should be controlled from a place easily got at, the pipe is filled with water which escapes through the perforations and covers the whole roof with a thin sheet of water. This will extinguish sparks from passing locomotives or a forest conflagration, and prevent fire from both internal or external heat. In hot climates the system can be employed for cooling the roof.

Waterproof Putty

A plastic waterproof paste is often useful. It can be prepared by almost anyone anywhere by taking a piece of ordinary cheese, steeping it in water until quite soft, then rubbing and kneading it well with about half its weight of quicklime. With this you can put in panes of glass, stop up cracks, and make wooden cases waterproof.

Cutting Glass

When without a glazier’s diamond make a stout wire or thin iron rod red hot and draw a line with it, very lightly, where you want the glass cut; unless it is very thick glass it will snap off quite easily. And for opening a bottle that is too tightly corked, instead of breaking the neck and splintering the glass, take a piece of string and soak it in turpentine, tie it tightly round the neck of the bottle where you wish it broken off, then set fire to the string, and the glass will snap off easily at the heated line.

Rust on Tools

It is not an easy matter to remove rust from tools without damaging them. Better by far is to preserve your tools from rust. Professor Olmstead, of Yale College, gave the following recipe for keeping tools from rusting, which deserves to be more widely known: Melt together six to eight parts of lard to one of resin and stir till cool. It will remain semi-liquid. Rub on tools or any polished surface in a very thin film. It will protect the metal from damp and can easily be rubbed off again when the article is wanted. The resin prevents the oil or lard from becoming rancid. When too thick, thin down with benzine.

Re-sharpening Files

Files that are constantly in use soon become clogged and will not work properly. The material that clogs them should be washed or dissolved out. Sawdust can be got out by steeping in hot soap-suds. For iron filings use a very dilute solution of sulphate of copper. For copper use dilute nitric acid. For zinc dilute sulphuric acid. Use all acids very weak, then wash well and dry thoroughly.

Nailing Boards

Many people in putting up boards will nail one after the other, making a complete job of each board. But this is not the right way. First nail the board down on one side, the starting side, let us say the left. Next place the second board in position and nail down the left. This done, nail down the right side of the first board. Now place board three in position, nail down its left side, then the right side of board number two, and so on right along. The object of this is to get the boards close together and so make a compact job of it. They are practically wedged in close to each other. To obtain the best results do not drive the nails straight down but at a slight angle, right and left. Boards nailed thus cannot be shaken loose. But in nailing up cases that have to be opened again, drive the nails straight in as that makes lifting up with a screwdriver much easier. To rub nails and screws with vaseline, a tin of which should always be kept in the tool-box, makes them much easier to drive in and prevents rusting.

Gates Without Hinges

Hinges are one of the weak points in gates of all kinds, especially heavy wooden ones that have to undergo much hard wear and tear; they are apt to break and cannot always be replaced. Say you have a three or four-barred gate, with vertical bars longer than the horizontal. The top and lowest bars of the gate must project beyond the horizontal and should be pierced with round holes. The gate is hung by having its end post passed through the hole in the lower bar; the top bar is then placed in position and the top of the gate post passed through its hole. The intermediate bars are nailed to shorter posts which do not come higher than the level of the top of the gate. A gate of this kind will swing easily provided the holes are made large enough.

Another gate is more like the swinging section of a fence, and is intended to block watercourses which run dry, at certain seasons. On the other hand if the fence is brought down too low or made too solid it may be swept away when the water rises. The method is to construct a string hurdle, planned so as to stop gaps, with a strong and long top bar. This top bar just rests in bifurcated posts on each bank or side, the posts forming a sort of V-shaped rest. If necessary, this top bar can be rivetted to the posts and the bottom of the hurdle weighted with stones. If not weighted, however, the result is that the watercourse is fenced over but the hurdle swings when the water rushes through without being carried away and falls back into position as the stream subsides.

Watches as Compasses

All watches are compasses, and this fact may help any one out of a difficulty when uncertain of their bearings. All that has to be done is to point the hour hand to the sun. The south lies exactly between that point and the hour twelve; thus at six o’clock the exact south will be found at the point marked three on the dial.

If the way has been lost and bearings cannot be taken either from an elevation or by a compass or watch, and a watercourse can be found, follow that downwards; it will at least prevent travelling in a circle, and most likely lead to some habitation.

Substitute for Coffee

The grains of corn, such as wheat or oats, make an excellent substitute for coffee if dried and browned on tins over a fire and then bruised or ground up. So do small beans of the haricot variety. They may be crushed between stones and then roasted in a pan over the fire, and boiled with water, the liquor being poured off clear. All raw fruits and root vegetables like potatoes are preventives of scurvy, and dried fruits like peaches and apples are excellent sustaining food on a march, while dried raisins are better than all.

To Make Limewash

Mix quicklime in a bucket with hot water and glue. If for disinfecting purposes add a little carbolic solution. Care must be taken not to let a splash get into the eyes, and if by accident it does so, bathe the eyes at once with warm water and vinegar. The acid neutralises the lime.

To Make Whitewash

Put some whiting into a pail and add powdered dry size. Pour on boiling water till the mixture is as thick as cream, and to keep it white add a little common washing blue. A tint of salmon pink or terra-cotta is obtained by mixing some Venetian red with the whiting. Whiting is easier and safer to apply than limewash, but is no use for disinfectant purposes.

Suggestions

Agates are sold for sixpence by tobacconists and can be kept with a piece of tinder in a little tin box, to use instead of a flint for procuring a spark from steel.

The burning-glass taken from a telescope and held over tinder in hot sunshine will cause it to ignite.

Firewood should be looked for under bushes, as the driest and easiest to light is always found there. Old tree roots make excellent firewood. Large logs make the best fire when placed transversely and built in with smaller wood.

When obliged to sleep on the ground scrape a hollow for the hip bone to rest in and another for the shoulder, then much better rest is obtained.

A piece of mackintosh should always be taken with any rugs, but failing mackintosh a piece of tarred or painted canvas is excellent for keeping out damp. Brown paper is an excellent non-conductor of heat, and if placed between rugs and blankets makes one worth two in warmth. A bag filled with grass or dry earth makes a good pillow. Thick quilts or rugs with sheets of wadding quilted in between them are better for bed-coverings than blankets when camping out, and are lighter to carry.

Take care to keep the extremities warm when in cold climate. Increase the warmth of knitted woollens by lining them with thin flannel or silk, and cut the legs from stockings that are worn out at the feet and use these for covering the arms. Keep the mouth covered if you would keep warm in keen frosty weather, as this prevents rapid evaporation of the heat of the body. The Red Indians knew this, and one of them seeing a white man suffering from cold once remarked to him, “You no keep your breath warm and so, you cold.”

Much sugar should be consumed in cold climates, and eating sweets freely is much to be commended. Toffee can be made easily over a camp fire at night, and is wholesome faring for anyone. Chocolate is excellent food likewise, and peppermint candies are good for stimulating digestion and warming the stomach.

A thick dressing-gown is a great comfort in either hot or cold climates; it can be worn while day clothes are airing or drying and is a better sleeping dress than night clothes when travelling.

During cold weather, after washing the body, rub well with oil to help to keep the skin soft and free from sores. A horse-hair flesh glove to use for a vigorous dry rub is better than too frequent washing in water.

Grease the soles of shoes when much walking has to be done, and a layer of grease between the foot and shoe is a great preventive of foot sores. The harder the ground the thicker the socks or stockings should be.

A Summary of Useful Things

A mincing machine, a small sewing machine, English-made steel knives (plated knives are in common use in Canada, but they are apt to be very blunt). Kitchen tools, horn spoons and enamelled plates and cups. Small pair of bellows. A leather roll containing chisel, gouge, files, nippers, screwdrivers, gimlet and hand saw, with a few nails and screws—this is as indispensable as a “Housewife,” although the latter article must not be left behind. A can-opener and strong clasp-knife, some strong glue, a shoemaker’s reel of thread and some cobbler’s wax, and tin of vaseline, are all excellent if not absolutely indispensable.

Printed by Butler & Tanner, Frome and London.