THE LOG OF THE DARTMOUTH OUTING CLUB

Every Outing Club cabin has its register or "log book", in which members of the club and their guests record their experiences of camp life. Comments are made on all sorts of topics in entries that vary in length from a few words to several pages, recorded in a style that varies from the "wet line" of a freshman tenderfoot to the "heavy line" of a professor. The quotations given below are typical of several hundred entries recorded during the past ten years.

The oldest entry is dated December 13, 1910. It is written on a loose piece of paper which was kept in the old woodchopper's cabin that served as the first home of the club.

"Left Hanover at 1.15, arrived 4.45. Marked route with red streamers, failed four (4) times to get doughnuts. Built fire in cabin on top of stove bottom. Reduced temperature from 5° to 4°, increased smoke capacity of cabin to Nth power. Secretary of D. O. C. cooked supper — beefsteak, butter, coffee, sugar, salt, bread, bacon, and one lamp wick."

Later visitors have much the same kind of a story to tell. Here is a tale told in the language of the S.A.T.C.

"In search of exercise not to be found in the navy we shoved off from Hanover at 6 P.M. for Moose Mt. with nothing but a chart to guide us. The moon was stowed away behind some clouds and navigation was hard. Put in at a farm house and took aboard enough doughnuts to last us on the remaining 'steen miles. Got off the course several times but finally sighted the cabin at 12.30 A.M. Running time 6 hours. (We modestly decline the brass bound derby or any other medals that the D. O. C. may see fit to honor us with.) Found plenty of fuel on the deck and ambitiously started both fires at once, which was a mistake, for each one of them smoked enough to drive us out. We wiped away the tears and offered up a few prayers — which were sea going even though some might consider them unorthodox — and finally opened up the booby hatches topsides up and relieved things a bit. Rusticated here a couple of days, during which the ship's cook shook a mean spoon over the kitchen stove three times a day, much to the delight of the navigator who could only wipe dishes and was glad of it. Have swept the deck, washed the mess gear and filled the bunkers and are now shoving off on the return voyage."

Freshmen usually write a story of some length, and often in a style which the upper classmen designate as a "wet line."

"Dinner is over and I will sit down on a full stomach—or rather—you know what I mean—to write an account of our adventures a la English 2. Stillman, Allen and I (Freshmen for a few more days) came up to Moose yesterday to get our second wind for next week's exams. We got dinner and then set about enjoying the place and the mosquitoes. In the evening we built a smudge in the fireplace which kept out the mosquitoes until we got to bed — then slap-bang! One more dead bug on somebody's shirt. We have killed two times infinity mosquitoes, have had 16 scraps, done 35 minutes studying and have had a general good time. Allen's principle stunt is fanning the fire with the fire, shovel; Stillman is a great hand for losing money (various ways) and I like to sit in the brook."

The old timer records his sentiments in a very few words.

"We had a swell time all but for the fact that there was not much grub on hand, the fire place smoked like Hell, the beds were damn hard, the bath room was not well heated and a few minor troubles."

"There are fourteen fellows here today. The cabin is full of smoke and the guys are singing America."

"Some bull! Some cabin ! Some feed ! Some cider! (and then some)." "Good supper, fine stories, Hell of a hard bed, not much sleep, good breakfast."

"Some skeeters!"

The log books are full of tales of adventure and mishaps like the three following.

"It is colder tonight and the snow is drifting badly. The store keeper comforts me with the information that it was 62 below last night 'somewhere over in Vermont.' If the weather isn't too severe tomorrow we are going to try to get over Moosilauke to Glencliffe. I hope the St. Bernards find us before spring."

"Ran off the road a mile or so back and after various wanderings I knocked off at twelve sharp like a good union man and had a school house all to myself for the rest of the night."

"We had with us Neptune's daughter the mermaid on ski. Not perceiving a little babbling brook he dove into same and then proceeded to kick his ski around in the air with his head under three feet of water. We pulled him out stiff as a board and carted him to a farm house two miles distant and thawed him out."

Occasionally somebody drops into poetry.

"Three little skiers down the slope they flew. One spit against the wind and then there were two.

Two little skiers shooting down a run. the other struck a foot print and then there was one.

One little skier in the river fell, Here ends my sad story. Three freshmen gone to (rest)."

The food supply is always a topic of discussion, favorable or unfavorable depending on whether the cook or his subjects write the story.

"Seth and Jimmie stayed long enough to find out there was a lot of work to do, and to eat some of Red's biscuits and then streaked for Hanover. Nobody dead from the biscuits yet but the issue is still in doubt."

"Four nuts came to Moose with a raisin and a date. We drank tea made mostly of raisin, found our milk was some species of plaster Paris. We unearthed some ossified bread and the tea made of raisins proved its virility by penetrating the quartz bread. Likewise one adventurer found a nest of two eggs laid by some prehistoric hen. We inspected them, passing them on, however." "Added to our menu the two eggs labeled 'vintage No. I.' found them very agreeable."

"Johnny made some bread whose chief ingredient was salt. The poor dub pretended that it was all right and ate half a loaf to prove it. He has been drinking water every minute, wants me to get another pail."

"I invented a new kind of biscuits; mix self-raising flour with an equal amount of corn meal; stir with liberal amount of H2O and leave in the oven. Take em out when a majority vote declares em done."

"Made some muffins which accounts for the damage done to the ax."

"A mouse sampled my cooking over night. When I awoke found said mouse dead on the floor."

The records of hunting and fishing are always tales of hard luck like the following.

"Successful hunting trip — long string of game including tin can, red squirrel and blue jay."

"Two game wardens (may be) gave us a pretty good scare. One of us sat on that squirrel as the Officer (capital o) were in camp. They didn't say anything about the owl."

"This afternoon I went up the mountain and set a few traps for hedgehogs. Beans and flapjacks are all right but give me something that has drawed breath."

"Windy has caught one trout the which you could put in your eye." "A Freshman acting as water boy brought in a trout with the drinks. Seeing them again by heck!"

"Small reported that a big fox entered the cabin in the night and played leapfrog over the tables and chairs. (A neighboring farmer has a colley dog.)"

"Much noise from the Happy Hill Whip-poor-will causing much noise also from Trainor, who called the 'boid' everything from a - to a - Take it all in all Trainor kept us awake more than the 'boid.' "

"Memorial picnic in memory of the whip-poor-wills that ought to be dead but aren't. Large feed including steak, pineapple."

A professor is always a welcome guest at a cabin, and his presence properly calls for comment in the log.

"Left Hanover in the afternoon with Dr. - in the lead paced by a motor cycle."

"Prof. - caught three trout (total length nine inches). Prof. - saw a two inch trout."

"The party had to content itself with sunsets and sunrises and such irrelevant matters, lubricated by Mr. Page's wit, Mr. Rugg's steak and Dr. Griggs' observations on a chickadee's nest. The towels were so dirty that we could not brush our hair, but the old family tooth brush did just as well."

"This is the place where everyone tells the truth and where no one believes what is told. Prof. Poor, his discourse at Moose Mt. Camp. The after-dinner discussion was opened by the Astronomy Prof, who explained that as he went around his orbit he antedated everything except the ten commandments and was earlier than nine of these."