With the D. O. C.
CLUB ADVISER STARTS TRAININGCOURSE IN WOODSMANSHIP
ROSS McKENNEY, woodsman adviser of the Outing Club, this month announced an idea and a program to carry out the idea. The idea is for Dartmouth to inaugurate a training course in woodsmanship so that all members of the Outing Club who lead trips will be qualified to meet any situation that may arise in the woods or on water. That is a big idea and covers a lot of ground. But Ross stresses the point that unless the men of the D. O. C. are able to meet any situation from fire-fighting to canoeing accidents, they will not only be barred from the woods but also from use of the D. O. C. cabins by any state fire ban. If he can prove to the Forestry Department and the Fish and Game Departments of New Hamp- shire that the men of the D. O. C. are capable of taking care of themselves and of aiding the State in conservation work, he believes that the D. O. C. will be given the right to use the woods despite fire bans.
To accomplish this he has outlined a program for giving the men of the D. O. C. a training such as a guide must have before he can get his license from the State of New Hampshire. A rigid final examination will be given those passing each of the individual requirements. A "Junior Guides Association" will be formed of those who pass the examination.
The course, which Ross has already begun work on, includes learning the fundamentals of fire-fighting and fire prevention in the woods, learning how to choose camp sites, and learning the art of outdoor cookery. Canoemanship in both white water and still water, woodcraft, riflery, forestry, and first aid compose the other subjects for the course.
The first steps in setting the program in motion have already been made. Fly casting, trap shooting, and wildlife are taught on Monday afternoon at the Oak Hill Cabin; canoeing on Tuesday at the Ledyard Canoe Club; and fire-fighting at the Oak Hill Cabin on Friday. Many of the members of Cabin and Trail are taking the course already, and Ross voices the hope that by next fall it will be a permanent feature of the D. O. C. and recognized by the State.
Spring activities have been moving along with more than usual speed. The Ledyard Canoe Club has run three big white water canoe trips, one to the upper Ammonoosuc, another to the White River, and a third from the headwaters of the Connecticut River to Hanover. There have also been trips on the Connecticut near Hanover, including a joint trip with Radcliffe two weeks ago, and last week a joint trip with Vassar was held on Lake George.
The Bait and Bullet Club, led by the guns of Mai Fogg '39 and Bill Lucking '40, tied the crack Princeton skeet team in a telegraph match held respectively on the Hanover and Princeton skeet fields May 13. The other members of the team were Ed Palmer '39, Bob Marshall '4O, and Hod Mecklem '39.
The Cabin and Trail constitution has undergone an important change and the revised edition has been passed on and accepted by the Executive Committee. The change calls for the induction of new members at the end of their sophomore year instead of at the end of freshman year as heretofore. The aims have also been changed, in an effort to make Cabin and Trail more an honorary position than a competitive one. The newly emphasized purpose is that this branch of the D. O. C. shall be for purely recreational activities unless an emergency arises, such as the hurricane last fall. In line with this program, weekly feeds at Oak Hill and Moose Mountain and week-end trips to the cabins are being featured.
Among the larger trips within the last month were one to Mt. Washington and another to the annual I. O. C. A. Conference at Norwich, Conn. The first included skiers from Connecticut College for Women, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Pembroke, Brown, Williams, Amherst and Dartmouth. Spring skiing in Tuckerman's Ravine at Mt. Washington was the feature of the trip. Bob Austin '41, Tom Littlefield '41 and Will Brown '37 represented Dartmouth at the I. O. C. A. Conference.
Austin, who is I. O. C. A. secretary, announced the appointment of Don Frothingham '42 as the chairman in charge of College Week at Lake Placid next fall. Dartmouth has again been chosen for the task of organizing and running this affair, which in the past has had well over 100 participants from eastern colleges.
HAVING SUCCESSFUL SPRING Coach Tommy Dent, whose varsity lacrosseteam has been undefeated since spring vacation and seems headed for another NewEngland championship.
