Once, In Order To Rest In
My Own Chair, I Weakly Established A Precedent By Giving George Lynch
A Cigar
To allow me to sit down (on that march there was a mess
contractor who supplied us even with cigars,
And occasionally with
food), and after that, whenever a man wanted to smoke, he would
commandeer my chair, and unless bribed refuse to budge. This seems
to argue the popularity of the contractor's cigars rather than that
of the chair, but, nevertheless, I submit that on a campaign the
article second in importance for rest, comfort, and content is a
chair. The best I know is one invented by Major Elliott of the
British army. I have an Elliott chair that I have used four years,
not only when camping out, but in my writing-room at home. It is an
arm-chair, and is as comfortable as any made. The objections to it
are its weight, that it packs bulkily, and takes down into too many
pieces. Even with these disadvantages it is the best chair. It can
be purchased at the Army and Navy and Anglo-Indian stores in London.
A chair of lighter weight and one-fourth the bulk is the Willisden
chair, of green canvas and thin iron supports. It breaks in only two
pieces, and is very comfortable.
Sir Harry Johnson, in his advice to explorers, makes a great point of
their packing a chair. But he recommends one known as the
"Wellington," which is a cane-bottomed affair, heavy and cumbersome.
Dr. Harford, the instructor in outfit for the Royal Geographical
Society, recommends a steamer-chair, because it can be used on
shipboard and "can be easily carried afterward." If there be
anything less easy to carry than a deck-chair I have not met it.
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