THE BOY'S BRIGADE NOTES

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 229, 28 September 1938, Page 21

THE BOY'S BRIGADE NOTES

.v „<By TADRE.) ▲ Remarkable Achievement

8.8. Week, 1938, eclipsed all previous records. Last year's total collection amounted to £43* 10/0, which wm divided between the local companies and headquarters on a 50-50 basis. This year companies were allowed to retain two-thirds and remit only one-third to headquarters. This meant that at least .£<loo would lie required to bring in the required amount to maintain the work. Only eleven more companies were participating in the collection. Could it be done? To the__great credit of all -concerned, the figure climbed U[> and up until the total stood, not at £600, but at £700. Well done, everybody! The average collection per company was £10 17/3, while the highest amount collected by any company was £50 raised by the Second Invercargill. Can Auckland beat that next year? We wonder 1

Folate's Day. Ever since the founder of the Boys' Brigade died ia 1914, the last Sunday in October has. been observed throughout the~B.B. world as Founder's Day. And once again next month at church parjtdet and in Bible classes officers and boys will meet Yo thank God for the life and work of Sir William Smith. From a small company of 30 boys the Boys' Brigade has grown to a great movement with a membership in Great Britain of 110,000, and many thousands more in other land*. The 8.8. is, of course, the senior organisation for boyi,. and the organisation for senior boys. And' to*day with its Christian ideal arid fte fine discipline it continue* tb appeal to an ever growing number of boys who want to make the most and th'e beit of life. What About Camp? Surely it is the right of every 8.8. boy to have the of going to camp? To ensure a' fair chance for everybody, boys should- be paying i|» to the company bank ovefy vreek now. Officers should make Certain that when summer comes they ahd their boys will share the joy* of camp . life—the crown of a good session. Toere is no holiday to compare with it. And in these daya when camps—first inaugurated as a flew kind of holiday by the 8.8. 50 years ago—are being. held by 8.8. camp has a character afl iU own. many organisations and institutions, Nowhere can be found such a happy atmosphere, and the officer* nnd boys who miss it are to be pitied. So get busy, if you Have not already done so, s#ve up regularly, and make sure,that you will have the happiest holiday of your life when next summer comes round. 8.8. Cricketers. The 8.8. cricket season will soon be in full swing, and many a Saturday and many a long summer evening will he filled with delight. And when they get to camp, life for some boys will be just one glorioue long cr'.ckct match. • fack Hobba is an ex-member of the Boys' Brigade. We wonder whether in «nv 8.8. team to-day there may "be a budding player who will some day-play for England. How proua his company would' be of such * distinction! Our Canadian Cousins. The Boys' Brigade has made remarkable progress in Canada durinj£the_ last few years. There Is now a Dominion Council, with Lord Tweedsmuir. nor-0«n«ral of . Canada, atXWttiP/. Toronto and M«ntrealbattaif»*»* J ■ind 660 strong respectivelyexecutive have arranged that tme yW" 1

seas Secretary will visit our Canadian companies this autumn, and Mr. McVicker will sail for a six weeks' tour of 8.8. centres in the Dominion in October, ifte is sure to receive a welcome as warm as the greetings which he will bear from the Boys' Brigade in the Old Country to our Canadian cousins. A Double Rescue. Tho Boys' Brigade Cross for heroism lias been awarded to Private Frank Riley, aged 13, and the 8.8. diploma for gallant conduct to Private Joseph Langton, aged 15, both of the Ist Wliittle-le-Woods Company, for saving the life of a boy of 7 from drowning at Delph Pits, Wliittle-le-Woods, Lancashire.

A party of small children were walking along the edge of a deep-flooded quarry when a boy of seven fell over the edge into the water and disappeared. The screams of the children attracted the notice of Frank Riley, who ran to the spot and dived in fully clothed, althougn Tie knew this point was notoriously dangerous. The water was some 40ft deep in places, and Riley is not an expert swimmer, but he succeeded in seizing the drowning child, and although the little bov's weight pulled him underneath repeatedly he continued to struggle to the side. There would probably have been a double fatality but for Langton, who came on the scene in time to scramble down to a ledge, from which he was able to rescue both the boys.

Plucky Brighton Boy. One afternoon recently La nee-Corporal Roger Dunford, of tho 3rd Brighton Company, looking out So sea, saw a man

in difficulties. A strong wind was blowing, the sea was very rough, and there were rocks just under the surface of the water. As soon as he saw the man in trouble Dunford dived into the sea, swam out, and with considerable difficulty got the man, who by this time was nearly unconscious, to the groyne, where, with help, ho got him ashore and applied artificial respiration.

The witnesses and the police testified that if Dunford had not jumped into the sea the man would undoubtedly have l>een drowned, and young Dunford has been awarded the 8.8. diploma for gallant conduct.

A Gallant Young Scot. The Boys' Brigade cross for heroism has been awarded to Private William Riddoeh, of the 4th Inverness Company foj attempting to save the life of a boy ia the River Ness. The two boys were fishing from a breakwater when the younger boy fell in «t a spot where the depth was 20ft. Fully clothed, Riddoeh at once dived in after his voting companion, who was unable to swim and was being carried away by the current. Riddoeh reached the drowning boy and, seizing hold of him. tried to s>yim back with him, but the child's struggles eventually caused him to lose hold. He went after him again, however, but despite a second gallant effort he was unable to save the little boy, who was swept down stream and disappeared under the surface. It was several days before the body was found. Riddoeh only gave up when he was completely exhausted and was laid up for •some time as a result of the strain he had suffered.