DOMINION SCOUTS.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14237, 28 December 1911, Page 5

DOMINION SCOUTS.

. (By Vigilant.) To set the Caiife above renown, To love thp game beyond the prize, ■••• To honour, while you strike him,.down, The foe that comes with'fearless eyes; To count the life of battle good, ■ . ,i_ And dear tho land that gave you birth,. And dearer yet the brotherhood • • That binds the brave of all the earth. —-Newbolt, In a recent letter received by the I Colonel from Colonel Brownrigg, Com- ! missioner for oversea Dominions, the lat- ! tor says : —"I am greatly pleased with the photographs which you kindly sent mc, but I tear tho General will take a, i.t when he sees the sergeants' stripes on their arms." ' To this Colonel CosSgrove replied, that he sincerely hoped the General would have recovered from his fit ere ho arrrived in this Dominion, as he would find very manyof our boys who were senior Cadets wearing their boy Scout uniform, with boy Scout badges, on one arm, and their military badges on the other. What applies in England will not apply in countries ■where- compulsory military training of boys is tho law of the land. The anti-military spirit has now gone so far as to induct; the Council to make another alteration in the regulations. In future leaders will adopt the New, Zealand leaders' two stripes, but they will wear them in two vertical Lines on their left breast pockets, and the seconds one stripe- on the same place. With all due respect to the London Council, this eeems to mc to be anti-militarism runs mad. The organisation is go well understood in Britain and her dependencies, that few, if any, folks regard it as a military one. True, there are many prominent military men taking office in the organisations" all over the world, hut they are the least anxious to militarise the*boys' training. It is the young men, the civilians, who are most anxious to tiv thoir hands at drill. The , ',editor of the London "Evening Times ,, proposes to apply a practical test to the efficacy of rthc Boy Scout training. The result of this test will be watched with the greatest possible interest by all connected with our Boy Scout movement." He has decided to fill all the junior positions on his editorial staff with Boy Scouts. This is not an advertisement, but an attempt to get reliable, resourceful, good, clean-living lads, for the work, [f the experiment is a. success, no doubt other employers will follow the lead so generously set by the '"Evening Times." Mr- Win. Gray, M.A.. B.Sc.. Commissioner for Wellington, wb.6 has done bo much to harmonise the work there, and who is extremely popular, has resigned to take up a very important appointment iv * Australia. Mr Gray is the principal of the Teachers' Training College, in Wellington, and as such, has set a noble example to thoso teachers throughout tho Dominion who still damn the Boy Scout movement with faint praise, or open hostility. Mr E. S. Baldwin, of Kelburne, Wellington, has been appointed his successor, and as he has taken a keen interest in the -work, since its inception there, and as ho i<s very popular, his appointment by the Chief Scout will give great satisfaction in that province. Mrs M. Moss, of the Mangamaunu school, reporte that she drew up Iter

A * ■ '■ " ■ ' scholars on the road-side on Sunday ] ' niorning as his Excellency tho Cover-j ! nor -was passing through to Nelson. i bh'e had her Boy Beout patrol and her ! Giri Pence. -Scout patrol there too, in | ; their uniforms, ... with colours ana;, I staves. His lixecllency was" greatly pleased, and asked Mrs Moss. a"nun»- ---■ her of questions about thetn, and oonJ yratulat«l them upon'their smart ap-i ; oearanee. • ■ j 1 Colonel White," V.D., Commissioner j for Auckland. ha.s forwarded to tju-r, ! Dominion Chief an application lor tho; Silver Cross en behalf of Scout Bert; Allan, of Auckland, for saving the ii!«i I of. a" woman who toll into the harbour. • s-e she was stepping on to the ierry; ! stoainvr on August the 12th. f .w ' i.et is duly testified to by a police-: .man. who \va.s on duty at the tinr\; ijwid'by tilt; master oi the .steamer.. Though a number of men were stand-; • ; l-v. mmeot them made any efforts at a! reM.ue. The boy Allan-wa* drawn to! ! the spot by the'cries of those who saw J : tho woman iall. Without a moments : In.-Station he junWl into the water. [ . and see : ny the woman pushed Jser unoer; lite wharf to.prevent her being crushedj i by the steamer, and kept her afloat rii j ! help came. Tho master of tho steamer j ' k loud in his praise of the boy «; ! heroic conduct. The polu-eman eliarnc- ; lerises the act a> the bravest ho ovor .aw. Bo:h rescued and rescuer were; ' voiv much v .\hau«.t«d when brought; ! :i>horev but the boy .soon recovered,, ! s . nd. refused ass'stnnee to bis home,, ! <avin«. -ril just run off and change I :mv Jlothes." Thi* makes the thud ; r-aimant for the "S Ivor Cross by Aui.k- ---! hind City .Scouts during the'past thr-e! • months. I Commissioner Taylor. U.S.W..report* > I very favourably of tho work done b> i ! the' Reefton troop at his official mspec- j i tion on Friday, the Ist December in- j stout. He says':—"lt is- several months i ■ sinew 1 paid a visit to this troop, and 'it hue now reached a high point of em- j ieieni'V. It has an • enthusiastic com-; ! mander in the -.Rev. I). Calder, an able \ '' secretary in -Mr W. Nicholas, and most \ capable scoutmasters in Messrs Camp- j bell and McCorkimlale. 32 Scouts were present out of 44 of the roll. I put ; ; them through tests in physical dnl , , marphine, knotting, tracking, i ! liiiK. and first aid. and in all the tests j i they acquitted themselves with credit, i They have givr.n a public demonstration j of Scout work which was largely at- j .tended, and have bought their uniforms, ; and two tents." I GIRLS' PEACE SCOUTS. j Mrs Thomas, wife of a prominent j doctor in Illinois. U..5.A., informs ; Colonel Cossgrove that .sho has seen his I book "I'eace Scouting for Girls," and iis delighttnl with it. # She wants 'to present to her grand-daughter, who ;is an enthusiastic G.P.S., and ono of i Miss Embler's troop. Colonel Cossgrove ■ has been very fortunate in the selection ■of his scheme, and in tho programme' of [work ho has drafted. Of the hundreds ; of letters he has received from the wife !of the humble cottager to her Majesty ! the Queen, ro his book, not one disseni tient voice has been raised, but all with ■ one accord express their unqualified apj proval of the work, and their best j wishes for its success. I Miss Tabart, of Christchurch, has ! joined the Council, and with Mrs T. E. I Taylor, tho president, is .working to ; interest a number of ladies in the moveI ment. A prominent lady,in the city hae i been askfcd to become patroness of the: local centre. If she agrees, the Council ■will be called together at once and the work'takeri in hand in earnest. Their Excellencies Lord and Lady I Islington hare kindly sent their photoI graphs to the Chief Scout for reproj dtiction in the Christmas number qf the "Dominion Scout," which is now on sale. General Baden-Powell reports - thai when he visited Norway this year he j inspected several troops of GW Scouts. One troop was, in camp, and .did it& own cooking. "And," says the. Genieral, "their cooking swas so good that I UK* almost more than was good for mc." In Holland, too, he found several troops. ■ One; at The Hague numbered 70 strong. The girls had been in camp for some weeks and they, too, did all-their own cooking. Tho troop, under the presidency of Mrs Dr. Dunn, has made a good startf. Tho stress of electioneering has here, as elsewhere, taken up so - much attention by parents that » little has been done during the past two weeks , , but now that tho' rush is over the movement. ■ will go ahead.again. - . * ' '.'.: / Stratford girls are progressing: satis-, factorily, and it is reported that they, will close the year's work with a big dfinionstration. This troop has done work and is still very enthusiastic." Mrs Mackay, the Chief Scoutmistress, is deserving of the greatest: credit for what she has done for these girls. ■_ . ' Tno four troops in C.'iristtliiirch are doing very well though little has been done during tho strenuous- days of electidnoering. As girls had to remain at home while their parents' attention was taken up with matters political, little outdoor work has been done during the past two weeks. Lyttelton girls, too. have been unable to attend parades as usual though the girls hero are very enthusiastic. Now that all the turmoil is over, in their district, matters have . settled down to their normal condition, and the troops once more to.regular work. The new troop at Havelock North, which at first formed a branch of the Havelock Boy Scouts, has, on the advice , of the Chief Scout, been separated and formed into a G.P.S. troop, under a Scoutmistress, who is rery .keen'and anxious to work them up into a really good troop. . ' ". . Miss Laurie, district-secretary of the Gore Council, reports that Miss-Bowler, daughter of Colonel Bowler, has been appointed Scoutmistress/ in place of Miss Howes, who had to resign owing to ill-health. She regrets that the Council has not been able to spread the movement to the outlying districts, but hopes that the Council will be able to do something ere long. It is to be deplored that ladtee can-; ■ j not be found in numbers sufficient to !/ supply the officers reouired for a move- j men. which is so universally approved ! as that of the G.P.S. " j j.j■' * ■ . _ In this pleasure-loving and pleaAitpeseeking age it is difficult to persuade young ladies to turn their attention/to something really useful or serious. If the young woman who holds back from tho fear that the work will rob her of some pleasure will try the work, ahe will find that it not only does not interfere with her pleasures, but adds a new one to them. Then when she has secured tho trusting friendship of thirty , ' or forty young comrades, and has found ; the joy of bridling the exuberant spirits i of some wayward girl, and of brightening up the sullen, dull one*, and~-hals a really smart troop of her own making, she will soon realise that -he-has found as a hobby a new form of plea- • sure which will make- her life realjy worth living, and which is something o£ 5 ,. far wider ■enjoyment than merely. driv- f ing weir at golf, or tennis; that* she is : doing almost unconsciously a big thing - —the biggest thing a woman can do—something really valuable for her country, her race, and. her young sisters.-