SCOUT NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 35, 10 August 1927, Page 17

SCOUT NOTES

(By "Rover.")

Last Wednesday night Commissioner Vosseler, Wellington North, gave an interesting and instructive talk on camping, hikeingj and tracking. It is hoped Mr. Vosseler may repeat this on 27th August, with exhibits, when possibly some of the hundred assistant masters who did not attend would have a second chance. ' Troops should as soon as possible fill up all .vacancies in scouter and scout ranks, as the annual census takes place next month.

_Well done, Petone! TMrty-four 'Sea Scouts were present last week. The chairman, Mr. Selwood, Chaplain Rev. Loan, and some committee members assisted in listing: up the boys into three divisions according to size and ages ready for next Thursday, when they will begin their Sea Scout tests. A detachment o£ Collingwood Sea Scouts from town gave a haka and assisted generally during the evening. The company ,is grateful to tbe Old Navals Boat Club for use of their boat shed, and look forward to close brotherhood with both Boat and Yacht Clubs of Petone. Seamaster Johnstone is now in charge of Collingwood Sea Scouts, with late Coxpwam Sorran as mate. There is room for a few more boys to help the company retain the trident and cup. ;: Last week's parents' night at St. Jude's found their hall transformed into a camp Bcene, with tents and campfire. The semaphoring of three messages by two ;>atrols in unison proved quite spectacular. There was a fine muster of the pack, while the scouts are growing in strength. Visitors and scouts alike enjoyed the supper following the display. ' On 25th July the V.M.C.A. No. 2 Troop held its winter 6ocia], which was an unqualified success, there being a large attendance of parents and friends. The ob> ject of the social was to secure the interest of parents and friends in an effort shortly to be made for the purpose of raising funds to assist the troop with its: Christmas camp. Games for young and old, inter»pereed • with short demonutrations of scout work, passed away a very enjoyable evening, and it is hoped one that will result in increa»ed interest on the part of parents. Mapy thanks are due to the vanous ladies who so kindly assisted imd made the evening the success it was. During the past few months the troop has progressed in many directions, and a very successful scouting year is anticipated. .Cambridge troop, which is unfortunately without a permanent sconter/ continues to carry on steadily. D.S.M. Donkin, with Assistant Scoutmaster Pearce and P. L. Waddle are doing good work in keeping the troop at its best Last Friday the troop, waa busy as the Town Hall, assisting the Community Fair workers. Next Friday we are holding a jumble sale in aid of our troop funds, so we have to get busy. Last Thursday V.M.C.A. No. 1 Troop had a visit from Mr. Qxley, an old scout, who will T)e- remembered by those who attended tbe Pahnerstori North rally as one of • the leading figures of the camp. An examination for the Public Healthman's badge is to be held next Thursday. Scouts desirous of going for this badge are urged to be at headquarters before 7 o'clock.

Points for Patrol Leaders.—Last Saturday night the Rovers met and were given an interesting lecture on first aid. .During the lecture a remark was made to the effect that a scout is not a fool. This, saya pur chief, is the eleventh Scout Law —the" unwritten one; but let'? get back to the point. Like most unwritten laws, it has a great deal of truth in it, and I am afraid many of our fellows fall short in carrying out its spirit. But the fault lies not with them: iv most cases we ourselves are to blame. We carry out our patrol work on the right lines; we endeavour to instil scouting knowledge into our chaps,.but we. hardly ever take into account their training in what we might call wisdom. And that, I say, in often the reason the scouts in our patrols seem I so backward; are bo hard to interest, and so slow in learning. Wisdom, we are told, is the "right use of. knowledge," and unless our chaps get" a good share of this quality they will continue tq.be backward and slow iv learning, and will eoou forget even what they do learn. But how can we teach wisdom and the spirit o£ the eleventh Bcou.t Law? We can't. We can only inspire or encourage them by our example, and by training scouts to get the best out of their senses—seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and lastly com-mon-seme. It is not for me to gay how this should be done. Books have already been written on the subject, and every .troop and patrol library 1 should contain them. This sounds rather vague, but letiis take our own selves first. I often have patrol leaders asking me the best way of becoming better leaders. I think it fie* with losing the useless foolishness we all have in and growing wiser. 'Of course it is often a .matter of experience, but there are many ways in which we can gain wiidon apart from reading learned and musty old books. It can best be done through various games and stunts, and is simply a matter of sensible practice. The last—sense-common—is perhaps most important of all, for it is really a sprt of well-balanced use of all the other spnses. It is obtained by the accumulation of general knowledge and by experience.

Here are some ideas: Good reading, not only books on ecout work, but even the popular classics and the best modern writers, the intelligent reading of the daily newspaper by you older leaders. Attend lectures and debates on all kinds of subjects if they_ are not too dry for you. Follow your hobby or natural bent, or if you have gone into the world to earn your living make yourself proficient in your own job. All this, though perhaps sounding rather a mouthful for the easygoing fellow, is well within the scope of the "busy" leader, and incidentally develops one's ability to lead. Whether or no he il a "born" man, it is the wise, energetic fellow yrho nearly always makes the best leader. - '.

And now for your patrol. Training them in wisdom is not so hard as it might at first seetn. For the development of the senses we have all the games and practices in observation and tracking. We can c«ry out stunts for encouraging better hearing and identification ©£ noises, unfamiliar gounds and so on; we can sharpen the sense of smell and taste by such jfieao as laying a "strong" scented trail to be followed, giving practical teßts in both senses of touch by such methods as identifying objects simply by touch, adding perhaps deduction, weight-judging, and bo on. You see, not only do these ideas-train the senses of our chaps, but they suggest new schemes for the patrol meeting, and P.L.s are always asking me what they cap, do besides badge work, ■which, 1 believe me, some .leaders can make dull. And now for common sense, or general knowledge. It must be obtained by our scouts in much the same manner as; we ■ gained it ourselves-^or as we are going to gain it. Discussions, troop debateß, mock trials, plays and displays, all these encourage self-expression, and the development of reasoning powers, both important factors in common sense. Spin some good yarns to your chaps, and encourage them to occasionally spin a yarn as well. Get them to read good books, and you might have a quarter of an hour of the patrol meeting devoted to reading aloud all round from one of the more popular classics. Encourage your fellows to come to you with their min&r difficulties, no matter how trifling, and help them to solve their troubles. With their bigger difficulties get them to seek tk? wider experience of the scoutmaster. But whatever we do, let us answer the chief's call to train our scouts not to be fools. It may need'a great deal of energy, but it's worth it, and although wo may never become Solomons, we can at least follow in his wake.

Kindly forward notes on or before Monday of each week to Rover A. Meachen, "Ithaca," Thorndon quay.