SCOUTCRAFT

Evening Star, Issue 15479, 29 April 1914, Page 4

SCOUTCRAFT

[By Leader.]

[Reports of meetings and parades, items of interest, or question* should he addressed to “ Leader, 1 ’ cjo Y.M.C.A., Dunedin, before 5.50 on Monday of each xreeA] ■

The Green Island Troop hfld»an excellent parade last Friday evening. The attendance was good, and sonic of the «©r* done was easily the best this y.ear. The swimming and life-saying squad have almost mastered the rescue and release methods now. The above troop sent an enlarged photo of the New Zealand Ambulanco Team to Mrs Gossgrove last week in Appreciation of the valuable services she has rendered to the movement in New Zealand. I have been informed by Mr Holderness (provincial secretary) that af Sea Scout troon is about to be formed at Port Chalmers. The scoutmaster, I understand, will be a master mariner. With such a scoutmaster, I am sure there will be nothing to fear in the future of this troop. Next weak, if time and space will permit, I will tell you what Lord Charles Beresford, G.C.8.M.P., thinks of the Sea Scouts. Some time ago Mr C. J. Damcott (district secretary) wrote to Colonel Gossgrove asking for information regarding the number of Bov Scouts in New Z ea l all d, and towards the end of last month he received a reply. Hs says, inter alia, that since the formation of the first patrol some 17,000 boys have enrolled. But some of these have passed from our ranks owing to reaching their eighteenth birthday, and ’ others have left when they had to serve with the Cadets. “However, we are still enrolling the younger boys,” continues the colonel, “ and though I cannot name the exact number, I am confident that ,at least 12,000 bays are Scouts, while probably 15.000 is'nearer the correct figure.” At the end of last year'2,ooo officers had ben enrolled, including chaplains and instructors. There are at present 1,300 of that number acting as scoutmasters. The movement has made more rapid progress in the North Island than in the South. Auckland province has been divided into four sub-provinces, each under a commissioner, while Hawke’s Bay lias been divided into two and Wellington into three sub-provinces. New troops are being formed in these districts every week, and now there arc patrols in even’ district from Parengarenga, in the Far North, to Wellington City in the south._ The South Island workers have not displayed _ the same amount of keenness and enthusiasm as those in the North Island. _ They have taken the work up more steadily, and as a result the work has been more thorough. The officers have also kept more in touch with the regulations of the organisation. With the exception of Auckland, Wellington, and lately Dunedin, the city troops have been small compared with country troops. In some of the latter districts every available boy is a Scout. So far as ’Colonel Gossgrove can tell, Marlborough is the only place in New Zealand where Boy Scouts are unknown. Lyttelton is a rising district, and has the King’s Own Troop and the Otter Troop in its midst. There are 160 Scouts in this port. The Gladstone Troop (Invercargill) is an ideal one. • It has a band, rocket apparatus squad, and a fire brigade, all composed of members- of the troop, and they are smart, too. If a tour of the provinces could be made we should doubtless be amazed at what is being done. Even at isolated places, such as Mount Rissington, Hawke’s Bah, there is a patrol of Boy Scouts. They built their own clubroom and workshop,' and upholstered their own chairs. They make deck chairs, etc., and sell these to provide funds for carrying on their work. Recently they built a fine suspension bridge over a wide stream. This was done to order, and was for public use. They are said to be able to turn their hands to almost anything.” The colonel concluded his very chatty letter with the remark; “Your Dunedin rallv will probably bring to light a .large amount of those handy men of whom we are at uresenet practically ignorant.” Sir R. S. S. Badon-Powell, in a letter to Colonel Gossgrove. dated March 11, says: “We aret making a special appeal to' the public for an endowment fund for the association, and it has occurred to me that New Zealand might like to take advantage of tha boom, and simultaneously raise an endowment fund for her own Scouts. Should you think this desirable. Colonel Brownrigg, our Commissioner for Oversea Dominions, would be only too pleased to do anything np can to help you.” In connection with the above, Colonel Ccssgrore is making an appeal for £ICO to enable the council to inaugurate the Senior- Scouts and Sea Scouts scheme ; tc print 2,000 wall charts of the Scout law, for presentation to all public schols in the Dominion; and to provide headquarters, with stationery and printed matter. If this can be raised in the meantime, a more ambitious scheme may be laid before the public later on. Friends willing to help the movement are requested to send their donations to_ any of the following, and the amounts will be handed over to the council; — Colonels Oossarove and Cresswell, Captain Marciei, Rev.' W. H. Orbell (Dominion secretary), Mr Holderness (provincial secretary, Patrick street, Mornineton). In response to Colonel Cossgrove’s appeal the Bight Hon. W. F. Massey, Prime Minister, wrote a very sympathetic letter, in which he stated that he would consider the probability of a special grant to the movement when he returned to Wellington-

Sir R. S. S. Bader.-Powell recently appealed to the people of England for £250,000, in order that a permanent fund should be established for the carrying on of the work at Home. South Australia, Victoria, and Queensland have made such appeals, and these appeals are meeting with a ready and hearty response. The Boy Scouts organisation has now proved its worth in New Zealand, as was evidenced by the recent Australian rally, at which the New Zealand Scouts did so well. And Baden-Powell himself said at the close of his world’s tour that, the New Zealand Scouts would compare very favorably with any in the world. It is therefore to be hoped that the Prime Minister may obtain a grant for the Boy Scouts. It must be borne in mind that these appeals are not for the purpose of assisting individual troops or patrols (these find their funds by means of subscriptions from Scouts), but are solely for the purpose of aiding the various headquarters councils and committees. At the dinner held in connection with the presentation of the. Kina’s Standard to the Lyttelton Troop recently, a gentleman, on proposing the toast of The Army and Navy,” said that he regretted the demilitarisation of the Junior Cadets. Another gentleman, who responded, said that he disagreed with that statement. He felt that the Senior Cadets also should be done away with, and the Boy Scouts’ training substituted, as illustrated by the fine troop they had in Lyttelton. Sir Robert Baden-Powell. on the same subject, says : “If as a general I had to choose between taking 1,000 well trained Cadets or Boy Scouts on active service, I would not only prefer Boy Scouts, butwould do the same if offered the alternative of 500 Boy Scouts or 1,000 Cadets. This is not because Boy Scouts have a military training, but because. they are better grounded in all-round work. Naturally, when I speak of trained Scouts I mean thoso who have earned their first class badges.”