The Hawera Star. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1931. LORD AND LADY BADEN-POWELL.

Hawera Star, Volume L, 21 February 1931, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1931. LORD AND LADY BADEN-POWELL.

Delivered every evening by 5 o’olook in Hawera, Manaia Kaupokonui, Otakeho, Oeo, Pihama, Opunake, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Ngaere, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Te Kiri, Mahoe, Lowgarth, Manutahi, Kakaramea, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, Whenuakura, Waverley, Mokoia, Whakamara, Obangai, Meremere, Fraser Boad, and Ararata.

It can be well understood that there is, as an Auckland message to-day has it, a spirit of suppressed excitement abroad among Boy Scouts and Girl Guides at the prospect of having Lord and Lady Baden-Powell in their midst. For thirty years and more Loi'd BadenPowell has been a heroic figure in the eyes of the youth of the Empire, and 1 there will be others, grown-ups as well as children, outside the Scout, and Guide movement as well as within, who will delight to honour one who has become a national figure on a special plane of i his own. The Chief Scout is one of those uncommon personalities who has held his grip on the public esteem over a long period. He e,merged from the South African War with a well-deserved reputation as a soldier. He was one of England's heroes whoso name was celebrated in song and story. The years which have elapsed have seen many changes; past glories have faded; the Great War set new standards by which men, and particularly soldiers, are now judged. But the Chief Scout has been one of those who, while never looking for fame, has in the course of carrying out what he conceived to be his work, had the mantle of fame thrown permanently over him. Much has been written of Lord Baden-Powell; of his genius for organisation; of his practical idealism; of the many fine qualities of his personality. His Scout movement has been termed a youthful League of Nations, and he has been properly credited with doing more than , any other single individual in modern times to ensure future international goodwill, understanding and peace. But it is not the slightest tribute of all to say that Lord Baden-Powell has survived thirty and more years of heroworship and is to-day as much a hero to his admirers as he was thirty years ago when many of them were very • young. He has remained a hero to successive generations of small boys, and to their parents; there have been no "feet of clay" to disillusion the youthful mind as it approached maturity. The names of the Chief Scout and Chief Guider loom large in the imaginations of the young people connected with the movement in this country, as they do in every country in the world to which the movement has spread.)

Though highly organised, the personal touch has not been lost and every youngster who has benefited —and their name is legion—has felt the influence which comes from association, however, remote, with the character and ideals of the Founder. To Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, the Chiefs are very real persons, and those who are fortunate to see them at close quarters during the forthcoming .rally will achieve an ambition cherished from the first moment they became imbued with the spirit of this remarkable organisation of youth.