Boy Scouts and Cubs

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVI, Issue 86, 27 March 1926, Page 11

Boy Scouts and Cubs

(By “Pathfinder.”)

LET US BE BETTER MEN! Let us be better men! Let us find tilings to do, Saner and sweeter tnan any vet. Higher and nobler and true! Lot us be better men! Let us uegiii again. Trying all over the best we know To climb and develop and grow. Lot us be better men! Whether with pick or pen, The labour wc do is a work worth while If our hearts are clean and our spirits smile, And out of the ruck and rust and stain We make some growth and make sonm gam _ Lot us be better men! —The Forbes Magazine. © ® WHETHER those verses were penned lor boys or men “raUifinder” does? not know. Bui they are appropriate in cither case, if intended lor men they are a challenge io maac the world belter, by making belter citizens, by being saner and sweeter and cleaner. 11 mey are lor bojs, they express what Seguing aims at ana what every Scout ana Cub is striving to be—noble and true, smiling, clean and useiul. bo, Scouts, they arc suitable lor us aii and we can all resolve to be hotter men than those who have lived before us, than oven the men living to-day. Part of our work is lima kc the world a better place to live in, and surely the best way to du that is to be ourselves better people. An old saying is this: “Ji each would mend one (that is, one’s self) the world would soon be mended.” Etp ® $ RALLIES OF SCOUTS. A proposal has been made in Wellington to hold an outdoor display in April. The use of the Basin Reserve has been practically secured, with permission to change entrance, for April 10. if Scoutmasters all heartily cooperate, without doubt an outstanding display wdl be given. Besides the grand rally and cub display it is hoped that the majority of the troops will give special exhibitions of Scout work. This is no ordinary occasion, and it is hoped that Scouters will, one and all, make an exceptional efl'ort to put on something of an entertaining character. Many items, siidi as the following. have been thought of. hut suggestions have been asked for others;— Grand rally, r ■ display, breeches buoy rescue by Sea Scouts, physical drill. pioneering, pyramids, quarter staff drill, first aid. Morse and semaphore, field hospit.d. Scout game«. life saving, pitch tent on a hike, wild aiiiimihsj etc.

Auckland held a rally last week, when over 400 Scouts were on parade, and were inspected by His Excellency Sir Charles Fergusson. The Wellington rally is to be held on April 10th, and although His Excellency will not be present there should be about 1300 scouts on parade lor this occasion. A meeting ol scouters and delegates from troop committees was held in the “Den” last Saturday evening. Officials were elected for the rally, and it is hoped that scouters will show the usual interest and keenness in the training of their troopjs lor the various events that are to be shown before the public. There seems to be no reason why a similar out of doors display should not be organised for Hawkes Bay. At least ten Troops are within convenient distance, and should the matter be taken up heartily perhaps a programme could be put on for later in the year. Such functions fulfil a most valuable place in Scout work for a district, stimulating and extending interest, bringing together boys who would otherwise seldom, if ever, meet and supplying something definite in the way of programmes of work. Anyhow “Pathfinder” ventilates the idea for what it is worth and will welcome an exchange of opinions. ® @> EASTER MONDAY. The proposal has been made that on Easter Monday a rally of all Scouts within convenient distance should muster for a combined outing. Since Hastings is reasonably central for most of the ten or twelve troops m Hawke’s Bay, it was thought that a day might en joy ably be spent on the Havelock Hills. Mir. Mason Chambers has very kindly granted permission for Scouts to gather in,force in the glorious valley on the way up to the Te Mata gap, and probably there is no more charming spot for a good picnic. It is available by motor car or lorry, and for those proceeding on foot from the Havelock bus terminus is a most pleasurable walk, providing splendid scouting and the most beautiful of views. As for ways and means of filling in the time, Scoutmasters and Scouts, being experts in self-reliance and resourcefulness, need h#ve no anxiety on that scorex Various Scouting tests will no doubt be conducted, namely fire lighting, cooking, tracking, etc. The cooking should be a conspicuous feature. Each boy should take some raw ration, chops, meat, sausages, any vegetable, and cook his midday meal. Scouters should do the same. It will bo great fun. Then alter recovering from the effects of that, or perhaps to work off its effects, many will certainly want to climb to the peak. The view from that summit is ample reward for the climb. It is worth mentioning, perhaps, that motors proceeding via Simla Avenue can ascend to within a few hundred yards of the Peak. Some friends might like to be in evidence during the day. It would be easy to suggest other impromptu and Informal performances. For example, how about assembling the,, big crowd of boys in an unrehearsed Jamboree, to give the Dominion haka and skyrocket yell, community choruses, and so on. Scoutmasters no doubt will jump at the chance for a conference on matters of common interest. Commissioner Hughes suggests that a time foi assembling might well be decided on, say, 10 a.m. at the Havelock Ims stanu. This would enable troops from Pukehou. Waipawa and Waipukurau Co join in at the same time as the rest Now Scouts and Scouters. it’s up to you. Get busy. Talk, and. above all, arrange for all to come. ® ® ® & ABOUT BADGES. Scouts should be encouraged to’ obtain the first-class badge before they devote their attention to the various proficiency hobby badges. To obtain first-class a scout gains an elementary knowledge of signalling, tracking, cooking, swimming, Morse and ambulance. Why not continue the study and gain the proficiency badge in each of these subjects, having already learned them to gain his first-class? The following sentence should be of interest to sign- Ilers, as it contains each letter in the alphabet: “They provoked a quarrel hv zealously mixing a few iet black cats.” ® ® ® MESSAGE EROM iHE PRINCE An appeal ;or more, men to cornu ' lorwuta “uuve a liana in uac noy bcuiiL movement maue inc rrmce oi »a.es, inio is Cmui ocoul for wales, in a message which lie sent to a conierence oi vouiity commissioners and v-uunty beuieuaiies iiuiu al Iparts oi Great Britain, winch was held recently at the boy bcouts’ imperial Headquarters, bir -Robert BadenPowell, the Chief Scout, presiued, ana read the Prince s message, which was as follows:— “1 am very glad to hear of the steady progress of the Boy Scout movement, both in numbers , and efficiency, during the past jear. It is more than satisfactory to realise that in its comparatively short hie the movement should already have reached a membership of 475.195 in the Empire' and 1,560.491' in the world. During my recent tour in South and West Africa and in South America I saw everywhere branches of the movement, all showing the same keenness and the same sense of service which distinguishes the brotherhood as a whole. l, lf more men will come forward and take a hand in the movement .1 see a very great development, as well ,as vast possibilities before it. I con. gratulate those who have worked so untiringly in bringing it to its present state of efficiency, and I wish them all possible further success. EDWARD P.” A message expressing loyalty and devotion was sent to the King. c?p da HOW SCOUTING BEGAN (By Sir Robert Baden-Powell.) (Continued.) To be any good at scouting a man had to be abie to find his way by night as well as by day across strange country, with pussxb;v only the stars to guide him ; he had to be able to cook his own grub, io swim rivers, t. hide successfully; in other words, he had to learn pluck and nerV’c, sel.reliance, handiness, endurance and self-sacrifice from a sense of duty and service lor his country. So by learning scouting, ><»u see. these young recruits became real men and good soldiers. And what was. more, they enjoyed their soldiering instead of becoming bored hv the discipline and routine. Later on I was invited io inspect the Boys’ Brigade at Glasgow, and I felt that, though their numbers were fairlv large, these should be roallv much larger if their work really 'n-te'-osted them. So 1 told Sir Smith, the founder and commandant, how popular scouting was with young soldiers in the Arniv. and that pus sibly some adaptation of it might be helpful for his bovs. He suggested th:J I should mv.seli adapt it lor boys, so I set to work to change what was an art for men in making war into ;?n for boys for making pear.-. ' bit, of a rhango round, wasn’t it ? But it seemed to promise all right when I tackled it : und in its now form scouting hud nothing to do with soldiering. Then I got together a troop nl nbnir. forty bqvs of all-sorts to c-mie into -i camp wih mo and try out the experi

meat. Amongst them were “dukes’ sons ,cooks’ sons, and sons of belted carls,” and thef got on splendidly together in our eam P at Brownlea Island, in Dorsetshire. That was in September, 1907. At the camp we practised as much as we could of the work of frontiersmen—that is the work of explorers, backwoodsmen, seamen, hunters, trackers, and others generally known under the term “scouts.” In January, 1908, 1 brought out the book “Scouting for Boys,” in fortnightly parts, and before many parts had appeared troops of Scouts began to spring up in different jMirts of the country—many, if not most of them, started by boys themselves. In a very short while we found that there were not merely hundreds, but thousands of boys bitten with the scouting fever, so much so, that two years later we called a rally at the Crystal Palace, and, taking count of the boys as they marched past, we found that 11.000 had turned up—by far the biggest assemblage of boys that had so far been held in England. And so it has gone on, growing bigger and bigger, and the boys becoming more and more efficient <‘very year. Other countries followed suit, and started their Scouts On exactly the same lines and with the same ideals as ours, till to-day there is scarcely a civilised countrv without its Scouts, and there are nearly two millions of Bov Scouts about the world. They are not merely an organised society; they are more than this—thev are a great friendly brotherhood, all dressed alike, and having, as 1 say, the same aim, namely, to make themselves. through Scout training, into healthy, happy, helpful citizens of their country and friendly towards all others. So any fellow who joins this jolly fraternitv knows that in doing so he is not only going to have a good time and enjoy the fun of camping and lifo in the out-of-doors in good comradeship. but also he w i’l be doing his bit in helping other people and serving his King and country in the cause of peace and goodwill. (The End.) [N.B.—The first instalment of the above was published two weeks ago.]