SCOUT NOTES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 80, 16 March 1934, Page 15

SCOUT NOTES

(By

"Friar Tuck.")

COMMISSIONER’S OUTLOOK. | Before our Chief ever thought of; "Scouting for Boys” he wrote a little Army text book which was intended to I make or help the British soldier be more ' self reliant, especially when he was on his own. It is called "Aids to Scout- I ing for N.C.O.’s and Men.” It was this book that he found a school teach- I er in England using as a character 1 training for her children. This deter- j mined our Chief to try the experiment i himself, which he did at Brownsea ' Island. These are the headings of the I chapters: 1, Pluck and Discretion; 2, | Finding the Way in Strange Places; 3, [ Use of Eyes and Ears; 4, Concealing I One’s Self; 5, Tracking; 6, Reading the | Meaning of Tracks; 7, Getting Across | Country; 8, Sketching; 9, Reporting; j 10, Headings for lieports; 11, Care of! Men and Horses; 12, Scouting on Ser- ; vice. In the beginning he sets down the I qualiflcations that a man must have be- | fore he is selected an Army Scout. | They are: Specially smart, active, intelligent and trustworthy; good eyesight and hearing; healthy and sound —a man who drinks or is not physically sound is useless for a scout; willing and able to turn his hand to any kind of job; good rider and able to swim; able to read and write. He then adds a list of things which the Army Scout must then bo taught, amongst which are sketching, reading, and reporting. And then our Chief adds a list of things that a man must pick up for himself, and they are the headings of his chapters. He goes on to say: "They are points which, although they can be learnt, are difficult to teach; that is to ! say, that though I can tell you what i they are, you must work at them of ; your own accord, and very much in j your own time and get them thorougn- 1 ly mastered. That is why so many j men never turn out any use as scouts; , because they only learn actually what i is shown them as a lesson and do not try to practice them at other times. It i is just like training a man for a race i or a football match. The trainer ean tell him what he ought to eat, what to avoid, and how much daily exercise to take, but if the man does not carry out these instructions for himself he might, as well stop at home and eat dumplings as try to be a runner.” Now all this very much -applies to us Boy Scouts, for if you only rely on the actual work that you do on your Troop nights you certainly will never ; he Ist Class, and our Chief considers - that no bov is a full blown Scout till he is Ist Class. "LITTLEJOHN.” HAVELOCK NORTH TROOP. WEEK-END CAMP. On the last week-end in January the j Havelock North Troop held a camp at j Undercliff, on the Tukituki river. ' Those who could left on Saturday ■ afternoon, and when they arrived i pitched the tent, gathered bedding, made cooking places, etc., afterwards enjoying a swim. At night the rest of us arrived in time for hot cocoa and then to bed. A cold snap during the night did not make us downhearted, though we lost some sleep over it. We awoke to find the sun just peeping.over the hills on the other side of the river. Cook and his mate then turned out to cook breakfast, and about half an hour later the rest of us were splashing about in the water swimming for exercise before breakfast. Needless. to say, breakfast was attacked with gusto. At 8.30 a.m. the flag was hoisted, and a church parade held. Signalling practice followed, those who were far enough advanced trying for Ist Class speed. We next made a camp table I and after some life-saving drill had another swim before dinner. After dinner we had the usual hour’s rest while Scouter and a P.L. made up a tracking story in a muddy bank. This gave us an interesting half hour guessing what had happened. At about 2.30 p.m. wo started to finish a bridge, the framework of which had been erected at the camp before. One party lashed the decking into position while the rest rafted up the timber from down stream. Another swim gave us an a.p.petite for tea, after which we had a stalking game through some gorse for about 30 minutes and then left for home after a very pleasant camp. ' "QUAIL.” ROVER SCOUT MEETING. A meeting of the Hawke’s Bay Rovers will be held in the Puketapu Scout Hut on Wednesday, March 21st. It is hoped that all old Rovers and Scouters will attend and try and get Rovering really on its feet again in Hawke’s Bay. EASTER TRAINING COURSES, j There will be a Cub Wood Badge Course, lasting four days, at Wanganui during Easter; also a Scout Wood Badge Course. Any Hawke’s Bay Scouter wishing to attend either of these courses, please communicate with Commissioner Cooksey. There will be no Scouters’ meeting this month. It will be held as usual in April, the second Wednesday.