BOY SCOUTS

Hokitika Guardian, 26 June 1925, Page 4

BOY SCOUTS

(Contributed.) j The work of preparing for the New ( Zealand Jamboree is now m lull ( swing both locally and at Dunedin. I C The nine boys to represent Hokitika _ were chosen last week and these have already boon at work some time > earning the cost of their expedition ; while rehearsals for an entertainment _ for the same purpose are now in P ! °- . gress. , i * i The display to be given by the llokitika party at the stadium at Dunedin Exhibition has been planned out iind will deal with the subject of hiking. which to the scout signifies lightweight tramping camps. Any local

pioneers or those familiar with hush would he helping considerably b> passim'- on to the scoutmaster any dodges" or “gadgets” they may have used or invented connected with comfort in a compact swag or m the layout of an improvised camp. H is >‘opcd to give the display in public in Hokitika before the departure south. ' Although it is rather disappointing to tind that one or the two local troop, has onlv been able to supply two hoy, for the party out of a paper strength of three patrols, the keenness ol those net.u.llv going is all Hmt could be ocsired and the next six months should see plenty of good scout work accomplished by them. . The bovs will still he very grate!ul for odd jobs on Saturdays or othei times when free from school duties by ' which thev can continue to cam lb 'iv expenses. They are prepared to ■ a ' „„ anything from an elephant him.

sprii.K cleaning the family cupboard. ~ | understand the First 1 roop C •nnfitter pinu to moot oil -Monday, w.ulo on Tuesday wool; the Second . roup hold tlioir (|iiartorly general mootinn;. v ~ The animal report ol the V w /.oahmd liraiieli ol the Hoy Smuts’ Assn. iH to lia.id and show* th.it dur.no the vear a not inoroaso of 13US) ol all ranks and ineroasin.dy satisfaot<u> conditions in all parts of the Do.nmion. THAfXINW OL*' SCOI I I'dlS. , Scouts’ Annual Itoport). As forecasted at the last annual moot inn:, the I'Weeut ire was aide to Take up the Oilwoll Course ol Iramlor .'trout Olfioors. Scoutmaster IJin'trani A. Seward. MAI., of lika was appointed | leadipiarters Commissioner for Seoul Training, and lias rendered very efficient ami val-

liable service. A (Mill \\ oil correspondence course was instituted and no fewer than '•'<> w ,niters entered. This shows remarkable keenness when it is rememItcrctl that in 1021-22 a similar course drew only 11 entries. A Training Camp was held under ileadfiuartcrs’ jurisdiction at N< " H-iiditon. near Christchurch. I roil! t-"' 2(5,b. December. 102-1. until oil,. ~.,,-v l!I-2.T and was attended by !•> Scouters Iron, all parts of the Dominion. D was considered iinloitun<ito that the large majority of entrants were from the South Island. , 1S D-p more representative these camps' are the greater tlu-ir value. The Camp Chief was ably assisted by Scoutmaster K. IV. Samlford. who had ( -l,ame of the New Zealand Hoy Scouts at the Imperial Jamboree las vear, and' who qualified for the Wood il-.d.-o at (tillwell ■ during his visit to

the UK! comm.'. Eleven scouters qualified m the morse. and the work done was considered to be of a very '“gh ordeix Hmdquart-rs are so , -lease, wi ll the sue. css of the course that. ,f sidbcicnt .'lit ries are forthcoming, a simil-n Will be held in the North Island during the coining year. In 'some quarters the question has been raised; “Wlmt is this Gdlw-ll Camp?” The Gillwcll Cam,, pn-pm 1S situated al GdlweU Park, (biugh-rd Essex. England, and is a lrainim- Course for Scout Offices under the supervision -of the Camp l bid l;1 - Senior Training Officer at Imperial Headquarter?. Scouters I nun all over the world may attend, and. if they qualify m toe com,dele course for the Wood Hadgc. aml are deemed sidiieientiy ennnh.e to pass on to others the knowledge gamad at Hillwell. they may he appointed Deputy Camp- Chiefs, and iH-rmil-,.„l i- .-.in similar Camp-, in their own

lands, m order that .he training should be standardised, t hose IK-pnl v (’amu Chiefs arc provided with all the training hooks similar In thus, m use at the parent or original ramp **• ( I ill well. What i' taught i- the practical application of “Scout i"g f"'' Tmys" and the “Si out Spirit" which emanates therefrom. At Ibis camp one finds one-cll one (j f „f company of some thirty-two. among whom may be (pute young Assistant Scoutmasters, elderly ( ommissioners. clergymen. doctors. Majors with the D.S.t. miners on strike, and so on. Hut this makes no ddierence. as the lirst thing that happens is that all are told to take the badges of rank out of their hats and put “n the shoul ler-knot of the Patrol to winch they me. allotted. Then yon discover you are no longer an officer, hut just a Boy Scout, with the Camp Chief as Scoutmaster.

It is a busy life, for not only are there lectures, demonstrations, and practices throughout the day. which have to he shown to the authorities, hut each Patrol of eight Scouts has to do its own cooking and keep its tents and part of the camp in scout like order. So there are no idle moments.

though everv action is done to an accompaniment of good fellowship which never ceases. If you are a member of th 'a Cuckoo Patrol you. of. course, determine that, it shall be the best, no matter wlmt the Owls ami Woodpigenns may do.

Alter till-, first day's work one's dcp-tli of ignorance lias lieooino only too apparent; but by this time tin spirit of the place has so completely taken possession of one that the consolation arises that nothing can take away the remembrance of a time of extraordinary joy and exaltation. Foi the present and intense desire that your Patrol shall he the best is enough; so the Scout Spirit has come. How has it arrived so quickly to a group of people who a day or two before were unknown to each other? Ihe medium used to convey the essential essence of woodcraft, for here you are being turned into backwoodsmen, learning to make yoursed happi ant. comfortable in the wild, how to read footprints of men and animal-, how to fell trees, how to grind your axes, and how to find your way about by day or night, and especially how to plan and lav out a camp. All the teaching is given in a way that makes it suitable for being used for training boys afterwards. and a good deal of time is spent in learning things with that ol>jeet. and many are the games played with this purpose. Mention must also lie made of the very important part the council tire plays. Hvery evening after work i - done the _Seoutors assemble round the blaze which flames up in the centre of the camp-ing-ground. At Snndwell. this ground consisted, of one acre of smooth grass surrounded by wonderful trees, and is a place of extraordinary beauty verisimilar to the original Oillivell. and the memory of that glowing fire and fine smoke, as the sunset died out

behind (bo rows of stately trees, is a treasured possession. Here was shown the best way to conduct that significant ceremony of the Scout making his promise on liis- honour to be loyal to God and the King, to do good turns to other people, and to obey the Scout- Law. Those who, for some reason or other, had not yet made this promise are not likely to forget their investiture at Sandwell. At- the end of the camp, to lest how far the scouters had become good backwoodsmen, they were turned out one morning with packs on their hacks, a day’s rations, sealed orders, and told not to return for twenty-four hours. The three Patrols started out, with food, maps, and compasses, to find their way to a spot where the Deputy Chief hud planted an object known as “the treasure." One patrol managed to find it about seven, miles nway from the camp. This “hike” tested many things and consolidated others, and among these, not least, (he friendships formed at Sandwell. Looking hack, we think the most remarkable thing was the way in which the Scout Spirit grow and flourished. ns was seen in such small things as when someone in a tent would ask, “Can anv of you lend me a collar stud ” or a knife or a -stamp, as the case might ho; then was competition ' keen as to who could' produce the desired object first. A really fine feat ' 0 f Scouting was performed hv one o our Patrols during the “hike,” and 1 we cannot let this opportunity pasof drawing attention to their action ‘ AVl,list in a sparsely populated por-

tion of the country, they came across a dilapidated house in winch were an invalid man and Ids wife and two children. The husband, it was ascertained. had been incapacitated ami out of work for some tune, ami the occupants of the bouse wore dost,Urn-,,-d without food. The Patrol thereiijuni handed over the whole ol then twentv-four hours’ rations, and Imj.lied llidr “bike” without any loud whatsoever. l>-n arrival in camp lliev were ravenously hungry, but would give no reason and 'mule m> report of their action detailing he \ rip. II was only by arc,,lc,it that the Quartermaster ‘ascertained t u fuels .and reported flu- incident to 1 fendquai tors. \Vo cannot lind aii> bolter example ol such a St "u > - u ion as was performed by these live Scouters. Actually they were taught woodcraft but something greater came to them—if was the touch -I too Scot, Spirit vo he handed on the local training centres which next summer we hope will he started in dilioien parts of the Dominion. All > ’OO ud directlv inspired from Sandwell ami presided over, by the Deputy (amp Chiefs trained there. E-r their gnu - unco the teaching has been tabulated, and it is hoped they may be able in s une small degree to reproduce _ Hi wonderful a,,nosphere of the original “Hillwell.”