ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: Chief Scout Jalkf

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 119, 16 April 1930, Page 3

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: Chief Scout Jalkf

WHISTLING.

You know that one of our Scout laws is that a Scout smiles and whistles under all difficulties. I have often pointed out that a smile is a jolly useful part of your _ equipment for ! making your way in life. But I did not tell you about the whistling perhaps —and that also is a very valuable thing if only you remember to use it. . Some years ago, when I was in command of a regiment, one of my men was brought up before me for cheeking a non-commissioned officer and I sentenced him to some sort of punishment. A few days later the General was inspecting the regiment and he asked the men whether any of them had any complaints to lay before him. My friend, the late prisoner, stepped up and stated that he had been punished by me for impertinence to a N.C. officer; he did not complain of that, but what he did complain of was that in- . stead of listening to his excuses 1 merely whistled a tune. So I explained to the General, and to him, that whenever I got very ; angry it was my practice to whistle a tune till I recovered my temper, so that in this case it was lucky for (the man that I whistled —otherwise lie ' would probably have got a much heavier punishment. The General thought so, too, and the man did not go on with his complaint. So that is one useful point about' whistling—it steadies your temper. It is also said to steady your nerves. \ •The Schoolboy’s “Bluff.” j Long ago—in 1650—the poet Dryden ] wrote: “Whistling to keep myself from *

fooling fear,” and in 1730 the poet Blair wrote:

(By Lord Robert Baden-Powell.)

Whistling in a Raid.

I “The schoolboy with his satchel in his hand Whistling loud to keep his courage • * Up ’” I remember, too, reading somewhere in Dr. Johnson’s writings how a man who crossed Hounslow Heath' when it ■was infested with footpads —as thieves were then called —whistled, not only to keep down his fear but also to pretend, for the benefit of any thieves who might be about, that he had no money in iris pockets, since anybody with valuables on him would be in such a state of funk and anxiety that lie would not be sauntering along whistling. I have found whistling not only comfortable to one’s own nerves in a difficult time, but also comforting to other people. I have once or twice, when on service, been in a tight place, both when acting as a staff officer and also when in command of the men with me. Not knowing exactly how things were going, the men looked to me anxiously for some sort of sign. When they heard me whistling it at once cheered them up and set their fears at rest. But, of course, it was a bit of play-acting on my part—l was probably in a blue funk myself.

Once, during the Great War, I happened to bo- in Liverpool Street Station when the German aeroplanes were dropping bombs on London. One of these things fell on the carriage 1 was going to get into, smashed it to smithereens and killed several people and wounded more. It naturally caused a big fright among the hundreds of people in the station, and there was a good deal of anxious whimpering among a crowd near xqe. So I started whistling a tune. A number of them began to stare at me, and .at last one or two came and asked me if there was any danger, and, though' I really know nothing about it, 1 said' no, and that tho bombers had moved on and would not be back for twenty minutes. There would be plenty ot time for everybody to go quietly down into the underground railway passage where they would be perfectly safe. They took the hint like lambs'. But it was the whistling that calmed them . . . Well, there you arc. See what a power you have got if you like to use it I I suppose every fellow who calls himself a Scout has got a mouth and can whistle. But perhaps you have not thought how uselul your whistling can be, both to yourself and to others. Don’t forget it, and try it next time you are in a'bad temper or in great pain, or when people round you aro in a panic. Remember that the Scout smiles and whistles under all difficulties.