SCOUT NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 111, 11 April 1936, Page 13

SCOUT NOTES

| • (By “Tenderfoot.”) ’ You, will probably have heard of the j man who had only one eye and he went j to a show and asked to he admitted at J half price, because with his one eye he \ could only see half as. much as other ■, people, writes the Chief in vScout liefore he tells a story of another oneeyed man in Kenya who tried to pro- ; fit by his inferiority. This man em--1 ployed a number of natives to dig ] liis field, hut they were a lazy lot and i only worked so long as lie was there |to watch them. He had got rather j tired of this when a brilliant idea occurred to him: he took out his glass , eyfe and showed it to the men. They, I of course, were astounded that he was | able to take out his eye. Then he I placed it on a tree stump and said ; he was going off to other work, hut \ liis eye would still be watching them. ! So off he went home and the hoys went I to work with a will, frequently looking to see if the eye was still open and | watching them. From liis room the 1 farmer looked out occasionally through • his field glasses and grinned to him- ! self, as he saw them sweating away lat their work under the spell of . that unblinking eye. Looking once j again, however, he saw one man creeping along in the grass on all fours; moving toward the tree stump. Nearer and nearer he came. crawl-, ing inch bv inch ,till at length he was close to the stujnp. Suddenly he raised his arm and with a swift movement he clapped a tin cup that h" was holding down over the eye and thus covered it'up. With joy and delight everybody-, promptly ceased work and lay down to enjoy themselves, all the time applauding the clever fellow who had blindfolded the watching eye. Thus does this shrewd native show | us that, however strict discipline is, l no matter now careful the S.M. in a I troop may be'to see that every box | does his hit and is profitably employed when on parade, the lazy hoy finds a way out to shirk his work. Unfortunately, and too often it is made easy for some not naturally lazy to

1 1 fall into habits which are had for them I and lead to nowhere, These hoys j fondly think that their misdeeds are I not noticed, but sooner or later the j truth shows itself. Test times come I round and they are not ready. They have |no badges to display progress made. Of course sometimes alAence of badges can be reasonably explained; but I more often than not it is sheen lazi- ' ness and lack of ambition. As with 1 ! the natives there are others just as , j lazy who will applaud, but to such ofI fenders we woidd sav, think of the disappointed S.M., the patrol leader, i ; your patrol mates, your parents who desire your best interests to be served., i they satisfied? . Most certainly ■ not. They are watching always and will know the truth. Be not de- [ ceived, the lazy boy is not wanted, i Neither is the hov who wastes his time and those of liis associates. As the years pass he becomes, more and . more conscious of this and finally lie . discovers that there is no iilace in life for him. Where is the Boy Scout who is heading for such a fate? Surely there are few. To be a Scout is to be one, in search of some sphere of usefulness, not satisfied until it is found. It may be for God, for King or for country, or for all. Te Awe Awe Troop.—Last Tuesday night we held a camp fire in the College Street School grounds. A good attendance of Cubs and Scouts 1 was present. The All Saints’ _ troop I paid a surprise visit. An enjoyable -1 evening was spent singing camp .songs, with quite a number of solo items. The Commissioner was pre- ■ sent besides a number of the committee. The troop intends going into ! camp at Easter. All hoys are showing every keenness. There will he about 20 hoys under canvas. —G. Grindrod. S.M. 6th Northern Troop.—The troop met as usual on Friday evening with a 1 uood attendance. Scouts IVaslev, 1 Perrin, Payne, Isbister, and Phillips are showing good progress and are well on the way to becoming sec- • ond-class. "Work in the troop is improving generally and there is a very ; J noticeable keenness about the boys, I in every way. I Central Scouts. —Last parade night owing to the absence of our Scoutmaster (Mr Sweetman) Troop-Leader Gordon Barlow was in charge. We received instruction in the localities of the town. Scout Jack Winton re--1 ceived his second class badge. Scout Gilbert Heald received his second-class badge and fireman’s badge. PatrolSecond Eric Perrv received a year’s service star, as did Scout Don Pallison. We finished up with several • good games, including a trail. CAMPS. With a continuance of the present weather the camjis at Tiritea should be well attended. “Biscuit” for St. Paul’s had a load of stuff ready to transport on Thursday and Te Awe Awe troop was making like arrangements. Let us hope the weather will be kind to all. Visitors to the camp are welcome, it is understood.