SCOUT NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 195, 19 July 1937, Page 3

SCOUT NOTES

OUR KING. (By “Tenderfoot.”) “Our King is one of us” is now a slogan amongst the Scouts of England, and the manner in which he is interesting himself in all youth movements confirms the general opinion that His Majesty’s motto must be “The children first.” We in New Zealand remember that last visit when, as Duke of York, everywhere he went he was given tumultuous welcomes by the children. In England they know of this, hence the following which appears in the Coronation number of the Scout just to hand, from the pen of Arthur Groom : “Quito apart from Scouting, the King made a special point of seeing as much of the boys and girls of the places he visited as possible. At a children’s demonstration in New Zealand,. no fewer than 15,000 schoolboys and schoolgirls assembled to do Swedish and flag drill. The demonstra-

went off according to plan, and afterwards, when the Royal pair drove down the lines in an open car, discipline was maintained. Suddenly it broke, and in a flash thousands of excited hoys and girls were milling around the Royal car, cheering their heads off and telling the Duke and

Duchess of York, in their own enthusiastic manner, of their loyalty and affection. It was during this overseas tour that the King coined the slogan : ‘Take care of the children, and the country will take care of itself.’ He used it first at Wellington, and then at many other places in the Dominion. Before making the speech in which he used this slogan, the then Duke of York said: ‘The Duchess and I want to see as much as possible of the children.’ They certainly did that, and were probably vividly reminded of their own baby girl—the Princess Elizabeth, now heir to the Throne —whom they had left at home in 1927, in the care of ‘grandma’ and ‘grandpa,’ when 12,000 boys and girls arranged themselves into a huge map of Australia, with the word ‘Welcome’ written across it, at Adelaide.”

“Then again,” says the writer, “we think of that wonderful camp, ‘The Duke’s Own.’ The Duke of York’s Camp, for hundreds of boys of all classes, is now world famous, and every year—with the exception of .1934, when His Majesty was suffering from a poisoned hand—its Royal founder had spent some time with the campers. He has run races, swum, boxed, played push-ball and other games, and joined in the camp-fire sing-songs with as much enjoyment as anyone there. Dressed in shorts anti an open shirt, he has forgotten that he is of Royal blood and become just a boy—and a mighty happy one at that!” “Did you know?” asks Arthur Groom, “that His Majesty was president of Dr. Barnado’s Homes? Did you know that the Queen was president of the National Council of Girls’ Clubs? Did you know that, as Duke and Duchess of York, Their Majesties made a special visit to the Fairbridgc Farm Schools, where boys from slum areas are taught to be farmers at Perth, Australia, during their tour? Did you know that the Royal couple devoted a sum of £2soo—which was a wc.Vling gift offered by a section of the community—to providing treats for the children of five towns in the industrial areas?” Wo aro all proud of our King. TROOP NOTES. ' 'Terrace End Cubs. —These now number 2/ and the leaders leel their responsibilities. Miss Moffat and Mus Davidson arc fast picking up the work under the guidance of S.Al.’s Sweetman, Davidson and others. At the laeit parable tlie Sixes intlii in a-ncl showed great keenness for the jungle danccii. Work for the evening w.Ts chiefly confined to knotting, etc. For the Scouts A.-S.-M.s’ Wakha.w and Roots are now taking a very active part in the instruction courses. The troop is preparing a social in honour of Mrs Coles, who for a long time was S.-M. for the troop. A concert programme is a.iso being arranged. Four ooys are preparing for First Class Badge examination and all are very keen. S.-M. Davidson is putting four boys from the Central Troop through their First Class examination; they have nearly completed the test. •sth P.N. Te Awe Awe Troop. —The troop meeting was very well attended, there being sixteen boys present. Three attended the Fire Station for instruction in the Fireman’s Badge while the rest were given revision work in the hall. The handball team practised for the contest at All Saints’ the following evening. A. New passed his Tenderfoot, while S. Drake and L. Johnston passed their Kim’s Game for Second Class. At the Court of Honour, held after the meeting, it was decided to make Scout John Taylor second to the Seal Patrol. The bottle-drive arrangements were finalised. On Saturday, July 3, all the boys were at the Scout Hall at about 10 a.m. and set out for their respective streets in pairs. They were soon back, however, and in a very short while quite a large pile of bottles had been collected and the S.-M. and assistants were kept going sorting them out. It was a splendid effort on the part of the boys, who worked like Trojans all the time. The sum of £3 Is 6d was realised. We wish to thank the public of our district who no kindly helped us to make a success of the day. P. Andrews and B. Todd have passed their Kim’s Game for Second Class.

All Saints’ Troop.—The weekly meeting opened at 7 p.in. and we were honoured by a visit front the vicar, who inspected us. He then gave us a talk of his days of Scoutmastering in Birmingham, England. This was followed by a dodgeball tourney, which warmed ns up for the evening. A concert practice was next held. Before flag-down we were reminded of the Church parade on Sunday and the pound night next Friday. Following this there was a meeting of the Court of Honour.

St. Paul’s Cubs and Scouts. —These are preparing for their birthday party. It is to be a joint celebration and new stunts are said to be included in the programme. The Scouts are busy with handwork for the rally; a special Saturday afternoon session also being devoted to this. A.-S.-M. Barlow was pleased with his boys’ performance at the Church concert and he now thinks that there are boys in the troop who might qualify for their Entertainers’ Badge if they took the work seriously. The Rovers of the city, continuing their “get together” campaign, met again on Monday last for a debate; there were 14 present. First Palmerston North, Takaro and Central Rovers were represented. The subject chosen was; “That State Control would be of benefit to the community.” lan Carrutliers and D. Ball took the affirmative, the negative side being given by Rover-Leader Browning and RoverScout K. Davidson, The debate was most interesting. The negative side gained the award. Other similar meeting:-; are to follow.