SCOUT NOTES

Northern Advocate, 18 October 1933, Page 3

SCOUT NOTES

TRINITY TROUP,

BADGES [’RESENTED

There \v;is .‘i very large attendance of Scouts of llio Trinity Con£■ roptional Troop on Frii]ay evening last, Badges, ulii Hi had been won during (ho previous Scoot year wore awarded as follow:—-Patrol Loader F. Hhllpott. Gardener, Carpenter and Cyclist; K. Shucksmith, Cyclist : and Thompson, Cyclist. 'Hie hoys (jave Fred Philpott a haka in honnnr of his achievement. There are still several Pathtinders’ badges to lie presented. In addition, a nninher of hoys received their Second-class badges.

’ A very successful initiation ceremony was conducted, whim several hoys were invested with their Tenderfool badges. 'The Lev. If. Pond dames gave a talk on ‘‘His Work in Karat ouga. 'Phis proved to he a very interesting feature .and the Scouts learned much of the manners and customs of the people living in this remote' part of New Zealand. Supper, to which the boys did ample Justice, concluded one of the finest evenings conducted hy this young troop. “WHAT IS A SCOUT?” There was once a man who planned a beautiful house; it was. to have three fine sitting-rooms downstairs, a large kitchen, a big hall, and a conservatory; up above there were to be six bedrooms, a bathroom, etc; in fact, it was to be a very fine house indeed. However, before he .startl'd to build, he thought he had better ask a friend to come and look at the plans. The friend arrived and gazed for a long time at the drawings. At length he turned to , the man who had drawn them and said, “Yes, it is certainly a very beautiful house, but haven’t you forgotten one very important thing? You have designed some beautiful rooms for downstairs, and' some equally beautiful moms for upstairs, but you have made no plans for a staircase, nor have you even left room for it.' ’ And so he had to begin all over again. Well, 1 don’t want to be like that man, so before I bring my “plans” for Patrol Leadership to a close 1 must remember to put in the staircase. After all, we arc rather like ouilders; the foundation and starting point of our work is represented by the boy who comes to ns as raw ma terial, who is attracted in some way by the -Scout idea and at length screws up courage enough to come along to the “Den” and find out what it is like there. Then we start to build. We know what we want him to become; Ilia! is, a good Seoul; but what is there to connect the two? How is he to climb up from the ground floor of ordinary boyhood to the top story of good Scouting? There must bo a staircase. What is it? The answer is, the Scout Promise. “On my honour, I promise that P will do my best to do inv dntv to God and ihe

King, to kelp other people at all! times, to obey the Scout Law.” Remember, Patrol Leaders, that no methods, however attractive, can produce good Scouts unless at the bad: of all j there is the desire to keep this j promise yourself, and to Help your patrol to do the same.--* 1 Scouter ” in tin- “Evening Post."

ESSAY COMPETITION,

“TUB SCOUT LAW.”

Friday, December !, has been fixed as the date of the first annual essay competition dealing with the Scout Law, to be coudiicled by ihe Wha-ng,-irei District Committee. This 'competition is for all boys who have passed their Tenderfoot test. There will lie two classes —senior and Junior -for which the Rotary Club has kindle donated two prizes for each. OBITUARY. “Pathfinder” writes as follows in the “Taranaki Herald”: —It is with regret that we note the passing of another friend of scouting; —Air Hedges, Sen. Our sympathy goes out to his family in their bereavement. 1 1is two sons tin* scoutmasters in our district, one at Westowu and the other at West End. Airs Hedges passed away some time ago. We shall miss them, as they were .always keen on boys’ work, and their ready help and sympathy with the movement did mm'li to make scouting effective with the boys. Their example was for good. HIKING. j TO BOIL THE BILLY. Note the direetion of the wind and keep everything inflammable and your provisions, etc., on the side of the fire from which the wind blows. Collect your brush and wood first. Don’t collect kindling off the ground; it is inclined to be damp. Build your tiro small and compact, and cone-shaped. Remember a fire 'must have air to burn. THE TWELVE LAWS OF WOODCRAFT. Be brave, be silent and obey, Be clean, be strong, protect wild life nhvay, Speak true, be reverent, Play fair as you strive, Re kind, lie helpful, glad you are alive. THE TEST. “Walk right in,” called Wiggles. “.Don’t mind the dog.” “But will he bite?” was asked cautiously. “Thai’s what 1 want to find out,” was the reply. “I only bought him vosterda v.”