THE BOY SCOUTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15184, 1 July 1911, Page 4

THE BOY SCOUTS.

Br Scout. Boodt will bo pleased to receive news from Scoutmasters or Scouts, or from any person interested in the Boy Scout movement, for insertion in this column; contributions addressed .to Scout to reach this office before Thursday evening. The annual demonstration will be held somo time in October. Officers are requested to arrange for suitablo items for the annual treat. Major G. D. Roes, V.D., Commissioner for Otago, has .received three months' leave of absence to visit Canada and the United States of America. Ho has letters of introduction from the Dominion Chief Scout to the heads of the movemont in tho places ho will visit. Major Moir, District Commander, Mosgiel, lias been appointed Acting Commissioner till Major Ross's return in September. The Salvation Army Troop meets in the Fortress every Wednesday evening. On Wednesday evening there wero some 26 boys on parade under Scoutmaster North. Tho Scoute were instructed in knotting, signalling, and first aid work, Troops that are desirous of having instruction from tho St. John Ambulance Association will make application to the officer commanding, who % wi'l in turn arrango with the association. There is to be a full meeting of all officers connected with tho Scout organisation next week, when final arrangements will be made respecting tho Chief Scout's visit. The various troop-j have been notified J that a speoial effort is to be made during j the first two weeks in July for a direct increase in tho numbers of the Boy Scout Brigade. It is hoped to reach between 600 and 700 Junior Scouts, whilo the Scout Cadets are also requested to arrange for uniforming, in view ot tho projected visit of General Sir R. S. Baden-Powell, who visits Dunedin in October of this year. Tho Girl Scouts are hard at work with tho preparations for their forthcoming coming grand demonstration on Augnst 7, for which they have been enterprising enough to tako His Majesty's Theatre, They are well forward with their drill and physical culture exercises, and 'havo regular weekly practices of tho musical items. It is proposed to havo a Scout camp on the stage, from- which exhibitions of signalling and first aid will be given. Tho musical itoms will be siiecially attractive, as they are to bo given in costume. In tho meantime the committee, scoutmistresses, and Scouts are working their hardest to ensure a big success. The Dominion Chief Scout has been advised by the Headquarters Defence Office, Wellington, that it will bo necessary for him, as the ruling authority, to certify that all those Boy Scouts who are offered as Boy Scout Cadets aro really what they are. It was in anticipation of this that he issued instructions somo months ago that all applications should bo sent to him', and not to area officers. 'Notwithstanding his instructions, one area officer complains that ;many Scoutmasters aro sending in applications. Many of the boys, too, aro under age. The Chief Scout has requested tho area officer to be good enough to return the applications. I think the colonel might have added, "Or put them in tho fire" (says a writer in the Canterbury Times). If Scoutmasters will deliberately disobey a plain instruc. tion they should bo prepared to bear tho consequences. Scoutmasters, instructors, and 'examiners aro reminded that tho London Executive Committee has issued l another'set of Boy Scout regulations, comprising " Organisation," "General Regulations," and "Qualifications for Badges." Among the general regulations aro tho following: The present limits of ago for enrolment of Boy Scouts are 11 to 18. Tenth Law: — A Scout is pure in thought, word, and deed. It is expected that every Scout, should belong to some religious denomination and attend its services. In the United Kingdom a Cadet unit affiliated to any unit of the Territorial Force cannot, as such, belong to tho Boy Scouts (Baden-Powell) organisation, tho Cadet units being under tho War Office as part of tho armed forces of tho Crown, but all or any individual members of a Cadet unit may belong to the Boy Scouts. Scouts and officers 'in uniform aro not allowed to tako part in meetings or demonstrations of. a political nature. Boy Scouts in uniform aro not .allowed to appear on tho stages of theatres or music hails in public performances • other than their own,