THE BOY SCOUTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16289, 23 January 1915, Page 5

THE BOY SCOUTS

BT BCOUTII AflTXtt.

" Sooutmaster" will be pleased to receive nsorta of parades and other items of Interest fox insertion in this oolumti. The; should be loft at the offloe of the Otago Daily Times not later than noon on Mondays, and should b* addreaaed t* " Sooutmaster." All inquiries regarding local troops, etc., should be made to the District Secretary, Dunedin Boy Scout.*, Box 312, C.1'.0., Dunedin. A successful rally of the Boy Scouts of tho Ohmemuri district was held on the Waihi Beach on New Year's Day. The proceedings opened at 2.15 p.m. with a march past of all the patrols in single rank. A first-aid competition, in which the competitors had to carry a patient on a four-handed stretcher, loliowed; and tho third item was a knot-tying competition lor teams of six scouts. Then came a semaphore signalling competition; a slow bicycle race, stretcher drill, and Morse signalling. The next item, which must have been moet interesting and novel, was a tent-pegging event on bicycles. A first-aid competition, cycle race, and a tug-of-vvar were the next events on tho programme, which was brought to a close by all tho troops giving tho haka of tho New Zealand Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts are everywhere lending a helping hand in order to raise funds for the distress caused by the war. The latest report to hand from tho Dominion Headquarters states that the Warkworth Troop decorated their trek cart in order that it might appear in the procession that was "held in that town in aid of the Belgian Relief Fund.

According to a recent report that appeared in this paper, there arrived in Birmingham, amongst other Belgian refugees, a Boy Scout who had been captured by the Germans while carrying a despatch to the burgomaster at Brussels. The boy was closely searched and questioned by the enemy, but the despatch was not found. He had hidden it in his boot; and eventually; it safely rcachcd its destination. I have purposely recalled this incident in order to point out to tlioso who think tho despatch runs that every Boy Scout delights to take part m are of little or no value to him in after life. In this caso it is clearly domonstrate'd that the training tho 6Cout had received enabled him to successfully outwit the Germans. Therefore, scouts, go on training under your officers, and train well, for your turn may corns next, and if you are not prepared your chance of serving your country will pass. So " play up, play up, and play tho game." The Chief Scout, General Sir Robert Baden-Powell, writing to tho Sooutmasters' Headquarters Gazette, in September last, saysl have inspected a largo number of coastguard posts and of telegraph and railway linos protected by the scouts, and as I write this I am, m fact, still doing so, coming southwards from John o' Groats in the extreme north of Scotland. Everywhere it is the same 6tory. Little posts of scouts, each under its patrol leader, camped or billeted, and on the coast carrying out its patrolling, watching, and signalling, working its own interior economy in the way of rationing, cooking, raster of duties, and camp routino under orders of tho patrol leaders, generally supervised by the coastguard officer. The patrol leaders have risen splendidly to their duties and responsibilities. I was amused at one station where tho coastguard petty officer told me that when tho 6couts arrived to take up the duties of the five coastguards who had been drafted off to tho fleet, ho got some meat which he thought would be enough for tho eight boys for that day, but lie as hard put to it to get it cooked. In the middle of his difficulty the boys arrived, and to his surprise, soon settled the question. Tho Leader told him that tho meat wa sufficient for two and a-half days, and the cook of the patrol would at once cook the day s ration. Two boys paraded immediately for look-out duty, while the rest formed camp, as if this had always been their daily life." In the September number of the Headquarter's Gazette appeared the following significant article from tho pen oi tho Chief Scout, and it is equally suitable for New Zealand as for the Motherland:— "Lord Kitchener said to me the other day: ' What a splendid thing this war is for you!' I protested that I did not see it since I am on the Retired List, and therefore not in it. But he quickly corrected me. ' I don't mean for you personally; I mean for the scouts. Tho scoutmasters oan now show the boys tho real meaning and value of _ all their training, and the boys can see it for themselves." He spoke to the great need for the manhood of the nation to come forward at this critical time, and to tho value of the assistance of boys who were wholehearted in their work and could bo trusted to carry it out to tho very best of their ability. The scouts were a great asset to the nation. I think all of us feel that had scouting started 20 years earlier there would have been even a bigger response than now to tho country's call for defenders, and they would have been men already trained in discipline, initiative, selfreliance, _ resourcefulness, and self-saerifioe. Pcoplo in England are already getting accustomed to the •wax scare, and are almost beginning to feel like onlookers at a great gladiatorial spectacle. But the real war is only beginning. Wo may not be destined to be entirely onlookers. At present wo only see one-sided accounts of it in the newspapers. Wo must bo prepared for reverses and losses, and to take more direct action, if necessary. No stone must be left unturned, while wo are still intact, to ensure the safety of our homeland against aggression. It needs the work—not merely the words—of every man in tho country. It is the crisis in our history. It gives an opportunity such as we shall never have again for every man to do something for Britain. In tho scouts -we must Be Prepared to take our share. The troops must be organised and trained ready for further work in the public service. There may be a lot before us yet. It is a great opportunity for scoutmasters to bring their lads up to a, really high standard of efficiency, seeing the real object before their eyes. Folico duties will be many and varied in the way of billeting troops, requisitioning supplies and transport, acting as local guides, distributing orders and warnings, issuing relief, driving in cattle and bringing in and caring for refugees, and so on, apart, from demands of post office, Red Cross, municipal and other authorities for orderlies, eto. Boy scouts can be of highest .value, and will bo in great demand if properly organised and trained for the work. Above all, if the worst comes they must bo disciplined and optimistic leaven for preventing panic in the nation. Scoutmasters in many centres are, I am glad to see, re«alisin.g this, and are busy in preparing their patrol leaders and training all their scouts. They are starting new patrols among the thousands of boys who are now eager to join in our officially-recognised force; and perhaps. best of all, they are petting back those \vho have been ltoy scouts and who have for one reason or other slid away from tho movement; they 'are _ forming their old scouts' "camps" and giving them definite duties to carry out as in our friendly society's scheme. Among scoutmasters and ex-scouts and other members of the Old Scouts' Friendly Society there are evidently numbers who are anxious to take lip arms in tho defence of tho country, and I am hoping to get Lord Kitchener's consent to their forming a special unit for that purpose if a sufficient number express their willingness to serve. It is a time of work and stress for all. but it is also one of unbounded opportunity both for the nation and for the scouts, if wo only apply ourselves with all tho energy of which wo are capable. If we do not seize it we do not deserve to succeed. The following piece of poetry, which was printed on a post-card I received recently from the Old Land, will doubtless prove of interest to those readers who know scouts in Great Britain. It also demonstrates tho value that is placed on the work of tho Boy Scouts by those people who are in a position to know: — Bravo Boys of Britain, Your country's justly proud To see her smart and gallant scouts I-lave swelled the mighty crowd Who guard the Empire's honour And tho help each lad shall bring Will be gratefully accepted by _ "Your country and jour King."