THE CHIEF SCOUT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17503, 27 February 1931, Page 9

THE CHIEF SCOUT

BIG AUCKLAND RALLY GISBORNE SCOUTS THERE LIFE SAVERS COMPLIMENTED. A thrill such as they arc never likely ;.u .'eel again was the experience of the Liree Gisborne' scouts, 1). Corstorphine, i,. Crosby, and B. . Cowan, when the Chief Scout, Lord JLdcn-Powell, pinned on their shirts the medals awarded there for life-saving. • The function was a part of the great Auckland rally, at which were present three officers and 10 scouts from' Gisborne, the party including the winners of the life-saving medals.

Under the charge of Scoutmaster 0 11, Foote, of the Mangapapa troop, and two other officers, the scouts travelled from Gisborne to Auckland in one day, and found the northern city seething with juvenile excitement. On the day of the great rally all roads led to the Auckland Domain, where guides, scouts, brownies and cubs united to give the Chief Scout and the Chief Guide a welcome to the Dominion. The rally was a huge success, and many spectacular features were included in the day’s programme, some of them being of a distinctly original order. A CHAT WITII THEIR CHIEF The Gisborne party was allotted a splendid position near the official stand, and after the Grand Salute had been given by the assembled guides and scouts, and their respective junior branches, Col. Fenwick, New Zealand Commissioner of the movement, took the three life-saving medallists forward and presented them to the Chief Scout. Lord Baden-Powcll pinned upon their shirts the medals won for saving the life of a member of the wolf cubs, congratulated the three ttovs warmly on winning this coveted award, and chatted with them briefly regarding their badges and their ambitions. The lads were the envy of their comrades of the movement, and the incident must lend inspiration to many a youthful worker among the scouts. During their stay in Auckland', tho Gisborne scouts visited many places of interest, and were shown over the liner on which Lord and Lady Bndon-Powell voyaged to New Zealand. On "Monday they left Auckland on the return home, and en route they were able to spend a day and a-balf in Rotorua-, enjoying a unique opportunity of seeing the many attractions of that resort. They were present at the complimentary function tendered to the Chief Guide and the Chief Scout by the Araw-a natives, receiving the most warm-heart-ed hospitality from the hosts.' Yesterday they concluded their homeward journey.

The party from Gisborne cocak highly of the treatment accorded them in Auckland and elsewhere on the trip, and the officers have expressed their appreciation of. the-efforts made by the Whitfield 'Motor Service to make the trip-both enioyable and inexpensive for the members of the party, a very liberal'reduction in the regular fares having been accorded by the service.