SCOUT NOTES

Southland Times, Issue 21661, 24 March 1932, Page 5

SCOUT NOTES

(By “Pathfinder.”) CUB NOTES. A cub rally of combined local packs will be held at Thomsons Bush on Saturday, April 9. Cubs will assemble at the Cub House (near the North Road Bridge) at 2 p.m., and should bring food for afternoon tea. In the event of wet weather the packs will remain at the Cub House. If fine the cubs will go through a programme of tracking, exploring, signs, jungle dances, signs and nature study. A good representation is expected from all packs. The Gladstone cubs visited the St. Aidan’s pack last evening, but no report is available at the time of writing. The cubmasters held a rubbers’ meeting last Tuesday and decided to hold a regular monthly meeting for instruction, probably on a Saturday night. St. Johns cubs propose to work up for a small week-end camp shortly. Cub meetings of the different packs area follows, at about 6.30 p.m.—Mondays, East Invercargill, St. Peter’s; Tuesdays, St. Paul’s; Wednesdays, North Invercargill, St. Aidan’s; Fridays, Gladstone, St. John's; Saturdays, Georgetown. The Scouts. East Invercargill scouts acknowledge with thanks a donation of £5 towards the troop funds. St. Paul’s speak very highly of the camping site which they had at Garston in the summer holidays. Any troop wishing to apply for the use of this site should get in touch with Scouter Ross. All scout troops are well under way by now. It is usually found that numbers have fallen at this time of the year, and do not pick up nutil later. The keynote of success in any troop is the meeting of patrol leaders and scouts once a week to arrange the programme for the following week. ROVER NOTES THE RESPONSIBILITY OF A ROVER SCOUT. (This message from the Chief Scout is from his book, Rovering to Success.) As a Rover Scout, besides making yourself a better man and a better citizen, you are, whether you know it or not, being looked up to by boys in your scout group and your neighbourhood. Boys are awful imitators, and I use the word "awful” advisedly, because it fills one with awe when one thinks what harm or what good one might be doing for the boys in the examples we set them. So it is that, as a rover scout or older boy among your younger brothers, you have a responsibility on your shoulders which at first you may not realize. You may be guiding many a boy to good or to bad according to what you do or say yourself. “To be good is noble —but to teach others how to be good is nobler—and much less trouble.” That is what Mark Twain says, but I am doubtful about the last phrase, since the teaching is largely through personal example; so you have to be careful. V Be careful if not on your own, at least on their account. You can see for yourself that you have here a tremendous opportunity if you like to use it for doing a great good for your younger brothers. You can set the line for them to follow by your own behaviour in the direction of cheery and manly friendliness and straight living and clean talk. So far as those who are already members of the scout brotherhood are concerned —and others, too, for that matter—l would lay stress on the possibility and necessity of "service” in the ordinary surroundings of the rover scout’s life and would point

out that the rover scout must first of all try to apply his ideals in his ordinary life. This seems to me to be a better crown of scouting experience than sending the fellow on to find new special fields in which to function. In this way I hope we will consolidate the whole idea that lies behind scouting and emphasize what we really want, which is to the ideals of scouting into our everyday life, and thus to bring it to pass that other people are touched by its magic and helped by its ideals.

Happiness is yours if only you paddle your canoe aright. With all my heart I wish you success, and the scouts’ wish— Good Camping.