SCOUT NOTES

Southland Times, Issue 23254, 17 July 1937, Page 18

SCOUT NOTES

VISIT TO DUNEDIN EXHIBITION

(By

PATHFINDER)

Another scouters’ meeting is being held on Monday to arrange a local good turn discussed at the last meeting. The visit to the Dunedin Scout Exhibition will also be discussed.

The rovers are meeting the St. John’s rangers on Thursday for another combined evening. This time stump speeches and a lantern slide show will be the main features. An Invercargill scouter when in Otautau last week saw the headquarters of the Otautau group. This is the group’s own property adjoining the guide headquarters just outside the town shopping area. The building, an old shop, has been cleaned and painted and with scout flags and sign writing on the street frontage it looks excellent. The cub pack has about 25 boys under Cubmaster C. Hope, and one evening a party of cub’s from Invercargill will pay a visit. The scout troup has not so many on the roll, nor has the rover crew under its leader, Mr R Walker, but they are all keen and interested. Apart from one scout troop in the city, no others have their own meeting place, so the Otautau boys are fortunate. • At their meeting last week the East Invercargill cubs had a “going up” ceremony, when Eric Walker went up to the scout troop. MOVEMENT IN NEW ZEALAND During the past years it has been felt that the administration of the scout movement in New Zealand has not been on modern lines, and that some reorganization was necessary. The Dominion Chief Commissioner, Dr P. Clennel Fenwick, for health and business reasons, felt that he could not undertake this work, so he tendered his resignation. Dr Fenwick has given yeoman service to the movement for 27 years, and has been its leader since 1929. Commissioner H. Christie, H.M.M, was appointed to the vacancy until the end of the year. Mr Christie has had 14 years of scouting experience, having been metropolitan commissioner for the extensive district of Wanganui, It was unanimously agreed to transfer the headquarters to Wellington, as there it would be better able to keep in touch with the life of New Zealand as a whole. A new Dominion Council has been formed, embracing representatives from all parts of New Zealand. The Dominion Chief Commissioner will have associated with him several departmental heads, the following of whom have already been appointed:—Mr J. R. H. Cooksey, Commissioner for Training; Sir Robert Clark Hall, Commissioner for Rovers; Miss Nancy Wilson, Commissioner for Cubs. Mr Cooksey is well known to scouts as the leader of the New Zealand contingent to the Australian Jamboree. Miss Wilson recently visited here on behalf of the Dominion Council. ROVER SCOUTS The proposed alterations to the rover rules are concluded below:— “After qualifying himself under the last rule mentioned, the rover is expected to continue his training and activities along such of the following lines as he selects for himself; —(1) Advanced campcraft; (2) advanced’ pioneering; (3) rambler’s badge; (4) rover instructor’s badge; (5) the study and practice of any of the subjects or activities mentioned in a certain list in Rovering to Success; (6) the study of the Constitution and government of his country, with the object of understanding the responsibilities and duties imposed upon him as a citizen; normally this should be done by every rover whatever other line of training and activities he selects; (7) the study of the relations of the various countries and peoples which compose the Commonwealth of British Nations; (8) the study of the history of world-wide scouting, of the boy scout international organization; and of the world girl guide and girl scout organization. This study should'be amplified by correspondence with scouts in other countries, and, where possible, by carrying out camps and hikes abroad and by studying the scout literature of other countries; (9) scoutmastership, with a view to serving as a scouter in the cub or scout sections, and so returning to scouting something of what he has received from it. “If occupation, age or other circumstances prevent a rover from taking an active part as a member of his crew, he can become an ‘old scout.’ ” THE SEA SCOUTS During the past few weeks the sea scouts have been very busy establishing themselves in a new club-room. For some time past the troop has been holding evening parades in a room overlooking Dee street, but recently it has had to find new quarters, and now rents the first floor of a building in Tay street. The first parade held there was in the form of a spring cleaning party, the building having been unoccupied for some time and left full of lumber by previous occupants. Every scout turned up armed with a hammer, saw, axe or broom, and in a very short time the decks were cleared for action and a clean sweep made of the rubbish. After a good solid evening’s work, the troop settled down to a well-earned supper and the work was continued next-day and each succeeding Saturday. A very efficient trap door, with a counter-balance weight, has been built over the stairway and the room itself, which is 50 feet by 30 feet, divided into port and starboard sides and bow and stem with the quarter-deck marked out. Aft of the quarter-deck the “captain’s cabin” has been built, with a boatswain’s store and workshop and on the quarter-deck is the binnacle and troop flag. Forward is the ship’s bell, on which eight bells is sounded on parade nights by the coxswain on duty. Amidships is the main hatch, leading to the “upper deck,” which will be used for lead line practice, the use of slings and “bosun’s chairs” and other forms of sea scoutcraft. During the first week-end in the new quarters a great deal of veryvaluable help was given by Mr McGregor, first mate of the Anderson’s Bay sea scouts, Dunedin, who was on a visit to Invercargill. He extended an invitation to the “Jellicoe” sea scouts to visit Dunedin on the occasion of the Scout Handicrafts Exhibition to be held on August 14. This was warmly accepted and 20 sea scouts intend to avail themselves of the hospitality of Anderson’s Bay. Later on this year the Dunedin sea scouts, accompanied by those of Macandrew’s Bay and Tomahawk, have been invited to return the visit, and, if possible, a seat scout swim- . ming carnival and other activities will i be held. The bay troop is very strong, ; numbering 44 scouts. The local troop ■ is also forging ahead, there being well < over 30 scouts on the roll, with boys joining up almost weekly, so that a combined parade should produce some I very interesting results.