The Chief Scout Talk

Taranaki Daily News, 25 July 1931, Page 21 (Supplement)

The Chief Scout Talk

. : TOOTH DRILL. (By Lt. Gen. Lord Baden-Powell.) If you have read our handbook Scouting for Boys” you will reinember the storv of the recruit who wanted to enlist for the Boer War. The sergeant exainined him and found him all right until lie came to look at his teeth; these were in such a bad way that the sergeant said: “No, I am sorry but you woiild be no good with those teeth in South Africa.” ' • ; The recruit replied: “Well that seems hard lines. Do we have to cat them Booers when we’ve killed ’em ?” The sergeant had, of course, meant that it would be no use for a man with bad teeth'to go on service, because he would not be able to bite and chew the tough meat and hard biscuits .which soldiers have to feed upon. And so it is with a scout; he must have good teeth if he is going to live the life of a frontiersman. Selous and those other scouts whose wonderful feats of endurance I have described to you from time to time could never have lived through those rough times if they had not had good teeth with which to make the most of such food as they were able to get. PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE. Most children start with good teeth, but these are very likely to decay unless they are carefully cleaned, twice a day; and fellows often don t think of this until they get an awful toothache. But the teeth have by then begun to go, and it is too late to do very, much with those that have begun to decay, though you may save the others. The tiling is to take care of your teeth before they begin to get bad, Disease."in the teeth is started by little straps of food, getting lodged in between them and being allowed to stop there. But' if you carefully brush out all the cracks between your teeth when you go to bed, and when you get up, the chances are that you will never suffer from toothache and your teeth will be strong and white and sound and able to tackle the hardest biscuits that form a scout’s fare.

RiItHIHIiUtUIIIIIIUHIIIIIIItHJmiIItiniIIIIIIUIIIIHII’IIIIIIIIIM HOW BRASS IS MADE. Brass is an alloy made up of the two metals copper and zinc, which are combined in a molten state; but as the fusing point of the two metals is very different the making of brass is not so simple a matter as it might segm.. Cop-, per melts at 1996 degrees Fahrenheit and zinc at 773 degrees. . . The copper is first melted in a crucible, which is usually composed of graphite. Several furnaces arc placed side by side, but each connected separately with the chimney. When the copper is molten, the zinc is then introduced just before the actual casting of the product, and it is pushed down in fragments under the molten copper, when it at once flares up. If the metal is not poured very soon a quantity of the zinc evaporates, with the result that the brass is not of good quality. Usually brass consists of about one-third zinc and two-thirds copper. SOME SIMPLE CARD TRICKS. Next time you are at a party or having a party at home, why not try to amuse your friends with Some card tricks? This not only applies to boys,, to be the most adept, but also io girls, although it is they who always seem for there is no reason whatsoever why girls should not be every bit as clever at manipulating cards as their brothers. A, simple. trick, that will puzzle an audience completely may be performed: by preparing a pack of cards by placing all the odd cards together, the .1, 3, 5, etc., of each suit, calling.the Jack and King as odd, and all the even cards together, and placing the two halves of the pack on top of one another. It is perfectly safe to show the cards to the audience, for it is most unlikely that; Anyone will see how they have been divided. Having done this ask anyone to choose a card, and note which half of the pack it is chosen from, the odd or the even half. Return the card yourself, making clear you are not looking at it, but return it to the half from which it was not originally chosen. Then deal all the cards, face upwards, in rapid succession, announcing that you will stop' at the chosen card. Naturally you can do this, as it is either the only odd card in the even pack or vice versa. Another trick that is absurdly simple, yet puzzles most people, is the following:—'Six cards are laid on the floor, and the performer announces very solemnly that he or she will make any one of the cards selected, by the company, disappear. A card is chosen. Then the, performer turns up his or her sleeves and slowly picks up the card. All the cards are held in the hands for a few minutes, and then slowly put back on the floor, when the indicated card is found to have disappeared. The explanation is rarely guessed by any who do not. know the trick. In picking up the selected card the performer runs his or her thumb, which Has been casually moistened> With the tongue, down the side of it,’and the next card adheres to it. The cards when picked up should bo carefully aligned up, and given a firm squeeze before being; laid down again, so that the two cards, stick firmly together. . . The lour knaves trick is , performed in this way. ■ The- performer runs through the 'pack and picks out the four knaves, alFthe time keeping up a running story about four knaves' who are going to rob a house. The story is purely to distract the audience and to hide the workings of the trick. The four knaves ai‘e held out fanwise in the left hand, and the fact fully impressed upon the audience that there are four knaves. The fan is closed, and placed on top of the pack, face downwards. The performer then takes the top card of the pack, which is also the top card of the four, and places it, without showing it to the audience, about a quarter-way down, telling a suitable story about this knave robbing the upper part of the house. The next is similarly placed about half-way down, and the third, three-quarter-way dbwif, and the last left bn top of the pack. The performed then gives the cards a eharp double knock, which, the watchers are informed is done to frighten the kqaves, so that they have all hurried to the top of the pack to join the knave there. As this is said, the four top cards are turned over, and four knaves are revealed. The explanation is, that behind the back card of the fan of Jacks there are three other cards. Properly squared up with the Jack they do not show, and when the fan is closed and placed on top of the pack, it is these three cards which arc placed one after another in the pack, leaving four Jacks in position,

SMOKES AND SWEETS. Sweets have a bad effect on the teeth; smoking also is very bad for them. Therefore' scouts avoid sweets and smokes. , Even amongst savage tribes the boys clean their teeth carefully every though they cannot go to a chemists shdp°and buy a toothbrush. they make little toothbrushes out of bits of stick with the ends frayed out by hammering; with these they brush the teeth, up and down, as well’ as across like we do, in order to clean, out the cracks between tne teeth, not only on the front side of the teeth but also on the inner side of the mouth. A clean tooth never decays. So if ..you want to be really strong and fit, one of the most- important things to remember is to have at. least one toothbrush and to- use it well both morning and evening—particularly last thing at night, so that no germs may penetrate while you are sleeping. If you do this you will save yourself from having that most awful of all pains, toothache; you will also save your parents from having to pay the expenses of dentist and doctors, which could have been avoided if you had taken a little more trouble.