The Boy Scouts.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 143672, 16 December 1911, Page 4

The Boy Scouts.

By f Scpufmaslef

District Commissioner: Captain W. Wright, Hawcra. Inspectors. Major F. W. Samlforcl, Tninni, Vogoltown, and Mr. G. AFGahey, Brougham Street. Scoutmasters: J. H. Sullivan, Central School; N. It. ADlsnac. Post Office; ii. Y. M Gahey, Brougham Street. CHARACTER. TRAINING. General Sir Robert Baden Powell, in the iast issue of the London Headquarters Gazette, writes: Character training for onr boys, then, is the essential groundwork lor making our men into a nation of good rumens. It- is equally essential for making them into soldiers. Now, one gmat organisation which is doing a greai goul lor xlu> boys is that of the Cadet Corps. It gives them an outdoor life and physical development; it gives them the training of soldiers, the love for their country, and a sense of duty and discipline which is not given thorn inside the school walls. X have been an ardent Cadet man since I was a bugler in the Charterhouse Cadet Corps; I have had Cadets under mo on active service; 1 have held tlio rank of XLonorary Commander of several Cadet corps; and I have seen their great expansion in our oversea dominions; hut, gradually, as I have got older and studied their ways and looked around, I have detected many shortcomings and many defects in the Cadet system'. Not long ago my suspicions were turned into almost certainty hy Mr. John Burns. “You arc going in the wrong direction with those Cadets of yours,” ho said, “because die more you train and drill a boy to be a soldier in his youthful years, the less he will want to become a soldier when he comes to the age for soldiering. You have to be careful hdw_ you put the glamour of wearing tho King's uniform before him, because it may wear off as he gets older; lie gets bored with the drill, and lie may never want to take to it again.” One sees, on looking into the returns, that that is very much what has happened with the Cadets; only a very small have gone into the service afterwards. Now that the system is improving, and the work is getting more interesting—less of the goosestop and more of the field work—no doubt that state of things will improve, hub still there arc undoubted drawbacks to the Cadet organisation. We should owe a great deal to Cadet corps if they could make up for the omissions of the school education of the boy. ft you look at the largo mass of the middle-class and lower-class boys, you will find, as they grow up into young men, they, have no sense of discipline, they aro- very self-assertive—-though for very littlo reason—and they aro wanting in seif-reliance and in fortitude, which are essential qualities whether they are going to be citizens or soldiers. That point is brought home to us by our oversea dominions whore “no Englishman need apply,” where formerly an Englishman used to bo-the very type of fellow that was wanted. One sees it, too, in the army, thriftless fellows corning in with no idea of discipline, and officers having to try and hustle it into thorn at an age when they aro probably too old to pick it up. So a great possibility would seem to lie before Cadet corps, at any rate in the United Kingdom. What it may ho in some of our oversea dominions, where there is an obligatory system, I do not know; the authorities may bo able to keep them longer as Cadets and to give them a more thorough training in real sound discipline, so that it becomes part of their character. But wo British do not readily accept a merely repressive form of discipline, with punishment for faults. It does not take hold of ns. What we act up to is more a sense of “playing the game.” a sense of honour and “good form.” These appeal to an Englishman much more than any dread of punishment, -and supply a much sounder and more permanent form of discipline, and one which we can instil in to him if we can only get the boy early enough, before he has grown into the hooligan or the lout. BODILY STRENGTH AND HOW TO GET IT. Hints on bow to become strong are always acceptable to boys. But .somehow they seem to come with more weight from a genuine athlete than Irom a professor, even ix the latter knows every bone and group of muscles in tile human body. Here is what Sandow, the professional “strong man,” says in a number ol the Cosmopolitan, and ho, of course, can speak irom experience. His first golden rule is, if you want to lx? strong, do not oat too much. Nothing shortens life and minimises power as the almost universal habit ol taking too much 10-H. The ouiv rule as to how much food should ho \akcu is that the sysrmn .should be kept free from hunger until the usual time for the next meal. If you wieh to be strong, do not drink tea or coffee, ;md when the stomach is empty take nothing but distilled water. Another point is, never try to economise in slcxp. Sandow says that he sleeps nine ho ir.s, and olten more. You should sleep in a warm bedroom, and bathe almost as frequently as you cal. At any rate, you should always have a cold bath morning and evening. Lawn tennis is an admirable exercise, which brings into play almost all the muscles of the body. Bicycling, from the point of view of exercise, is superior to walking. but the rider should see to ir that his seat and handles are >o adjusted so as to enable him to ride upright. Sandow says he has not much faith in gymnastics as they are usually taught, as they do not bring out the muscles which are in every-day use. Dumbbell exercises as usually practised are useless, and all exercise carried on in an .enclosed building is not nearly so advantageous as that in,the open air. Parallel bars and other apparatus ho thinks are of little use. PI is faith is pinned to dumb-bells, and he does all his training with them, supplemented with weight-lifting. If you wish to be strong, says Sandow, do not overstrain yourself: develop your muscles by the easiest and lightest exercise. By a constant use of dumbbells any man of average strength can bring his muscles to the highest possible development. In exercising it is very important to stand correctly and to breathe properly. The right way to

breathe properly is to take long full breaths and to expel the air slowly. If vou breathe properly, stand as you ought to do, get plenty of pure air, sulficiont. but too much, wholesome food, you will be sure to be healthy and strong. GENERAL BADEN-FOWELL. Latest advices from London are to the effect that- our great chief will not now be a ole to reach New Zealand before May or June. In a letter to the Dominion Chief Scout lie thanks him tor his invitation to the Dominion, but regrets that lie cannot come out in January, as at first intended. A visit from the General just now would be very opportune. It would help to reonthuse those older boys whose enthusiasm has been killed by recent events. The later visit may, however, bo better for the movement, as the senior cadet scheme will, perhaps, by that time bo in working order, and much of the present uncertainty have given place to confidence in both departments.