GIRL PEACE SCOUTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16782, 11 July 1922, Page 11

GIRL PEACE SCOUTS.

The second annual report of the Girl Peace Scouts' Association contains much interesting information about the movement, and as outsiders have very little knowledge of the good work being done, and the high ideals arrived at, it may not be amiss to give here a few extracts from the report. The. movement is controlled by a Dominion Council of ladiea, of whom the surviving founder, Mrs Cossgrovc, sen, is the head, with the chief peacs scout, Captain Cossgrove, as chief executive officer. The Dominion is subdivided into areas under district committees, each under a president, who i* appointed by the commissioner. District committees appoint their own secretaries and treasurers, and select suitable ladies lor appointment as scout mistress or instructors. Girl Peaoe Scouts are organised in Patrols, ti'ooj)S, companies and brigades. Six girls form a patrol, th ree patrols a troop, two and not more than four troops form ;i company, and all the companies in a district form a brigade. girl wishing to become a Girl Peace Scout- hands in her name to the nearest scout mistress, or applies direct to the Chief Peace Scout. After being e.nroiled, and passing her tenderfoot test she makes the following promises : —-(1) To do her duty to God and to the King. (2) To help other people at all times. (3) To obey the scout law. The scout law is:I- A girl scout's word of honour is to be trusted. 2. A scout is loyal to God and to the King. 3. A scout’s duty is to be useful and to help others. 4. A scout is a friend to all, and a sister to every other scout. 5. A scout is courteous. b. A scout is a friend to animals. *. A scout obeys orders. 8. A scout smiles and looks pleasant. 9. A scout is thrifty. 10. A scout is pure in thought, word and deed. The organisation aims at reaching every girl between the ages oi ; nine and twenty-one, irrespective of station in liie or religion. The movement has no class distinction, is non-political and interdenominational. Hie movement is world wide, the Girl Guides in England, Girl Scouts in America and Girl Aids in Australia all practically working on the sanio lines. The training includes camp sanitation, camp cooking, path-finding by means of sun and stars, how to pitch a tent, and how to tie simple knots. The girls are taught lessons in housecraft mother-craft, citizenship, first aid, first principles of home-nursing, care of infants, signalling, swimming, nature study, and the true value of the outdoor life. Tt will thus be seen that the Girl Scout movement aims at developing all the best that is in its members, nmd that the ultimate value to the State in the training given is hardly to be computed. This subject will be further dealt with next. Tuesday. Scout mistress Sims (Belfast) reports that the concert recently given to provide uniforms for the troop was highly successful, nearly all members being now in uniform. They have been asked to repeat the concert in Belfast Town Hall, but have not yet definitely decided to do so. In the meantime they are collecting all sorts of odds and ends for a “ Paddy’s Market,” the date of which is not yet settled. The troop are getting quickly through their tenderfoot training, and under Scoutmaster Roberts had a day’s outing on the riverbed learning woodcraft and signs. A delightful camp fire was made and potatoes and onions roasted to a turn therein. so that nobody went hungry. Scoutmistress Sims says that the. girls are all ambitious to become a. first-class trocvp J