SCOUTING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19846, 21 May 1927, Page 16 (Supplement)

SCOUTING

(Contributed by the Wanganui Boy Scouts’ Association.) • THE LAW OF THE SCOUT. (10). A Scout is. Clean in Thought, Word and Deed. To be clean in thought and word and deed is the last law that the Scout Who aspires to perfect manhood must follow or stand without; For obeyed to the letter it means that he will be strong and one of the best. Facing life’s troubles calm and serene, leaving to God the rest; Never forgetting, as years roll by, his youth and the, way he began. FOR PATROL LEADERS. ITS INSPIRATION WE WANT. This week I want you to come with me to sec if we cannot obtain a little inspiration for the patrol meeting . . . You only meet once a week at the troop parade? That’s a pity, but if your troop hasn’t a headquarters of its own I suppose it’s no fault of yours. On the other hand, many patrols in similar straits get over the problem by meeting in the home of each of its members in turn.

What shall we do at the patrol meeting? P.-L. Dulle gives his fellows badge work and drill and a few games as a treat, each week, and then wonders why he fails. What did we find the cubmaster gave us in our younger days? A whole variety of things, and all presented in little chunks. The same method, I am convinced, is the secret of success in choosing activities for the patrol meeting. Never give your fellows more than half an hour on any one subject. And now for some activities. Don’t leave out a game or two. They should be chosen with careful regard to the space in, and situation of, the “Don.” Repiember there are some quiet scouting games! Half an hour of industrious work on badges is essential. This is a good time for the patrol to form a study circle for specialising. I like to leave the second and first class badge work for the half-hour in patrol corners at. the troop parade, but possibly you will have your own ideas on the subject.

At my own patrol mooting we have, half an hour for hobbies. One fellow is making a rug, another tries fretwork, fainting occupies a, third’s time, while two other follows are. making a Like, tent. Each doos what ho pleases and some of the efforts go well at the troop bazaar.

Simple amateur dramatics is another useful idea for the patrol meeting. You’ll be surprised at the amount of talent you have in your patrol. If you have your patrol fund or hank leave time for collecting the money. This should take place at the beginning) of the meeting, before it gets lost! Following this the patrol might go into council for a quarter of an hour or so. This <nves every scout a chance to “shout/’ a very useful thing for the loader. Discuss past activities, ideas for future meetings. Saturday afternoon stunts, and so on. Debates and spontaneous speeches make good activities and will aid your fellows in self-expression. For spontaneous speeches each scout is given a subject he has not previously seen, and he must speak on it for three minutes. It’s great fun. Try tracking. Obtain a long, shallow tin and fill it with sand. Smooth it out and then make tracks of a number of footprints in shoes and of bare feet, and show your fellows the difference in the characteristics of the respective prints. Then you might try making plaster casts of them. Finally, always have a programme fully worked out. long before the patrol meeting, and don’t, forget a list of “odd minute” activities. They’ll always be useful:

Short scouting games; self-measure-ment by each scout; Kim’s game; advanced knot tying; a short yarn from Scouting for Boys; a stunt such as a scout suddenly taking hold of the. table and yelling that he has been “electrocuted,” at which the scouts render first aid; and an unprepared play, the P.-L. giving the plot and the scouts making up their own words. GAMES FOR THE ODD HALF-HOUR TRY THESE AT YOUR NEXT MEETING. TABLE BOWLS. Apparatus required. —Table and wooden dominoes. Two teams of from two tp four players. The captain of the team is known as the “skip.” Each player has two dominoes. To decide who shall start the game, the two skips shoot up a “ball” each. This is done by placing the dominoe so that it overlaps the. end of the. table and hitting it along the table with the palm of the hand. The team—say “A” —whose skip’s “ball” is the nearer to the top of the table, now commences the game by shooting up the “Jack” (Double Six). No. 1 player of the “ A” team now sends up his first “ball,” his aim being to hit, or get near to the Jack. No. 1 player of “B” team then shoots up his “ball.” He is followed by No. 2 player of the “A” team. No. 2 player of the “B” now has a turn, and so on alternately until every player has sent up the “ball.” No. 1 player of the “A” team now sends up his second “ball,” to be followed by No. 1 player of the “B” team, and so on. The skip always plays last for his team, and advises his mon where to place their “woods.” Scoring. Every time a player hits the Jack he scores two points for his side. The nearest “hall” to the Jack at the end of the game scores three points. . The dominoes should be played with their faces on top, so that players may know their “woods” without having to turn them over. Should the Jack be kndeked off the table, the game has to be re-started. The team scoring the larger number of points wins the game. This game can be made into an exciting inter-pat-rol competition. Draughtsmen may be used in place of dominoes, but they are more liable to roll off the table. THE DUEL. Take two large potatoes and balance them on two teaspoons, then let the duellists take their stand opposite each other, a line being drawn one foot in advance of each. The players must not over-step their line. La their right

hands they must carry the teaspoon /with the potato, and in their left an empty tablespoon. At a given word each must try to upset his opponent’s potato with his tablespoon, at the same time keeping his own potato safely balanced on the teaspoon. FOR THE CUBS UNCLE DYB TALKS CAN YOU “ALERT?” If you want a jolly good laugh, get out your Wolf-Cub’s Handbook, and look at the Chief Old Wolf’s sketches on page forty-one. There, three cubs arc standing at the alert, but did you ever see such freaks as the first two? If you haven’t a copy of the Handbook—although you ought to have one —I suppose 1 had better make it clear to you. The first sketch shows a chap with his “tummy” stuck out miles in front of him. The second shows a fellow with his neck pushed up as though he is a chicken taking a look round the farmyard! The third sketch shows the correct position for “alert”—chest well out, tummy .well in, hands straight down, fingers extended —and uniform neat and clean. I That’s the right way. If you want to be really “alert,” however, you must keep your eyes straight in front of you—never watering for a second — towards anyone who may be talking to the cubmaster. Your eyes must bo “Glued on to the wall!” as my school master used to say when we were at drill.

You must stand like that until you; get the “At ease,” when you can then glance around if you wish. To see some cubs in the “alert’’ position, you’d think it was impossible to stand still, the way they fidget. It can be clone, of course. You watch when you see the Guards on the pictures, in a parade. They stand like statues for ever so long. And if one happens to sneeze he doesn’t half catch it! While if one drops his rifle —! Well, something terrible happens to him, no doubt. IF YOU WERE SIXEB. HOW WOULD YOU GET ON? If you were made sixer to-morrow, would you be able to carry on the work? I want you to put that question to yourself, and answer it truthfully. If you are honestly of the opinion that you could do all that your present sixer is doing —as well as he does it —then there is no need to read further. If you know in your heart that you would fail, however, read on. You may not have the opportunity of being made sixer until you have been a second, but there is always the possibility that you may suddenly be chosen as the second, whose job is important, as you know. So it is as well to be prepared! So many cubs just do as they are told in the six without giving a single thought to the sixer and second, and how they plan work for the six. On the other hand, there are cubs who are never tired of suggesting things to their second or sixer. They like to help with the work in their own way; so really they are training themselves to take on the work of either at some future date. This is what every cub should do. Cubs who are content to be led without giving a thought to getting on, will never make good scouts. Poor I scouts never make good rovers, remem--1 ber, and no cub wants to bo a “dud” 1 lover, I know I ... -