SCOUTING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 109, 11 May 1931, Page 12

SCOUTING

(By ‘

“Lone Wolf.")

Wolf Cubs Well, Cubs, I have just recovered from such a sharp talking to from ola “Akela” and nuw have to set about anl write an article. I have just re- | e.-i\ea a line 1 rom a Waugu-ji Scoutcr who has had a group of Cub Sixers cor. i up to i s troop and he savs th .t one weli-tra’ ied Wolf. Cub is worth > three new bvs on joining a troop. So after al! ymr 'raining and fun L well worth while -i lien yo u join you- bigger 1 brothers in the troop. You are tho : I youngsters between the ages of eight, and twelve, so you are not obi cnougn for real scouting, but you are learning the laws of the jungle in picparation for it. ami how to play hard am! uso every bit of skill you've got. Stick to the thing ever if you aren’t mat a good at it. because you won’t, get a dinner if y< -.i let that rabbit think h.- can last longer than you. .Follow the Old Wolf, because he is wise, and stick to your pack through thick and thin. . . these are a few ot the Jungle' Laws. Later, when you leave the Jungle and go on into the Troop, you'll be a little wiser, quicker and more ready to help than you would otherwise havo been, convinced that being a Cub Is real good fun, and that the Cub motto “Do Your Best” will help all through your scouting life. Badges Each year about this time the Quartermaster at Imperial Headquarters is able to give us some interesting figures, showing how many badges on each kind have been issued by the Equipment Department. They refer to the whole British Empire, and the totals also comprise a number of badges which wore out ana are replaced, but, nevertheless the figures arc of a startling nature. Some one has not been loafing or asleep for 1930. Even so they arc slightly under 1929. The following are some of the badges for 1930: Tenderfoot (brass and cloth), 359,040; Second Class, 4,652; First Class, 7,825; Cyclist, 16,260; Ambulance (issued in pairs). 11,118; Missioner, 9,480; Cook, 10,992; Swimmer, 7,524. 1 have only quoted the five most popular proficiency badges. Tho Ambulance figures have been divided in two, since the badge is worn on both arms. The First Class badge figures are rather disappointing, and it makes one think that scouts are going more in for “badge hunting” than the honour that lies behind tho King Scout badge. We hope that may not be so in the Wanganui scout district. Chief Scout’s Warning The Chief Scout, when writing recently on Scouting and its joys wrote a warning of tho clanger of making too much of a science of it. He says, “Yes,” scouting is a game. But some times I wonder whether, with all our pamphlets, rules, conferences, training classes, etc., we may not appear to be making a too serious a game. It is true that these things are necessary and helpful to men for getting the hang of the thing, and for securing results. But they are apt to grow into big proportions without our noticing it, when all tho time it is very apparent to those who come suddenly upon it from the outside. Thus this phalanx of instructional ideas appears terribly formidable to many a scoutcr, while to outsiders, having a look before they leap into our vortex, it must in many cases be directly deterring. When you come to look upon something as formidable, then you miss the whole spirit and the whole joy of it; once the spirit is lost, the boys catch the depression, and scouting having lost its spirit, is no longer a game. Conference Tho first conference of Auckland heads of scouting and guiding was held at Otimai last Saturday week, when 15 members of the Scout Association were the guests of a number of Auckland Guiders. From flagbreak at 2.30 p.m. until the singing of “taps” in the fitful ight of the dying embers of the campfire everything went with a swing, and one and all look back, upon that day with the sense of inspiriting exhilaration ever associated with great doings. A ramble through tho house and delightful grounds surrounding Otimai was a fitting preface to the subsequent conference when papers were read by various members of both movements on subjects of common interest; the patrol system and the Court of Honour were introduced by Scout speakers, and camping by tho Guides, and these and the subsequent discussions disclosed many interesting points. But the outstanding paper on Rover-Ranger cooperation, read by the Auckland Commissioner for Rovers, was tho feature of tho afternoon. Through the hand ling of a difficult subject in a masterful way the path has now been opened towards a co-operation between the two senior branches of the movements —a path that leads to true fraternity between the world’s greatest brother and sister organisations. After conference all enjoyed a delightful tea prepared by the Guiders. Before which was lit to the accompaniment of an impressive ceremony, the scouters wore introduced to the mysteries of folk dancing, an activity much beloved of our brothers in the Old Country. Around the blazing campfire with Miss Burgin as campfire chief, the gathering sang songs and staged stunts until the time came for leave-taking when Metropolitan Commissioner AV. J. Holdsworth thanked the hostess, Mrs IL J. Coates, Provincial Commissioner for Guides, for the happy day that her association had given the Scout people, and expressed (he hope that the function was hut the forerunner of more equally fraternal gatherings.