Scouts News

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 112, 13 May 1936, Page 10

Scouts News

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"Tuakana.”)

Dominion H.Q.'s Bulletin. Advice has been received from Imperial Headquarters, London, that oficial mourning for the late King ceased from May 1. On the occasion of His Majesty’s funeral, picked isecuts were on duty, a magnificent wreath with the Scout Badge as the central design was sent to Windsor, and Lord Somers, acting Chief Scout in Great Britain, represented the association in the funeral procession. King Edward VIII. Upon his accession to the throne, King Edward VII becomes the first King in the British Empire who has been actively connected with the Boy Scout movement. King Edward, as Prince of Wales, was Chief Scout for Wales, and, as such appeared in Scout uniform at many notable Scout gatherings in the United Kingdom. New Zealand Scouts who attended the Arrowe Park Jamboree in 1929, have happv memories of His Majesty’ s attendance during that memorable gathering. Wood Badges Issued. The following wood badges have been issued since last December: Scout: A.S.M. D. A. Dale (Wanganui), Metropolitan Commisioner J. M. Crampton (Christchurch). Cub: (District Commissioner F. Mclvor (Christchurch), A.S.M. D. A. Dale (Wanganui), L.C.M. M. Carson, A.L.C.M. O. Spedding (Ashburton). Deputy Camp Chief E G. Grav (North Canterbury), A.L.C.M., Bradley, C.M. R. D. Carew, L.C.M. G. Johns (all of Christchurch), L.C.M. E. Thomson (Timaru). 9». George’s Day Awards. His Excellency the Chief Scout for New Zealand, has announced the following St. George’s Day awards in recognition c-f “their good services to the Scout movement”: —Commissioner F. W. Horner, South Taranaki district, Hawera, and Metropolitan Commisioner F. G. Hall-Jones, Southland district, Invercargill. Scout Walter Nash, M.P. A. most interested spectator at the Hutt rally was the Hon. W. Nash, M.P., who was invested as a Scout by the Dominion Chief Commisioner. He was sponsored by the Chief Scout for New Zealand (Lord Galway). Scout Nash is now the second Minister of the Crown to be invested into the ranks of the Boy Scout movement. Overseas Correspondents. Scooters are again reminded that numerous Scouters and Scouts from overseas are waiting to link up with their New Zealand brothers by correspondence. Opportunity’s Disguise. •’People who say they have ‘never had any opportunity' have usually failed to recognise ‘ Opportunity ’ when she came along, because ‘Opportunity’ often has an ugly face and looks like nothing in the world but a job of hard work.” —Sir Francis Goodenough. Glasgow Eagle Cubs. Last Saturday we held a Maori afternoon and we had a great time. :lagoo” came with quite a variety of Maori ideas and we practised flax plaiting, canoe songs, stick games, etc. During the afternoon the G.S.M. arrived and was immediately well and truly caught as a prisoner and there wasn’t much hope for him tc escape with 10 of us on top of him, but he survived the ordeal and came up smiling and proved that he was a member of one of the tribes and had a Maori name as well. Thanks to Mrs. Gaze, who warmed up the eats, we were able to have hot saveloys before going home, and we were very sorry when the afternoon came to an end, and we are looking fc-r ♦: d to the next time. “Baloo. ” The Test of the Listening Ear. Here is a very good test for your Patrol to carry out either out-of-doors in your clubroom. Each Scout •hould be blindfolded and taken into a room or behind a screen, when a number of familiar and unfamiliar sounds are made. The blindfold Scout should be asked to name the sounds, a record being made of his answers. Here are a few examples for use indoors— Undoing a laced up boot. Opening an envelope. Writing with a pen on paper. Someone drinking water. Sharpening a pencil. Tearing a piece of rag. Cutting paper with scissors. Shutting up a clasp knife. Someone cutting a piece of wood with a knife. Someone tightening a strap. For outdoor sounds, the following tan be made:— Snapping of twig. Someone walking bare-footed. Striking a match. Someone walking with a stick. Rustle of leaves. Wood being chopped. Peg being knocked in the ground. Running water. Guyline being drawn taut. Set a test for your patrol and the Scout who can recognise each sound correctly should be allowed to carve the woodcraft sign, shown in the illustration, on his staff. Scouting for boys is a game, and it will only be successful when treated as a game. But all the same it is a serious game, the game of life as seen through young eyes. —Lord Hampton. Be a Stalker! Try to limitate your Cat! There are many curious ways of •talking. Stalking and hiding is an art practised by all primitive tribes and they are exceedingly clever in playing 4 ‘sham dead,” or mimicking animals. One way of creeping up to a position without being seen is to tie bushes and leaves all over you till you look like a of undergrowth. The Indians of North America often stalked, disguised as a lynx. They had the head of a lynx as a cap and they allowed the skin of the animal to hang over their shoulders. When seen at a distance, they would look just like a lynx and no one would guess that there was a man inside the skin. When they moved about, the Indian imitated the movements of the lynx so well that he even deceived the real live lynxes.

Conducted weekly - n the interest of Scouting In the district, and to acquaint the public with the work which Scouting ’embraces. Ail contributions should be in the hands of •■Tuakana’’ e/o A. F. A. Woollams, Ridgeway Street, at the lat-

So you see, the Indians had to know all about the lynx; hew a lynx walks, runs, lies still, gets up and crouches, and be able to make the howl or the bark of the lynx so perfectly that the live lynxes would mistake their call and answer back. Every Cub should practise stalking. If you wish to try the Indians’ method, get hold of a furry hearthrug and wrap it round you. If it is a real animal skin so much the better. Then try to walk like a cat or a fox, bringing your hands and feet down one in front of the other. Then see how long you can keep perfectly still in an awkward position. When you can hide and keep quite still nobody will know that you are there. But if you remember that ‘practice makes perfect” you should soon be able to “meow” like a cat, bark like a dog, crow like a crow, “moo” like a cow, and “cluck” like a hen! ’ Two Cubby Games. This jolly clubroom game is called “Pass the Yarn,” and you’ll find it jolly good fun. The leader starts to tell a yarn. He tells, let us say, of a knight who left his own homeland and travelled in distant lands. After a few minutes the Leader pauses in his story, and looking to the Cub on his right says, “and.” That Cub immediately takes up the tale, saying anything he likes about the knight and his adventures. Thus the yarn passes round the Pack, every Cub doing his share. “Spin the Plate” is always hailed with yells of delight. The Pack squats in a ring, each Cub choosing the name of an animal. Akela, or someone who has been chosen, then goes into the centre of the circle with an enamel plate, or a round bread board. He spins this on the floor and calls • ‘ Bear! ” The Cub who has chosen the name of Bear then leaps to his feet and tries to catch the plate before it falls flat. If he does, all is well, but if not he has to stay in the centre and spin the plate until he catches someone else. JThose “Floppy” Hat-brims. i Most Scouts find it difficult to keep the brim of their hat perfectly stiff, so ' here we give the most effective remedy. Damp the brim of the hat and place it as near as possible to a lire, and as it dries firmly press down the sides. After a few minutes the brim will be found as hard as a board. To clean your hat, all you need is some hot water and a little soda. The cleaning process should, of course, be done before atI tempting to stiffen the brim. Who Said It? IDuring the course of the normal evening programme you arrange for various members of the Troop, including perhaps yourself and the Scoutmaster, to make some remark in a loud voice so that all can hear it. It might be an order or a request for something or even just an exclamation. If this is done quite naturally and without causing a stir, nobody will suspect anything. At the end of the evening every fellow is asked to write down who said the various things. To make it even harder you might not ask them until the following week and then you will see which of them would make good police-cc-urt witnesses! In the story of White Fang the young wolf gets caught by some Indians, and becomes quite tame through living with them. But when the famine conies and the tribes have no food to give to their many dogs about the camp, these poor animals go off into the woods to hunt for food for themselves. The result is that, being civilised dogs, accustomed to having their food given them, they do not know how to hunt properly, and most of them die of starvation or get killed and eaten by the wild wolves. But White Fang, having begun life as a wolf cub is able to hunt on his own account and so keeps himself alive and well, until one day he finds the camp with the smell of meat cooking at the iires and he knows that the famine is over and he returns to his old master again. But that which happened to the dogs is very much what happens to boys when they go out into the world. If they have never learnt, while they were boys, to look after themselves and to make their own way, they will not succeed; but those who have, as Cubs or Boy Scouts, been taught all the useful dodges for getting on, will go out and make a big success of it. So try hard to pick up all the knowledge you can while you are in the Brotherhood. I have seen wolf families going about, the two parent wolves stalking in front, with cubs trotting behind on their tracks. It is quite certain that the old wolves teach their cubs most carefully all the tricks and dodges which make them such splendid hunters and so difficult for a man to catch. They are the cleverest and most cunning of all the wild animals, and it is for this reason that the men who prove themselves the best Scouts are very properly called Wolves. That is why we, in the Scout Movement, give the “Silver Wolf” as our highest award for good Scouting .