Outdoor Sports and Games Part 2

8. A scout smiles and whistles under all circ.u.mstances.

9. A scout is thrifty and saves every penny he can and puts it into the bank.

The scout master is the adult leader of a troop. A troop consists of three or more patrols. The scout master may begin with one patrol. He must have a deep interest in boys, be genuine in his own life, have the ability to lead and command the boys' respect and obedience, and possess some knowledge of a boy's ways. He need not be an expert on scoutcraft. The good scout master will discover experts for the various activities.

To organize a patrol, get together seven or more boys, explain to them the aims of the Boy Scouts, have them elect a leader and corporal from their own number and take the scout oath as tenderfeet. To organize a local committee, call together the leading men of a town or city, teachers, business men, professional men, and all who are interested in the proper training of boys, for a committee to superintend the development of the scout movement.

There are a number of divisions to scouting depending upon the place where the boys live and upon their opportunities. For instance, to obtain:

_An Ambulance Badge_: A scout must know: The fireman's lift. How to drag an insensible man with ropes. How to improvise a stretcher. How to fling a life-line. The position of main arteries. How to stop bleeding from vein or artery, internal or external. How to improvise splints and to diagnose and bind fractured limb. The Schafer method of artificial respiration. How to deal with choking, burning, poison, grit in eye, sprains and bruises, as the examiners may require.

Generally the laws of health and sanitation as given in "Scouting for Boys," including dangers of smoking, in continence, want of ventilation, and lack of cleanliness.

_Aviator_: A scout must have a knowledge of the theory of aeroplanes, ball balloons and dirigibles, and must have made a working model of an aeroplane or dirigible that will fly at least twenty-five yards. He must also have a knowledge of the engines used for aeroplanes and dirigibles.

_Bee-farmer_: A scout must have a practical knowledge of swarming, hiving, hives, and general apiculture, including a knowledge of the use of artificial combs, etc.

_Blacksmith_: A scout must be able to upset and weld a one-inch iron rod, make a horseshoe, know how to tire a wheel, use a sledge hammer and forge, shoe a horse correctly, and rough-shod a horse.

_Bugler_: A scout must be able to sound properly on the bugle the Scouts' Rally and the following army calls: Alarm, charge, orderlies (ord. corpls.), orders, warning for parade, quarter bugle, fall in, dismiss, rations, first and second dinner calls (men's), reveille, last post, lights out.

_Carpenter_: A scout must be able to shoot and glue a four-foot straight joint, make a housing, tenon and mortise, and halved joint, grind and set a chisel and plane iron, make a 3 ft. by 1 ft. 6 in., by 1 ft. by 6 ft. dovetailed locked box, or a table or chair.

_Clerk_: A scout must have the following qualifications: Good handwriting and hand printing. Ability to use typewriting machine.

Ability to write a letter from memory on the subject given verbally five minutes previously. Knowledge of simple bookkeeping. Or, as alternative to typewriting, write in shorthand from dictation at twenty words a minute as minimum.

_Cook_: A scout must be able to light a fire and make a cook-place with a few bricks or logs; cook the following dishes: Irish stew, vegetables, omelet, rice pudding, or any dishes which the examiner may consider equivalent; make tea, coffee, or cocoa; mix dough and bake bread in oven; or a "damper" or "twist" (round steak) at a camp fire; carve properly, and hand plates and dishes correctly to people at table.

_Cyclist_: A scout must sign a certificate that he owns a bicycle in good working order, which he is willing to use in the scouts' service if called upon at any time in case of emergency. He must be able to ride his bicycle satisfactorily, and repair punctures, etc. He must be able to read a map, and repeat correctly a verbal message. On ceasing to own a bicycle the scout must be required to hand back his badge.

_Dairyman_: A scout must understand: Management of dairy cattle; be able to milk, make b.u.t.ter and cheese; understand sterilization of milk, safe use of preservatives, care of dairy utensils and appliances.

_Electrician_: A scout must have a knowledge of method of rescue and resuscitation of persons insensible from shock. Be able to make a simple electro-magnet, have elementary knowledge of action of simple battery cells, and the working of electric bells and telephone.

Understand and be able to remedy fused wire, and to repair broken electric connections.

_Engineer_: A scout must have a general idea of the working of motor cars and steam locomotives, marines, internal combustion and electric engines. He must also know the names of the princ.i.p.al parts and their functions; how to start, drive, feed, stop, and lubricate any one of them chosen by the candidate.

_Farmer_: A scout must have a practical knowledge of ploughing, cultivating, drilling, hedging and draining. He must also have a working knowledge of farm machinery, hay-making, reaping, heading and stacking, and a general acquaintance with the routine seasonal work on a farm, including the care of cattle, horses, sheep and pigs.

_Fireman_: A scout must know how to give the alarm to inhabitants, police, etc. How to enter burning buildings. How to prevent spread of fire. Use of hose, unrolling, joining up, hydrants, use of nozzle, etc. The use of escape, ladders, and shutes; improvising ropes, jumping sheets, etc. The fireman's lift, how to drag patient, how to work in fumes, etc. The use of fire extinguishers. How to rescue animals. How to salve property, climb and pa.s.s buckets. "Scrum" to keep back crowd.

_First Aid to Animals_: A scout must have a general knowledge of the anatomy of domestic and farm animals, and be able to describe treatment and symptoms of the following: Wounds, fractures and sprains, exhaustion, choking, lameness. He must understand shoeing and shoes, and must be able to give a drench for colic.

_Gardener_: A scout must dig a piece of ground not less than twelve feet square, know the names of a dozen plants pointed out in an ordinary garden, understand what is meant by pruning, grafting and manuring, plant and grow successfully six kinds of vegetables or flowers from seeds or cuttings, cut and make a walking stick, or cut gra.s.s with scythe under supervision.

_Handyman_: A scout must be able to paint a door or bath, whitewash a ceiling, repair gas fittings, tap washers, sash lines, window and door fastenings, replace gas mantles and electric light bulbs, hang pictures and curtains, repair blinds, fix curtain and portiere rods, blind fixtures, lay carpets, mend clothing and upholstery, do small furniture and china repairs, and sharpen knives.

_Horseman_: A scout must know how to ride at all paces, and to jump an ordinary fence on horseback. How to saddle and bridle a horse correctly. How to harness a horse correctly in single or double harness, and to drive. How to water and feed, and to what amount. How to groom his horse properly. The evil of bearing and hame reins and ill-fitting saddlery. Princ.i.p.al causes and remedies of lameness.

_Interpreter_: A scout must be able to carry on a simple conversation, write a simple letter on subject given by examiner, read and translate a pa.s.sage from a book or newspaper, in either Esperanto or any language that is not that of his own country.

_Leather Worker_: A scout must have a knowledge of tanning and curing, and either (a) be able to sole and heel a pair of boots, sewn or nailed, and generally repair boots and shoes: or (b) be able to dress a saddle, repair traces, stirrup leathers, etc., and know the various parts of harness.

_Marksman_: A scout must pa.s.s the following tests for miniature rifle shooting from any position: N.R.A. Standard Target to be used. Twenty rounds to be fired at 15 or 25 yards. Highest possible, 100 points. A scout gaining 60 points or over to be cla.s.sified as marksman. Scoring: Bull's-eye, 5 points; inner, 4 points; magpie, 3 points; outer 2 points. Also: Judge distance on unknown ground: Five distances under 300 yards, 5 between 300 and 600 yards, with not more than an error of 25 per cent. on the average.

_Master-at-arms_: A scout must attain proficiency in two out of the following subjects: Single-stick, quarter-staff, fencing, boxing, jiu-jitsu and wrestling.

_Missioner_: The qualifications are: A general elementary knowledge of sick-nursing; invalid cookery, sick-room attendance, bed-making, and ventilation. Ability to help aged and infirm.

_Musician_: A scout must be able to play a musical instrument correctly other than triangle, and to read simple music. Or to play properly any kind of musical toy, such as a penny whistle, mouth-organ, etc., and sing a song.

_Pathfinder_: It is necessary to know every lane, by-path, and short cut for a distance of at least two miles in every direction around the local scouts' headquarters in the country, or for one mile if in a town, and to have a general knowledge of the district within a five-mile radius of his local headquarters, so as to be able to guide people at any time, by day or night. To know the general direction of the princ.i.p.al neighbouring towns for a distance of twenty-five miles, and to be able to give strangers clear directions how to get to them.

To know, in the country, in the two-mile radius, generally, how many hayricks, strawricks, wagons, horses, cattle, sheep and pigs there are on the different neighbouring farms; or, in a town, to know in a half-mile radius what livery stabling, corn chandlers, forage merchants, bakers, butchers, there are. In town or country to know where are the police stations, hospitals, doctors, telegraph, telephone offices, fire engines, turnc.o.c.ks, blacksmiths and job-masters or factories, where over a dozen horses are kept. To know something of the history of the place, or of any old buildings, such as the church, or other edifice. As much as possible of the above information is to be entered on a large scale map.

_Photographer_: A scout must have a knowledge of the theory and use of lenses, and the construction of cameras, action of developers. He must take, develop and print twelve separate subjects, three interiors, three portraits, three landscapes and three instantaneous photographs.

_Pioneer_: A scout must have extra efficiency in pioneering in the following tests, or suitable equivalents: Fell a nine-inch tree or scaffolding pole neatly and quickly. Tie eight kinds of knots quickly in the dark or blindfolded. Lash spars properly together for scaffolding. Build model bridge or derrick. Make a camp kitchen. Build a hut of one kind or another suitable for three occupants.

_Piper_: A scout must be able to play a march and a reel on the pipes, to dance the sword-dance, and must wear kilt and Highland dress.

_Plumber_: A scout must be able to make wiped and brazed joints, to cut and fix a window pane, repair a burst pipe, mend a ball or faucet tap, and understand the ordinary hot and cold water system of a house.

_Poultry Farmer_: A scout must have a good knowledge of incubators, brooders, sanitary fowl-houses and coops and runs; also of rearing, feeding, killing, and dressing birds for market; also he must be able to pack birds and eggs for market.

_Printer_: A scout must know the names of different types and paper sizes. Be able to compose by hand or machine, understand the use of hand or power printing machines. He must also print a handbill set up by himself.

_Seaman_: A scout must be able to tie eight knots rapidly in the dark or blindfolded. Splice ropes, fling a rope coil. Row and punt a boat single-handed, and punt with pole, or scull it over the stern. Steer a boat rowed by others. Bring the boat properly alongside and make it fast. Box the compa.s.s. Read a chart. State direction by the stars and sun. Swim fifty yards with trousers, socks, and s.h.i.+rt on. Climb a rope or pole of fifteen feet, or, as alternative, dance the hornpipe correctly. Sew and darn a s.h.i.+rt and trousers. Understand the general working of steam and hydraulic winches, and have a knowledge of weather wisdom and knowledge of tides.

_Signaller_: A scout must pa.s.s tests in both sending and receiving in semaph.o.r.e and Morse signalling by flag, not fewer than twenty-four letters per minute. He must be able to give and read signals by sound. To make correct smoke and flame signals with fires. To show the proper method of signalling with the staff.

_Stalker_: A scout must take a series of twenty photographs of wild animals or birds from life, and develop and print them. Or, alternately, he must make a collection of sixty species of wild flowers, ferns, or gra.s.ses, dried and mounted in a book and correctly named. Or, alternately, he must make coloured drawings of twenty flowers, ferns or gra.s.ses, or twelve sketches from life of animals and birds. Original sketches, as well as the finished pictures, to be submitted. Or, alternately he must be able to name sixty different kinds of animals, insects, reptiles, or birds in a museum or zoological garden, or from unnamed coloured plates, and give particulars of the lives, habits, appearance and markings of twenty of them.

_Starman_: A scout must have a general knowledge of the nature and movements of the stars. He must be able to point out and name six princ.i.p.al constellations. Find the north by means of other stars than the Pole Star in case of that star being obscured by clouds, etc., and tell the hour of the night by the stars or moon. He must have a general knowledge of the positions and movements of the earth, sun and moon, and of tides, eclipses, meteors, comets, sun spots, planets.

_Surveyor_: A scout must map correctly, from the country itself, the main features of a half a mile of road, with 440 yards each side, to a scale of two feet to the mile, and afterward re-draw same map from memory. Measure the heights of a tree, telegraph pole and church steeple, describing method adopted. Measure width of a river, and distance apart of two objects a known distance away and unapproachable. Be able to measure a gradient, contours, conventional signs of ordnance survey and scales.

_Swimming and Life Saving_: A scout must be able to dive and swim fifty yards with clothes on (s.h.i.+rt, trousers, socks as minimum). Able to fling and use life-line or life-buoy. Able to demonstrate two ways of rescue of drowning person, and revival of apparently drowned.

THE PATROL

The simplest way to form a patrol of scouts is to call together a small group of boys over twelve years of age. A simple recital of the things that scouts do, with perhaps an opportunity to look over the Manual, will be enough to launch the organization. The selection of a patrol leader will then follow, and the scouting can begin. It is well not to attempt too much at the start. Get the boys to start work to pa.s.s the requirements for the tenderfoot.

_The Patrol Leader_: Each patrol should have a patrol leader--preferably a boy. The choice of this leader has much to do with the success of the patrol. He should be a recognized leader among the boys in the group. Do not hesitate to entrust him with details.

Let him feel that he is your right-hand man. Ask his opinion on matters pertaining to the patrol. Make him feel that the success of the organization depends largely upon him, being careful, of course, not to overdo it. You will find that this att.i.tude will enlist the hearty cooperation of the boy and you will find him an untiring worker, with the ability to bind the boys closer together than you could ever hope to do alone.

POINTS OF INTEREST