Scouting, Volume 1, Number 10, September 1, 1913 Page: 5
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SCOUTING
BOY SCOUT LEADER
MEETS TRAGIC END.
With the death of Calvin S. Sumner at
Thousand Island Park, N. Y., the Boy
Scout movement lost one of its most earn-
est supporters. From the time he helped
organize the Scouts in Troy until his tragic
death he was always loyal and painstaking
in his efforts in the interest of boys.
Mr. Sumner had been director, of the
boys' work at the Pittsfield, Mass., Y. M.
C. A., and left on August ioth to spend
his vacation at Alexandria Bay. On the
15th, after he had been playing tennis all
morning, he took a plunge from the Hol-
den dock to cool off. In a few minutes he
was seen trying to lift himself from the
water onto the dock, but fell back and
sank. After the body was recovered ex-
haustive efforts were made to revive him,
but without avail. It is supposed that he
met with paralysis of the heart while in
the water.
Mr. Sumner led one of the first long-
distance hikes that Boy Scouts of America
ever held. A party of about twenty hiked
from Troy, N. Y., to New York City. His
personality was of the kind that made him
extremely popular with boys, and led them
to have confidence in whatever he pro-
posed. Scouts and boys in general feel the
loss of this leader who had so endeared
himself to the hearts of all who knew him.
WALL SCALING METHODS FOR SCOUTS.
By WALTER W. KENT, Chaplain of First Regiment of Ohio National Guard.
SCOUTS TO CAMP IN PANAMA.
It will not be long before the Panama
Canal has been filled up with the waters
of the Atlantic and Pacific and when the
digging of this connecting link between all
nations will become a matter of history.
Mr. Martin, Scout Commissioner in
Washington, D. C., has realized that there
may be some Boy Scouts who may want
to. take a trip to Panama and see the Canal
before this formal opening.
Surely it is worth the trip alone to see
what Uncle Sam is doing for the men and
boys who are making it possible to com-
plete this big job, those who have left their
homes and friends to go to a strange, for-
eign land, where it was almost impossible
to exist, but where now, under the splen-
did sanitary conditions, these people are
doing the greatest work that the world has
ever known.
Is it not the ambition of every true
American boy to go to Panama, and now?
The cost of the trip as figured up by
Mr. Martin amounts to $125 and is as fol-
lows :
Fare, second class. New York to Colon
and return $85.50
Fare, Colon to Panama City, and return. 4.00
Meals at the Common Dining Room at 50c.
per meal for nine days 12.50
Estimated spending money necessary 23.00
Total $125.00
Hotel accommodations have not been in-
cluded in the above figures because it is
quite probable that -permission can be ob-
tained from the government authorities for
the Scouts to pitch camp at the canal. The
matter is being taken up now and will be
announced later.
All Boy Scouts anywhere in the United
States are invited to accompany this party
to Panama. They leave on the 7th of
December, and return on the 31st. It is
necessary, however, that such Scouts in-
form Mr. Martin at Room 2, District
Building, Washington, D. C., before Sep-
tember 15, because the boats are going to
be crowded for the opening of the canal,
and reservations will have to be made as
long as that in advance.
THESE wall scaling tactics have been
tried out by the Zouave companies
and by the service. 1 offer them be-
cause it is my heart's desire to donate
something toward the Scout movement.
Select a stone wall, or erect a wooden
one to the height of twelve or fourteen
feet, and be sure to have it braced well.
The Scouts are formed into squads of
fours and approach the wall on the run.
As they come within ten feet, all halt ex-
cepting the first four, who run to the wall
and form the base of the pyramid, in the
following manner: No. 1 places his back
to the wall; No. 2 places his left arm
around the body of No. 1, facing toward
the end of the wall; No. 3 places his right
arm about the body of No. 1, facing No.
2; No. 4 then stands facing No. 1, with
his arms around Nos. 2 and 3. This forms
as secure a base as bone and muscle can
make. These boys, however, must have
endurance.
Nos. 5 and 6 in the second set act as
" putters," and each backs up against Nos.
2 and 3 of the base, which gives the base
support from wabbling. Nos. 7 and 8 pass
up over these putters by placing one foot
in their hands and a foot on their shoul-
ders, which enables them to gain the shoul-
ders of the base. They stand facing each
other, with the wall arm bracing each by
passing it about the back of each. They
stand with fingers of the other hands in-
terlocked and held down as a stirrup for
the climbers to come. Then the men of
the third set, Nos. 9, 10, 11 and 12, pass
over the pyramid to the summit of the
wall.
To dissolve the pyramid. Just as soon as
the two men (9 and 10) are on top of the
wall, they reach down and pull Nos. 7 and
8 up. Just as soon as the base men feel
the weight relieved, they break away and
prepare to scale. The putters (5 and 6)
back up against the wall, separate from
each other sufficiently to work, and form
a stirrup of their hands. The men then
pass up over these putters by placing the
left foot in their hands, the right foot on
their shoulders, reaching well up the wall
to the men on top, as the body rises. The
two men on top of the wall grasp the
climber's hands and land him safely. The
last man must be active and able to leap
well up the wall by a short run, and grasp
the hands of the two men on the top of
the wall. If the wall is too high for this,
then ' a strong leather belt or a piece of
rope will aid.
After sufficient proficiency has been at-
tained by the climbers, an injured comrade
may be carried over the wall in perfect
safety. The Scout selected for this stunt
must be light and level headed. As the
scalers rush up to the wall, he must fall
with his feet toward the wall and about
ten feet away. The pyramid is formed
as above. The two men assume their posi-
tions on top of the base, and the other two
stand on top of the wall. The other two,
who are over, await their companion's body
on the other side. The last two (xi and
12) take their position on either side of
the prostrate boy, and lift him tenderly,
but quickly, with a swinging motion, feet
first, toward the two putters at the base
(5 and 6), who grasp his trousers below
the knee, and lift his feet toward the two
men on the base of the pyramid (7 and 8).
They in turn lift his feet toward the two
men on top of the wall, who reach down
as far as possible to secure a firm hold on
his trousers. His body is lifted over the
top of the wall and lowered to the two
men waiting at the base on the opposite
side. The pyramid is dissolved as hereto-
fore described, and the wall scaling is
pushed to a completion. It will be sur-
prising how quickly this may be done with
perfect safety to all.
The entire work, however, must be done
by boys who are gritty enough to endure
the weight of their comrades without
flinching, as a false move upon the part
of any would precipitate the climbers into
a falling mass. I drilled a squad of wall
scalers, who climbed a sixteen-foot wall
in fifty-eight seconds, taking a fallen com-
rade over with them, and in no case did
we suffer any severe injury or accident.
Precision and simultaneous movement will
insure a thrilling but safe spectacle to an
audience.
A WORLD OF BOY SCOUTS.
A London illustrated weekly recently re-
produced photographs of Boy Scouts of
many nationalities—Scouts of Sweden,
France, Holland, Italy, America, Russia,
China, Germany, Greece, Belgium and
Syria, besides the pink-faced youngsters
who have become England's greatest pride
and may become England's greatest hope.
That a movement of this sort should
have spread in a few short years over the
face of the earth and should have ap-
pealed to races of such different character-
istics is so wonderful that its cause might
well be worth the time and study to search
for. We cannot think it is simply the play
in boy scouting which has won this head-
way. Play is not less known to the chil-
dren of China than to those of Britain. It
isn't the semi-military feature, nor the
community of sport, nor yet the imitation
of adult scouts, who, in truth, are rather
more fictitious than real. There may be
justification in suspecting that the Boy
Scout movement belongs to that scarce-
defined rebellion against selfishness, that
it is part of the beginning of that era
whose spirit is to be service.—From the
Toronto (Ont.) Blade.
INITIATION CEREMONY
POINTED AND BRIEF.
By James M. RoiJgsvScimt Commissioner,
Albany, N. Y.
Generally speaking, I believe our cere-
mony of initiation should be very pointed
and also very brief. It can be made most
solemn and effective if all the other Scouts
remain in silence. If the ceremony and
the " talk" are too long, the rest of the
troop will become restless, and the whole
effect of the ceremony is spoiled.
My plan has been (and this has been fol-
lowed by the Scout Masters in Albany)
to examine the applicant on his knowledge
of the requirements of a Tenderfoot, in-
cluding his knowledge of the law and its
meaning. The Scouts then eive the Scout
sign, keeping their hand upraised in silence,
while the candidate also ffives the sign and
repeats the oath. We have at times fol-
lowed this by all the Scouts of the troop,
new and old, repeating together the oath.
A short explanation is then given of the
badge, and the Scout Master extends the
hand of fellowship, giving the new Scout
the grip.
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 1, Number 10, September 1, 1913, periodical, September 1, 1913; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282642/m1/5/?rotate=90: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.