Scouting, Volume 18, Number 8, August 1930 Page: 222
205-229 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Down Hill and Up Hill
By J. Harold Williams
Providence, Rhode Island
IT'S A SAD THING WHEN a
It sort of gives you the blues when you meet a boy who
lives right next door to that Scoutmaster's Troop and that
boy tells you he isn't a Scout because "There aren't any good
Troops in my neighborhood."
I had that experience last week, and I tell you it made me
feel bad. I know that Scoutmaster well and I claim him as a
good friend. His Troop has been numbered among our best.
I'm writing this just for him. I hope it will help him a little.
Perhaps it will help some other Scoutmasters too.
A Personal Message
"You know how to run a Troop, Old Timer I know you
do, because I've seen you in action, leading 32 keen, enthusiastic
Scouts. Maybe you've grown a little bit stale. Sometimes I feel
a little stale on my job at headquarters, but not for long. The
love of the Scouting game is in my blood, just as it is in yours.
You can't quit. The sight of those kids and the thought of
what you can help them to be, through Scouting won't let you.
"When I feel stale I pick out a hard,
tough job to do and throw myself into
it. I determine to put it over The
harder the better I work under pres-
sure. My blood begins to tingle. I
begin to feel happy When the job is
done successfully, the staleness is gone
the sun is shining again and I'm on
top of the wave—myself again.
"Old Timer won't you tackle the
job of putting your Troop back among
the leaders again?
good Scoutmaster ^
"You know I'm
right in my diag-
nosis, Old Timer
And you know that the real reason
you're stale is because you're not
playing the game the way it should
be played. You're running a meeting
The Diagnosis
"You know what the trouble is just
as well as I do.
1. You are just running a Troop
meeting once a week—instead of stim-
ulating your Patrols to scout all week
long.
2. You have slipped back into the
rut of doing all the work yourself—
you've dropped your regular weekly
Patrol Leaders' Council and your monthly Troop Committee
meeting, which really spelled success for your Troop in the past.
3. Competition is dead in the Troop.
4. You haven't had a Troop or Patrol hike in months.
5. You've forgotten that boys need to pass tests regularly to
keep interest up.
6 You haven't visited another Troop in a year to see how
a successful Scoutmaster works. (I don't think you've even
read the new Patrol Leaders' Handbook)
7 You're making things too easy for the kids.
m
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V/
not four Patrols.
What a Real Old-Timer Says
"I want to let you in on part of a letter I received yester-
day from Scoutmaster Fred Wilshire in Hartford, Conn. You
remember Fred. He has been a Scoutmaster continuously for
18 years—14 of them right here in Providence as Scoutmaster
of Troop 15 before he moved away to other cities.
Fred writes Just a line for old times sake, and to say that
it seems impossible for me to get out of the Scout Game. I re-
ceived my 18th year star last week, and at the same time was
given the Charter for this new gang. This Troop is sponsored by
the Parent Teachers Association which has given real cooperation.
" 'I was told that it would be hard
to interest more than 16 boys in Scout-
ing in the neighborhood. So I adopted
the usual method scared them to death
with discipline made some of them feel
they might be dropped any minute
started them making bead looms, paper
knives, etc. put on an exhibition, had
the parents present boiled them out in
real shape, and awaited results.
" 'From the 16 registered Feb. 7 last
Friday had 35 boys in line, 43 candi-
dates, 15 to be of Scout age within three
months, and five parents waiting for a
chance to talk with me about their pets.
" 'I tell you it makes no difference
where Scouting is planted, there are
gangs waiting to grab it, but they first
want to be shown that it is hard. I
have never changed my methods and
always go ahead with a confidence that
I am right and the week then seems to
handle itself.
" 'I rarely spend less than two hours with a candidate and
I tear him all apart, and when we get through I know a
great deal more sometimes, than his parents know Some of
them have remarked to the others, 'Gee, Fred knows all about
you before you tell him anything.'
" 'I have never ceased to use Sun-
day evening for my weekly Patrol
Leaders Council,
and I never have to
announce it.'
fSo Old Timer, I'll be watching the news to see that you
rOV
&
an almost absolute guarantee
against the improper display of
The Flag. In this section of the
Test, there is an appeal to patriot-
ism, peace-time patriotism, real
love of country Every man should feel proud of his Flag—
every time he sees it, he should experience a thrill. In the can-
didate Scout this attitude can be aroused into one that will follow
him through life. Instill in your Scout that true feeling of a
deeper love of Flag and Country that gives birth to true Service.
The knots are the Scout's first "hand" work in Scouting.
This is the first thing in Scouting he accomplishes that he can
see Make em interesting. There are methods suggested in our
Handbooks and other Scout literature. And remember, a fel-
low may be able to tie a thousand knots, but if he does not know
when to tie a certain knot, his knowledge is of no value to him.
Therefore, not only see that your candidate knows how to tie
the knots, but when to tie them. And—how to untie them. Why
Page 222
TEST
Continued from Page 221)
not a little contest between Scout-
master and candidate while discus-
sing these knots?
Try to give the Tenderfoot
Test by discussing it. BUT
LET THE SCOUT DO MOST OF THE DISCUSSING!
All you, Scoutmaster are there for is to keep up the discus-
sion—a sort of toastmaster You do not keep throwing wood
on a camp fire to make it burn. You merely poke it here, put
on more fuel there, the fire does the rest. Your part in the
Tenderfoot test work is that of a fire keeper Add a word
here, a suggestion there, a flash of interest and pep, a sugges-
tion of how naturally it all fits together—and the fire will burn
gloriously! TALK IT OVER! But let the Scout do most
of it. Suggest—don't quizz. You are a leader—-not a driver
And, that's a mighty good' fire you have started. It will keep
Scouting warm in that boy's heart a long time. Don't smother
it with your superior knowledge or a slow dull bunch of
questions—too much poking and fuel makes a listless, smoky
camp fire!
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 18, Number 8, August 1930, periodical, August 1930; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth310846/m1/18/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.