Scouting, Volume 25, Number 4, April 1937 Page: 16
34, [2] p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Timely Tips on
Scout Protection
HOLD EVERYTHING!
FLOOD ECHOES
WHITE LEGS ON THE
HIGHWAY
Grip and Grit
"GRIP," says the well known Web-
ster, is the "Power of force of hold
or domination," "An energetic or ten-
acious grasp" and several other things.
Anyhow it's a strong word, full of
meaning and character—like the death-
less hold of the bulldog's teeth as
compared with the cold feel of the life-
less, dead fish hand, delicately laid in
yours by the chap who thinks of hand-
shaking as necessary but silly.
Remember how you felt that time
the man who had been one of your
kid Scouts came back and nearly
crushed your fingers as he looked you
in the eye and said, "Old friend, I've
never forgotten what you did for
me"? Sort of grips you, doesn't it?
would dive out and down and enter
the water beautifully.
But Arthur Holden, a young athlete
of medium build, preferred to jump
feet first. How either of them lived
through it, I don't know, and Holden
almost didn't.
One night he let his bosn's chair
swing around the hoisting line and—•
just as he got a finger grip on the
girder, the sling that held the block
broke a.nd it fell, striking Holden on
the nose. Dazed but fully aware of his
predicament he hung there by his iron
fingers, legs dangling and blood drip-
ping from his broken nose.
For perhaps ten seconds, there was
no sound, and then suddenly every-
body in the Garden was shouting ad-
vice to the one man in the place that
had a grip on himself.
"Shut up," we heard him yell, "I'm
all right," and he was. In ten seconds
more he was on the girder and a min-
ute later he dropped like a plummet
straight down to safety, with his usual
splash, saved by an iron will and a
strong pair of hands.
A Sheet a Day Drives Weakness Away.
It's safe to lay a wager that not one
of the youngsters in your Troop but
would like to have a grip that would
crush a cocoanut and crack a walnut
between thumb and finger.
A powerful grip often means the
difference between life and death.
About 1915, the writer was doing
some exhibition work at the Sports-
man's Show in New York's old Madi-
son Square Garden. Each afternoon
and evening two men were whisked in
bos'n's chairs aloft to the girders 80
feet above a four-foot-deep swimming
pool. Speedy, a burly middle aged man,
Here's A Way To Make 'Em Strong
It's things like this that teach safety
skills, and is good fun at the same
time, and you can make it into a con-
test with no coaching from me.
Each member of the Patrol or
Troop takes a sheet of newspaper in
one hand (half a sheet will do to
start with for the smaller Scouts). At
the word "Go" they start to crumple
it into a ball that can be entirely cov-
ered by the fingers. The working hand
cannot be helped, or touch anything;
it must be kept clear of the body at all
By FRED
C. MILLS
National Director
of Health & Safety
times. Time the Scouts. Repeat with
the other hand. Then maybe (or per-
haps the next meeting night if the
muscles are too tired), try it with both
hands. This has added difficulties. It's
something like rubbing your head and
patting your "tummy" at the same
time.
A professional strong man says that
doing this every day for a month will
double the strength of the fingers.
And it may save a life!
Great Flood Relief Work!
Your brother Scouters and Scouts
did magnificent work in the record
floods of last month. At least half a
million were somewhere in there doing
their bit, rescuing the flood bound or
feeding refugees in the Ohio, Missis-
sippi and the back waters of Arkansas,
or collecting clothing and grub in
Monterey and Manchester, in Laredo
and Lansing, in Key West and Kan-
kakee, in Bellingham and Baltimore
—everywhere.
Sure we can grin and be proud. We
were all in their doing our bit.
(Continued on page 30)
Page Sixteen
National Jamboree! How Many Scouts Front Yttur Troop Witt Attend?
SCOUTING
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 25, Number 4, April 1937, periodical, April 1937; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth313026/m1/16/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.