Scouting, Volume 2, Number 19, February 1, 1915 Page: 5
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SCOUTING.
FROM THE SCOUT FIELD
What the Men are Doing, and
How They Do It
An Exciting First Aid Game.
It might be interesting for Scouting to
know of the following game which my
Kearsarge Scouts are very fond of. All
Scoutmasters have times when they must
draw on their resources to make meetings
at the same time lively, interesting and
instructive.
It was on such an occasion that I bought
100 drug envelopes at ten cents, cut some
pasteboards about the size of a milk ticket,
and wrote on them as follows: "My ribs
are broken"; "I drank carbolic acid"; "I
cut my wrist on a broken window. See
how dark the blood is. Stop it from well-
ing out"; "I am fainting"; "I broke my
jaw"; "I am getting an epileptic fit"; "I
am overcome with gas"; "I am crazy and
you must bind my hands and feet when
I am not looking"; "My left big toe is
frozen"; "I have lost my memory com-
pletely, and don't know who I am or where
I live. Identify me"; "My clothes are
on fire," etc., etc.
These cards I sealed in the envelopes.
"Victims" were lined up and to each was
given an envelope with the card enclosed.
"Operators" were picked, and at a given
signal they took the envelopes from the
"victims," tore them open, and preceded on
instructions. They were allowed a given
time, and if they failed to operate cor-
rectly in that time they paid a forfeit.
After all had enjoyed their turn the for-
feits were redeemed, the best scout "oper-
ator" being judge.
Of course, bandages, rope, a raw egg,
and other material were at hand. There
are some things one has to guard against.
For example, after several "operators" had
used my overcoat (the only one available)
to roll a "victim" in, on the dusty floor,
to "smother the fire," I had to withdraw
that stunt to save my overcoat. But another
victim's shoe and stocking were jerked off
with spirit and resistance and snow plenti-
fully rubbed on his "frozen toe." The "ma-
niac" was chased around in great style and
eventually lassoed, but another "maniac"
much larger than his reluctant "operator"
overpowered his would-be captor. When
the "carbolic acid" card came to light I
confess that I hoped the "operator" would
do what any red-blooded boy would do—
break the egg on his victim's face. Alas,
no. He daintily chipped the ends and let
the "victim" suck the egg, and a perfectly
good egg was wasted simply to save soil-
ing a boy's shirt. The cork was stuffed
between the teeth of the epileptic, and the
amnesia victim was identified by the marking
on his collar, while the gas victim was re-
suscitated.—Howard B. Ziegler, Scoutmas-
ter., Calumet, Michigan.
I give each boy a message lasting a min-
ute, and if he gets it all right, we count
the letters to see how well he is doing. I
find that the boys who took no interest in
the code are studying between meetings
to keep from being spelled down.
This plan is not original with me, but
has been used successfully in this vicinity
before.—O. C. Coyle, Scoutmaster, Kings-
ton, Pa.
How To Make Signaling Interesting.
In the January 15th number of Scouting
there is an inquiry about how to make the
signaling test interesting, which I think I
can answer.
In my troop we have spelling matches
at the evening meetings every week; the
boys stand in line, and I give them the
letters, without flag, simply by moving my
hands. This is less fatiguing than the flag,
and serves the purpose. Each boy gets a
letter, going to the bottom when he misses.
As they get more familiar with the code
Aids for Episcopal Scoutmasters.
I was pleased with the timely, and, I
think, needed article in Scouting of De-
cember 15th, "Is the Church Caring for Its
Scouts?" Being a clergyman, I am, nat-
urally, especially interested in church
Scouts, and have felt from the beginning
of the scout movement in America that
we were placing an obligation of religious
duty on our Scouts, which was not being
followed up as it should be. I am glad that
the movement here, and in England, seems
to be looking earnestly for the real co-
operation of the church, to put the reason
why and the soul into its good works.
It gives me pleasure to recommend to
those interested two small books, published
in England, as aids full of suggestion and
helpfulness to Episcopal Scoutmasters and
their boys: "The Church Scouts' Prayer-
Book," with commendation by the Arch-
Bishop of Canterbury, Longmans, Green &
Co. (id.), and "A Manual for Church of
England Scouts," by A. K. Ingram, pub-
lished by Mowbray (six-pence). The for-
mer I got from E. S. Gorham, N. Y., the
latter from the Young Churchman Co.,
Milwaukee. They both really fit their pur-
pose far better than any such sort of
thing that I ever have examined for the
religious side of boys' work. Price, post-
paid in America, about 22c and 4c, I think.
I find Scouting a very welcome and help-
ful paper.—Raymond Adams, North Brook-
Held, Mass.
A Program for Ten Months' Work.
My problem of troop meetings has been
solved by outlining the work ten months
in advance, I arrange my meetings into
four main parts, each including ten lec-
tures. The program I am now working on
is as follows:
A. Nature Study.
1, Water; 2, Astronomy; 3, Stars (field
lesson); 4, Poisons in Nature; 5,
Geology; 4 Lessons on Botany and
Trees; 10, Snakes.
B. Woodcraft.
1, Maps—compasses; 2, Watches—Sun-
dial ; 3, Fires and Matchless Fires; 4,
Cooking; 5, Use of Knife and Axe;
6, Measuring Distance; 7, Tents; 8,
Archery; 9, Tracking and Blazing;
10, Cooking in Ground; 11, Sanitation.
C. First Aid. Ten lessons from Johnson
and Johnson first aid manual.
D. Character Development.
1, Smoking; 2, Gambling; 3, Good Luck
and Bad Luck; 4, Drinking; 5,
Language; 6, Importance of Decision;
7, Judgment of Right and Wrong; 8,
Manners; 9, Church and What It
Means; io, Sex Hygiene (older boys).
Meeting Program.
Patrol Meeting, 7.30 p. m. Roll Call,
Business, Individual Instruction, Examina-
tion on Lectures (written), Scout Prac-
tice. Adj ourn.
Troop Meeting, 8.30 p. m. Business,
questions and discussions on last week's
work, presentation of honors. Lecture on
Scout Work. Discussion.. 9.15 Drill, 9.30
Games. 9.45 Adj ourn.
I take one of the above subjects every
week and give a talk of thirty minutes on
it. Then, in one month, all four subjects
will be covered and there is material
enough for ten months.
Each Scout has a notebook in which he
takes down notes on the talks, and when
he comes to the next meeting he is given
three questions on the previous week's
work, the answers to which he writes out
and hands to the senior patrol leader for
correction and marking.
I believe in system and sticking to my
program no matter what happens to inter-
fere with it.
The secret of scout work is to train
your patrol leaders and devote 99 per cent,
of your spare time to them and the result
will be a successful troop.
I have all of my boys examined by a
doctor, and if there are any defects his
parents are notified about them and the
matter attended to.
All the business, examining and drilling
of the troop is left to my assistant Scout-
master. The instruction of the Scouts is
left to the patrol leaders, who are all First-
class Scouts, this leaving me free to work
individually with each boy, and the giv-
ing of the lectures.—Matthew Schon,
Scoutmaster, Troop No. 6, Hoboken, N. J.
Scout Work in a Small Community.
I have been reading with much interest
the various suggestions in Scouting com-
ing from the scout field. Others may be
interested in our work. It must be remem-
bered that this is a rural community, there
being only about 300 people in the town
itself and, of course, our field is limited.
This is a very mountainous country and
the most important and useful work done
was in the matter of patrolling the woods
looking for forest fires. Generally two
Scouts would travel together, carrying their
lunch and scouting through the woods the
whole day. The boys seemed to enjoy
this work immensely and were always eager
to go.
The Scoutmaster has purchased a num-
ber of things peculiar to the Boy Scouts
only, such as scout axes, knives, stationery,
etc., and these are awarded at times for
good work. One prize was awarded for
the best essay on some scout activity; an-
other for the best answer to the ques-
tion, "Why I Am a Boy Scout"; another
to a Scout who could name the most ar-
ticles seen in the window of a local store,
etc. Recently, through the generosity of
one of our friends here who contributed
$5.00, we awarded cash prizes to the Scouts
who gathered and labelled correctly the
most twigs of trees and shrubs native to
this section. We find that all of these
contests are most interesting and serve to
stimulate and encourage the boys.
Here is a suggestion which may be help-
ful to other Scoutmasters. All boys like
to feel that their work as Scouts in their
meetings is something like the work of
secret orders; so recently a resolution was
adopted which required the Scouts to have
a password and this was to be given to the
Scoutmaster before the meeting opened.
This password is changed every six months
and is always some word denoting some
feature of scout work, as "Patriotism,"
"Service" and the like. The boys think
this is great.—Scoutmaster Walter D. Lud-
wig, Bealsburg, Penn.
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 2, Number 19, February 1, 1915, periodical, February 1, 1915; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282715/m1/5/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.