Scouting, Volume 4, Number 7, August 1, 1916 Page: 5
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SCOUTIN G
FROM THE SCOUT FIELD
What the Men are Doing, and
How They Do It
To Make Hikers Welcome
Our troop is located in the center of a
farming community, and we take our hikes
every two weeks. When we start I send
one patrol through one field, and the other
through another. I made a scale of merit
points as follows: for every thistle de-
stroyed—10 points, mustard—7, burdock—5
and sourdock—3. When we reached our
camping grounds the one patrol having the
most points was not obliged to help pre-
pare dinner. In this way we gained great
favor with the farmers and soon they all
wanted us to hike through their fields.—
Scoutmaster H. W. Gehant, 111.
He's Through Parading
We were asked to participate in the Dec-
oration Day parade and exercises. I con-
sented to let the boys march in the parade
simply to let the people of Salina know
that there were scouts in Salina. The boys
assisted in controlling the crowd at the
cemetery and then divided into squads of
four each to help the old soldiers decorate
the soldiers' graves. But there has been
enough parading now as the people of
Salina know there are scouts. Too much
parading gives the wrong impression.—
Scoutmaster George W. Kelly, Salina, Kan-
worth. We do not, perhaps, seem to pro-
duce many second and first-class scouts,
figuring a year's work, but we have made
the examinations fairly hard, prefering to
produce an efficient rather than a numeri-
cal first-class group. Many of our boys
are ready for their second-class badge, but
we are making them work just so hard for
it that they will appreciate it when they re-
ceive it. Really know the parents of all
Keep the Boys Busy
Keep the boys busy, have them work for
equipment, the more equipment you have
the more interesting the outdoor activities
will be. I believe that the smaller towns
should have a man to work up scouting. I
know of a number of good towns that have
no troops because no one shows enough in-
terest to take hold and work. Scoutmasters
are too busy to look aftec this interest and
should be assisted.—Scoutmaster Gail P.
Kitchen, Ohio.
The Country Scout
I have no suggestions, but would say
that I have found the country boys seem
much harder to keep active than the city
boys. Most of the boys here work more or
less regularly, which has a tendency to
cause lack of interest as compared with the
class of boys reached in the city whose
parents usually having a comfortable sal-
ary do very little steady work.—Scout-
master Carl L. Bemies, Pa.
Drills for Teaching Discipline
I would suggest that the scouts be put
through the drills set forth in the Scout-
master's Manual. This I believe, from my
personal experience, to be the best method
of securing the attention of each scout, for
the reason that he learns to obey orders,
and it has a tendency to make him think
and act quickly. Scoutmasters should out-
line, thoroughly, work for each meeting
and require scouts to be prepared to take
an active part each meeting night.—Scout-
master S. A. Duff, Pa.
Magazines Are Helpful
I find Scouting and Boys' Life very help-
ful.— Scoutmaster L. S. Cunningham,
W. Va.
Quality Instead of Quantity
We do not take a boy into the troop un-
less he has served a three weeks' proba-
tionary term. It quickly proves their
What Are the Answers?
AS a result of a questionnaire
asking each scoutmaster in
Buffalo, New York, to state
his most pressing problem in scout
work, Scout Executive Brundage of
that city has amassed a long list of
the difficulties with which scout-
masters have to contend.
Severed of these problems are of
such a universal nature that prac-
tically every scoutmaster in the
country has had to face them in
some form or other. It is very
probable that some scoutmasters
have come to a more or less satis-
factory solution.
The following subjects have been
selected by SCOUTING as being
most representative:
1.—How to Treat a Bully.
2.—The Indifferent Scout—Hold-
ing the interests of scouts who do
not attend regularly and who, when
they do come, are unprepared.
Some do not seem to care whether
they learn anything or not, so long
as they have a good time. If all
business and work is the order of
the day, then there is some grumb-
ling, "We want some fun," but if
some fun is provided, more is
wanted, and Scouting, in its place,
seems to be pushed to the wall by
all but a few who are working and
have already passed their examina-
tions.
3.—Taking care of the new boys
who are constantly coming into the
troop.
If scout officials who have con-
structive suggestions to offer for the
solution of these problems will write
a short and concise account of their
experience, SCOUTING will be glad
to make a selection from the ma-
terial submitted and publish in its
pages those letters most applicable.
Address:—Scouting, 200 Fifth Ave-
nue, New York City.
with them, then they won't range the woods
over killing every living thing in sight. We
try to direct all of their activities: swim-
ming, hunting, skating, baseball, football,
etc. If the average city scout should be left
in the wilderness to care for himself, how
long would he live, with the knowledge he
gets for scouting? I am quite sure our
scouts could care for themselves and others
under most any conditions.—Scoutmaster
Arthur C. Kiibourn, Mass.
Ideas from Other Troops
We appoint one or two members to visit
other troops one night a month to get any
point that might be helpful to our troop.—
Scoutmaster S. C. Ging, Ind.
Working on Schedule
We think that our idea of scheduling our
month's work ahead is a good one, for it
makes for efficiency in the management of
the troop. The work progresses in a more
regular and definite way as a result of such
a schedule. The scoutmaster can check up
at the end of the month and see whether
he is doing things or just thinking of them.
—Scoutmaster Geo. F. Thomas, Conn.
Plays for Funds
Giving short plays is an excellent method
of raising funds.—Scoutmaster Jesse E.
Williams, Pa.
To Maintain Discipline
Enforce absolute discipline by means of
patrol officials. I approve of ownership of
suits by the troop, thus impressing strict
discipline or away goes the suit.—Scout-
master Charles I. Newlin, III.
Comforts in Camp
I am opposed to leaving my boys sleep
upon the ground in tents. We have a suffi-
cient number of pieces of canvas, 6 feet by
2 feet, with fine eye holes on each end. We
drive stakes into the ground and lash a limb
across these stakes and fasten the ends of
canvas with rope about a foot from the
ground, and we are as safe from cold as in
bed at home.—Scoutmaster E. A. Schult,
Sr., N. J.
The Military Question
Some of my boys' parents objected to
the Boy Scout Movement when first we
organized, because they thought it was de-
voted to military training. To let these
people understand what the principle of the
Movement was, I, with the help of the
chaplain of our church, conducted a church
parade of our troop, at which the chaplain
devoted the entire service to explaining the
Scout Law. With the use of a blackboard,
he was able to write down the twelve points
and give a few words on each. Since then
I have had no more objections to the Scout
Movement. I think this idea is worth try-
ing by others who have the same trouble.
—Scoutmaster Wm. G. Bar net, Wash.
the boys you can—they will help you won-
derfully.—Scoutmaster Chester L. Buckley,
N. y.
Firearms for Country Scouts
Country scouts seem to need to know
how to use and handle firearms. City con-
ditions may be different, but country boys
will hunt. They really must. Crows,
hawks, woodchucks, bats, etc., must be kept
down by the farmer. So why not teach
them the Game and Trespass laws, the cor-
rect care and use of guns. Practice and
target and trap shootings, go out hunting
Separation According to Ages
Have found it works better, instead of
having meetings of entire troop weekly, to
have troop meetings every other week, and
to have separate meetings of the senior and
junior patrols on the intervening weeks.
The boys over fifteen feel themselves con-
siderably above the "kids," and as their
interests are somewhat different the above
plan works very satisfactorily. — Scout-
master Herbert R. Doak, N. J.
r f' iw 6 a n
Rigid Adherence to Principles
Maintain discipline and engage in real
scout work, particularly true allegiance to
Oath and Laws. Looseness in allegiance to
scout principles works against the Move-
ment.—Scoutmaster Alfred J. Cardall,
Mass.
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 4, Number 7, August 1, 1916, periodical, August 1, 1916; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282824/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.