Scouting, Volume 8, Number 2, January 15, 1920 Page: 10
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10
SCOUTING, JANUARY 15, 1920
COMMUNITY ,/EKVICE
"PRUIT growers say
"*■ of their produce,
"We eat what we can
and what we can't we
can," but in Dubuque,
Iowa, there is a group
of Boy Scouts who
go the fruit men one
better. Their slogan
is "We eat what they
can when they can't
and then can the
can!"
No matter how
carefully its original
contents were pre-
pared and sealed the
empty tin can is a
real menace to health
when left lying
around. The Boy
Scouts in Dubuque,
however, backed by
the local Board of
Health, the Com-
mercial Club, the
newspapers and
everybody interested
in the "Spotless City"
idea, ordained that
the cans should pass.
Prizes were offered for the boys bringing
to a municipal can pile established on a
vacant lot near the business centre of the
city the largest number of old tin cans.
A checker was stationed at the lot each
day during the six day " Tin Can Drive "
to count the empties and issue receipts for
them. Every boy in town, whether Scout
or not, was eligible for the competition.
During the week the menace of the
empty tin can was preached in the schools
by special health lecturers provided by the
Board of Health and other interested or-
ganizations.
Scouts paraded the city with such
slogans as " Can the Can," " The Tin Can
is the Mosquitoes' Home—Can It," and
" Clean Up Dubuque—The Boy Scouts
Will Show You How.''
The large show window of the Local
Scout Council's office was fitted up with
a mosquito hatchery. This was made of
cheese cloth, the front edges being pasted
to the window, the glass of which fur-
nished the outer side. At the start the
hatchery contained three glass jars of
dirty water, two jars containing water
from undrained sloughs within the city
limits and the other water taken from tin
cans in one of the unsightly back alley
piles. This slough water developed all
sorts of animalcules, the jar of water
taken from the tin cans producing the
most mosquito larvae or wrigglers which
developed into a swarm of full sized mos-
quitoes, including the malaria variety, in
a few days. This exhibit naturally at-
tracted a great deal of attention. The
city newspapers devoted considerable
space every day to a story on the growth
of the can pile and the progress of affairs
at the mosquito hatchery.
Every night the can pile was covered
with oil and then lighted in order to de-
stroy any organic life which might be de-
veloping. After blazes died away all cans
CAN
"CANNING THE CAN"
How the Boy Scouts of Dubuque Did It
which still looked suspicious were treated
to a generous dose of chloride of lime.
The campaign closed on Saturday noon
with more than 56,000 cans accounted for.
The pile represented every known variety
of tin can from the little pepper box to
the old tin wash boiler. The champion
collector held receipts for 14,165 cans—a
wonderful total for one boy—and the
second boy had 6,793 empties to his
credit.
But that didn't finish the cans. They
had to be smashed so no water could lie
in them again to tempt home hunting
skeeters. The boys of the town were
therefore invited to a can smashing bee
on Saturday afternoon. Dozens re-
sponded to the call and soon the 56,000
cans looked like a collection of metal pan-
cakes. One boy smashed fifty almost be-
yond recognition in five minutes by stop
watch! Trucks from the street cleaning
department then hauled the remains off to
the city dump.
At the close of the Tin Can Drive a
local newspaper said that tin cans were
as scarce in Dubuque as Hohenzollerns at
the Peace Conference.
Here are a few Suggestions for other
Community Campaigns.
" Clout the Rat" Campaign.
Traffic Regulation.
Service Tent at Sea Beach.
Fire Prevention Survey and Demon-
stration.
Park Police Work.
Community Christmas Charity.
War on Moths and Caterpillars.
Extermination of
Barberry Bushes.
Collecting Salvage
Material (paper, rub-
ber, tin foil, bottles,
etc.).
Tree Planting.
Walk Right Cam-
paign.
Anti-Spitting Cam-
paign.
" Swat the Fly."
Building Bird
Houses for City
Pa rlrQ
City " Clean Up"
Campaign.
W. S. S. FOR
WASTE MA-
TERIAL
In many communi-
ties the scouts have
been active each year
in the clean up week
conducted by the city
authorities. Now the
Department of Com-
merce is enlisting
the services of the
scouts in cleaning up the city dump and at
the same time salvaging waste material
which is paid for in War Savings Stamps,
making this a combination clean up and
thrift campaign. The great annual loss of
the city dump has led to the organization
of the Waste Reclamation Service, which
will work in conjunction with the National
"Clean Up and Paint Up" Campaign
Bureau, and the Savings Division of the
United States Treasury.
It is estimated that urban communities
send annually to the city dump, for every
1,000 residents, thirteen tons of valuable
waste material. At least one-fifth of this
material is old paper that should be used
in making other paper, instead of being
burned. Another item of waste is rags;
others are bottles and metal.
A ton of waste paper will save eight
trees. Last year two million tons of box-
wood were manufactured from old paper.
If this paper had been destroyed sixteen
million trees would have had to have been
cut down.
Eight per cent of the value of each ton
of waste material is in rags, from which
roofing felt can be made. When you
destroy them you increase the building
cost in your community. Clean rags can
be used in making paper.
The Waste Reclamation Service sug-
gests that separate bags be used for the
collection of various kinds of material, but
that the classification be kept simple, and
that the waste dealer do the sorting. The
financial arrangements for the payment of
Thrift and War Savings Stamps must be
worked out between the waste dealers and
the local waste reclamation council. But
scouts can distribute information to
housewives of the dates of collection and
sale, of the kind of material that should
be saved for use instead of being thrown
out, and of means of collecting it and
having it transported to headquarters.
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 8, Number 2, January 15, 1920, periodical, January 15, 1920; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth283128/m1/10/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.