Scouting, Volume 1, Number 14, November 1, 1913 Page: 2
8 p. : ill. ; 31 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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2
SCOUTING
have found that Scouts make the best sales-
boys for the Saturday Evening Post. The
employers benefit, of course, but only in
proportion to the benefits first gained by
the boys themselves.
One of the 200 well-known men from all
parts of the country who serve as the
National Council of the Boy Scouts of
America is an officer of the Metropolitan
Life Insurance Company—in charge of the
welfare department conducted in behalf of
the 8,000,000 policyholders of that com-
pany. This department has developed an
elaborate system of carrying to these 8,000,-
000 people information which will assist
them to keep well. The department has
gone further and established a visiting
nurse system under which graduate nurses
call at the homes where industrial policies
are held and give detailed instructions
about hygiene, sanitation and the proper
care of the sick. In 1912 these nurses made
962,117 visits. In the first six months of
1913, 593,176 visits were made. The nurses
in all instances co-operate with physicians,
and in some cities the Departments of
Health have encouraged and in every way
facilitated this work. Moreover, the com-
pany has sought to improve both the physi-
cal and mental condition of children be-
tween the ages of six and fourteen who
hold Metropolitan policies. They have
done this by organizing what is known as
" The Health and Happiness League." Al-
ready more than 100,000 children have en-
rolled, each subscribing to the following
promises:
First—I will wash my hands and face
before each meal, and my mouth
and teeth each morning and eve-
ning.
Second—As spitting is unclean and
helps to spread consumption and
other dangerous diseases, I will
not spit upon the public streets nor
in public places.
Third—I will not use a public drinking
cup. I will use paper ones, or carry
my own cup.
Fourth—I will destroy every housefly I
possibly can.
Fifth—I will never throw rubbish in
the streets, as dirty streets make
sick people.
Sixth—I will do something to help my
mother every day.
Seventh—I will try and do at least one
kind act to someone every day.
Eighth—I will permit no rude or offen-
sive word to pass my mouth, even
when provoked.
The Boy Scout program was recognized
by the company as serving the main pur-
poses served by this League—namely, that
of improving the health of boys—and for
that reason the company has decided to do
everything possible to encourage the boys
to become Boy Scouts and follow out
faithfully the Scout program of recreation
and study. It explains that any boy twelve
years of age or older may apply for mem-
bership to a Scout Master in his home
town, or by writing to the Scout Commis-
sioner, in case he lives in a larger city, or
to the National Headquarters of the Boy
Scouts of America.
The service badge offered by the com-
pany will be a special badge which can be
obtained only by Scouts who are members
of the "Health and Happiness League." To
obtain this badge the Scout must secure:
(a) A certificate from his parents that
he has helped at home, as required
by his " Health and Happiness
League " pledge, and put into prac-
For Scouts Who Know Their City.
Picture of the medal offered by the
Buffalo Chamber of Commerce to Boy
^Scouts who are successful competitors in
the examination recently held on the city
itself—its government, officials and other
civic features; its industrial and commer-
cial life; its schools, museums, parks, etc.
—in fact, nearly everything about Buffalo
which a citizen-to-be should know.
tise the Scout laws requiring a
" good turn daily."
(b) A certificate from the Scout Mas-
ter showing that he has been regu-
lar in his attendance at the troop
meetings and has carried out the
Scout program in a manner satis-
factory to the Scout Master.
(c) A certificate from his school
teacher or employer that he has
faithfully applied himself to his
studies and conducted himself in
harmony with the Scout laws.
The other rewards to Metropolitan boys
for becoming Scouts, the Handbook and
Boys' Life, are familiar to the public.
The Boy Scouts of America will be glad
of the opportunity to co-operate with other
organizations in efforts to spread the bene-
fits of "scouting" among boys not already
reached by the movement.
DEBATING FOR BOYS.
Directly and indirectly, the Boy Scout
movement is supplementing the work of the
school. New proof of the adequacy of the
Boy Scout's training for citizenship is
given in the first instalment of " Debating for
Boys," by William Horton Foster, a Boston
lawyer, in the November issue of Boys'
Life, the Boy Scouts' magazine. These
articles, which are later to be published in
book form, furnish boys the practical in-
formation which will enable them to se-
cure mastery of the spoken word. Mr.
Foster has made his directions very pleas-
ant reading, for he writes in the terms
of the normal boy's everyday life.
MEDICAL JOURNAL PRAISES
EFFICIENT WORK OF SCOUTS.
Suggests the Government Take Cog=
nizance of " the Tremendous Import
of the Movement."
ALTHOUGH the men of the Boy Scout
movement were not in the least sur-
prised by the fine record which the
Scouts made at Gettysburg, they have been
very much pleased by the great appreciation
shown by the Veterans and the press all
over the country. Now comes a tribute
from an authority on medical matters, Dr.
Richard Slee, First Lieutenant of the
Medical Reserve Corps of the United
States Army, and also Chief Sanitary Of-
ficer of the Third Division of the Encamp-
ment at Gettysburg/
In The American Journal of Clinical
Medicine for October, Dr. Slee writes an
interesting article on the medical side of
the Reunion, in the course of which he says
of the Scouts:
"One of the most remarkable demonstra-
tions of efficiency, as secured by well-
thought-out practical instruction and disci-
pline, was demonstrated by use of the Boy
Scouts.
" More than 600 of these youngsters par
ticipated in the conduct of this great camp
and the startling results fully justify the
feeling that in the Boy Scout movement of
the country we have one of the most valu-
able organizations for the maintenance of
patriotism, obedience, respect and discipline.
Tt was an interesting sight during the first
day or so of the camp to see companies of
these youngsters marching from various
trains with the precision of veterans and
taking up their stations here and there
throughout the camp, with an evident sense
of the responsibilities they were about to
undertake.
" The writer must confess that pre-
vious to his observation at the great
camp at Gettysburg he had considered
the Boy Scout movement as perhaps a
desirable thing, from a boy's viewpoint,
but in reality not a very practical one.
He did learn, however, as did every
other officer on duty during the trying
days of camp life, to appreciate what a
really remarkable organization they
constitute.
" Looking back over the work, it would
have been almost impossible to have carried
out successfully many of the details with-
out the aid of these boys. They were use-
ful in every capacity one could possibly
think of—as orderlies in hospitals or
messengers in connection with the various
offices; or to man the ambulances, thus
releasing medical officers for more impor-
tant duties in the various hospitals. They
independently manned first-aid stations, in
connection with the Red Cross work
throughout the outskirts of the camp and
on the surrounding battlefields; they acted
as flagmen, by day and by night, on the
dangerous crossings of the railroad; as
guides and messengers for the enfeebled
veterans; and in every useful capacity did
they willingly, courageously and thoroughly
demonstrate the efficiency of the organiza-
tion.
" Everywhere did I hear praise, and
■'Imost incessantly was the request made for
Boy Scouts. It is to be hoped that the
Washington authorities may take cogni-
zance of the tremendous import of the
movement and in some practical way en-
courage and foster the spirit and interest
of this work."
Boy Scouts "Do a Good Turn Daily"
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 1, Number 14, November 1, 1913, periodical, November 1, 1913; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282651/m1/2/: 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.