Scouting, Volume 8, Number 20, December 23, 1920 Page: 2
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SCOUTING, DECEMBER 23, 1920
Tvoo
3 Blankets and a poncho.
1 Cup, kettle, spoon, matches.
1 Towel and soap.
1 Scout knife, string.
1 Scoutmaster with above.
8-16 Scouts, each ditto
Winter's as good as summer—Let's go!
CANDIDATES' NIGHT.
Badge Instruction.—Seat troop
by patrols, preferably on three
sides of square. Talk with black-
board by a Patrol Leader on the
significance of the badge closing
with fact that over 1,000,000
boys have worn it, a choice mil-
lion out of twenty. Urge to can-
didates to secure all parts of it
and give Veteran service.
Flag Practice.—Another Patrol
Leader to teach same group his-
tory and courtesy having a flag
in hand, stating various sit-
uations and having all rehearse
civilian and uniformed salutes:
demonstrate Memorial Day flag
handling, etc. Close with tri-
bute and Pledge of Allegiance.
(This can involve action instead
jf continual sitting.
What to Take.—A third P. L.
to spread out at least as much
equipment as is listed above on
this page, tell its reasons, _ and
show three ways of packing it so
that the candidate can hike with
his hands free. Tell why only
one or two axes travel with your
troop. How fire places are made
safe and cleaned after use. About
water. „
Patrol Sessions.—Rope prac-
tice. New boys to be taught by
old, the objective being 4 knots
in 20 minutes. More knots
would be too much.
Scoutmaster's Talk.—On troop
spirit as the big possibility for
the group—a spirit of helpful-
ness, modesty, quiet learning, one
that develops useful energy.
Games.—See Handbook for
Scoutmasters, page 321, No. 7;
page 320, No. 5.
Announcements. _
Ceremonial Closing with Oath
and Laws.
Forgot the grub, eh?
Well, that black and red catalog, May
6, 1920, talked grub. So does Kephart.
So does each handbook.
There's nothing impossible or expensive
about winter " overnights" if you're
game.
EXAMINATION NIGHT.
Announcements.
Patrol Sessions.—A scout
meeting is not a riot. The night
before this was written we saw
forty boys in a room 18 x 32 feet
in 6 patrol meetings. Each
group had ropes, bandages,
sticks, and handbooks. The two
officers were idle for over 40 min-
utes, visiting with us. A patrol
with five Firsts loaned two to
candidate patrols. Another with
three loaned one. At no time in
that 40 minutes did we miss a
word of conversation nor wa's
there a boy cautioned about
noise. We saw resuscitation
practice ; individual drill instruc-
tion in a low tone; the mystery
of shortening a guard rope sag-
ging between chairs, by the
sheep-shank; and a candidate
come back from the lavatory and
offer his newly clean hands for
inspection by a patrol leader.
Two boys who were late saluted
as they came in, marked the rec-
ord book on the scoutmaster's
table, put a nickel each in the
" dues" box and made their
financial entries themselves. We
saw their patrol leaders shake
hands with them when they
joined their patrols—and we
haven't woke up yet—the thing
was real. It all happened. It
happens every week much the
same. Five boys were absent,
but their excuses were in, in
every case, More important
than any of this—every boy was
unmistakably happy. There was
lots of fun and laughter and
talk.
So—patrol sessions ! And the
wish to be gentlemen. (The
night before at a " wealthy
troop " in a big gym we hadn't
been able to " hear ourselves
think.")
At the end of this period there
was vigorous exercise with wide
open windows—a patrol leader
leading. Then a game of scout
baseball between candidates for
promotion ; C's against C's ; Tf's
against Tf's; seconds opposite
seconds. They alternated asking
questions or tossing ropes and
bandages and calling for knots or
demonstrations and the A, Sm.
refereed in a regular umpire
voice.
The - pitchers (of questions)
were up against whole flocks of
Babe Ruths. There was nothing
to do but give the C's their
trefoil badges and O.K. the
others for the next district Court
of Honor. Was it a strange ex-
amination night ? Perhaps—but
the internal evidence indicates its
worth and vitality, for there
were, as noted, 40 boys present;
and five working in stores during
the holiday rush cared to send
excuses. The rest of us can do
it too.
"FIVE MINUTE LIFE-A-LOGUE" NO. 2
THE article below -by John
W. Desbecker, " A Mes-
sage to Garcia—1920 Style,"
is a reprint from "Advertis-
ing Club News" published by
the Advertising Club of New
York, and is a stimulating
sequel to the original " Mes-
sage to Garcia" story which
has become a classic. This
little skit contains good
leadership for man and boy,
and will bear studying by the
scoutmaster and a reading
aloud to the troop by a good
scout reader.
" I've often read about this
carrying a message to Garcia,"
said the Bright Young Man
who has iconoclastic tenden-
cies, "And in my opinion it's all
bunk!"
" What! " Ave exclaimed in
shocked surprise.
" All bunk," he repeated
firmly. " Now let's review
this. The general wants to
get a message to Garcia. He
wants to get it there safely
and as quickly as possible. He
sends for me because I'm a
Bright Young Man. This mes-
sage is important. The gen-
eral can't afford to take
chances with it. So he hands
me the paper. 'Take this
message to Garcia,' says he.
" I'm no boob and I think
I know who Garcia is, but why
take chances? 'Yes, sir, Gen-
A Talk to be given to boys
By Dr. H. W. Hurt.
THE USE OF LEISURE
Play is the birth-right of
childhood. To the little boy life
itself is largely play.
To the boy of 60 years, life is
largely more serious work.
No boy can become a real man
unless serious work activities
gradually find large place in his
time.
He begins, as a little chap, by
doing a few of the errands and
he gradually takes more and
more responsibility.
Sometimes, the death of his
father, forces him to become the
earner for the home, and, all at
once, most of his play life goes
as he, a boy, manfully steps into
his father's shoes to bear a man's
load.
When shall the serious things
begin to take larger place?
Certainly scouts—men of the
'teens—have come to that age
when like older men you must be
thrifty with your time.
You should play, but the lad-
der of life is before you, and
nothing but honest climbing will
bring us toward the top.
The big men of business, the
captains of industry measure
carefully the minutes and ma-
terial in their work.
Did you ever take a pencil and
record how you spent last week?
Try it!
It will surprise you. Almost
a third of your year is leisure;
sleep, meals, home, school,
church and work making up the
other two-thirds.
What are you using your
leisure for that will bring in the
useful man work that you must
have to make good as a man.?
Every man has just 24 hours a
day—folk differ in how they use
their time.
The " Hour of Fate," a little
paragraph by Victor Murdock,
may be well considered:
tRead It)
THE HOUR OF FATE
" What is the hour of fate in
a young man's life?
I should say 7 P.M.
That hour is the spring board
from which most men leap to suc-
cess or fall off to failure.
I am also convinced that 7
P. M„ is the fork in the roads,
one of which leads to character
and the other to the lack of it.
There are twenty-three other
hours in a day, but there is no
hour so potent as this 7 P.M.
It is the hour when a man
makes a choice of the kind of
leisure he is to have.
If he turns to the leisure that
means improvement of his mind,
his body and his soul, he wins;
if he turns to the pleasure-feed-
ing frivolities he loses. It is a
cold-blooded proposition but true.
Genius is ninety-nine per cent
hard work and the best of leisure
is a shift from one kind of work
to another.
At 7 P.M., a young man looks
at the clock and out of the win-
dow. If he decides that the
next three hours are to be spent
in winning—Success is his."
-—Excerpt from " The Hour
Fate," by Victor Murdock
September Association Men.
of
" The heights by great men won
and kept,
Were not attained by sudden
flight,
But they while their companions
slept
Were toiling upward in the
night."
Where do you want to be and
what do you want to be doing
ten years from today ?
You can do it if you rightly
use your leisure time.
eral Garcia of the Cuban
Army,' I say, so he can't have
any comeback that he meant
Manuel Garcia, the New York
cigar manufacturer. ' Just
where in Cuba would Garcia,
probably be? '
"' See Colonel Wise, he'll
give you that information.'
"' And for fast transporta-
tion I see—'
"'Major Speedwell will ad-
vise you.'
" ' And information regard-
ing the topography of the
country—'
" ' See Colonel K n o w a 11
about that.'
"And would he let me go
with this?
" Not much.
"' Good luck to you, my
boy,' he'd say.
" Then do I hop the first
train for Tampa?
" Not me.
" I see Colonel Wise and
locate Garcia-within a hundred
miles.
" I see Colonel Knowall and
get a line as to what I'm up
against so I stand a chance of
getting where I'm going.
"I see Major Speedwell and
he arranges with the railroad
and navy to run me down on
a special train and dispatch
boat.
" It takes me a few hours to
do this but I'm in Cuba with
full advance dope two days be-
fore any dummy who'd just
take the message and walk out
with it without opening his
trap." (Copies of the orig-
inal " Message to Garcia " can
always be supplied through our
Supply Department.)
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 8, Number 20, December 23, 1920, periodical, December 23, 1920; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth283192/m1/2/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.