Scouting, Volume 11, Number 10, September 1923 Page: 4
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SCOUTING, September, 1923
THE "NOTHING TO DO" TEST
We are delighted to publish the following incisive letter from
Mr. William D. Murray, attorney, member of the National Ex-
ecutive Board for more than ten years, member of the Library
Commission and of the Plainfield, N. J., Local Council and a
roving commissioner of the International Y. M. C. A., only lately
returned from an extensive tour through "Y" centers abroad.
Dear Scoutmaster:
This salutation, commonplace as it is, goes to the heart of
the Boy Problem, .for you, dear scoutmaster, are the one who
can do most to solve it. You scoutmasters are the leaders of
the Boy Scout Movement; the rest of us are hereto help you.
Someone has said, " What a man is depends very largely upon
what he does when he has nothing to doThis could be said
with even more force concerning the boy. The importance of
your work is revealed, I think, by the truth contained in this
statement, for you are ministering to the boy in his leisure
time. The character-forming choices arc those which we
make when we are under no compulsion to choose, and it is in
our leisure time that we are free. You are with the boys in that important period.
But you are doing even more than this. "Character is caught, not taught," and
it is your unconscious influence upon your boys that counts most. What you are
is what molds them. Let me urge upon you therefore a sincere effort to really be
in your own personal life what you want your boys to be. Keep ever before you a
"ision of your boys increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men,
and keep out'of your life anything that would retard such progress. First live the
life yourself, and then you can distribute it to your boys.
Yours sincerely,
William D. Murray.
Skimmed From a Troop's
Annual Report
TROOP NO. i, National Charter No.
264, New Prague, Minn., prepared a
beautifully typewritten ten-page re-
port of operations for 1922, bound in heavy
blue linen cardboard, the whole thing, par-
ticularly the contents, a credit to the troop
and an example of troop interest in its work
and its connection with the Movement.
The report gives the names in full of the
troop committee of six men, the Scoutmas-
ter, A. J. Phil Jelinek, the scout executive,
and the history of its organization. Organ-
ized January 14, 1922, with 18 boys, the
report shows by dates the enlistment of all
additional boys, bringing the total by July
7th up to 32, of which number three have
been dismissed "for the good of the troop,"
two transferred to another troop, four
dropped for failing to attend meetings,
leaving an active registration of 23. A
roster is given with the ages and scout rank;
12 are First Class Scouts.
The report states: "Regular instruction
meetings were held under the scoutmaster
throughout the year. Work was planned
and outlined in advance. The regular
meetings, of which there were 59, were held
at the public school. There were 14 full
days of instruction at camp, with the scout-
master present all of the time each day. In
addition to this, as a part of the program of
instruction, before camp opened, there were
eight hikes averaging 10 miles each, in
charge of the scoutmaster."
The entire program of camp work is
stated, and each scout who in the course of
the year won special proficiency badges
awarded by the Local Council is cited, and
each boy who entirely by himself made a
commendable article in craftsmanship is
also cited with description of his work.
Civic activities are described and this para-
graph occurs:
"Equipment of Scouts: The scoutmaster
reports that 25 of the originally registered
scouts in Troop No. 1 are fully equipped
with uniforms, etc., having made their own
signal flags, and having provided all of their
individual equipment from money actually
earned by themselves."
Also this item : "Savings Accounts:
Every one of the 23 active members of
Troop No. 1 has a savings account, and some
of the boys have saved as much as $50 and
$60."
Specific acknowledgment is made of the
help of instructors and examiners, a com-
plete inventory is given of the troop material
and the financial report is given in full.
Minutes were kept of all troop committee
meetings during the year, and a group photo-
graph of the troop completed the report.
It was signed by the chairman and secretary
of the troop committee.
THERE can be no question but that
the careful keeping of troop records
with a view to the preparation of an
annual report of this character is an
important factor in the up-keep of the
troop and the progress of its members
in Scoutcraft.
Wall Scalers Land On
Scouting
WE ARE glad we made the mistake
in August Scouting of saying that
the wall scaling demons of Jackson-
ville were members of Troop 13, because
that error gave the Scout Executive at
'Jacksonville a chance to present the compli-
ments of Mr. Charles A. Hamilton, Scout-
master of Troop 4, and his challenge to a
duel for his attempt to rob Troop 4 of an
honor that belonged solely to them. We
would run down to Jacksonville and kill off
this scoutmaster in a duel but for the fact
that we are not sure that there are too many
scoutmasters—even though there were
20,000 of them—ready to fight for the honor
of their troop. Hurrah for esprit de corps.
Hurrah for the scoutmasters who inspire it.
We congratulate Troop 4 of Jacksonville
and the leader on having each other, and
the Movement on having them both.
We zvant every boy and man zvho has been in
Scouting five or more years to register now in
the Veteran Scout Association.
An Investment for Troop
Morale
TROOP 19 of Brooklyn, N. Y., Lewis
H. Smith, Scoutmaster, is unusual in
some respects that should be usual to
every troop. For example, it has a troop
committee that is an active part of the troop.
For another, each year it publishes an
informative report of its activities. Just
how many nationalities are represented in
the troop membership, we forget, but there
are almost as many as there are scouts,
and that is twenty-eight. Troop 19 be-
lieves in paying its own way. Also the
troop tries to get as many scouts into
uniform as possible, believing that the
wearing of the uniform adds greatly to
troop morale. Troop 19 holds to that belief
in spite of the fact that it is hard sledding
for some of the boys to get their equipment,
which brings us to the reason for this little
sketch. The printed report of Troop 19
says:
RECOGNIZE that it is exceedingly
desirable that every member of the
troop should wear the scout uniform. But
it is not always possible for a boy to buy
this outright as soon as he is authorized
to do so. Moreover, in accord with the
recommendation of the National Council,
we prefer to encourage scouts to earn their
own uniform. To this end, we have, from
the beginning, arranged for members of the
troop to purchase uniforms on the install-
ment plan. After a boy joins the troop and
we see that he can be trusted, we purchase
the uniform ourselves and let him wear it,
with the understanding that he will earn
the money and repay us in weekly install-
ments. In other cases, where we are less
sure of the boy, we permit him to pay some-
thing in advance, and we purchase the
portions of the uniform for him as he is
able to pay for it.
"This plan requires a good deal of
bookkeeping, but the results more than
justify the effort involved. More boys are
able to' get the uniforms in full or in part
than would otherwise be the case. Up to
the present time we have not suffered any
loss through having boys fail to pay up,
although the part payment accounts some-
times show as much as $12.00 outstanding
indebtedness. The plan is developing a
sense of responsibility and trustworthiness
in the boys and keeps them interested in
earning money for a cause that means so
much."
Dare You Put Up This Sign?
THE following item is extracted from the
Minneapolis Council bulletin "Be Pre-
pared":
A Boy Scout Has Camped Here
IF all refuse has been burned or buried;
IF the fire has been properly placed when
made, and extinguished when left;
IF the unburned firewood has been neatly
piled for the next camper;
IF no living trees have been injured by the
careless swinging of the axe.
Have a Goat In Your Troop
ARIGHT good idea has butted into the Editor
from Camp Friedlander, Miamiville, Ohio,
where special achievement of one kind or an-
other entitles a boy to be the troop goat for awhile,
with the right to butt into everything that is going
on, without rebuke, push up to first place at mess,
sample every fellow's package from home, go deaf
at K. P. Call, and blind to the axe and wbodpile—and
so forth. If the goat isn't given too much rope, we
don't know but that the idea is worth trying out in
every troop.
Read "Craig Kennedy, The Radio Detective" and Other Special Features in October BOYS' LIFE
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 11, Number 10, September 1923, periodical, September 1923; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth310769/m1/4/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.