A sure way to gain his whole-hearted realization of God is through Nature Study, and of his Christian duties through the Scout’s practice of Good Turns, the Missioners’ Badge work, etc.
SUNDAY SCOUTING . — In Christian countries Boy Scouts should, without fail, attend church or chapel, or a church parade of their own, on Sundays. The afternoon walk might then be devoted to quiet scouting practices, such as “Nature Study” by exploring for plants or insects, observing animals or birds; or in town or bad weather visiting good picture galleries, museums, etc.; also “Knight Errantry,” doing good turns by collecting flowers and taking them to patients in hospitals, reading newspapers to the patients and so on. Sunday is a day of rest; loafing is not rest. Change of occupation from the workshop to the fields is rest; but the Sabbath is too often a day of loafing, and, morally, made the worst day in the whole week for our lads and girls. Combine with the instruction of your Church the study of God in Nature, and the practice of good turns on God’s day.
SELF-IMPROVEMENT.— Much distress and unemployment results when boys have been allowed to come to manhood without any trade at their command. They have little with which to earn a living or make their spare time interesting. it is here that the Scoutmaster can do invaluable work for the boy, by helping him to map out his future, and by encouraging him to take up hobbies and handicrafts.
From hobbies, introduced by way of the Proficiency Badge system, many a boy has found his life interest and life work. in many places it is possible for a boy to be given aptitude tests from which he can learn what type of work he would be most successful in.
When you are trying to get boys to come under your good influence you are as a fisherman wishful to catch fish.
If you bait your hook with the kind of food that you like yourself it is probable that you will not catch many— certainly not the shy, game kind of fish. You therefore use as bait the food that the fish likes.
So with boys. If you try to preach to them what you consider elevating matter you won’t catch them. Any obvious “goody-goody” will scare away the more spirited among them and these are the ones you want to get hold of.
The only way is to hold out something that really attracts and interests them and I think you will find that Scouting does this. You can afterwards season it with what you want them to have.
The old knights were very religious. They were always careful to attend religious service, especially before going into battle or undertaking any serious difficulty. They considered it the right thing always to be prepared for death. Besides worshipping God in church, the knights always recognized His work in the things which He made, such as animals, plants, and all nature.
And so it is with peace scouts today. Wherever they go they love the woodlands, the mountains, and the prairies, and they like to watch and know about the animals that inhabit them, and the wonders of the flowers and plants.
No man is much good unless he believes in God and obeys His laws. So every Scout should have a religion.
Religion seems a very simple thing:
First: Love and serve God. Second: Love and serve your neighbour.
In doing your duty to Cod always be grateful to him. Whenever you enjoy a pleasure or a good game, or succeed in doing a good thing, thank Him for it, if only with a word or two, just as you say grace at a meal. And it is a good thing to bless other people. For
instance, it you see a train starting off, just pray for God’s blessing on all that are in the train.
In doing your duty towards man, be helpful and generous, and also always be grateful for any kindness done to you, and be careful to show that you are grateful. Remember again that a present given to you is not yours until you have thanked the giver for it.
While you are living your life on this earth, try to do something good which may remain after you.
One writer says: “I often think that when the sun goes down the world is hidden by a big blanket from the light of heaven, but the stars are little holes pierced in that blanket by those who have done good deeds in this world. The stars are not all the same size; some are big, some are little, and some men have done great deeds and others have done small deeds, but they have made their hole in the blanket by doing good before they went to heaven.”
Try and make your hole in the blanket by good work while you are on the earth.
It is something to be good, but it is far better to do good.
A Scout is active in DOING GOOD, not passive in BEING GOOD. It is his duty to be helpful and generous to other people.
Thrift
It is a funny thing that out of you boys who now read these words, some are certain to become rich men, and some may die in poverty and misery. It pretty well depends on your own selves which you are going to do.
And you can very soon tell which your future is going to be.
The fellow who begins making money as a boy will go on making it as a man. You may find it difficult to do it at first, but it will come easier later on. If you begin and go on, remember, you are pretty certain to succeed in the end—especially if you get your money by hard work.
There are many ways in which a boy can earn money—from painting a fence and tending a garden to running errands.
If you only try to make it by easy means—that is by betting, say on a horse race—you are bound to lose after a time. Nobody who makes bets ever wins in the end; it is the book-maker, the man who receives the bets, who scores. Yet there are thousands of fools who go on putting their money on, because they won a bit once or hope to win some day.
Any number of poor boys have become rich men. But in nearly every case it was because they meant to do so from the first. They worked for it, and put every penny they could make into the bank to begin with. So each one of you has the chance, if you like to take it. The knights of old were ordered by their rules to be thrifty, not to expend large sums on their own enjoyment, but to save it in order that they might keep themselves, and not be a burden to others, and also so that they might have more to give away in charity. If they had no money of their own, they were not allowed to beg for it, but had to work and make it in one way or another. Thus money-making goes with manliness, hard work, and sobriety.
How Scouts Make Money
There are many ways by which a Scout, or a Patrol working together, can make money, such as:
Repairing and re-covering old furniture is a very paying trade. Picture frames, bird boxes, toys, can easily be sold. Breeding canaries, chickens, or rabbits pay well. So does beekeeping.
Collect old packing-cases and boxes, and chop them into bundles of firewood. Keeping goats and selling their milk will pay in some places. Basket-making, pottery, book-binding, etc., all bring money.
A Patrol can make money by collecting old metal and waste paper.
Or a Patrol working together can form a corps of messenger boys in a country town, or start a garden and work it for selling vegetables and flowers, or make a minstrel troupe or perform Scouting displays or pageants.
These are only a few suggestions. There are loads of other ways of making money which you can think out for yourself, according to the place you are in.
But in order to get money you must expect to work.
The actor, Ted Payne, used to say in one of his plays, “I don’t know what is wrong with me. I eat well, I drink well, and I sleep well; but somehow whenever anybody mentions the word ‘work’ to me, I get a cold shudder all over me”. There are a good many other chicken-hearted fellows, who, when any work faces them, “get a cold shudder all over them”.
Start a money box, put any money you can make into that, and when you have got a fair amount in it, hand it over to a bank, and start an account for yourself.
HOW TO GET ON
A good man years ago the United States was at war on the island of Cuba.
The American President McKinley wanted to send a letter to Garcia, the Cuban leader, but did not know how to get it to him, as the rebels were fighting with the
Americans in wild and difficult country.
When he was talking it over with his advisers, someone said: “There’s a young man called Rowan who seems to be able to get anything done that you ask him. Why not try him?”
So Rowan was sent for, and when he came in, the President explained why he had sent for him, putting the letter in his hand, said, “Now, I want that letter taken to Garcia.
Rowan simply smiled and accepted the letter. He walked out of the room and set out.
On this map of Central America and the Caribbean Sea you will find the
island of Cuba through which Rowan travelled to find Garcia.
Some weeks passed, and Rowan appeared again before the President and said, “I gave your letter to Garcia, sir”. Of course McKinley made him explain how he had done it.
It turned out that Rowan had taken a boat, had landed on the coast of Cuba, and had disappeared into the jungle. In three weeks’ time he reappeared on the other side of the island, having gone through the enemy, found Garcia, and given him the letter.
Rowan was a true scout. The way he acted is the way a Scout should carry out an order when he gets it. No matter how difficult it may seem, he should tackle it, with a smile. The more difficult it is, the more interesting it will be to carry out.
Rowan did his duty, kicking the IM out of the word IMPOSSIBLE.
Any fellow who acts like that is certain to get on.
Most fellows would have asked a lot of questions—how they were to set about it, how they could get to the place, where they were to get food from, and so on. But not so Rowan. He merely learned what duty was wanted of him, and then did the rest without a word, kicking the IM out of the word IM-POSSIBLE. Any fellow who acts like that is certain to get on.
A lot of Scouts do special messenger service. These lads, from having difficult jobs frequently given them and being expected to carry them out successfully, take them on with the greatest confidence, and, without asking a lot of silly questions, they start off in
a businesslike way, and do them.
That is the way to deal with any difficulty in life. If you get a job or have a trouble that seems to you to be too big for you, don’t shirk it. Smile, think out a way by which you might get successfully through with it, and then go at it.
Remember that “a difficulty is no longer a difficulty when once you laugh at it—and tackle it”.
A boy learning what he can as a Scout has a good chance in the world
Don’t be afraid of making a mistake. Napoleon said, “Nobody ever made anything who never made a mistake”.
Memory
Then practise remembering things. A fellow who has a good memory will get on because so many other people have poor memories from not practising them.
A great coral island is built up of tiny sea animals blocking themselves together. So also great knowledge in a man is built up by his noticing all sorts of little details and blocking them together in his mind by remembering them.
Luck
If you want to catch a bus you don’t sit down and let it run past you, and then say, “How unlucky I am”. You run to it and jump on. It is just the same with what some people call “luck”; they complain that luck never comes to them. Well, luck is really the chance of getting something good or of doing something great. The thing is to look out for every chance and seize it—run at it and jump on—don’t sit down and wait for it to pass. Opportunity is a bus which has very few stopping places.
Choose a Career
“Be Prepared” for what is going to happen to you in the future. If you are in a situation where you are earning money as a boy, what are you going to do when you finish that job? You ought to be learning some proper trade, and save your pay in the meantime, to keep you going till you get employment in your future trade.
And try to learn something of a second trade, in case the first one fails you at any time, as so very often happens.
An employer told me once that he never engaged a lad who had yellow finger-tips (from smoking), or who carried his mouth open (boys who breathe through the mouth have a stupid look). Any man is sure of employment who has money in the bank, keeps away from drink, and is cheery.
Lots of wasters or weaklings have gone out into the world and many of them have failed to make good, but I have never come across a failure among young fellows who have gone out with a real desire to work and with the ability to stick to their job, to act straight, and to keep sober.
Don’t be an idler. Follow a useful
trade if you want Success.
CHAPTER VIII
SAVING LIFE
CAMP FIRE YARN NO. 23
BE PREPARED FOR ACCIDENTS
The Knights Hospitallers of
St. John – Accidents -
Boy Heroes - Life Saving
Medals
HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS
The subjects in this chapter should not only be explained to the Scouts, but should also, wherever possible, be demonstrated practically, and should be practised by each Scout in turn.
Theoretical instruction in these points is nothing without Practice.
The knights of old days were called “Knights Hospitallers” because they had hospitals for the treatment of the sick, poor, and those injured in accidents or in war. They used to save up their money and keep these hospitals going, and although they were brave fighting men they used also to act as nurses and doctors themselves.
The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem especially devoted themselves to this work eight hundred years ago. The St. John Ambulance Corps and the Red Cross today represent those knights.
Explorers and hunters and other scouts in out-of-the-way parts of the world have to know what to do in case of accident or sickness, either to themselves or their followers, as they are often hundreds of miles away from any doctors. For these reasons Boy Scouts should, of course, learn all they can about looking after sick people and dealing with accidents.
My brother was once camping with a friend away in the bush in Australia. His friend was drawing a cork, holding the bottle between his knees to get a better purchase. The bottle burst and the jagged edge of it ran deeply into his thigh, cutting an artery. My brother quickly got a stone, wrapped it in a handkerchief to act as a pad, and tied the handkerchief round the limb above the wound, so that the stone pressed on the artery. He then got a stick, and, passing it through the loop of the handkerchief, twisted it round
until the bandage was drawn so tight that it stopped the flow of blood. Had he not known what to do the man would have bled to death in a few minutes. As it was he saved his life by knowing what to do and doing it at once.
Accident.
Accidents are continually happening, and Boy Scouts will continually have a chance of giving assistance at First Aid.
TOMMY THE TENDERFOOT No. 10 - TOMMY ON THE ROAD
Tommy’s a “Road Fool”. He steps off a bus
Without looking round and then there’s a fuss.
We all think a great deal of any man who, at the risk of his own life, saves someone else’s. He is a hero.
Boys especially think him so, because he seems to them to be a being altogether different from themselves. But he isn’t. Every boy has just as much a chance of being a life saving hero if he chooses to prepare himself for it.
It is pretty certain that nearly every one of you Scouts will some day or another be present at an accident where, if you know what to do, and do it promptly, you may win for yourself the lifelong satisfaction of having rescued or helped a fellow-creature.
Be Prepared
Remember your motto, BE PREPARED. Be prepared for accidents by learning beforehand what you ought to do in the different kinds that are likely to occur.
Be prepared to do that thing the moment the accident does occur.
I will explain to you what ought to be done in the different kinds of accidents, and you must practise them as far as possible. But the great thing for you Scouts to bear in mind is that where
ver you are, and whatever you are doing, you should think to yourself, “What accident might occur here?” and, “What is my duty if it occurs?”
You are then prepared to act.
And when an accident does occur remember always that as a Scout it is your business to be the first man to go to the rescue. Don’t let an outsider be ahead of you.
Think It Out in Advance
Suppose, for instance, that you are standing on a crowded platform at a station, waiting for the train.
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