Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1910-08-06
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GIedI movements have silent begin
ningsl And so it is not strange that
the Organization of the boy Scouts" in
the United States should have been
passed over with a bare mention in the
press. The society had its birth in
Washington, the latter part Of April,
and its sponsors were Col. e. ]. Spen-
Ger and Mr.. William H. Thomson, of
st. Louis, and Dr. Gunsaulus, w. D..
Boyce, r. o. West and G. H. Stoddard,
OF Chicago, and the bill Of incorpora-
ton was introduced in the House of
Representatives by Congressman Graft.
of Illinois. member of the Committee
on Education.
To the superficial observer the or
ganization of a semi-military society
among young boys may not appear Of
great moment We have only to fol-
low the effects of the society in Great
Britain to foreshadow its effects here.
The boy Is the same. the world over,
and he is to be appealed to in much
the same manner on both sides of the
Atlantic. 1t must not be supposed that
the appeal is to his savage instinct, to
the native barbarian that is in him
Indeed the reverse of this is true. The
scouts are little soldiers; but they are
taught so many other things besides
scouting that the soldier is almost
wholly lost in the embryo man.
The British society, according to a
writer in the St Louis Globe Democrat,
was founded by Sir Robert Baden-Pow-
ell, the hero Of Mafeking who had seen
service in India, Afghanistan and all
the British provinces of Africa before
the Boer war and whose wide expert
ence as a soldier was linked with the
most sympathetic understanding of the
timber of which armies are made. The
need for some such organization among
English boys was made Enthusiastically
plain to him by the timber that pre-
sented itself at the outbreak of hos
tilities in South Africa, or rather at
The time when the fight assumed such
proportions that volunteers were called
for. To his surprise and chagrin the
general discovered that the English
boy was not fitted to take up arms in
behalf Of his country. He was a poor
campaigner because he had not learned
to take care of himself. and he was In
clined to look upon this service to his
country as a great and unnatural hard
ship. Gen. Baden Powell studied tho
BritisH y With during the trying days
of IreSstrusgle, and when the war was
o~er and he had been appointed to the
<ost of Inspector general of cavalry, he
used this vantage ground to further
study the soldier and to determine
what it was that had been lacking il
his early education. The younger boys
were all AROUND him, and with tn,
silent plea Of their appearance and at
titude. he formulated a scheme thai
would transform Indifferent and ever
vicious youngsters into the type of mel
of which Britain might be proud.
Even Sir Baden-Powell, with his iri
descent dream of great movement fol
the betterment of the English boy
builded better than he knew, for tn,
work of the society has gone leagues
beyond his dream in It's splendid real
ity. 1t is making little men, not mere
ly prospective soldiers, and 1t is devel
oping ideals of the highest and mos
helpful kind in the young boys OF thi
generation, ideals that will prove al
invincible power In the men of to
morrow. All this seems extravagant I,
him. who has preconceived notions o
the work of the army scout. We lool
upon the scout as the daring pionee
in a military engagement. He ha
courage and ingenuity, but beyond tina
we have given little thought TO his 9th
er characteristics. And we need no
consider the others, for courage an,
ingenuity are enough to start with
The scout is the idol of the small boy
because he is brave and resourcefu
and to call boy a scout is to max
him desire to be these two things
brave and resourceful.
Gen. Baden-Powell knew the boy ma
ture far too we'll to begin with hig
ideals and practical work. He gait
cred together a small company of IN
teresting little chaps and told ther
that he wanted to train them as scout:
That was thrilling and the youngster
took to 1t with avidity. Others cam
and when they had been on camp
few weeks they spread the news tina
they had had the time OF their lives
and that their friends could do th
same things next summer If they woul
Join the order and learn the prelin
mary lessons. The result was that th
idea spread like an epidemic unit
there is no part of the British empir
that does not boast its boy scouts.
The scout badge is not bestowed III
Ill the boy has acquired a great de'