The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1911-08-03

business enterprise. 1t involves tn
expenditure of 100000 yearly for tn
maintenance of the National Head
quarters of Boy Scouts of America
1t necessitates the printing Of hun
dreds of thousands of manuals, bulle
tins and other information concern
Ing the movement. 1t requires big
business staff, at the head of which
is man trained in law, the science
of philanthropic work and skilled il
up-to-date business methods. 1t re
Quires the thoughtful attention o
many distinguished men who are de
voting the greater part of their lives
to philanthropic work. 1t has alb
sOrbed the sympathy of thousands OF
able business and professional mer
throughout the country who appre'
ciate it's great opportunities for the
all-around development of boys into
excellent citizens.
When one considers the thousands
of Boy Scout patrols and troops
throughout the country, one does not
think of the tremendous business
system behind the varied and scat
tered activities of those boys. In
every city and almost every small
town throughout the country, there
are Boy Scouts. They are being
trained physically, mentally and
morally They are having fun engag-
ing in rival fishing expeditions and
swimming contests, taking hikes in
the woods, stalking animals and birds
with cameras, learning to paddle a
canoe, to swim and to camp out
They are doing those things first be-
cause it is fun, but they have over
them Scoutmasters who see that they
do those things Systematically, that
they do not over-exert themselves
physically, but play in manner that
increases their physical strength
them with the desire to be honest,
upright men.
AS these boys progress in the vari-
Gus lines of Boy Scout activities, win
ming merit badges, doing things that
educate them and prepare them for
the battle of life, there are many
things that they want. They demand
Scout manuals, hats, suits and shoes
specially made for tramping in the
woods. They may want a Scout
whistle or handy little axe. They
may want to know something about
the birds or the animals in the woods
They may want badges to show that
: they are Scouts. They want merit
badges for which they are so eagerly
striving.
The boys individually and collect
lively in many different towns and
cities are constantly writing to the
National Headquarters of the Boy
Scouts of America. They send in
hundreds of letters daily, all of which
must be answered. The requests must
be satisfied or the lads lose interest.
If the boys in any one town are eager
to engage in this activity not speci-
fed in the manual, but tending to
bring out their latent good qualities,
the leaders of the movement keeping
in touch with the development of the
boys must arrange to make that play
or work an official Scout activity.
There are hundreds of questio os
bearing pertinently on the Boy Scout
movement sent in every week.
All those details must be worked
put. A visit to the National Head
quarters reveals how thoroughly and
adequately attention is given to the
boys wants. 1t shows that while the
Boy Scouts with their patrols and
troops in every state are apparently
greatly scattered, yet their interest
IN Scouting has headquarters, and in
those headquarters system has
been worked out so that the interest
of every boy is appealed to. In other
words, systematic supervision Of the
boys play has been devised, in a
manner to suggest many and di'
verse lines of fun for him, but with
the idea Of developing self-reliance
in his character. The National Head
quarters has the help of 200 local
councils in cities and towns through
out the country which attend TO
many details.
To meet the needs of the boys
there are working in the national
headquarters men trained in t:.e
handling Of boys, others versed in
the science of philanthropic WORK,
clerks, bookkeeprs, stenographers,
and boy scout office boys. Right in
headquarters alone there are thirty
three persons employed. They cccu-
py six rooms on the eleventh and
twelfth floors of the Fifth Avenue
Building, New York. A casual visi-
tor dropping in there during working
hours will find many typewriter $
clicking and turning out letters about
the Boy Scouts, sending instructions
to Scout Masters. answering hun
dreds of questions that daily come in
to the headquarters staff. The boys
are busy sending out badges and fill
ing orders for equipment. Other
clerks are busy with the correspond
ence relative to the appointment of
Scout Masters and the issuing of the
Scout Masters Certificates. Writers
are busy working out details of other
activities to meet the needs of Ameri-
can boys. Every month more than
$4,000 communications are sent out.
The head of this staff is James E.
West, Executive Secretary. He is the
representative of the National Coun-
Gil which settles the various policies
of the organization, and is the "live
wire," so to speak, of the Boy Scout