The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-21
CAR IS PLEASED WITH BOY SCOUTS Falls in Love With BOden-
 Powell Plan HOLDS A BIG REVIEW Considerable Opposition Has Devel- Oped, But the Movement Is
 Constantly Growing in
 Czar's Realm
HOLDS A BIG REVIEW

St. Petersburg. October 20.-When 2 copy of General Baden-Powelrs book or the Boy Scouts fell into Emperor Nicho- lass hands it gained jealous convert As a training school of the civic and military virtues, love of country and healthy sport the Boy Scouts seemed in- valuable, The Emperor's idea was to in- troduce military training in all the ele- mentary schools of Russia proper with their 3500000 scholars.
 But the bureaucratic machine was fore stelled in this case by private initiative. An inspector of public schools in Bakh- nut. Yekaterinoslav province. organized a body of play soldiers and ventured to bring them to the capital, braving the disap pproval of his superiors.
 The Bakmut battalion was a novel sight in the streets of St. Petersburg, and some of the liberal papers scoffed at the idea of insulting patriotism in the minds of the young in this wise. It was reviewed by the Emperor and the young Crown Prince Alexis at Tsarslloe Selo, and went home in high spirits. dissem- mating the new idea on it's long journey.
 When General Baden-Powel visited Russia last year he was received in audi ence by his imperial convert At that time the first drill companies had made an appearance in St. Petersburg and Moscow, under the guidance of some of the crack regiments. The failure of Min ister of Education Schwartz to gauge the depth and breadth of the new movement is said to have cost him his portfolio. The most authoritative sanction was giN en to it in review recently held in St. Petersburg. Eighty-fonr companies gathered from all parts of the empire, including the Caucasus and Turkestan, and comprising 5000 boys were reviewed by the Emperor and gave an interesting exhibition Of the various kinds of drill which are in vogue.
 They were made up of four principal classes of organizations; those attached to particular regiments, those arising at schools controlled by the ministry of public instruction, those coming from elementary schools controlled by the Holy Synod. and, finally, the railway or ganizatons under the ministry of ways and communications. The composition of all these boy troops is democratic, being mainly composed of peasant boys
 
 But among them figure small companies of the elite. such as so boys from Mos COW dressed in the picturesque green ke ftans of Peter the Greats time, each one of whom could trace his ancestry 10 Peters famous corps of playmates.
 Mars Field in St. Petersburg presented all unwonted picture on the day of the review No two of the S4 companies had the same uniform. The regimental boys tl,afp al hitited the greatest variety of uniform, a dazzling checker board of color under the bright July sun: grey black. green. crimson blue and yellow capped by the glistening helmets of the boys fire brigade.
 The Emperor and several Of the grand dukes, including Michael Alexandrovitch' formerly heir presumptive to the throne, witt a brilliant suite of generals, all on horseback. rode down the four long lines of troops, the Emperor getting the regu- lar salute from each company, replying tc it, and getting in response an enthusl- astic response of youthful hurrahs.
 The parade ended with a march past, occupying one hour. First in the line was the Chernigoff play troop attached to the Chernigoff Hussars stationed at Orel 1t boasts the best equipment and nattiest uniforms, all furnished at the
  whose residence is with the regiment at Orel. The boys there form an integral part of the regiment drill ev cry day in the year, and camp with the regiment during the summer months, getting up at an early hour each day, and going through a part of the daily routine, as well as taking part in the parades and other public appearances of the regiment.
 A thrilling sight were the faces Of the as they marched past thelr Emperor with eyes keen on carrying away a good picture of him, and note of con tagious enthusiasm was carried to The of spectators in their parting salute "We are eager to excel, Your Imperial Majesty which they responded in unison, in answer to the EmperorS in- word of commendaton.
 Some of the extreme conservatives. who are always superapprehensive of the ,Iirk- ing dangers of revolution. have expressed disapproval of the boy scouts as a possible nursery of soldiers of the revolution in Russia They fear that the initial general interest in these bodies will gradually subsde and that the enemies of the gov ernment will then gain control of the orga nization, or of many of the young men who graduate from them. The gov ernment does not share these apprehen- sions.