The Daily Missoulian., 1912-08-05

since these are the qualities required
by the law.
The scout oath Is this: ION my
honor l will do my best Q) To do my
duty to God and my country, (2) To
obey the scout law. (3) To keep myself
physically strong. mentally awake and
morally upright" When taking this
oath. the scout will stand holding up
mis- right hand. palm to the front,
thumb resting on nail OF little finger
and other three fingers upright to.
gether This Is the scout sign. The
three upright fingers remind him OF
the three promises In the scout oath.
The bully. the braggart and the rowdy
are thus reclaimed Of their own voli-
ton. 1t Is not SISSY" for a boy to
help an old lady over a bad crossing
when his beloved order gives honors
for that kind of>chivalry. or to raise
his hat or give up his seat to a lady
when his scout law commands him
to be courteous. He cannot disobey
his parents or break the rules OF his
school without being false to his scout
pledges to which he has promised
loyalty While Of course the scout
organization does not expect to turn
Its members into troops OF premature
young angels. few who observe the
work will deny that II does exert a
greater Influence for the general i'm.
provement of the boys than any that
has yet come into the lives of most
| OF them.
There are three classes Of scouts
among the Boy Scouts OF America. The
first Ii the tenderfoot, for boys un.
der IL or older II they have not the
required qualifications for the sec
oiid class scout. which IL the next IN
rank and calls for at least month's
service as a tenderfoot. the ability to
use q knife and hntchet properly. 10
build fire In the open without US
Ing more than two matches. to know
the 10 points Of the compass and sew
eral other qualifications. The first
class scout must be able to swim at
least so yards. to understand advanced
first aid to the injured. to read a map
correctly and to draw q rough sketch
map. to describe 10 species of trees
and plants from observation. including
poison Ivy. to Judge distance size and
weight within 25 per cent OF accura ,y.
to furnish evidence that he has put
into daily practice the principles OF
the scout oath and law and to enlist
boy trained by himself as q tendet-
foot
Each troop OF boy scouts Is named
after the place to which II belongs and
Is made UP OF two or more patrols.
Each patrol In a troop IL named after
some animal or bird such az the Wolf
patrol. the Hawk or the Rattlesnake
patrol. When boy becomes q first
class scout he may qualify for merit
badges which are to be awarded by
the court OF honor OF the local coun-
ellis. These hOnors are awarded for
skill In various industries. crafts. ath.
letics. scholarships. life-savinx ana
other achievements. The Archibald
Butt troop of Washington which is
newly organized has devised spe-
cial merit badge OF silver. mounted
upon blue ribbon as the highest honor
upon their list. This badge bears q
portrait Of Major Butt and IL In great
demand among the boys In the troop
bearing his name. In addition to
these are the honor medals which
are awarded by the national council.
Five merit badges entitle q scout to
q life scout badge. 10 entitle him to
q star scout badge and ~ 'entitle him
to an eagle scout badge which has 30
far only been swardsd to one boy.
Arthur r. Eldred of Long Island.
The first life-savlng badge was re-
Gently awarded ~ v5Ulcsus Dsssunsy. o.