The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-03-02


walks and sports that are arranged for
them than II the lessons and classes
were conducted indoors; some indoor
work Is inevitable, but most of it is
planned for out of doors. Those who
have watched them closely say the
girls are no less girlish and winsome,
but more wholesome and womanly be-
cause of the new element that has
come into their lives.
Girl Scouts Started.
Although the new organization took
definite form only two years ago, It had
its beginnings long before the boy
scouts movement Yves thought of as
practicable. So much has been said
of how that movement started that 1t
is interesting to hear about the in
ception and progress of this work
among girls, as it is told by Miss
Lisetor-Lane herself.
you ask me to tell you why the
work was organized at ALL" she said in
response to a question; why it was
thought girls needed anything of this
kind instead of the quieter occupations
that usually have been assigned to
them. Primarily, perhaps, the work
was founded to give girls everywhere
an opportunity to learn the things that
every girl ought to know if she is to
be helpful, happy, Worthwhile, and
able to care for herself. My own ex-
perience in starting as a pool girl,
working my way through school, the
hardships I endured, all tended to
make me want to help others to at
tain as much as possible the needed
abilities or knowledge without the
same hardships. 1t was the experience
On this side Of life that taught ne
what a girl needs, and what things
are her greatest assets.
81 have done work of this kind, but
without thought of organization from
the beginning of my days at school,"
she wen on. 1.-THE doing good turns
teaching others how to do, securing
employment of people, and finding
places for them to live have filled my
life. With added knowledge found
that 1 had added power. saw, too,
that many people were the victims,
not of hard luck, as they supposed, but
of wrong thought. Sometimes the
thought was their own, sometimes that
of another person or persons, but the
result was inevitable. l spent four
years studying this phase of the prob
lem. 1 studied conditions in all ways,
from the lowest novels to the banquet
board, and found that rich and poor
were demonstrating the same things
in varying degrees. Then / began to
look toward organization. During a
conversation with DR.. Ferry Edwards
Powell, who came to Des Moines about
a year and half ago in the interests
of the knights of the Holy Grail and
the Boy Scouts of America, the
thought came to me and l blurted it
out, ''Why, that will be the very thing
for my girls! Why can't we have the
girls scouts, and use the same plan?
DR.. Powell said, Certainly you can.
It's just the thing. Then and there
the Girl Scouts of America came into
existence, for he plan OF organization
was the only thing lacking. On the
Sunday evening following l addressed
a meeting at the Asbury Methodist
church in Des Moines, and troop was
organized We had twenty-five names
the first night. That was the begin
ming and the work spread on its own
initiative. 1 made no effort to In
troduce it beyond our own city at first,
but letters of inquiry began to come in
from people who had heard or read
about it."
A national council soon was formed
with Miss Lisetor-Lane at its head.
Members Of this council are Mrs. AL
bert B. Cummins, Mrs. S. F. Prouty,
and Countess Wachmeister and num-
Der of other prominent women. On
the advisory board are DR., Henry Wal
lace, former president of the National
Conservation Congress and chairman
Of former President Roc5evelt's coun-
try life commission, Homer H. Seeley
and DR.. George e. MacLean. The work
has grown rapidly and troops are now
organized in twenty-five states.
The activities include many things
similar to those of the boy scouts, not
only that the work might add strength
to both the girl and the boy scout or
ganizations, but also because certain
regulations obtain for scouts the world
over. They are based on the same gen
ersl thought and plan and much of the
work for boys is adaptable for girls.
Many of the names, titles and express
sions to be found in the manual for the
Boy Scouts of America appear also in
that for the Girl Scouts of America.
Through the kindness Of Lieutenant
Colonel Cossgrave, V. d., founder of