The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-28
BOY SCOUTS OF
 ENGLAND DOING l.sIP! Ila.saIP!ORTANT WORK

London, Aug. 2S-HithertoN the boy scout has scarcely been taken serious 1y. The scout movement has been generally commended as an excellent thing in its way, Keeping the small boy out Of mischief and training him in those habits of, alertIless and keen ness of observation in which the rou- tine of the schools is supposed to be lacking But hardly any one among those who have watched with good humored interest the various parades and manoeuvres of these little groups of khaki-clad youngsters really sup posed that they would count for any thing in a. time of hationaI crisis, Al ready, however, they have proved their value, and their usefulness is finds itself confronted with new needs.
 The Boy Scouts Association has just gained Government recognition as a .snon-fni1itary public service,' an Of ficial endorsement which carIies with it certain privileges on the railways and elsewhere The term ftnon-rnili- stary'' is important. It means that the scouts remain, as they have been from the first, a civilian body without arms or regulation drill. The chief scout, Sir Robert Baden Powell. has en- phasized this point By a general order declaring it to be most important that no scout rendering emergency services to the country today should carry arms
 This does not prevent the boy scouts from giving direct help to the War Office and to the troops, and thus leay-s ing the enlisted men free for distinct . ly. military duties. A beginning of this ernploy1nent was made at the recent. army nlanoeuvres in the Midlands, where boy scoutsswere detailed to de liver some 5000 notices to farmers, warning them to yard their sheep and cattle, previous to the troops operating over their land Today hundred or more scouts are being used as special messengers by the War Office in Whitehall.
 At Dover they have similarly been canveying messages from fort to fort. The troops guarding the east coast have no less than 1, 200 boy scouts at stached to them, under the control of the chief scout hinself. Their func- lions include not only carrying mes sages, but signalling, wireless te1e-. graphy assisting coast guards. and watching telegraph and telephone lines, bridges, culverts, reservoirs, air craft factories, etc, in order to give prompt notice of the presence of any. suspicious persons. Elsewhere they. are assisting the police authorities many members of whose regular staff have been called off as reservists-by' attending to the telephones at police stations. undertaking clerical work, etc As messengers, they have been Assisting various unofficial organ 5za- tions, also, such as the American Re lief Commfttee and the Prince of Wales Keller Fund.
 First-aid training has been an inn portant part or the scouts curriculum in many places and the advantage of it may be seen presently. should wounded soldiers be landed ins large numbers. Meanwhile, many boy scouts are offering themselves as patient vic .fIms to the experiments of others, all lowing themselves to be bandaged in anrbuiarsee lessons given to Red Cross noyices- It has been arranged that, when the time comes for the relief of distress among the poor. they shall as- szst in soup kitchen work and other forms of relief.
 In the Isle of Wight the nearest ap-