The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-05-14
BOY SCOUT NOTES
Edited by G. L. Alling.]

Hello Scouts!
/ had such a wonderful day in the
open last Sunday that / want to tel
you about it. About 500 a.. M, an
automobile called for us and my
friend, Mr.. Musselman and I rode tc
town fully equipped for a profitable
day in the open. We went to the riv'
er where Mr.. Musselman has canoe
in a well equipped boat house.
want to call your attention to the
kind of "a canoe we had. 1t was elev-
en- feet long. fairly wide. flat bottom
and canvas covered with design OF
| a wild goose in flight painted in
green on the prov. 1t was fitted with
cushions, a rug and a sail, really
luxurious craft. Now the notable
thing about it is its shape. There are
principally two kinds of canoes as re-
CARDS shape; the flat bottom and the
Yshape canoes, the former OF which
is the only really sensible kind to
use. The V-shape canoe Is not safe
craft because it will roll as easily as
a log. If not more so, because it is
very smooth and highly polished and
therefore 1t takes an expert to man
age it. 1t is used only as racer.
On the other hand, the flat bottom
canoe is really safer than skiff.
since the biggest part OF the surface
Is on the bottom. 1t would be Just as
unlikely to tip over as 2x12 plank
would be apt to turn over on the two
inch edge.
Well, Mr.. Musselman arranged the
cushions and rug in the most comfort,
able position and instructed me to sit
on the bottom of the canoe and watch
things while he did the padding. My,
that was easy.
Now we had a very definite purpose
on this hike, as scouts always should.
We were out to study birds. That
is, was to do the studying and Mr..
Musselnlan was my teacher. That
leads me to introduce you to this
new friend of mine. He is typical
scout. and would be tine example
for any boy to follow. Helpful, friend
ly. kind. cheerful, clean and all the
others are surely attributes of his
and therefore. know that he is a
scout because "a scout is -" all
these things. found out later he had
even been a scout master Of regu.
lar troop and SO it was great privil-
eye for me to go with him on this
trip and learn something about the
birds and the woods.
Arrive at BirdIand.
Well, we padded up around the bay
and into remote corner, surrounded
by dense woods and here we heard
all kinds of birds singing great med
ley as they always do early in the
morning. We had pair OF very
powerful prism binoculars and used
them to good advantage to see the
birds.
Then at eight o'clock. We shipped
aboard the steamer Keokuk, canoe
and all and rode to La Grange, Mo.
Here we got off and padded around
the boat and when it started off, we
pulled hard for the stern wheel to
take in the waves. With skilled
hands. Mr.. Musselman steered the
canoe right into the first wave, just
missing the wheel by about foot.
Speaking Of thrilling experiences,
that was certainly one.
After finishing the ups and downs
of that kind OF sport. we padded on
down the river to Quincy in search
of birds and found them in large num-
Der. About ten-thirty we stopped
on an island and began to hunt mush.
rooms for dinner. Mr.. Musselman has
a large book on mushrooms and he
had shown it to me the night before,
explaining the different kinds and