Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-06-15
Boys SUMMER CAMPS
Discipline and Health Aims
Sought by 100000 Youngsters.
Army and Navy TO Help Them Emulate
Plnttsburgb Rockies In Many
Ways with Preparedness
ms WatchwOrd.

country this summer under the leader
ship Of men identified with the boy
scouts OF America, according to an an.
nouncement made at the ORGANIZATIONS
headquarters in Brooklyn, says the
Brooklyn Eagle Military drill will not
be given the boys but in other ways
the camps will he very similar to the
military instruction camps for adults al
rlatteburgh, y, v, and other places.
AN analysis of the program for the
Plattsburgh and similar camps promot-
cd by General Leonard A. Wood reveals
b that fully three-Guarters of the subjects
and activities taken up in them are in
cluded in the boy scout scheme" the
statement reads, and they will he pro-
vided in this summers boy scout camps.
the first of which will open next week"
| The aims in view, it is explained, are
not only to build the boys physically but
TO give them knowledge and skill that
will UNNECESSARILY increase their useful
ness to their country in any crisis"
Under this plan the following subjects
are included in the course of instruc-
tion:
! Camp-site selection, tent-pitchiny,
drainage. sanitation, commissary equip
ment and management, fire lighting
| without matches, cooking, lonE-distance
code signalling. setting up of field tele-
graph and wireless outfits. bridge build
ing, construction of signal and observa-
ton towers. fire fighting swimming
/ rescue Of drowning persons, reausta-
ton managing boats. first aid to in.
jured, observation and memory tests
map making and reading, exploration
or unfamiliar territory and dispatch
bearing. In addition the scouts vii,
learn, largely through games and com.
! petitions, which quicken boysh interest
a great deal about nature, and will be
taught to put into practice the code Of
conduct known to them as scout law"
the camp motto will be be prepared"
which had been the boy scout slogan
since the incorporation of the movement
in 1910
The most ardent preparedness ad.
vocate of to-day" the statement de-
Clares, has added nothing new to the
arguments that We're recognized by the
| promoters of the boy scout scheme in
deed the scout scheme goes further and
provides workable plan, one that Is
actually working, for preparedness for
every day life, for the routine require
ments Of citizenship, well as for
emergencies. including the remote pos
sbility of war"
In explanation Of the fact that The
boys will not received military drill, the
statement says
THE rifle, the sword and other
military accoutrement form no part of
the boy scout equipment. The boy, in
his adolescent years, we feel is not
sufficiently benefited by practice in the
manual of arms to have it take the
place of other things which are of a
more positive and constructive value.
Lieutenant General Sir Robert Baden
Powell (who developed the boy scout
movement upon the be prepared PLAN,
with long experience in EnSlands re.
cruitng work, strongly opposed military
drill for the younger boys, and is fight
ing hard now against the cadet system
which is advocated by some in Great
| Britain. He opposes it on the ground
that it defeats tue object it is intended 4"
accomplish; that efficient, well-discipin-
ed, fighting men cannot he made with
out a personal development of character
responsibility, self-disciplne, physical
health none of which come from the
sort of military drill that young boys
receive.
"The hoy scouts of America goes in
a different way about the business Of
training boys for the service of their
country. All of the interests and acti-
vites of the scouts are planned so as
to give the boy grounding in the
qualities that make for good citizenship,
n strong body. an alert mind, moral
perceptions and incinations, a knoWl-
i, edge of his country and of the true