Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-19
NEW LEADERS
FOR BOY SCOUTS
They Will Carry on the Good
Work for the Men Who
Have Gone
BY ALLEN r. ECKMAN

to see thc~e record of accomplishment
by these lads. the result Of which is felt
from Maine to California. Instances In point
are their work In the aid of the recent
milion-dollar drive of the Red Cross and
notahle assistance In spreading the food
conservation pr paganda, by themselves
cultivat ng hundreds OF acres Of land.
Perhaps their most recent success has been
the disposal of 500. 100000 worth Of Lib
erty Bonds the sales in Philadelphia
alone amounting to more than s2,o00,000.
That there is a mighty sentiment In favor
OF Boy Scouts was clearly evidenced last
week In Philadelphia by generous re-
sponse made to an appeal for men to act as
| scout leaders In various departments OF the
organization.
| The boys had been hard hit by the war.
| More than 200 young men holding posi-
| tions as scoutmasters assistant scoutmas-
| ters. scout surgeons. naturalsts, woodmen.
| lecturers. drlmasters and examiners an
! swered the call to make the world safe for
, democracy" Trained in the scout school or
clean citizenship and remembering the scout
! oath to do their duty to God and their
| country. there was but one answer these
young men could make. They made it.
with their departure for var Gus training
camps there were left behind In Ph.adeI-
phia, leaderless, several thousand young
| citizens of the future. When the head
quarters office Of the Boy Sc uts puts out
| service flag, that emblem will be em-
h'azoned with more than $50 stars.
There scarcely was a troop In Philadel-
phia but that in some manner. directly or
! Indirectly. felt the loss of an older scout,
| all Of VIII Nse available time had been util-
| lied In teaching his younger fellows the
| essentials of manhood. That loss seriously
affected the busin Of instructing boys In
the rudiments oferesponsibility. thus Mt
! ting them to step into the place In the
household vacated by an older brother or
parent who had answered tho call OF the
| President.
One of the most noteworthy places where
| scout leaders were needed was the Penn
| sylvania Institution for the Blind at over
brook Two troops have been in existence
there for more than a year. These lads
though blind, have been developing the
scout movement in many OF it's branches.
| Hands served in the place OF eyes, and III
the naturalist class cropping fingers sensed
the development of various forms of vegeta-
ton and in like manner learned to classify
| many b rds and animals Quick ears mas
| tered signal des and deft hands learned
the art of bandaging and resuscitation
The Daily "Good Turn"
| On November 10 the boys began seven
day campaign to obtain volunteers Tor the
places vacated by those leaders who mad
| gone to join the colOrs. Each troop III
Philadelphia organized itself into groups OF
canvassers and thoroughly worked the dis
| trict IN which II operated Hundreds or
| posters were placed at p 'ints of vantage
| thr ughout the city. These bore striking tes-
timony of the manner In which the scouts
labored for the public good. and at the
same time set out their present imperative
need Various other devices, such as pa
| rades recruiting wagons and safety gates,
were employed in different sections or the
city Every scout wore his uniform during
| the campaign week. Scout headquarters at
925 Walnut street maintained a recruiting
| station and received distr ct reports. Re
membering past performances of the boys,
| Philadelphia generously responded, ana the
campaign was success
BY the middle Of the week 1877 persons
had applied at scout headquarters alone,
| volunteering their services. Various dis
| trcts were similarly rewarded Tor their
labors Not only will the personnel OF lead
ers again be brought up to its full quota,
but the scout masters reserve corps will
be augmented materially. This means that
in the formation of new scout troops. made
necessary by the ever-increaslng NUMBER
of boys joining the organization, leaders
will be provided.
Al the present time there are more than
5000 Boy Scouts in Philadelphia being
taught TO "Do Good Turn Daily" Good
turns are the heart of scouting They vary
remarkably in their scope and nature. The
following four examples were presented at
a recent troop meeting:
prevented a dog from being hit by a
little kid.
Picked up pieces of glass where chill.
dren were playing.
A dogs foot was bleeding: bandaged
It.
A little girl was crying. asked her
what was the matter, ,and she told me
that she lost a cent l gave her cent
and she went away happy.
Not long ago one boy reported to hia
scoutrlaster a good turn done for his sis.
ter. He said "She wanted to go away. and
mother would not let her go until she drank
her Cocoa When mother left the room
drank the cocoa for my sister and she was
allowed to CO.
one phase Of scout activity. there being at
least ffty-six branches Of scout craft at
which a boy may become proficient. These
include nearly every sort OF craftsmanship
from agriculture to taxidermy. and embrace
| woodlore, building and its sidelines. rudi-
| ments of business, bee keeping, chemistry
| all sorts of farm work, first aid. cooking,
music work in metals and seamanship.
Scouts Work in War
rTpon the scoutmasters whose ranks were
| so thinned by voluntary enistments for
military service depends much of the
| training of boys in these various grades OF
handiwork The master receives his COM
| mission from tne National SouHCll oi Doy
| Scouts upon the recommendation OF the
troop committee He must be twenty-one
years old and is responsible for carrying
out the general program and the super
vision of the troop To help him in this
work lie has one or two assistants, each of
whom must be eighteen years old.
| Although essentially q mountaineering
organization the Boy Scouts may be count
| ed on to render invaluable assistance to
the United States during the present war,
. The activities along this line will be of a
| nature entirely civic and tantamount TO
an auxiliary home defense OF a nonmilitary
| character.
What they are in shape to do. have
already accomplished or may be called
upon TO perform perhaps may best be Illus
trated by mentioning few things the
scouts have done abroad:
/ Organized relief measures among inhabi
. tants helped families of men who were sici
or wounded or employed In defense duties
, established first-aid dressing and nursing
, stations, dspensares. soup kitchens. etc.
acted as dispatch bearers. wireless oper
| ators signal corDs: maintained lines OF