Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-03-30


about the country and assist cities and
towns everywhere to carry out their
organization work. enlisting volunteer
leadership and providing for it expert
direction. In this way the movement
hopes to reach with the benefits of
scouting the S,000.Q00 boys of Scout
age in the United States.
\ New Vocation Created
1t is apparent that the Scout move
ment has created new vocation, for
which special training is necessary.
Such training is now being provided
by leading educational institutions in
various points of the country. from
Boston University on the Atlantic, to
the University of California and Reed
College in Oregon-some fifteen col
leges in all.
One of the interesting announce
mentS made at the National Council
meeting was that Teachers College,
Columbia University, has just estab-
Used a course in Scout training.
This was made possible through the
generosity of Francis =. Dodge and
Cleveland II. Dodge. 1t was Francis
p. Dodge, whose deep interest in the
development of good citizenship
through Scout training, led him to the
gift which made possible the estab-
hshment of Department of Educa-
ton within the Scout movement it's
man as the director.
Movements Educational Work
Thls Department of Education in
the Scout movement, under the lead
ership of Lorne- w. Barclay, is de-
Neloping system of training for
Scout leaders that is being put into
operation throughout the country.
The first training course was held in
February at Columbia University, and
was attended by more than five hun
dred Scout men who came from as
far West as Minnesota and Missouri.
On May 4, . and 6 another conference
and training course of this nature will
be held at Richmond Va, for the
Scout officials of the South, and about
three weeks later another session of
a similar kind will be held in Chicago
for the Scout officials in the Middle
West. Many of the most eminent edu-
Gators of these respective districts
are taking part in the instruction
work at thees conferences.
What Boy Scouts Will Do in War
What the Boy Scouts of America
will do for their. country in case of
war has been stated so clearly by the
Executive Board governing the move
ment between council meetings, and
this statement has met with such
hearty approval, and no dissent what
ever, in all parts of the country that
position in this matter was but for
mality.
1t was apparent, however, when this
matter was brought up, that the men
who are leading in this organization
of 200, 600 registered Scouts, and twice
that number of boys who have had
Scout training, feel keenly their re-
sponsibility in times like these and
are at the same time proud of the
prospect that Scout training has fitted
this large number of boys to help
their country in time of war without
engaging in any form of military OPP
erations.
One of the council members, for
instance, DR.. Charles ID. Hart, of Phil
adelphia, told of the scout mobiliza-
ton plan which will enable the scout
officials of Philadelphia to assemble
1000 Scouts of that city within two
hours, to cooperate in the protection
of property by accepting definite as
signments for the purpose of giving
alarm in case of danger, or collecting
information as to supplies, or acting
as messengers and orderlies, or by
cooperating with agencies organized
for relief work. Similar mobilization
plans have been made in many cities,
and wherever there are Scout troops
the leaders will let the local authori-
ties know of their willingness to aid
when our men go away to war.
Country Boys Get Scouting
Reports which were submitted to
the National Council showed that con-
trary to the general impression. the
Boy Scout program is proving to be
especially attractive and adaptable to
boys in rural communities, and in
deed in numerous cases it is the only
organized effort in behalf of boys out
side the rural school.
In his report James h. West,
the Chief Scout Executive, said that
of the 9,720 troops registered on De-
cember 81 last. 1,S27 troops were in
communities with less than 1000 in
habitants; 1913 troops were in COM
munities with less than 1900 inhabi-
( tants, and 3.34S troops were in COM
munities with less than 5000 inhabi-
tants, thus showing that over one
third of the troops now organized in
the United States are in communities
of less than 5000 inhabitants.
1T is this field which offers the
greatest opportunity for the further
development of scouting" said the
Chief Scout Executive, "for notwith-
standing the fact that boys in such
communities do not have the same
| benefits as the boys in larger cities
with well organized councils under
the supervision of scout executives
and their assistants, the interpreta-
ton given to scouting is highly cred
| table" 1t has been found that bows
in such communities compare favor
ably with boys in our larger cities.
where in many cases because of trans
fer such formerly rural scouts have
been called upon to take their tests
before local courts of honor.