The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1917-06-21
BOY SCOUT WORK
HAS NOBLE AIMS
Want to Make the Boy a
Better, Nobler
Citizen.

keep myself physically strong, men,
tally awake, and morally straight"
The foregoing is the oath that must
be taken by boy scout A troop
was organized here a couple of
months ago.
! Lieutenant General Sir Robert S.
/ Baden Powell, a hero of the Boer
War, first organized the scouts in
England little more than 10 years
ago. He was so successful that the
enrolment Of the boy scouts in Eng
land soon grew into hundreds of
thousands.
Not a Military Organization
Although founded by military men
the organization is in no sense mill
tary. 1t is merely to make the boy
better, nobler citizen than he would
otherwise be. The suits worn by the
boys probably have caused many peo-
| pie to think that the boy scouts were
organized as military institution.
The movement spread from Eng
land to Germany, France, Italy, Aus
tralia and New Zealand, to Canada
and the United States, to the South
American republics; in short, almost
all over the world.
Accomplished Most in United States
But it has been left to the United
States to show what the system of
scouting can accomplish when it re-
turns to the land in which the larger
number of its working ideas and
principles originated. The number
of boy scouts in the world is estimat-
ed at two million, but it has atteined
its greatest growth in this country.
The emphasis and ideals of the move
ment belong here also to the highest
plane-that of efficient citizenship,
service and character building.
Need of The Movement
The need of the movement came
with the growth of the cities. The
boys of today do not have the chance
the boys of the past, most of whom
grew up in the country, to become
strong, self reliant, resourceful and
helpful, and to get acquainted with
nature and outdoor life, without spe-
cial guidance and training. There
fore, this organization tries to bring
the boys together and give them that
chance. 1t hopes to cultivate in
them courage, loyalty, patriotism, fell
lowship, self-control, courtesy, kind
ness to animals, usefulness, cheerful
ness, cleanliness, thrift, purity and
honor. With such training, these
boys will become men who are lead
ers in progress, peace and all things
right and good.
Three Glasses of Scouts
There are three classes of scouts,
tenderfoot, second class and first
class. A boy must pass certain ex-
aminations to become tenderfoot,
harder tests before they can become
second class, and still harder tests
to become first class.
To become tenderfoot scout a
boy must know the Scout Law, sign,
salute and significance of the badge;
the composition and history of the
national flag and the customary
forms of respect due to it; and he
must know how to tie four different
knots.
To become a second class scout a
boy pass test in elementary first
aid and bandaging, elementary sig
mailing, track half a mile in twenty
five minutes, or if in town, describe
satisfactorily the contents of one
store window out of four observed
for one minute each, proper use Of
knife or Ratchet, earn and deposit
at least one dollar in public bank,
etc.
To become first class scout a
boy must swim fifty yards, earn and
deposit at least two dollars in a pub
lie bank, send and receive mes
sage by semaphore or international
Morse alphabet, make IA mile trip
alone and write a satisfactory ac-
count thereof, know advanced first
aid methods; prepare and cook salts
ffactorily in the open, and know other
things that will aid in building up
character.
Membership in Liberal
The following boys have become
members Of the Liberal troop: Ed
gar Bush, Arthur EASTWOOD, Fay Lee
Monnier, Leo Miller, Vernon Engle,
r. J. Smith, Jr., Frank Highland,
Bert Morrow, Clifford Sawyer, Ar
thur Edison, Harry Jones, Clay Mil
Ter, Wayne Dickerson, Chester Nay
Tor, Donald Zimmerman, Hugh Jar
rett, William Edison. 81
Ernest Fulton, the local scoutmas-
ter, has gone to Winchester, Kansas,