davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12

An Otlcer av1th the British Scouts
" 7HEN the war came the 10000
w boys of Great Britain who
were Scouts were ready for it,
not because they had been trained for
war in any military sense, but because,
having learned not to be lockers on, but
to take part in adventure, it was natu-
raj to them to look at once for some
part to play in any crisis. They found
at once and without hesitation their
part in war.
The war was not month old, and
none knew what might come, when
General Baden-Powell wrote to all
those who led the Scouts:
"The boys should be taught to be
prepared for the worst, for if the worst
comes to the worst they must be the
discipline and optimistic leaven for pre-
venting panic in the nation.'
That was very proud claim to make
for them, and though the worst never
came to the worst, which in the be-
ginning many feared, the worst that
there was has always found them ready.
BY thirty thousand Scouts and old
Scouts serving in the navy and the
army many heroic things have been
done--somc, indeed, that are already
national stories.
The midshipman on board the de-
stroyer Broke who bravely met the Ger
| man boarders in the fierce battle of
FIVE minutes in the darkness of the
Channel was Boy Scout. Cornwall,
who stood by the silent gun in the bat
tie of Jutland waiting for orders.
though he was mortally wounded, was
Boy Scout.
The piper who held his company to-
gethcr in the battle of Loos, at the
moment Of crisis, by strutting up and
down the parapet and piping to them
under heavy fire, was an old Scout.
When the hospital ship Britannia was
torpedoed in the Egean and the cap-
tain remained on the bridge till the
ship sank, his orderly stood by him
and went down with him. That or
derly, too. was Scout.
But 1t is not in any single heroic
act OF war that the fneness Of their
spirit and the value Of their training is
apparent, but rather in that readiness
tor any adventure which over 100 1000
boys have shown.
I This is the sort OF story that you
hear told Of them:
At coastguard station petty officer
was waiting in the hrst week of the
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12

and why the Scout who lost his leg in
the German raid on Whitby and was
found lying among the ruins of the
coastguard station, where he was on
duty when the cruisers opened fire,
sent message that same night to the
Chief Scout that he had not forgotten
the law of all Scouts-''to smile In all
difficulties"
And that, too, was why this letter
was written to the Chief Scout at the
beginning Of 1915:
II do so want to be a Scout. I am
nine and as big as boy of ten. can
shoot fairly we'll with an air gun, and
it's awful living amongst all these
troops, I being one of the few civil
ians."
While there are boys Of nine who
can write so, country is still far
from the end of its manhood even
when it has called up the last man of
military age.
From the first day of the war the
Boy Scouts were a reserve line to the
army and the navy and the police.
They were modified more rapidly than
the defence forces and assumed at
once, and with the same readiness as
if it had been allotted to them in
some plan of defence long since drawn
up and rehearsed, much of the work
OF guarding coasts and telegraphs,
railways and public buildings.
kilograms went out to their head
quarters to all the districts advising
them to offer their services to the
State. Within few days, or even
hours, of the declaration of war many
of them were already on duty. In one
town the telegram reached the head
quarters on August 1. On August 2
plans were made. BY August 4, 200
had enrolled. By August the gen.
eral officer in command of the district
was asking for Scouts as dispatch
carriers; the military hospital was
asking for them as orderlies; the po-
lice were asking for them to guard
the railways. BY August there were
75O on duty. From the county of
Stafford the telegram asked for 1000
Scouts. That same evening 1000 were
standing by waiting for orders. In
KerN the Scouts had practised a war
mobilization two years before, SO that
the one telegram from London was
enough to call out the whole country.
and Scouts were at once at work hunt
ing out spies, manning coastguard
stations, guarding bridges, culverts
and tunnels on those vital railway
lines that run from London to the
south coast, and watching all the main
telegraph and telephone lines that
crossed Kent from London to Paris
and Brussels.
Yet another detachment of Scouts
was in its annual summer camp in one
Of the southern counties. 1t tele-
graphed an offer of its services and
was ordered at once to report to the
embarkation officer at the port Of
Southampton. Its duty was to act as
guides to all troops and transports
coming in by road. It was responsible
and secret work and required knowl-
edge of all the docks and the main
streets Of the town. A day was spent
in studying the land. and then the
Scouts (blessing that training which
had made them "pathfinders") took up
the duty.
Those who saw the Expeditionary
Force that crossed from Southampton
saw Boy Scouts at any hour OF day
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12
BOY SCOUTS In WAR HARNESS

war for the arrival OF a patrol of
Scouts to take the place of the men
called suddenly to the fleet. He waited
in some perturbation. He had got what
he thought would be enough meat to
feed them for that day, but he was very
hard put to it to find how to have it
cooked.
The patrol arrived, and at once all
his difficulties were taken out of his
hands. Two boys paraded without de-
lay for lookout. The rest took over the
meat, told him that it was enough
not for one, but for two and a half
days-and set about preparing their
camp and cooking their dinner, as if
they had never done anything else in
their lives.
You could collect many such stories
along the coasts of Great Britain, and
in the hospitals and camps, and not in
Great Britain only, but in all the
countries of the empire - stories that
show you what it is to have learned
already when you are still not much
over twelve not to be looker-on, but
to take part in adventure.
"Half Che fun of life," an old Scout
wrote from the front, "is to be able to
make bricks without straw" You have
in that phrase a great deal of the
spirit of the Scouts, and the reason of
their success. No one could write so
unless he felt that he was ready for
life, not<in any mechanical sense, as
the Germans were ready for war,
drilled, prepared, and with plans made,
but IN the sense of finding no unex-
pected duty come amiss, of having the
character equipped, Of having zest
to do ones share when there is great
work to be done.
Ex-Scouts Known
By Their Efficiency
The Scouts had already learned many
things that were of value to them
when war came. Scouts who were
pathfinders, and blacksmiths, am
bulance men, cooks and pioneers,
slgnallers and woodmen, telegra-
phlsts and watchmen (and there
are forty-six other things in which
Scouts can win proficiency badges)
were already in the mere technical
sense partly trained for war; and thew
had all learned to use their senses and
their hands, to be content without
comforts. to know the open, to fear no
weathers, to take pleasure in hardship.
to make shift in any circumstances.
But 1T was more than this proficiency
that made one officer write, 81 have five
ex-Scouts among my men. could
pick them out with my eyes shut They
were better men to begin with than
the others will ever be- 1t is rather
their readiness for adventure and their
sense of fellowship in a great COM
pany.
No mediaval brotherhood ever had
members in so many countries, nor
had carried its spirit so far. There are
Scouts in all the dominions and depen-
dencies Of Great Britain, in all the
countries Of the Allies. in fact in all
the countries Of the world; and the
war has quickened that sense of fell
lowship and brought many more to it's
ranks, for in war, as at no other time,
boys as we'll as men know that fellow
ship tn good company can make anv
man. greater than himself.
That was why one man in the
trenches asked to be enrolled Scout.
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12

or night marching through Che town
at the head of battalions and travel
ling to the docks on the tops of trans
ports, or riding down with the guns on
the spare horses of field batteries.
Guards and Guides
Throughout Empire
So all over the country in the first
weeks Of war Boy Scouts were Offering
eager service that was as eagerly
taken, in hospitals and camps, in the
War Office itself, on the roads and on
the railways, while all along the coast
little posts Of Scouts were setting up
their camps.
And this that they were doing in
Great Britain they were doing all over
the Empire. In Gibraltar they were
mobilized before the troops; in India
they were enrolled at once as order
lies and messengers to the army; they
tracked spies and they watched rail-
way stations for the arrival of for
eigners. On the Gold Coast they were
keeping guard over public buildings.
In Australia and New Zealand they
were used for public services by the
hundred. In East Africa they we're
recognized as part of the second line
defence. In Natal they were messen-
gers and signallers, in Jamaica buglers
and dispatch riders. So you can go
through the full list of British do
minions and dependencies. Across the
whole Empire from John O. Groats to
Adelaide, and from British Columbia
to Hong Kong, they came up for ser
vice.
1t has been the same in the coun-
tries of the Allies, in France, in Italy
and in Rumania, they have helped in
the work Of mobilization, served in
hospitals and government offices and
guarded railways.
In Belgium the 1000 Scouts were on
duty all over the country as soon as
invasion came. They worked in Brus-
sells with the Garde Avigne. They were
cyclist orderlies with the army
through the seige of Antwerp and the
retreat from Antwerp to Dunkirk
They had the honor of being disbanded
by the Germans in Liege.
When Germany declared war at the
end of July she probably did not think
it worth while to remember that all
the schools of Great Britain had just
closed and all the boys were free. But
it was this chance that made the full
mobilization of the Scouts possible
They had a month before them, and by
the end of that month they had estab-
lished themselves as part of the coun-
try's defence.
Boys Over Fourteen
Remained in Service
They had become so valuable that
the full force was allowed to remain
modified for another two months: the
work that they did was counted by the
education authorities as school at
tendance, and 1t was not until the be-
ginning Of November that the state
forbade the employment of boys dur
ing school hours.
Since that time the Scouts over
fourteen have remained on full service
and are serving still in the War Office.
in the hospitals. on hospital ships, in
coastguard stations, and for the rest
there have been the hours after school.
and these they have turned to good
account.
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12

IN a second article. Mr..
Seldes, neat aOeek, aciW COM
plete the record of a week in
and near the United States
trenches sn Lorraine, and
WiU describe the raid that
revemged this particnlor
bomabardnent.
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12
A "Strafe" in the Wee
Hours Gives Excite
ment and a Mud
Bath, But No Real
Casualties
BY George H. Seldes q

~ IN LORRAINE, May 2.-Forty
w feet under this front line
trench the walls Of our dugout are
shaking with the fury Of German
bombardment somewhere on the distant
left. Our sector itself Is quiet. We
have had hours Of firing and flares, and
only q German barrage can outnoise
this roaring night.
Outside our men are alert, tense,
ready everywhere. These young boys
from many states, from New York, and
Chicago, and Boston, and Cleveland and
Milwaukee, and from many ways OF
life, are holding the line in Lorraine,
with rifles tight in steady fingers and
heads pressed against the wet parapets.
Captain K has just guided me
from one end Of his sector to the other.
In the last fifteen minutes l have
spoken to men who few months ago
were peaceful citizens, laborers or
business men, or practising professions
in our cities, or farmers Of the East
and West. To-day they are the vet
Grams Of our army.
"Mad hell may break loose at any
time," said the captain, ESQ II you want
to rest up for it, or write bit, better
stop in the dugout and do so now. The
boys below will be glad to have you
here because you are the frst CORE
spondent Of the home papers to spend
a day and night with this division. We
A.11 h. fo1 hot
really like. They're scared about US,
judgin' from their letters"
So here We are, waiting for mad
hell" Perhaps at midnight Perhaps
in two or three hours.
It is late in the afternoon. A few
hours ago, in q peaceful French viii
lage, Colonel -. who has his
fathers reputation as a general to ex-
eel in this war, fortified my pass with
q note to the commandant. We motored
peacefully on, passing our reserves on
the road, and came to another village
where few red-tiled roofs remained, for
German shells have ripped the houses
to pieces until they look like crazy
stage settings for a maniac's drama in
the open. The majors headquarters
proved to be hole in the ground, with
some stone and concrete on top as
extra precaution.
"This is a quiets sector" said the
major, when zizzzzz - zizzzzzzzz -
instrumentation
Not far away one big shell had fallen
and others followed it.
&c. and, besides, so per cent of
the Boche shells are duds. Also you
will have to walk from here on, dis
tance of - miles, because the road
happens to be under fire and an auto
would attract attention. Give my COM
pliments to Captain k, and tell
him you stay tonight in the trenches
at your own risk. Sergeant, show the
way"
Bursting shells, ruins, torn-up roads,
shrapnel puffs in the air were as elo-
quent as the guide to the American
trenches. A Boche aeroplane seemed
to fall upon US. Straight down he came.
Then away he sped, pursued by row
Of smoke circles from our guns.
"Trying to take photos," said the
guide. "Wait till we get our airmen
going" He shook his fist at the flee
ing plane.
The sun splashed the rolling hills
with yellow. Birds were carolling to
an early spring, and the smell of wet
earth was impressive.
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12
Ten Seconds
To Save Life

Soon we came to the end of the road.
The mud began. Deep red mud where
the grass was thin, reddish brown mud
in the woods, maroon where the shells
had torn ugly wounds in the hillsides,
golden red where the sun played upon
long row of little ladders laid fiat on
the ground, leading from here to the
front line and broken only by enemy
shells, which, even now, were coming
closer.s
"Bettcr put on your helmet and get
your gas mask ready" said the SER
geant. II suppose you know how to
use it In case of an attack"
didn't. He showed me. "Got to
do It in ten seconds, and hold your
breath meanwhile"
We entered bit of woods where six
men were cooking in shanty, and
came out into the open again closer to
tho trenches. The duckboards now
were badly broken up and dud shells
were lying about.
"The Boche." explained the guide,
SHELLS this cowpath at every meal, the
damned joy-killer. Let's beat it or he
might think we are the mess boys"
We ran to the entrance of the
trenches. They meant safety. Looking
back, saw rows of wire entangle-
ments, new reserve lines and older
ones, untenanted. In front there was
= ditch growing narrower, but deeper
every step, deep enough, ten feet away,
to shelter walking soldiers.
This muddy ditch was the entrance
TO the line America had sent her men
to hold until they were strong enough
to break the enemy. There was moth
Ing bold. nothing heroic, nothing noble,
nothing romantic about it. Just ditch
with mud on Cop and wet sides and
Shiny water underfoot, and the smell Of
damp, fresh earth and green grass.
Splashing Into
The First Line
Farther in the trenches were lined
With twigs, twined about and support
ed by poles driven into the mud. Where
tbs duckboards kere broken we stepped
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12

things that come from Germany. There
is great tale (greater than any that
is likely to be hidden among the secret
papers at the Admiralty of two Scouts
who mlstook comet for an aeroplane
of the alarm they gave and the prep
aratlons that they made to have the in
vader turned back.
At first in the camps that they them
selves set up and later. when the win
ter came, in billets. these little posts
OF eight Scouts took up their coast
guard duty. They do everything for
themselves, their rationing, their cook
ing, their camp routine under the pa
troll leaders, and day and night they
keep watch on the coast in fours. four
hours at time by day and two by
night. And when they are off duty
they are ready for anything from sig
nal drill to putting out gorse fire or
working in the coastguard,s gardens.
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12
Often Suffer
Great Hardships

1t is work of perpetual vigilance
and care in lonely places, often with
no one else to share the responsibility
To know the full hardship of those
watches over the sea you must your
self have tramped along the unshel-
tered coast on winter nights. with
great gales blowing.
One patrol was bound to it's hut by
winter blizzard. cut off even from it's
water source and reduced to drinking
melted snow. Another had as it's guard.
house tiny shepherds hut on wheels
800 feet above the sea, and right on
six feet by four and awfully cold and
drafty on a windy night. The hui
was only shower proof and any heavy
rain, such as there was for most of
the time, came through. For ten
weeks through the winter of 1914 that
patrol kept watch on the cliff, and only
seven nights out of the seventy were
free from rain or hail or snow. There
were frequent landslips, and one night
the returning patrol found that its
path was gone.
The German raids on the east coast
took their toll of the Scouts and proved
their worth under fire. At Hartlepool
patrol worked with the fire brigade,
giving first aid to the wounded and
carrying them to the hospitals. Three
were killed at this duty.
At Scarborough Scouts were wounded:
at Whitby they were on duty right on
the coast when the German guns
opened. Those on patrol returned ia
report that the wires which they were
guarding had been broken and then the
whole patrol went up to the coastguard
station, which was under heavy FIRE, to
report for duty as messengers. They
were not required. Then and only ther
did they retire.
1t was one of the Whitby ccastguards
who said of the Scouts after the raid
that for all they seemed to care the
German cruisers might have beer
throwing peas instead of shells. That
is the spirit in which the Scouts keer
the coast.
Copyright 1913. Otis n wood,
-
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12
Splashing Into
The First Line

Farther in the trenches were lined
With twigs, twined about and support
ed by poles driven into the mud. Where
the duckboards kere broken We stepped
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12
By C. Vince
An Office

An Officer qvith the British Scouts
w 7HEN the war came the 10000
w boys of Great Britain who
New-York tribune., 1918-05-12

Uopysasht 1913. Otis~N Woody
The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1918-10-24
NOTICE TO CREDITORS TO
FILE CLAIMS
No. 432

NO. Az
In the Superior Court of the State
of Washington, for Benton county.
In Probate)
In the Matter of the Estate of
Lalia f. Berrian, deceased.
NOTICE is HEREBY GIVEN that
letters testamentary on the estate of
Lalia F. Berrian, deceased, were
granted to the undersigned on the attn
day of September, 1918, by the said
Superior Court.
ALI persons having claims against
said estate, are required to serve them
with the necessary vouchers upon me
at the office of Moulton & Jeffrey
within six months after the date of
the first publication of this notice, to-
wit, within six months after the 18th
day of October, 1918, and file the same
with the clerk of this Court, together
with proof of such service, or they
shall be forever barred.
Dated at Kennewick, Wash, this
18th day of October, 1918.
AUGUSTUS F. BERRIAN.
Moulton & Jeffrey,
Attorneys for Administrator.
1o:17-11:7
The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1918-10-24
LEGAL PUBLICATIONS
NOTICE TO CREDITORS TO
FILE CLAIMS

No. AS
In the Superior Court of the State
of Washington, for Benton county.
In Probate)
In the Matter of the Estate of
Charles Vanier, deceased.
NOTICE is HEREBY GIVEN that
letter of administration on the estate
of Charles Vanier, deceased, We're
granted to the undersigned, on the
23rd day of August, 1918, by the said
Superior Court.
All persons having claims against
said estate, are required to serve them
with the necessary vouchers upon me
at the office of Moulton G. Jeffrey
within six months after the date of
the first publication of this notice, to-
wit, within six months after the 18th
day of October, 1918, and file the same
with the clerk of this Court, together
with proof of such service, or they
shall be forever barred. .- ..
Dated at Kennewick, Wash, this
18th day of October, 1918.
w. F. SONDERMAN, Admin.
Moulton & Jeffrey, . ~.
Attorneys for Administrator. ,-
10:17-11:7 ...
The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1918-10-24
NOTICE OF HEARING ON FINAL
ACCOUNT AND PETITION
FOR DISTRIBUTION

In the Superior Court of the State
Of Washington, in and ior Benton
County.
In the Matter of the Estate Of
Charles w. Story, deceased.
Notice is hereby given that the adj
ministrator de bonis non in the above
entitled estate has filed in the office of
the clerk of the above entitled court
his final account and petition for dis
tribution and that the same have been
set down for hearing before the court
at Prosser, Benton County, Washing
ton on the 30th day of October, 1913,
at the hour of o'clock in the fore
noon. Said petitioner prays for the
approval of said. final account and for
the distribution of said estate to those
entitled thereto and for the discharge
of the administrator de bonis non.
L. E. JOHNSON,
10:3-24 Administrator de bonis non.
The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1918-10-24

matter, the petition of H. s. Hughes,
A. S. Goss and L. E. johnson, in the
above entitled matter will be heard
by the Court at Prosser, in Benton
county, Washington, on the 9TH day
of November, 1918, at the hour OF
ten o'clock in the forenoon.
The prayer of said petition is that
the Court examine into and approve
and confirm all proceedings had by Co
lumbia Irrigation District and the
Board of Directors thereof, relating
to the issuance of bonds of said Irri-
cation District in the sum Of $4,000
and the special election held on the
Bird day Of October, 1918, in connec-
ton Herewith. Said petition further
prays that upon said hearing, the
Court enter a decree establishing the
legality and validity of said proceed
ings and the bond issue herein men
toned.
NOTICE is further given that all
persons interested in the proceedings
for the issue or sale Of said bonds
may on or before the above date, to-
wit, November z, 1918, demur to or
answer said petition.
GIVEN under the seal of the above
entitled Court this 18th day of October,
1918.
M. C. DELE
Clerk of the above entitled Court.
SEAL of the Superior Court of Ben
ton County, Washington. 1O-1O:3l
The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1918-10-24
ChiTdrenTs SAVINGS.

More than 10000 children under six
teen years Of age have savings &C.
counts in the Los Angeles banks. They
have more than $1.OO0,OO0 on deposit,
or an average Of something over SIS
each. One thirteen-year-old youngster
is credited with heading the list. He
has nearly $4,000 on deposit, from a
beginning made with 80 cents when
he was seven years old.
Many of the Los Angeles banks make
special provisions for the savings &C
counts of children and In addition to
accepting savings accounts, teach les
sons of thrift in their advertising mat
ter. They also lend encouragement
to thrift propaganda in the public
schools and children's organizations.