Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-10
CLIFTON Isle
On the Work Of Boy Scouts

A NEW field has been opened to BOY
4 \ Scouts this summer in the plan OF co.
operation launched by Clifford Pinchot ana
the State Forestry Service, according to
Clifton Lisle, prominent in the Boy Scout
organization on the Main Line.
Practical advantages resulting from other
phases of scout work are also summed up
BY Mr.. Lisle, who has had an opportunity
during his service in the war and in MS
business career to observe the BENEFITS ac-
cruing from the training and service OF BOY
Scout troops.
THE Boy Scout movement has worked
I'D a sense of responsibility in the boys
which they would not otherwise have at TINS
particular age, twelve to seventeen years,
he SAWS. This asset is developed best when
the boys become patrol leaders, which they
can only do by industry and prohciency'
As patrol leaders they have the responsi
bility and care Of seven other boys; ana must
learn to think not solely for themselves
but for the good OF their Fellows for th.S
reason the best scout troop is one In which
patrol leaders and not the scout masters
have charge of ordinary phases of the troop 3
work.
Initiative Is Stressed
Next to responsibility, the requirement
of initiative Is one OF the most valuable
for the Boy Scouts. They do not have every
problem worked out for them, but must
plan and scheme for themselves. For ex-
ample, if they need equipment for the troop
they must figure out some way of earning
IL rather than wait until some Kind person
puts It in their hands. Both OF these char
acteristics are Invaluable in the business
world to which the scouts must very soon
be passing.
''Equally important is the teaching Of
obedience. This is achieved not by exacting
that obedience from him, but of putting him
in position to see how diSobedienTe can
hurt every one concerned. patrol leader
for example, is punished when a member of
the troOp does not carry out certain order
Naturally the lesson sinks in.
Attention to small details, as in the
matter of equipment and uniform, is another
accomplishment of the movement when 1t IL
properly directed. The patrol contest, last
| inR throughout the year, in which scouts
are penalized for small points, is a means
to this end
up is also Of great value in business. The
| scouts may enroll with an exaggerated ap-
| preciation of their own Importance, but they
soon learn that they cannot get away with
certain things without making the rest of
the patrol or troop, as the case may be,
suffer.
Told Of Clean Living
The value of keeping fit and the under.
standing Of what clean living means to a
| man are, of course. too well known as part
,of the Boy Scouts equipment to need fur
| ther discussion. Merit badges are awarded
| for proficiency which can only be obtained
by a strict care along both these lines.
| Each point of the So-called scout law
can, and should, be applied to some form
of practical service, and thus the scouts can
obtain an understanding of how they may
help their country. When they first come
to us they believe that this can best be done
| by losing an arm or winning ID. =. G.. in
the service, but they soon come to observe
the practical ways in which these vari
Gus assets can be put into actual practice
A good example is the plan which Mr.. Pin.
! chot and others connected with the State
Forestry Service are interested in to effect
n definite co operation between that service
and the Boy Scouts.
"All scouts, especially those anywhere
near the state forests, will be enrolled anC
later given instructions as to their duties
which will consist speaking generally, O
prevention, warning and actual fire fighting
Parts of the forests will be turned over tC
| their care and they will be expected to DOS
| fire. warning signs Oh trees, to see to Il
| that careless campers do not leave theiI
fires Rmoldering, to help in the enforcement
| of the campaign against throwing matches
or cigarettes from trains; in short, 10 d.
their part along many lines Of fire proven
tion, at which they are just as capable a
men.
"a kindred work, which already has beer
intrusted 70 the scouts on several occasions