The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1934-03-15
BOY SCOUT
ACTIVITIES

At the Legion meeting last Mon
day evening Scout Master Carl
Fisher, of Troop Is, gave a very
interesting account Of the origin OF
the Boy Scout organization. 1T
was in 1907 said Mr.. Fisher, that
VIM. D. Boyce, an American, found
himself walking down one OF the
narrow streets of London, trying
to find a certain address. The Lon
don fog was exceptionally heavy
this day and being a stranger, MT
Boyce found his search very d1f-
ficult. AS he was walking from
house to house peering through the
fog at the house numbers, small
bow. approached him with "Heilo
Mister, are you looking for some
one and can I be of assistance TO
you?' Mr.. Boyce explained to the
boy that he was looking for tnls
address. The boy told him where
the place was and offered to take
him there. Arriving at the place
Mr.. Boyce thanked the boy and Oh
fered him a coin. The boy de-
clined the coin explaining that they
did not take tips for doing good
turns Mr.. Boyce was surprised and
interested. He asked the boy what
he meant and what this was all
about. II belong to the Boy Scouts
of England, replied the boy. I'VE
are glad to do good deeds and we
do not accept money for doing so.
Our headquarters are just around
the corner If you wish, I'd be glad
to take you there" Mr.. Boyce Gag
erly accepted and soon found HIM
self at the headquarters of the
Boy Scouts of England. There he
met General Baden-Powell, the
man who first started the Boy
Scout movement.
Years before, Gen. Baden-Powell
was with his regiment in India,
regiment made up mostly of the
riff-raff from the slums of London,
MANY perhaps choosing the army
enlistment to a prison term. With
this material, it seemed impossible
to instill the proper spirit of SOL
diering. Pride and interest in the
regiment was absent, morale was
bad and discipline worse. In fact
it was considered one of the worst
regiments in the army.
Gen. Baden-Powell studied the
problem carefully. He realized
that here was a group of boys that
had perhaps never had an oppor-
tunity to develop self respect and
character He issued number of
small pamphlets which were dis
tributed among the soldiers and in
which he explained in simple Ian
guage the duties of a soldier. The
results were beyond expectations.
The soldiers saw their routine in g.
different light. Discipline, morale
and efficiency improved until soon
the regiment was one of the high
est rated in His Majestys army.
Upon his retirement, Gen. Bad
en-Powen returned to London, but
he could MT forget his experience
with his regiment in India. He set
out to develop a program that
would not only give boys whole
some recreation but develop them
into good useful citizens. The pres
ent Boy Scout organization is the
result. Gen. Raden-Powell, now "a
years ole, is stilI active in the or
Plantation.
{ William Boyce was deeply i'm
pressed. He brought the idea back
to the United States where ne
gathered together a group of his
friends and told them of the Boy
Scout idea. In 1910 the first Boy
Scout organization was formed in
this country. It's rapid growth
from that date on is Of course well
known to all.
In one of the well known squares
in London stands Silver Beaver
statue erected by the United
States in honor of the Unknown
Boy Scout who, in the line of duty
as a Boy Scout, helped Mr. Boyce
in 1909" I