Evening star., 1937-07-11
|. IS VISITED
BY 1900 SCOUTS
. -
Interest in Fingerprinting
Prompts New Merit Badge
for That Work.

Impressed by the interest SHOWN Dy
tamboree Scouts in flngerprinting ac-
tivities Of the Federal Bureau Of Inves-
tigation the Boy Scouts OF America
will issue merit badges to Scouts who
obtain f1ngerprints of citizens for nom
criminal identification purposes, Of
ficials OF the organization said yes
terday.
More than 5000 Of the nearly $1,000
Scouts and leaders who attended the
Today jamboree left their finger
prints in the non-criminal civil iden-
tification" file of the bureau. according
to report to jamobree officials by the
F. B. I.
Less than a thousand Scouts and
leaders remained in the strangely
quiet "city of tents" last highland
most Of these will be on their way
home by Monday afternoon.
The largest group Of stragglers was
composed of 504 Scouts from Mime
sofa. who will leave by special train
at 1870 pm. tomorrow No special
program had been provided for them
today, as the jamboree officially was
over. They we're to attend churches
OF their choice this morning and take
q final fling at sightseeing this after
noon.
$4,000 Visit Bureau.
Jamboree officials were advised yes
terday that more than $4,000 Scouts
visited the F. B. l. during the Today
Jubilee, breaking all sightseeing rec
ords at the bureau. More than 5000
OF the boys jammed their way through
the identification division, pistol range
and other parts Of the bureau on Fri
day-the largest number of visitors
ever received there in one day.
The White House, the Capitol and
Mount Vernon also were major sight
seeing attractions during the JAM
boree.
Jamboree officials pronounced the
celebration an unqualified success.
They said they have no plans what
ever regarding another jamboree,
pointing out that this one WAS in OBJ
servance Of the twenty-fifth anniver-
sary Of the organization. They indi-
Gated there might be another one IS,
10 or 25 years hence"
A score Of Scouts remained in Naval
Hospital recuperating from appen-
dectomies, broken bones and variety
OF minor ailments. The most recent
addition to the ailing group was
James c. Fry, 17-year- old senior patrol
leader Of Knoxville, Tenn, who was
stricken at Union Station Friday night
as he was about to board a train for
home. Taken to Naval Hospital in
an ambulance, surgeons operated after
receiving permission Of his father by
long distance telephone.
No Fatalities.
James was the third Scout to lose
his appendix during the iamboree.
All are recovering rapidly, physicians
said yesterday.
Life expectancy experts had pre-
dicted there would be at least one or
two deaths during the 10 days-ex-
planning that the law Of averages called
for that number Of fatalities at 10
day assembly Of 5000 persons. JAM
boree officials were gratified that the
experts were wrong this time.
Dr.. W. L. Smith, head Of the jam
boree health staff, said his group will
continue to look after the ailing
Scouts until all have fully recovered.
The largest contingent to leave camp
at one time yesterday was that from
New England. The 1880 boys and
leaders in this group boarded four
special trains at Roeslyn, Va, between
and 8 am
More than 1000 Scouts from Min
nesota left early yesterday afternoon
on four special trains
Dismantling of the big camp will
begin at am. tomorrow under di-
rection Of Ray Bell, assistant jamboree
engineer. The work Of razing tents
and buildings will take several weeks
Restoration OF the grounds to their
original condition-an expense to be
borne by the Scouts under their
original agreement with park officials
will continue until September, it
was stated