The Coolidge examiner., 1938-04-21


T EADERS among organ
lied youth in this
- country are the Boy
Scouts, although municipali-
ties, churches, and fraternal
organizations are promoting
other youth movements.
Many practical things, not taught
in schools, must be learned if boy
would work up from Tenderfoot to
Eagle Scout. They include first-aid
treatment in severe accidents;
knowing the difference between sun
stroke and heat exhaustion; how to
revive drowning persons, or those
unconscious from gas, smoke, or
electrical contact; how TO treat
snake and dog bites; how to dis
tinguish between simple and COM
pound fractures, and what splints to
use. Also. how to identify birds,
especially those that protect trees
and plants from insects; how TO I'M
dress in deep water; to swim 100
yards carrying a person of ones
own weight, and how 10 break a
strangle hold in the water.
Because they hike" so much,
these boys. exploring the hills,
woods, swampS. and streams about
their home towns. are masters Of
local geography. Map-making they
learn, too; photography and natural
history.
Mems Jobs in Boys Sizes
Every task in Scouting" says
DR.. James Russell, of Columbia uni
versity, is a mans job cut down to
boys size. The appeal to a boys
interest is not because he is a boy,
but because he wants to be a man."
The average boy is in school less
than one-ffth Of the hours in year.
But in free time he is just as recep-
tive as in school, getting impress
sions. using ideas, reaching conclu-
sions, forming habits, and organic
ing his mode Of behavior So habit
becomes the basis of all efficiency;
otherwise I'VE should spend our
days learning anew the art of lacing
our shoes, or holding a pen. Writ
ing, made habitual, becomes so
easy that the writer's whole atten-
ton may be centered on what he
writes"
Inspiring boys TO observe birds.
plants, and animals, to map new
country and build trails, arouses in
them the explorers instinct and a
keener understanding of geography
No part of Scout training receives
more attention.
Nature study, geography, and ge-
ology, whether carried on during
hikes or at summer camps are par
ticularly useful in stimulating the
love of outdoor life in the city-bred
boy.
Led by adult biologists, small
groups of hand-picked Eagle Scouts
have made exploring trips into
many parts of Arizona. Utah, Ne
vada, and California.
Good Helpers of Scientists.
From Central America a natural
list expedition of American Boy
Scouts brought back skeletons of
crocodile, six-foot iguana, and va
rious monkeys They also made
photographs of the active volcanoes
of Irazu and Poas. in Costa RIGA.
One boy in this party made fine
collection of lichens.
Scouts of Montreal and st. Johns,
Canada, worked with the scientists
of McGin university in checking the
path of the suns eclipse across Que
Der in 1882
Some newly discovered peaks and
glaciers were added to our maps by
Seattle Boy Scouts through their re-
cent explorations in the wilderness
of the Olympic peninsula of Wash
ington.
Boy Scouts of Great Darlington.
Mass, helped build a link in the
Appalachian trail. planned to ex-
tend along the crest of the Appala-
chianS from the Canadian border to
the extremities of the mountain
range in the far south. In this work
they joined with the Green Noun
tain club, which has built a trail
along the crest of the Vermont high
lands. Boy Scouts worked on one
link in western Massachusetts,
stretching from the Vermont line,
running over Mount Greylock and
other mountains to the New York
state border.
Working with the state forestry
service, Boy Scouts Of Waterbury.
Conn, started cutting fire trails
through the Mattatuck forest near
that city. The work of the Water
bury Boy Scouts is part of the
program in which Boy Scouts
throughout Connecticut are working
in the formation of patrols to mark
trails and then patrol all state for
ests in order to prevent forest fires,