Chapter 8

SANITATION

Girl Scouts should do everything in their power to make and keep their homes healthy as well as happy.

Most of you cannot choose your own dwelling, but whether you live in a house, a cottage, a flat, in rooms, or even in one room of a house, you can do a very great deal to keep it healthy and pure.

Fresh air is your great friend; it will help you to fight disease better than anything else. Open all your windows as often as you can, so that the air may get into every nook and corner. Never keep an unused room shut up. You know what a stagnant pool is like--no fresh water runs through it, it is green and slimy, and full of insects and dead things; you would not care to bathe in it. Well, still and stuffy air in a house is very much worse, only, unluckily, its dangers cannot be seen, but they are there lying in ambush for the ignorant person. Disease germs, poisonous gases, mildew, insects, dust, and dirt have it all their own way in stale, used-up air.

You do not like to wash in water other people have used, but it is far worse to breathe air other people have breathed. Air does not flow in and flow out of the same opening at the same time any more than water does, so you want two openings in a room--an open window to let the good air in, and a fireplace and chimney to let the stale air out, or, where there is no fireplace, a window open both at top and bottom. The night air in large towns is purer than the day air, and both in town and country you should sleep with your window open if you want to be healthy. Draughts are not good, as they carry away the heat from your body too fast; so if your bed is too near the window, put up a shelter between it and the open window, and cover yourself more. At least one window on a staircase or landing should always be kept open, and also the larder and the closet windows.

Tidiness

_Motto_: "TIDY AS YOU GO."

Half your time will be saved if little things are kept tidy. Have a place for everything, and have everything in its place. If you are not sure which is the right place for a thing, think "_Where, if I wanted it, should I go to look for it?_" That place is the right one. Get into the habit of always making hanks of any string you get, and keep them.

War must be waged against rats and mice, or they will multiply and loot everything. If you have no mouse-traps, put a newspaper over a pail of water, break a hole slightly in the center in the form of a star, and place a bit of herring or cheese on the center tips of star to entice the mouse. Let the paper reach to the floor, not too upright, for the mouse to climb up. Try putting broken camphor into their holes; they dislike the smell. Fly and wasp traps are made by tying paper over a tumbler half-filled with water and beer or treacle. Break a hole in the paper, and fit in a tube of rolled paper about one inch long and one inch across.

Try to keep yourself neat, and see that the house you live in is clean, sweet, and pleasant.

GOLDEN HEALTH HABITS FOR GIRL SCOUTS

Contributed by Dr. Thomas D. Wood.

1. Remember Fresh Air and Sunlight Are The Best Medicines.

Ventilate, therefore, every room you occupy. Germs cannot live more than a few minutes in sunlight. Breathe deeply, sleep out, if you can. Work and play as much as possible out-of-doors.

2. Be Not the Slave of Unhygienic Fashions.

Be proud to have efficient feet. Wear light, loose and porous, but sufficient clothing.

3. Eat Slowly.

Do not eat between meals. Chew food thoroughly. Do not overeat. Remember a Girl Scout is always cheerful and helpful. She eats what is provided and is thankful for it. (She does not complain about her food.) If there are any suggestions she can make, she reserves them until mother or the (camp) cook is preparing the menu or the meal. Eat some hard, some bulky and some raw foods.

4. Drink Pure Water at Frequent Intervals.

Remember that not all water that looks pure is free from disease germs. Boil the water if the Scout leader (or older person) is doubtful about it. The few minutes spent in boiling and cooling water is time well spent. Do not drink water when there is food in the mouth.

5. Be Mistress of Your Time--Be Regular in Your Habits of Life.

Go to bed early enough to get sufficient sleep. Be in bed 10-1/2 to 10 hours each night. Get up in the morning promptly. Do not doze after it is time to get up. If you have not had enough sleep go to bed earlier the next night.

Be sure your bowels move regularly, at least once a day. If outside engagements are so pressing as to conflict with your personal health, remember you have an important "previous engagement" with yourself for sufficient time for meals, sleep, out-of-door exercise and, if necessary, rest.

6. Avoid Infection and Do Not Spread It.

Wash your hands always before eating. Use your handkerchief to cover a sneeze or cough and try to avoid coughing, sneezing or blowing the nose in front of others, or at the table. Do not use a common towel or drinking cup, or other appliance which may contain disease germs.

7. Keep Clean.

The smell of flowers has been said to be their soul. Try to keep your body as fresh as possible with the sweetness of cleanliness, not perfumery. Take a sponge bath, shower or quick tub bath daily.

8. Play Hard and Fair.

Be loyal to your team mates and generous to your opponents.

Study hard--and in work, study or play, do your best.

9. Remember Dentist's Bills are Largely Your Own Fault.

Get the habit of cleaning your teeth and rinsing your mouth after each meal. It is more than worth the habit.

10. Remember Silence Is Golden.

In solitudes poets and philosophers have touched the heights of life. It is valuable for everyone to take account of stock occasionally with oneself.

HEALTH

Exercises and their Object

The best results of exercise are to be had outdoors from the activity of vigorous games. Some of us are so placed that we cannot have daily recreation outdoors and it becomes necessary to give our bodies some type of activity to keep them normal. More than half the weight of the body is made up of muscular tissue. If this muscle is not used the health of the whole body is affected. Exercise is a necessary condition of health, just as food and sleep are. The body is very responsive to the demands made upon it. In fact, each one of us can mold her own body, very much as a sculptor fashions a statue. This is done by giving the body proper care and the right forms of activity. A weak, infirm physique is nothing less than a crime. It is the duty of each one of us, both for our own sakes, and for the benefit of future generations, to perfect our physical frame. It is a duty to be strong and beautiful in body as well as in mind and spirit.

The Nose

Always breathe through the nose. Fifty years ago Mr. Catlin wrote a book called _Shut your Mouth and Save your Life_, and he showed how the Red Indians for a long time had adopted that method with their children to the extent of a cruel habit of tying up their jaws at night, to ensure breathing through the nostrils.

Breathing through the nose prevents germs of disease getting from the air into the throat and stomach; it also prevents a growth in the back of the throat called "adenoids," which reduce the breathing capacity of the nostrils, and also cause deafness.

By keeping the mouth shut you prevent yourself from getting thirsty when you are doing hard work. The habit of breathing through the nose prevents snoring. Therefore practice keeping your mouth shut and breathing through your nose.

Ears

A Scout must be able to hear well. The ears are very delicate, and once damaged are apt to become incurably deaf. No sharp or hard instrument should be used in cleaning the ear. The drum of the ear is a very delicate, tightly stretched skin which is easily damaged. Very many children have had the drums of their ears permanently injured by getting a box on the ear.

Eyes

A Scout, of course, must have particularly good eye-sight; she must be able to see anything very quickly, and to see it a long way off. By practicing your eyes in looking at things at a great distance they will grow stronger. While you are young you should save your eyes as much as possible, or they will not be strong when you get older; therefore avoid reading by lamplight or in the dusk, and also sit with your back or side to the light when doing any work during the day; if you sit facing the light it strains your eyes.

The strain of the eyes is a very common failure with growing girls, although very often they do not know it, and headaches come most frequently from the eyes being strained; frowning on the part of a girl is very generally a sign that her eyes are being strained. Reading in bed brings headaches.

Teeth

Bad teeth are troublesome, and are often the cause of neuralgia, indigestion, abscesses, and sleepless nights. Good teeth depend greatly on how you look after them when you are young. Attention to the first set of teeth keeps the mouth healthy for the second teeth, which begin to come when a child is seven and these will last you to the end of your life, if you keep them in order.

If one tooth is allowed to decay, it will spread decay in all the others, and this arises from scraps of food remaining between the teeth and decaying there.

A thorough Scout always brushes her teeth inside and outside and between all, just the last thing at night as well as other times, so that no food remains about them to decay. Scouts in camps or in the wilds of the jungle cannot always buy tooth-brushes, but should a tiger or a crocodile have borrowed yours, you can make your teeth just as bright and white as his are by means of a frayed-out-dry, clean stick.

_Learn how to make camp tooth-brushes out of sticks. Slippery elm or "dragonroot" sticks for cleaning teeth can be got at chemists' shops as samples._

MEASUREMENT OF THE GIRL

_It is of paramount importance to teach the young citizen to assume responsibility for her own development and health._

_Physical drill is all very well as a disciplinary means of development, but it does not give the girl any responsibility in the matter._

_It is therefore deemed preferable to tell each girl, according to her age, what ought to be her height, weight, and various measurements (such as chest, waist, arm, leg, etc.). She is then measured, and learns in which points she fails to come up to the standard. She can then be shown which exercises to practice for herself in order to develop those particular points. Encouragement must afterwards be given by periodical measurements, say every three months or so._

_Cards can be obtained from the "Girl Scouts" Office, which, besides giving the standard measurements for the various ages, give columns to be filled in periodically, showing the girl's remeasurements and progress in development. If each girl has her card it is a great incentive to her to develop herself at odd times when she has a few minutes to spare._

My Physical Development

+--------+--------+----------------+------+---------+--------- |Date. |Weight. |Height. |Chest Expanded. |Neck. |Forearm. |Biceps. | -------+--------+--------+----------------+------+---------+--------- | | | | | | | | -------+--------+--------+----------------+------+---------+--------- | | | | | | | | -------+--------+--------+----------------+------+---------+--------- | | | | | | | | -------+--------+--------+----------------+------+---------+--------- | | | | | | | | -------+--------+--------+----------------+------+---------+--------- | | | | | | | | -------+--------+--------+----------------+------+---------+---------

Fill in this page quarterly, the progress shown should be a useful incentive.

Games to Develop Strength

Skipping, rowing, fencing, swimming, tennis, and handball are all valuable aids to developing strength.

Use also:--

Staff exercises, to music if possible. Maze and spiral; follow-my-leader, done at a jog-trot in the open air. A musical accompaniment when possible. If done indoors, all the windows in the room must be kept open top and bottom. Sing the tune.

FLAGS.--Choose sides; each player lays down a flag or a handkerchief at her own goal, and each side tries to capture the flags of the other; once she touches the opponent's flag she cannot be taken prisoner, but goes back with the flag to her side.

Players can rescue a prisoner by touching her in prison. Players should keep moving as much as possible all the time, and try to evade being captured.

PRACTICE throwing at a mark. Put a pebble on the top of a staff and stand at a certain line so many paces off.

Morris dances (old English country dances) and the folk-songs.

ENDURANCE IS USEFUL

Have you not often heard of accidents on the ice? In the winter of 1895 some schoolgirls were sliding on a frozen canal, when one girl twelve years old ventured into the middle. Then there was an ominous cracking, and in a moment she was struggling in water many feet deep.

Miss Alice White, a teacher, happened to witness the accident. Notwithstanding the warnings of several persons standing on the towing-path, who assured her it was most dangerous, she at once went on the ice and approached as close to the hole as she dared with safety. She then lay down at full length, so as to more equally distribute her weight, and tried to seize the struggling child. But under her weight the ice broke, and the brave girl was precipitated into the cold water. The bystanders shouted to her to forsake the child, and at least save her own life, but she did nothing of the kind. She held on to her precious burden, and literally fought her way out. Piece after piece of the ice broke off, but she at length reached the bank in a state of great exhaustion. Her hands were cut in many places by the sharp ice, but they were wounds of which any one might well have been proud. Miss White was only sixteen years old, and it was the second time she had saved a life.

Laying a pole or a branch across the hole is a good plan.

An Easy Way to Grow Strong

It is possible for any girl, even though she may be small and weak, to make herself into a strong and healthy woman if she takes the trouble to do a few body exercises every day. They take only about ten minutes, and do not require any kind of apparatus.

This should be practiced every morning, the first thing on getting up, and every evening before going to bed. A girl of ten years should weigh at least fifty pounds, the average height at that age being forty-nine inches. The value of this exercise is much increased if you think of the object of each move while you are doing it, and if you are very particular to breathe the air in through your nose. A great many people who are pale and ill are made so by living in rooms where the windows are seldom opened and the air is full of poisonous gases or germs. Open your windows, especially at the top, every day to let the foul air out.

Do not exercise immediately _after_ eating; let your meal be digested.

Girls who have not done these exercises before should begin them gradually with care, bit by bit, doing more every day. Brush your hair, clean your teeth, wash out your mouth and nose, drink a cup of cold water, and then go on with the following exercises.

It is best to carry these out with as few clothes on as possible, either in the open air or close to an open window. The movements should be executed vigorously.

First Series

EXERCISE I.

Stand erect, hands at side.

Count 1. Bend knees deeply with trunk held vertical.

Count 2. Straighten knees and return to an erect position.

Count 3. Let the body fall directly forward until it reaches an angle of 45 degrees, advancing the left foot a long stride to catch the weight of the body, and bringing the closed hands to shoulders, palms forward, elbows close at side, shoulders drawn back and chest out.

Count 4. Bend at the waist without moving the legs and touch the floor with both hands.

Count 5. Return to the third position.

Count 6. Stand erect.

Repeat ten times, using first one foot, then the other. At the end of one week use this exercise fifteen times. Continue to increase the repetitions by fives each week until you can do thirty.

EXERCISE II.

Take five deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling, filling the lower part of the chest, and at the end of the breath expelling all the air you can.

Second Series

EXERCISE I.

Run in place, that is go through the movements of running without gaining ground, twenty steps, rest a minute and do fifty counts.

EXERCISE II.

Lying on the back, hands at side, raise the body and touch the toes with both hands, ten times.

EXERCISE III.

Count 1. Charge sideways, raising the arms sideways to a vertical position.

Count 2. Bend and twist to the left, touching the floor with both hands on the left side of the foot.

Counts 3 and 4. Make the return movements.

Repeat ten times in each direction.

EXERCISE IV.

Deep breathing eight times.

Third Series

EXERCISE I.

Bend knees deeply, fifteen times.

EXERCISE II.

Lying face downward, hands at side, raise the head and chest from the floor as far as possible.

EXERCISE III.

Lying face downward, head resting on the folded arms, raise each leg upward and backward from the hip with straight knee, ten times.

EXERCISE IV.

Lying on the back, hands under head, raise both legs with straight knees to a vertical position, toes pointed upward, ten times.

EXERCISE V.

Charge obliquely forward left, arms in line with the body and rear leg; touch the floor and return, making it a four-count exercise.

Repeat ten times in each direction.

EXERCISE VI.

Run in place for one minute, rest and repeat.

EXERCISE VII.

Take ten deep breaths.

HOME LIFE

Housewifery

Every Girl Scout is as much a "hussif" as she is a girl. She is sure to have to "keep house" some day, and whatever house she finds herself in, it is certain that that place is the better for her being there.

Too many odds and ends and draperies about a room are only dust-traps, and rugs or carpet squares, which can be taken up easily, are better than nailed down carpets. Keep all the furniture clean and bright. Fresh air, soap, and water are the good housewife's best allies. Bars of soap should be cut up in squares, and kept for six weeks before being used. This hardens it, and makes it last longer.

In scrubbing boarded floors, the secret is not to deluge the floor; change the water in the pail frequently.

In the work of cleaning, think out your plan beforehand, so as not to dirty what has been cleaned. Plan certain times for each kind of work, and have your regular days for doing each thing.

PASTE-BOARDS AND DEAL TABLES.--Scrub hard the way of the grain. Hot water makes boards and tables yellow. Rinse in cold water, and dry well.

SAUCEPANS.--New saucepans must not be used till they have first been filled with cold water and a little soda, and boiled for an hour or so, and must be well scoured. After basins or saucepans have been used fill them at once with cold water to the brim; this will prevent anything hardening on the saucepan, and will make cleaning easier.

Needlework

"A stitch in time saves nine." We cannot agree with this favorite saying, because it saves so many more than nine, besides saving time and preventing untidiness.

Tailors, who are such neat workers, will say that they never pin their work first. If you are not a tailor, it is much better to place your work, before you begin, with plenty of pins. You will never get straight lines or smooth corners if you do not plan and place it all first, just as it has got to be, and tack it there.

Have you noticed that thread is very fond of tying itself into a bow; but this can be prevented by threading the cotton into the needle before you cut it off the reel, making your knot at the end you cut.

In rough measures, one inch is equivalent to the distance across a twenty-five-cent piece, and a yard is from nose to thumb, as far as you can reach. Needlework is good for all of us; it rests and calms the mind. You can think peacefully over all the worries of Europe whilst you are stitching. Sewing generally solves all the toughest problems, chiefly other peoples'.

Pillow lace needs a little more attention, but is a lovely art which girls can easily master. The writer was taught to make the flowers of Honiton lace by a little Irish girl, and the variations you can invent are endless. You would find a good sale for insertion lace of the Torchon patterns. Make your own pillow, and buy some cheap bobbins to begin learning with, and do not try fine work at first. Learn to spin wool and thread; a spinster can earn money in this way.

The Girl Scouts' Patch

We don't know whether you ever did such a thing as burn a hole in your dress, but we have, and if it is in the front, oh, dear! what will mother say. Now, there is a very good way that Girl Scouts have of making it all right and serviceable; they put in a piece and darn it in all round. If possible, get a piece of the same stuff, then it will not fade a different tint, and will wear the same as the rest. You may undo the hem and cut out a bit, or perhaps you may have some scraps left over from cutting out your dress.

The piece must be cut three or four inches larger than the hole, and frayed out on all four sides. Trim the hole with your scissors neatly all round quite square with the thread. Then lay your piece over the hole--of course on the back or "wrong side"--and tack it there with cotton. Now take a darning needle, and thread each thread in turn, and darn each one into the stuff. If the ends of stuff are very short, it is best to run your needle in and out where you are going to darn, and then, before pulling it through, thread it with the wool. This patching is excellent for table-linen.

We once had an aunt who was a thorough old Scout, and was rather proud of her mending. She always said that she didn't mind what colored cotton you gave her to sew with, because her stitches hardly ever showed, they were so small, and also she put them inside the stuff. If she was putting on a patch to blue stuff, she could do it with red cotton, and you would never have noticed it on the right side; her stitches were all under the edge. Or else she sewed it at the back, on the wrong side, so that it looked perfectly neat.

If you are not able to match the wool for a darn, it is a good plan to use the ravelings of the stuff itself. Sometimes, away in the country, you can't go to a shop and you have nothing like the piece you want to mend. A Scout would turn it inside out and undo a little of the hem, and ravel out the edge. Suppose you were to cut a hole in the front of your blue serge skirt; if you darn it with the ravelings of the turnings of the seam or the hem, that will be exactly the same color and the same thickness as your dress. No wool you could buy would match as well. Or if you want to mend a jersey or knitted gloves, you never could buy such a good match--the same sized wool and the tints.

Damask table-cloths should be darned to match the pattern, following the flowers of the design, and large holes may be mended like the "Scouts' Patch" just described. To sew on buttons properly, leave them loose enough for the iron to push. On washing articles have your threads long enough to make a little stalk to the button, which is wound round before finishing. Your needle should be sloped out to all sides, so as to take up fresh stuff farther out than the holes in the button.

Scouts may make many useful presents in their spare time, such as cretonne covered blotters or frames, mittens, warm felt slippers (for which woolly soles can be bought), pen-wipers, pin-cushions, and needle-books. They could also make articles for their hospitals, such as night-clothing, soft caps, handkerchiefs, pillow-cases, and dusters.

HOME COOKING

There is a legend in Turkey that when a rich man is engaged to marry a lady he can break it off if she is not able to cook him a dish of dates in a different way every day for a whole month. A friend of ours did somewhat the same in trying a new cook; he always tested them with nothing but cutlets for a fortnight. The real test of a good cook is to see how little food she wastes. She uses up all the scraps, and old bits of bread are baked for making puddings and for frying crumbs; she sees that nothing goes bad, and she also buys cleverly. Those who do not understand cookery waste money.

Perfect cleanliness and neatness should be insisted on, or your food will be bad and unwholesome.

Eggs

Is an egg lighter or heavier when cooked? An experienced cook is experienced in eggs. There are "new laid" eggs which are fresh and "fresh" eggs which are not; there are "cooking" eggs which are liable to squeak. Eggs are safe in their shells, and think you don't know whether they are fresh or not, or whether they are raw. Any egg can be thrown out of a first-floor window on to the lawn without the shell breaking; it falls like a cat, right end upwards, and this is not a boiled egg, either! You can tell that because it will not spin on the table, so it must have been a raw egg. A cooked egg would spin.

To tell a stale egg, you will see it is more transparent at the _thick_ end when held up to the light.

Fresh eggs are more transparent in the _middle_. Very bad eggs will _float_ in a pan of water.

Poached Eggs

Break each egg separately into a cup. When your water is boiling fast, drop in an egg sharply. Use a large deep pan, with salt and vinegar in the water. Lift the egg very carefully in a ladle before it is set too hard. Place the eggs all round a soup plate, pour over them a nice sauce made with flour and butter, a little milk, and some grated cheese and salt.

STOCK POT.--Keep a pot going all day, into which you can put any broken-up bones or scraps left over, to make nourishing broth. Clean turnips, carrots, and onions improve it. Before using let it get cold, so as to skim off the fat.

HOME HEALTH

Contributed by Dr. Thomas D. Wood.

~1. Dust~ (carries germs and bacteria)--

a. Must be kept out of the house by

1. Being careful not to bring it in on shoes or clothing.

2. By really removing the dust when cleaning, not just brushing it from place to place with dry brushes and dust cloths.

b. Tools needed--

1. Vacuum cleaner (if possible).

2. Brooms and brushes of different kinds.

3. Mops.

4. Dust cloths of cotton, outing flannel and wool.

5. Soft paper.