CHAPTER III

HOW TO BECOME A FIRST CLASS SCOUT

WHY is a Second-Class Scout like an advertisement of Pears’ Soap? Because she sees the First Class Badge within her reach if she only tries for it and “she won’t be happy till she get it.”

At any rate I _hope_ she won’t, because a Scout who is content to sit down and be a Second Class Scout is only a third class girl.

It is true that when she has got her Second Class, she can go in for Proficiency Badges and cover her arm with them, but I would much rather see a Scout with the one Badge of First Class on her left arm than one with a dozen on her right.

After all the First Class tests are not so very hard. They look a lot, but like many other difficulties in this world they are not so bad as they look when you smile at them and tackle them.

Here are the tests that you have to go through for becoming First Class Scouts:—

First Class Girl Scout

To become a First Class Girl Scout, she must have been a Second Class Scout.

I. INTELLIGENCE.

BE ABLE to draw a rough sketch of the district around the troop meeting place, locating the important landmarks, and be able to direct a stranger to the nearest doctor, fire station, telephone, postoffice, etc., from any point within that district, and to judge distances.

BE ABLE to send and receive messages, in the general service code at the rate of thirty letters a minute.

HAVE FIFTY cents in the savings banks earned by herself.

PRESENT a girl trained by herself in the test for Tenderfoot.

KNOW HOW to distinguish and name ten animals, ten wild birds, ten wild flowers and ten trees.

II. HANDICRAFT AND SKILL.

BE ABLE to prepare, cook and serve one simple meal, of three courses.

MUST BRING a shirt waist or skirt made by herself or the equivalent in needlework and be able to put in patches.

III. SERVICE.

BE ABLE to dress and bathe a child two years old or younger. Know the proper food to give a child before it is a year old, and up to the age of two years. Know how to clothe the child in winter and summer.

MUST KNOW how to behave in case of accidents; and what methods of rescue and restoration to use in two cases such as drowning, ice accident, gas poisoning and electric shock.

IV. HEALTH.

MUST KNOW the simple laws of sanitation, health and ventilation; and be able to walk a mile in 20 minutes.

MUST SWIM 25 yds. in her clothes, and undress in the water.

or

WHERE SWIMMING is impossible because of weak heart or lack of swimming facilities; must win the other proficiency badges not already held.

How to Draw a Map

Once I paid a Boer five pounds for a map which he drew for me with a stub of a pencil on a bit of brown paper. He had never learnt drawing or mapping, but he was able to jot down a map that was of great value to me in a campaign against the Zulus.

Almost any savage can draw you a map in the sand with the point of his stick: so I am sure that any Scout could do it on paper with a pencil—especially after a little practice.

You know how useful it is to be able to read a map. Well, it is still more useful to be able to draw one for helping other people to find their way. You would not be a real Scout unless you could do this.

The above signs are the conventional signs used in map-making. Contouring is most easily explained by cutting an apple in half and placing the halves face downwards, to represent a hill. You can then slice the pieces horizontally at regular distances to illustrate heights, as shown on a map.

Judging Heights and Distances

Every Scout must be able to judge distance from an inch up to a mile and more. You ought, first of all, to know exactly what is the span of your hand and the breadth of your thumb, and the length from your elbow to your wrist, and the length from one hand to the other with your arms stretched out to either side, and also the length of your feet and of your stride; if you remember these accurately, they are a great help to you in measuring things.

Judging the distance of objects from you is only gained by practice, and judging the distance of a journey is generally estimated by seeing how long you have been travelling, and at what rate; that is to say, supposing you walk at the rate of four miles an hour, if you have been walking for an hour and a half you know that you have done about six miles.

Distance can also be judged by sound; that is to say, if you see a gun fired in the distance, and you count the number of seconds between the flash and the sound of the explosion reaching you, you will be able to tell how far off you are from the gun.

Sound travels at the rate of 365 yards in a second; that is, as many yards as there are days in the year.

A Scout must also be able to estimate heights, from a few inches up to three thousand feet or more.

The way to estimate the distance across a river is to take an object X, such as a tree or rock on the opposite bank; start off at right angles to it from A, and pace, say, ninety yards along your bank; on arriving at sixty yards, plant a stick or stone, B; on arriving at C, thirty yards beyond that, that is ninety from the start, turn at right angles and walk inland, counting your paces until you bring the stick and the distant tree in line; the number of paces that you have taken from the bank C D will then give you the half distance across A X.

To find the height of an object such as a tree (A X), or a house, pace a distance of, say, eight yards away from it, and there at B plant a stick, say, six feet high; then pass on until you arrive at a point where the top of the stick comes in line C with the top of the tree; then the whole distance A C from the foot is to A X, the height of the tree, the same as the distance B C, from the stick, is to the height of the stick; that is, if the whole distance A C is thirty-three feet, and the distance B C from the stick is nine (the stick being six feet high), the tree is twenty-two feet high.

(S.T.)

Games in Pathfinding

Learn how to recognize the Great Bear and the Pole Star and Orion; to judge time by the sun; find the south by the watch. Practise map reading and finding the way by the map; and mark off roads by blazing, broken branches, and signs drawn on the ground.

Captain takes a patrol in patrolling formation into a strange town or into an intricate piece of strange country, with a cycling map. She then gives instructions as to where she wants to go to, makes each Scout in turn lead the patrol, say, for seven minutes if cycling, fifteen minutes if walking. This Scout is to find the way entirely by the map, and points are given for ability in reading.

How to Bank Your Money

To be a first-class Scout you have to have at least a shilling (or a dollar or a rupee) in the Savings Bank. To do this you apply at your post office to start a deposit. The postmaster will take your money and keep it for you, and whenever you can get a few more pennies or dimes go and hand them in to be added to your account. As these sums mount up you will begin to be paid back a little “interest” by the postmaster. This you can spend on candy—if you are foolish; but being a Scout you will add it to the money already in the bank and so increase your pile.

How to Train a Tenderfoot

You know the things that you had to do as a Tenderfoot. It is now your business to do a good turn to another girl by showing her how to become a Scout. Mind you, it is all done by kindness and example. Perhaps you will find your pupil very shy or slow or stupid. Well, Be Prepared, for that and—smile. Be jolly with her. Don’t try and teach her everything all at once. Show her generally all that she has to do and then begin with one thing and do it for her—then repeat it with her—and finally let her do it for herself. Let her make her mistakes at first and show her _afterwards_ where she went wrong. She will soon get the hang of it all.

Then your own example is what will influence her a lot. If you get impatient and short-tempered so will she. If you laugh and enjoy the lesson so will she, and between you, you will get along like a house on fire.

COOKING

Cooking is great fun—sometimes quite exciting, when you try inventing new dishes.

You can only become a cook by practice under the help of an experienced cook. But here are a few practical hints that will be helpful.

_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 you hold it 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.

_Meat._—Examine the meat before you accept it. If you do not know the looks of good meat, you should go to a butcher’s shop and ask him to show you how to know it. Much gristle is a sign of old age. You can easily tell if meat smells disagreeable. Beef should be of a bright red color, and juicy and elastic. The fat should be firm and of a pale straw color. Mutton should feel dryish and the fat look white. All papers must be taken off at once. The feet of fowls should be soft and flexible, not dry, and the skin of the back should not be discolored.

Beef and mutton, when underdone, are more easily digested than when cooked through.

Roasting and grilling of meat is done to so heat the outside that the juices are kept in. The meat has to be frequently turned to prevent it burning, but allow plenty of salt to melt into the meat with the dripping, or it will taste just as good as a sole of a boot.

As Mr. Holding said: “The only method I know of for properly making your meat thoroughly indigestible” is to hurry a stew.

To stew or braise any meat or fowl you must leave it long and keep it slow. The flavor is improved if the meat be fried first. Then put in flavoring vegetables, bacon, herbs, and a little stock, and by the time you have done a day’s work you will find a dish fit for a king. Even tough meat can be made delicious in this way, so long as it never gets near boiling and is closely covered. This is a case of “Sow hurry, and you reap indigestion.”

_Fish._—A most unwholesome food is stale fish. The gills, if fresh, should be bright red. Canned fish is often poisonous. Fish is a food which you can get more good from, considering the price, than if you bought meat, and the most nourishing fish and the cheapest are the herring mackerel. Pieces of fish, buttered, can be deliciously steamed or baked if laid between two plates over a saucepan of water.

_Oatmeal._—Oats, too, are full of value; a pound and a half a day will keep a hard-working man, for oatmeal increases the power of the muscles, and is rich in bone and flesh-forming materials. What you can get out of oats for 5 cents would cost you 75 cents in lean beef. Oats give increased mental vigour and vitality, as they have so much nerve and brain nourishment in them.

Oatmeal should be kept _fresh_ in a shut case or package.

If you think your brain requires a fillip, eat plenty of beans, but they must be very much cooked, and should be well buttered.

_Vegetables._—Of vegetables I should like to say they can scarcely be too much cooked. Wash well in salted water; let leafy ones have a swim to get rid of grasshoppers and caterpillars and sand, then put them into boiling salted water and take off the lid. Roots may be allowed covers.

Peel and slice your onions under water or at a tap.

I once watched a grand _chef_ cooking potatoes, and he told me that the best of the potato lies next the skin, so he never cuts it, but he peels his potatoes on a fork after boiling. The cunning cook boils a bunch of mint with the potatoes.

Excellent food for workers are parsnips, beetroots, or onions.

_Boiling Meat._—If you want the meat and not the juice, you should have your pot boiling fast when the meat is put in. But if you want gravy or beef-tea (not meat), put your meat into cold water and bring it slowly to the boil.

_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.

Barley, rice, or tapioca may be added, and for flavoring add salt, pepper, chopped parsley, celery, a clove, or mace.

_Milk._—Milk will take the flavor of any strong smell near it. Stale milk added to fresh will turn the whole of it sour. Sour milk need not be wasted. You can use it for baking or cooking, by adding bicarbonate of soda. Sour milk will clean ink or fruit stains, and in washing it bleaches linen. Yellowed linen should soak in it, so should spoons and forks. Sour milk cleanses oil-cloth as well as women’s faces and hands. Chickens and turkeys get fat and lay better for being fed on it.

To _weigh_ roughly, tie a loop of string to your package of tea, sugar, etc., and pass it on to your first finger. I find three pounds is as much as I can hold on my nail. If the loop is shifted to the root of the nail, four pounds is all one can hold. If the string is placed on the first joint, I find the parcel weighs seven pounds. Each person will be different, but you can find out your own power of lifting, and then you will know exactly for the future.

FIRELESS COOKER

A jolly useful thing for saving coal, saving time, and saving money is a Fireless Cooker.

The Fireless Cooker is a very valuable help to you in your enjoyment of camp, because once you have started the food cooking you shove it in the Fireless Cooker, you press the lid, and the Fireless Cooker does the rest!

And you can leave the dinner to cook itself while you go out and play camp games.

And so, too, in your own home, once you have started the food cooking you can put out the fire, and thus save fuel or gas, and let the Fireless Cooker finish the job for you.

Construction of Box

Obtain a large wooden box, such as a soap box. Line with double newspaper. Fill the box to within two or three inches of the top with very tightly packed hay, scoop out of the centre of the hay a cavity large enough to hold the cooking utensil. Make a cushion of house flannel to fit the top of the box exactly and stuff it tightly with hay.

Rules for Use of Fireless Cooker

Use saucepans with tightly fitting lids and short handles. Those made of aluminum or earthenware are preferable. Jam jars or large tins tightly covered may be used.

Bring the food to boiling point on the gas cooker or kitchen range and while boiling place it _at once_ in the box. Some foods require a certain amount of cooking previous to being placed in the Fireless Cooker. (See table below.)

Wrap the cooking utensil in newspaper, and place in the prepared nest in the Fireless Cooker.

Over this place the hay cushion and close the lid firmly. There must be no space between the cushion and the lid.

NOTE.—To obtain satisfactory results, pack the stew-pan as quickly and firmly as possible; this is to prevent loss of heat.

Average Time for Various Foods

_Meat._—Cook for about half the usual time on the gas or kitchen range, and about four to six hours in the Fireless Cooker.

_Dried Beans._—Soak overnight. Boil for 30 minutes. Allow three to four hours in the cooker.

_Fresh Fruit._—Bring to boiling point and place in the cooker at once. Allow one or two hours, according to the firmness of the fruit.

_Dried Fruit._—Soak overnight, bring to boiling point and put in the cooker for three to five hours.

_Oatmeal._—Boil for five minutes and leave in the cooker all night.

_Quaker Oats._—Bring to boiling point and leave in the cooker two hours.

Other foods, such as vegetables, bacon, etc., can be cooked by this method.

Small Economics

In the preparation and cooking of food there should be very little for the garbage can, and only cabbage or egg water for the drain.

Rinds and bones of bacon. Outside stalks of celery. } The young green parts of vegetables. } Flavor soup or stock. Pieces of gristle, skin and bone. } Pea pods. }

Thick stems of cabbage or cauliflower leaves may be served with the vegetables or separately, if given sufficient time to cook.

Water from boiled cauliflower makes a good soup.

Apple skins—stones from jam—the surplus water from bottled fruit—boiled with a little sugar and water make a very good fruit syrup to serve with milk or suet puddings.

The sugar from candied peel will sweeten and flavor a rice pudding.

Water from boiled rice makes a thin stock for soups, or can be used to stiffen articles of clothing in place of starch.

The grease-proof paper from margarine, etc., will cover steamed puddings.

Salt removes stains from enamel.

Tissue paper cut into rounds and dipped in warm milk will make air-tight covers for jam-pots, or can be used for polishing glass or metal.

Newspapers can be used for lining the fireless cooker, wiping greasy saucepans or knives before washing, making fire lighters, rubbing over the stoves—the dirty pieces can be soaked in water, made into balls and put on the fire to keep it at a steady heat.

Dried orange skins, nutshells, used matches, matchboxes, empty reels, fruit stones, are useful for fire lighting.

Vegetable parings not fit for food should be dried and used as fuel unless animals are kept.

Gas Stove

The stove and utensils should be kept clean.

Shallow flat-bottomed vessels should be used.

A compartment steamer cooks three or four different foods on one burner.

A pudding in a basin can be raised out of water by a meat stand placed at the bottom of an ordinary saucepan—and vegetables cooked in a perforated steam pan above.

Where possible arrange a meal to be cooked all on the top of the stove, or all in the oven.

Avoid heating the oven to cook a single dish.

Utilise all space when the oven is heated—food may be partly or wholly cooked for following day.

In a gas oven three or four small tins are better than one large tin which fills the shelf. By the former method free circulation of heat is not prevented, and cooking is more efficient. If a large tin is used, have holes drilled in it to allow passage of heat.

Fill the kettle before lighting the gas, and turn out the gas before emptying the kettle.

Don’t _fill_ the kettle if only a pint of water is wanted.

_Tips for Cleaning._—Directly your cooking pot is empty pour cold water into it and put it on the fire to prevent the leavings getting hard, it will then be quite easy to clean later on.

Personally I like washing up, though some people _don’t_, but the main thing is to keep the greasy things to the last. Wash the cleaner things first in hot water with a clean dishcloth, then add hotter water and deal with the greasy things.

Dry the utensils with a dry towel, then dry further in warm air, and finally polish with a soft cloth.

NEEDLEWOMAN

_Needlework._—“A stitch in time saves nine.” I cannot agree with this favorite saying, because I feel sure it saves so many more than nine, besides saving time and preventing looking untidy.

I will tell you another thing I don’t believe in. 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 needle before you cut the thread off the spool, making your knot at the end you cut.

Rough measures may be said to be one inch across a 25 cent piece, and a yard from nose to thumb as far as you can reach. Needle-work 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 people’s.

_The Scouts’ Patch._—I don’t know whether you ever did such a thing as burn a hole in your dress, but I have, and if it is in the front, oh, dear! what will mother say? Now, there is a very good way that 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 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.

I once had an aunt who was a thorough old Scout, and was rather proud of her mending, and 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 ravellings of the stuff itself. Sometimes, away in the country, you can’t go to 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 ravellings 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 wools and the tints.

HOW TO DEAL WITH FIRES AND ACCIDENTS

_Fire._—If you discover a house on fire you should—

1st—Alarm the people inside.

2nd—Warn the nearest policeman or fire-brigade station.

3rd—Rouse neighbours to bring ladders, mattresses, carpets, to catch people jumping.

After arrival of fire engines the best thing girls can do is to help the police in keeping back the crowd out of the way of the firemen, hose, etc.

If it is necessary to go into a house to search for feeble insensible people, the thing is to place a wet handkerchief or worsted stocking over your nose and mouth and walk in a stooping position, or crawl along on your hands and knees quite near the floor, as it is here that there is least smoke or gas. Also, for passing through fire and sparks, if you can, get hold of a blanket, and wet it, and cut a hole in the middle through which to put your head; it forms a kind of fireproof mantle, with which you can push through flames and sparks. [_Practice this._]

If you find a person with his clothes on fire, you should throw him flat on the floor, because flames only burn upwards, then roll him up in the hearthrug or carpet, coat or blanket, and take care in doing so that you don’t catch fire yourself. The reason for doing this is that fire cannot continue to burn where it has no air.

When you find an insensible person (and very often in their fright they will have hidden themselves under beds and tables, etc.), you should either carry him out on your shoulder, or, what is often more practicable in the case of heavy smoke, gas fumes, or in battle when under heavy fire, etc., harness yourself on to him with sheets or cords and drag him out of the room along the floor, crawling on all fours yourself.

A soldier was recently awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for thus getting his wounded officer into safety while being fired at by the enemy.

To do this you lay the patient on his back, make a bowline at each end of your rope, one you put over the patient’s chest and under his arms, and the other over your own neck, then with your back to his head you start on “all fours” to pull him along, head first. If the bowline is the right length it will keep his head up off the ground, as the picture shows.

_Burns._—In treating a man who has been burnt, remove his clothes, not by peeling them off, but by cutting them with a SHARP knife or scissors. If any part of the dress sticks to the skin from having been burnt there do not tear it away, but cut the cloth round it, then as quickly as possible protect the burnt parts from the air, which causes intense pain. The best way to protect them is by dusting them with powdered chalk or flour, or by laying strips of lint well soaked in sweet oil or linseed oil, and covering the whole with cotton wool, or by pouring on oil. Keep the patient warm, and give warm drinks, such as hot tea, hot milk, or salomonia and water.

Major John Garroway, M.D., strongly recommends, instead of flour or oil to stop the pain of a burn, to put a piece of paper firmly over the wound, and the pain will be relieved in a few seconds.

Quite a large number of Scouts have saved lives in the water through knowing how to swim and what to do. Several Scouts have also saved life in fire, and have received medals for saving life.

_Saving Life from Drowning._—A moderate swimmer can save a drowning man if she knows how, and has practised it a few times with her friends. The popular idea that a drowning person rises three times before he finally sinks is all nonsense. He often drowns at once, unless someone is quick to help him. The important point is not to let the drowning person catch hold of you, or he will probably drown you too. Keep behind him always. If you find yourself clutched by the wrist, turn your wrist against his thumb and force yourself free. Your best way in helping a drowning man is to keep behind and hold him up by the elbows, or by the back of the neck, or by putting your arms under his armpits and your hands across his chest, and telling him to keep quiet and not to struggle. If he obeys, you can easily keep him afloat; but otherwise be careful that in his terror he does not turn over and catch hold of you. If he should seize you by the neck, Holbein says, “Scrag him, and scrag him quickly. Place your arm round his waist, and the other hand, palm upwards, under his chin, with your fingertips under his nose. Pull and push with all your might, and he must perforce let go.” But you will never remember this unless you practise it frequently with other people first, each taking it in turns to be the drowning man or rescuer.

[_Practice this._]

If you see a person fall into the water and begin to drown, and you yourself are unable to swim, you must throw a rope, or an oar, or plank right over him, so that when he comes up again he may clutch at it and hold it.

_Drowning._—To restore any one who is apparently drowned, it is necessary at once to clear the water out of his lungs, for which purpose, therefore, you should incline him face downwards and head downwards, so that the water may run out of his mouth, and to help it you should open his mouth and pull forward his tongue. After running the water out of the patient, place him on his side with his body slightly hanging down, and keep the tongue hanging out. If he is breathing, let him rest; if he is not breathing, you must at once endeavour to restore breathing artificially.

There are several ways of reviving persons apparently drowned. You may find one person eager to do exactly the opposite of another, but do not fight over it; the best thing is to do quickly whatever you can. Probably “Schäfer’s system” is the simplest. Lay the patient down with his bent arm to support the forehead.

Place your hands on the small of the patient’s back, one on each side, with thumbs parallel and nearly touching, and the fingers reaching only to the lowest ribs.

Bend forward with the arms straight, so as to allow the weight of your body to fall on your wrists, and then make a firm, steady downward pressure on the loins of the patient, while you count slowly, one—two—three, to press the patient’s stomach against the ground and to force the air from his chest.

Then swing your body backwards so as to relieve the pressure, and without removing your hands, while you count slowly, one—two.

Continue this backward and forward movement, alternately relieving and pressing the patient’s stomach against the ground in order to drive the air out of his chest and mouth, and allowing it to suck itself in again, until gradually the patient begins to do it for himself.

The proper pace for the movement should be about twelve pressures to the minute.

As soon as the patient is breathing, you can leave off the pressure; but watch him, and if he fails you must start again or get some one to take your place till he can breath for himself.

Then let him lie in a natural position, and set to work to get him warm by putting hot flannels or bottles of hot water between his thighs, and under the arms, and against the soles of his feet, but not before he is breathing. Wet clothing should be taken off and hot blankets rolled round him. The patient should be disturbed as little as possible, and encouraged to sleep, while carefully watched for at least an hour afterwards.

This is called the Schäfer method, and can be used equally well for drowned people or for those overcome with smoke or gas fumes.

Now just practise this with another Scout a few times, so that you understand exactly how to do it, and so Be Prepared to do it to some poor fellow, maybe, really in need of it one day.

Make the Scouts, in pairs, practise above.

Wounded: taking off clothes. Pull off from the well or uninjured side first, then when all is loose, carefully uncover the injured part. Try not to move it, cut the sleeve or trouser up the seam with the rounded end of scissors inside the cloth. If clothes have to be put on again, sew pairs of tapes to edges.

Accidents

_Electric Shock._—Men frequently get knocked insensible by touching an electric cable or rail. The patient should be moved from the rail, but you have to be careful in doing this that you don’t get the electric shock also. In the first place put glass, if possible, for yourself to stand upon, or dry wood if glass is not obtainable, or put on india-rubber boots. Also put on india-rubber gloves before touching the patient. If you have none, wrap your hands in several thicknesses of _dry_ cloth, and pull the patient away with a stick.

A boy was hunting butterflies at St. Ouen, in France, the other day, when he fell on the “live” rail of the electric railway and was instantly killed by the shock. A passer-by, in trying to lift him off, fell dead beside him. A brickmaker ran up and tried to rescue them, and was himself struck dead in the same way. The two would-be rescuers were killed through not having learned beforehand what was the right thing to do.

(S.T.)

_Gas, Smoke, or Fumes._—Accidents are continually occurring from escapes of gas in mines, sewers, and houses.

In endeavoring to rescue a person, keep your nose and mouth well covered with a wet handkerchief, and get your head as close to the floor as possible, and drag the insensible person out as I have suggested in case of a fire. Drag your patient as quickly as possible into the fresh air—(I say as quickly as possible, because if you delay about it you are very apt to be overcome by the noxious gas yourself)—then loosen all his clothing about the neck and chest, dash cold water in his face. If you find that he is no longer breathing, then treat him as you would a drowned person, and try and work back the breath into his body.

_Ice Accidents._—If a person falls through ice, and is unable to get out again because of the edges breaking, throw him a rope and tell him not to struggle. This may give him confidence until you can get a long ladder or pole ACROSS the hole, which will enable him to crawl out, or will allow you to crawl out to catch hold of him.

First Aid

When you see an accident in the street or people injured, the sight of the torn limbs, the blood, the broken bones, and the sound of the groans and sobbing all make you feel sick and horrified and anxious to get away from it—if you’re not a Girl Scout. But that is cowardice: your business as a Scout is to steel yourself to face it and to help the poor victim. As a matter of fact, after a trial or two you really get to like such jobs, because with coolheadedness and knowledge of what to do you feel you give the much-needed help.

(S.T.)

Every Scout should not only _know how_, but should from frequent practice be _able to do_ the right thing in every kind of accidental injury.

In an accident when you are alone with the injured person, if he is unconscious lay him on his back with his head a little raised and on one side so that he does not choke, and so that any vomit or water, etc., can run out of his mouth. Loosen the clothing about his neck and chest. See where he is injured, and treat him according to what you are taught in learn “First Aid.”

If you have found the man lying insensible you should carefully examine the ground round him for any “sign,” and take note of it and of his position, etc., in case it should be afterwards appear that he had been attacked by others.

[_Practise above, one girl as patient, the other to find her. Make “sign” round the patient._]

If you are out with a patrol and an accident happens, or you find an injured man, the patrol leader should direct one scout to go for a doctor; she herself will attend to the patient with one Scout to help her. The second will use the other Scouts in assisting by getting water or blankets, or making a stretcher, or keeping the crowd back by forming a fence with their ropes.

As a rule it is best to keep the patient quite quiet at first; unless it is necessary, do not try to move him; and don’t bother him with questions until he recovers a bit.

_Broken Limbs._—How to tell when a limb is broken.

There is generally a swelling and pain about the place where the bone has broken, and sometimes the limb is bent in an unnatural way and the patient cannot use it.

The broken limb should not be moved about at all, but should be straightened and bound to something stiff that will keep it stiff and straight while the patient is being moved to hospital or home.

_Splints._—The stiff thing that you tie to the injured limb is called a splint. This may be anything such as a wooden batten, Scout’s staff, tightly rolled newspaper, etc.

Splints should be long enough to go beyond the joints above and below the break. You should put a splint on each side of the limb if possible.

Then bind the splints firmly from end to end with handkerchiefs or strips of linen or cloths, but not so tightly as to stop the blood circulating or to press into the swelling.

[_Practise this._]

_Bandage._—For binding a broken limb you want a good large three-cornered bandage. Its two sides should be each about forty inches long.

To make a sling for broken arm or collarbone, hang the bandage round the patient’s neck, tying the two ends together in a reef-knot with the point of the bandage towards the damaged arm. Rest the arm in this sling and bring the point round the back of the arm and pin it to hold the elbow in the sling.

_Fishhook in the Skin._—I got a fishhook into my finger the other day. I got a knife and cut off all the fly which was on the hook, then pushed the hook farther into my finger till the point began to push against the skin from inside. With a sharp knife I cut a little slit in the skin so that the point came easily through, and I was then able to get hold of it and to pull the whole hook through. Of course you cannot get a hook out backwards, as the barb holds tight in the flesh all the time. Such fun!

_Frost-bite._—In Arctic countries or extreme cold men are liable to get frost-bitten. That is, their ears, or nose, or fingers, or toes get killed by the cold. The patient does not feel any pain; the part becomes numb and turns very white and waxy, and afterwards purple.

Directly this is noticed the part should be rubbed with snow or with the hand until the blood comes back to it. On no account should it be warmed by putting the patient in a warm room or near a fire; that would kill the part at once.

_Hysterics._—Nervous people, especially women, get hysterics when excited, crying, laughing, and screaming. The best treatment is to shut the patient into a room and leave her entirely alone till she gets over it. Don’t try and soothe her, it only makes her worse.

_Fainting._—If your patient faints and is pale—fainting comes from too little blood in the head—make him sit down, and push his head down between his knees. Pressure on a nerve (for instance, in top of eye socket) will often revive. If his face is flushed raise the head—there is too much blood in it, as in apoplexy or sunstroke.

_Toothache._—This is not mentioned in most first aid instructions, and yet you can earn many blessings by knowing how to relieve it. Here is a simple way that is generally successful, especially if the offending tooth is in the upper jaw. Steep a little bit of cotton-wool in spirits of camphor. Stuff the wool into one nostril—hold the other nostril tight shut and make the patient draw in the air through the wool. The spirit is thus sucked in on to the nerve, which lies near the back of the nose, and it very quickly relieves the pain.

_Fits._—A man cries out and falls, and twitches and jerks his limbs about, froths at the mouth: he is in a fit. It is no good to do anything to him before the doctor comes except to put a bit of wood or cork between his jaws, so that he does not bite his tongue. Let him sleep well after a fit.

_Poisoning._—If a person suddenly falls very ill after taking food, or is known to have taken poison, the first thing to do is to make him swallow some milk or raw eggs. These seem to collect all the poison that is otherwise spread about inside him. Then, if the mouth is not stained or burnt by the poison, make him vomit if possible by giving him salt and warm water, and try tickling the inside of his throat with a feather. Then more eggs and milk, and weak tea. If the poison is an acid that burns, the patient should not be made to vomit, but milk or salad oil should be given. The patient should be kept awake if he gets drowsy.

_Blood-Poisoning._—This results from dirt being allowed to get into a wound. Swelling, pain, red veins appear. Fomenting with hot water is the best relief.

_Choking._—Loosen collar; hold the patient’s nose with one hand and with the forefinger of the other, or with the handle of a spoon try and pull out whatever is stuck in his throat. By pressing down the root of the tongue you may make him vomit and throw out the obstruction. For slight choking make patient bend head well back and swallow small pills made of bread, and sip water. Sometimes a good hard smack on the back will do him good.

Choking sometimes comes from a sudden swelling inside the throat. In this case put hot steaming flannel fomentations to the neck and give the patient ice to suck or cold water to sip.

_Quinsy._—When I was in the Andes Mountains in South America recently, I heard of two Englishmen who had died there not long before from choking by quinsy, simply because there was no one by who knew what to do in such a case. Everybody ought to Be Prepared to deal with quinsy if away from the help of doctors.

Most people suffer from tonsillitis at one time or another in their lives—that is a swelling of the tonsils—the round lumps of flesh on each side of the back of the throat. And sometimes, on rare occasions, the swelling becomes so great that the patient cannot breathe, the throat becomes completely blocked up. This is quinsy.

Very hot fomentations is the best step towards easing the pain and reducing the swelling.

The extreme measure is to lance the patient’s tonsils.

_Acid Burning._—A case occurred only the other day of a woman throwing vitriol over a man’s face. This is an awful acid, which burns and eats away the flesh wherever it touches. Fortunately a policeman happened to be on the spot at the time, and knew what to do. He at once applied half warm water to which some soda had been added to wash off the acid, and then applied flour or whitening to protect the wound from the air and ease the pain as you would do for a burn.

_Snake Bite._—Fortunately poisonous snakes are uncommon. If you go abroad you may come across them, and you ought always to know how to deal with bites from them. The same treatment does also for wounds from poisoned arrows, mad dogs, etc. Remember the poison from a bite gets into your blood, and goes all through your body in a very few beats of your pulse. Therefore, whatever you do must be done immediately. The great thing is to stop the poison rushing up the veins into the body. To do this bind a cord or handkerchief immediately round the limb _above_ the place where the patient has been bitten, so as to stop the blood flying back to the heart with the poison. Then try and suck the poison out of the wound, and, if possible, cut the wound still more, to make it bleed, and run the poison out. The poison, when sucked into the mouth, does no harm unless you have a wound in your mouth. The patient should also be given stimulants, such as coffee or spirits, to a very big extent, and not allowed to become drowsy, but should be walked about and pricked and smacked in order to keep his senses alive.

[_Practise this process in make-believe._]

(S.T.)

_Grit in the Eye._—Do not let your patient rub the eye; it will only cause inflammation and swelling, and so make the difficulty of removing the grit all the greater.

If the grit is in the lower eyelid, draw down the lid as far as you can, and gently brush it out with the corner of a moistened handkerchief, or with a paint brush, or feather.

If it is under the upper lid, pull the lid away from the eyeball and push the under lid up underneath the upper one. In this way the eyelashes of the lower lid will generally clean the inside of the upper one.

Another way, which every Scout must practise, is to seat your patient and stand behind him yourself with the back of his head against your chest. Lay a card, match, or any flat substance under your own thumb on the upper part of the upper eyelid, and then catch hold of the edge of the eyelid and draw it upwards over the match so that it turns inside out; gently remove the grit with a feather or wet handkerchief, and roll the eyelid down again.

If the eye is much inflamed, bathe it with luke-warm weak tea.

If the grit is firmly imbedded in the eye, drop a little oil (olive or castor oil) into the lower lid; close the eye, and bandage it with a soft wet pad and bandage, and get a doctor to see it.

[_Practise above._]

How to make eye-tweezers for removing a piece of grit from eye. Fold a piece of paper in two. With a sharp knife cut it to a point of an angle of 30°, and slightly moisten the point. Then bring it straight down over the eyeball of the patient, so that it can nip the obstruction, which is generally removed at the first attempt.

STRETCHERS may be arranged in some of the following ways:

(a) A hurdle, shutter, door, gate, covered well with straw, hay, clothing, sacking.

(b) A piece of carpet, blanket, sacking, tarpaulin or Girl Scout skirts, spread out, and two stout poles rolled up in the sides. Put clothes for a pillow.

(c) Two coats, with the sleeves turned inside out; pass two poles through the sleeves; button the coats over them.

(d) Two poles passed through a couple of sacks, through holes at the bottom corners of each.

In carrying a patient on a stretcher be careful that he is made quite comfortable before you start. Let both bearers rise together; they must walk _out of step_, and take short paces. It should be the duty of the hinder bearer to keep a careful watch on the patient.

If the poles are short four bearers will be necessary, one at each corner of the stretcher.

[_Practice these different methods._]

How to Practise

_In practising First Aid it is a great thing to bespatter the patient with blood and mud to accustom the rescuer to the sight of it, otherwise it will often unnerve him in a real accident. Sheep’s blood can be got from the butcher’s shop._

_Prepare a heavy smoke fire in a neighbouring room or building (if possible on the first floor), while you are lecturing in the club room. Secretly arrange with two or three Scouts that if an alarm of fire is given they should run about frightened and try and start a panic._

_Have the alarm given either by getting some one to rush in and tell you of the fire, or by having some explosive bombs fired. Then let a patrol, or two patrols, tackle the fire under direction of their patrol leaders. They should shut windows and doors. Send Scouts into different parts of the building to see if the fire is spreading, and to search for people in need of rescue._

_These Scouts should have wet handkerchiefs over their mouths and noses. “Insensible” people (or sack dummies) should be hidden under tables, etc._

_Scouts rescue them by shouldering or dragging them out and getting them down to the ground. Use jumping sheet, chute, etc._

_Other parties lay and connect the hose, or make lines for passing fire buckets._

_Another party revive the rescued by restoring animation. Another party form “fence” to help the police and fire brigade by keeping the crowd back._

Games

“_Dragging Race._”—A line of patients of one patrol are laid out at fifty yards distance from start. Another patrol, each carrying a rope, run out, tie ropes to the patients, and drag them in. Time taken of last in. Patrols change places. The one which completes in shortest time wins. Knots must be correctly tied.

(S.T.)

Physical Exercises and Health Rules

The simple physical exercises given in the earlier chapters will give you all the movements needed to keep you well and to help your growth IF you only practise them. That is the secret. Set apart certain minutes in the day, especially in the early morning, and make it your habit to go through these exercises and you will make for yourself a wonderful difference in your health.

But alongside this giving health to your body, you must see to it that your surroundings, your home, the air, your food, and your clothing are also health-giving, otherwise all the exercise in the world will not help you.

Health Rules for the Home

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. Disease germs, poisonous gases, mildew, insects, dust, and dirt have it all their own way in stale, used-up air. 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 whether 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 pantry and the closet windows.

_Tidiness._—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 a ball of any string you get and collect them.

War must be waged against rats and mice, or they will invade you and loot everything. If you have no mouse-traps, put a newspaper over a pail of water, break a hole slightly in the centre in the form of a star, and place a bit of cheese on the centre 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 molasses. Break a hole in the paper, and fit in a tube of rolled paper about one inch long and one inch across.

_Damp_ is never healthy, and you can prevent it to a great extent by letting plenty of fresh air go through your house and rooms which have been shut up.

When you see signs of damp, try to find out the cause; it may be put right. A pipe or gutter may have got blocked, or there may be a loose shingle, or the water pipes may be leaking.

In countries where there are mosquitoes people are very careful not to allow any water to lie near their houses, for the poisonous mosquito breeds in stagnant water. Sunflowers planted near a house help to keep the soil dry; also low bushes and plants. Consumption and other deadly disease germs flourish in damp, ill-aired houses.

_Sunlight_ is a great health-giver and disinfectant, and the more of it you have in your house the better. Long ago people used to shut out the sun and air for fear their curtains and carpets would fade, but it is far better that the sun should fade your curtains than that the darkness should fade you. Cases of consumption are rare in dry, sunny houses.

Nurseries and bedrooms should have plenty of morning and mid-day sun.

Motto: “_Tidy as you go_.”

_Cleanliness_ in every part of the house is most necessary, especially kitchen and refrigerators. Do not let dust or rubbish collect anywhere, behind furniture or pictures, under beds, or in cupboards. If we realised what horrid things we may collect from pavement or street dust on our skirts and shoes, we should be much more careful about the dusting of our rooms.

Do not allow dogs, cats, or birds to be where they can touch your food or your cooking utensils; animals have diseases too. Flies, gnats, and fleas are most dangerous pests; they feed on decayed and diseased things, and may carry poison on their feet and leave it on your food. Keep them out of your house, and especially chase them out of your kitchen and larder. Any bad smell in a house is a danger signal; find out its cause, and get rid of it.

(S.T.)

Be sure your drinking water is pure. If you are at all doubtful about it, _boil it well_—that is, for not less than fifteen minutes. Water cisterns should be often cleaned out. See that all drains, sinks, and closets are in good order. A very poisonous gas called sewer gas comes from bad drains, and typhoid, diphtheria, etc., are caused by drinking bad water and bad drainage. The gas does not come up if there is a “trap” full of water in the pipe; that is a curve in the pipe where water collects. Let water run down all sinks once or twice a day to rinse the pipes. To sum up, “Remember that nearly all the _dangers_ to health in a house or room begin with a D, and these dangers or destroyers are:

“Darkness. “Damp. “Dust. “Dirt. “Doubtful drinking water. “Defective drains.”

Against these destroyers, which bring debility, disease and even death, the Scouts’ defences are:

“Sunlight. “Fresh air. “Cleanliness.”

_Housewifery._—Every Scout is as much a “housewife” 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 out certain times for each kind of work and have your regular days for doing each thing.

_Pasteboards 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 bowls 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.

Swimming

_Swimming._—Every 1st Class Scout ought to be able to swim. It is not only for her own amusement that she should do so, but so that she will not cause other people to risk their lives in rescuing her when she gets into difficulties in the water, and that she may be able to help those in distress. British girls are behindhand in learning to swim—it is very different in Norway and Sweden, or in America, where nearly every girl can swim.

Where a doctor says swimming is bad for her, or there is no possible means for her learning, such other badges that she does not hold may be accepted instead towards qualifying the Scout for her 1st Class.

No Scout can be of real use till she can swim, and to learn swimming is no more difficult than to learn bicycling.

All you have to do is at first to try and swim like a dog, as if trying to crawl slowly along in the water; don’t try all at once to swim with the ordinary breast stroke that swimmers use, because this only lets your mouth go under water every time. When paddling along like a dog get a friend to support you at first with a pole or his hand under your belly.

Any of you who cannot swim as yet, and who fall into the water out of your depth, remember that you need not sink if you take care to do the following things. First, keep your mouth upwards by throwing the head well back. Secondly, keep your lungs full of air by taking in long breaths, but breathe out very little. Thirdly, keep your arms under water. To do this you should not begin to shout, which will only empty your lungs, and you should not throw your arms about or beckon for help, else you will sink. So the main thing of all is to keep cool and force yourself to remember and to carry out these things.

CHILD WELFARE

There always are and always will be children to be care of. Perhaps there is no better way for a girl to help her country than to fit herself to undertake the care of children. She should learn all she can about them, and take every opportunity of helping to look after these small Boy and Girl Scouts of the future. Many girls are already doing this and are realizing that the Child Welfare badge is one of the most important in the whole list for a Scout to win.

Health Habits

Children are trained to regular habits in three ways; first, by having meals at fixed hours; second, by having regular times for sleeping and waking; and third, by being taught when young to be clean and regular in their daily clear-out. They must have plenty of healthful, peaceful sleep and the earlier they go to bed the better for their brains and nerves in after life. The bedroom must be airy and quiet; the windows kept open.

Bath

Nobody can be healthy unless he is clean, and cleanliness is one of the first habits you want Baby to form. So he should have a daily bath. The temperature for his bath should range from 80° to 98° and you should be able to read the bath thermometer as well as the room thermometer. Before you undress Baby get together everything that you will need for the bath and dressing; your hand basin of warm water, soap, soft wash cloths and towels, comb and brush, etc., and his clothes laid out in the order in which you will put them on.

It is handier as well as safer to begin baby laid on a table or bed rather than on your lap. He should of course have under him a soft towel or canton flannel. First wash his head carefully and rub it dry gently. Do the outer parts of his ears and let no water get inside them. The nose may be cleaned with a bit of cotton rolled to a point and the nails should be carefully cleaned. Then put him gently in the tub. Some people soap the baby first, and a soapy little baby wiggles, so hold him very firmly and comfortably, supporting his head all the time he is kicking and splashing in the tub. After you lift him out be careful to dry all the creases in his little body. It is perfectly proper for a baby to cry as much as twenty minutes every day till he begins to talk, and he may take his bath time for doing it, so don’t scold him. A baby can be kept sweet and clean by a daily sponge bath.

Food

The baby needs proper food to build up his body. Milk is his only food for the first months of his life and even up to three years he takes mostly milk.

For the first eight or nine months of a baby’s life mother’s milk is the best food for him, and if he is unfortunate enough to have to take his milk from a bottle you will have to learn the best kind of bottle to use and how to prepare it. Baby is very particular about his milk being fresh and good.

Punctual feeding makes good digestion and even if he wants that extra nap it is better to wake a healthy baby to give him his meal at regular hours, than to let his digestion get out of order. Some babies are very punctual and feel it keenly if you do not feed them at the fixed hour. They will very likely let you know it too, and woe betide you if they find you have not properly boiled the bottle after each meal to sterilize it. Between meals a little drink of water which has been boiled and cooled (sterile water) will wash out his mouth as well as refresh him. Do not give a baby too much food at a time, and keep him on plain food. This applies to you as well as to baby. When the digestion is not right the appetite will not be good. Digestion makes the food you eat ready to be turned into muscle and bone and brain, and indigestion means that you have not used up the food you ate and therefore you have those uncomfortable pains in the middle of the night. Eat only the foods you know you can digest comfortably.

By the time a child is two years old, he should have a well varied though simple bill of fare. This may include cereals such as well cooked oatmeal and cream of wheat, soft boiled eggs, fresh juice, (beef) milk puddings, milk toast, baked potatoes, apple sauce and chicken broth.

Clothing

Children’s clothes should be warm but light, and where possible should hang from the shoulders. The legs, particularly the ankles, should be kept warm and the feet dry.

Sunshine, Air and Exercise

Give a baby plenty of fresh air, out of doors if you can, avoiding drafty places. It gives him a better appetite, makes him sleep sounder and also helps to give him rosy cheeks, a sign of good red blood.

Be careful that sheet and blankets do not get over a baby’s head; as this weight causes suffocation, so pin the covers to the side of the bed and let him have fresh air while he sleeps.

No self respecting baby would ever by himself contract the “pacifier” habit and he should never be given a pacifier. This article thrust into his mouth makes the upper jaw protrude, carries germs into a baby’s mouth, sometimes causes adenoids, is ugly to look at and finally doesn’t really pacify.

It does a baby good to lie down and kick about. Crawling and climbing exercise his muscles. Don’t let a baby walk too soon. Bow-legs come from standing and walking while the bones are soft; also from under-nourishment. But if a child wants to walk, let him make the effort; he will not pull himself up unless he wants to try his muscles. Childhood is a time to form the body; it cannot be altered much when you are grown up. Playtime should not come directly after feeding or before sleeptime.

Illnesses

What will you do when you suddenly find that baby is ill? To call in the doctor is the first thing, that is, if there is a doctor. But when there is no doctor! You will at once think of all the First Aid you have learned, and what you know of home nursing. Drugs are bad things. You may lay up trouble for a child by giving it soothing drugs and advertised medicines which sometimes make the baby stupid and may cause constipation. Never neglect the bowels if they become stopped up. This upsets digestion, poisons the baby and may help to bring on convulsions or other serious illnesses. If a child is suffering from a convulsion, lay him flat with his head on a pillow. Pat his head with cold water and put a hot bottle at his feet. If the convulsion continues put him in a warm bath of about 106° which is as hot as is comfortable for your bare elbow, but you must not keep cold cloths on his head. Use very gentle artificial respiration not trying to straighten the arms. Of course you will keep a baby away from anyone who has a contagious disease.

You can very easily train a young child to obey, but after three years old it becomes more difficult unless a good start has been made. Children expect you to be just. If you are good tempered and patient a child will stand a good deal of firmness, but slapping and scolding ruin young tempers. Answer a child’s question without ridicule. He is feeling his way in this great big world, and you once asked foolish questions, too.

Proficiency Badges

Whenever I see a Scout coming along I feel at once a friendly interest in her, but when she comes nearer that interest either increases or goes off a bit when I look at her right arm and see on it badges—or no badges.

Every Scout, as soon as she has passed the Second Class tests, can go in for proficiency badges. These badges are not intended for swagger, but to show that you can do things. On the left arm you will wear those badges which mean that you are good at work that is useful to other people, and these are the important badges; while on the right arm the badges show the sort of Scout that you are, that is whether you are efficient or not in different branches of Scout work.

There are a very large number of badges on the list which you can go in for, but it does not mean that you are to try and get them all, but rather that you may look through the list and find out which are most likely to suit you and then to go in for one or two of those. The most important of all the badges are those for nursing. They are important to the Scout herself, because through practising this work she can most easily carry out the Scout law of doing good turns to other people, and these would be good turns which really are useful. Also by knowing how to nurse she can do good work for her country.

_The Value of Nursing._—In the great war hundreds and hundreds of women have gone to act as nurses in the hospitals, for the wounded and have done splendid work They will no doubt be thankful all their lives that while they were yet girls they learnt how to nurse and how to do hospital work, so that they were useful when the call came for them. But there are thousands and thousands of others who wanted to do the work when the time came, but they had not like Scouts been Prepared, and they had never learnt how to nurse, and so they were perfectly useless and their services were not required in the different hospitals. So carry out your motto and Be Prepared and learn all you can about hospital and child nursing, sick nursing, and every kind, while you are yet a Scout and have people ready to instruct you and to help you in learning.

Child nursing is also very important, because so many girls are wanted now to help mothers in looking after their children. Such a large number of babies die every year from being nursed by girls who have never taken the trouble to learn what they ought to do with children. Babies are delicate little things, and a very little act of carelessness or want of knowledge of what to do often causes the death of one who might otherwise have grown up to be a valuable citizen for the country. On becoming a Scout you promise to Be Prepared to do your duty in every possible way, and one very important way is that of nursing children as well as grown ups; and therefore I hope that you will learn as quickly as possible how to carry out this duty and so to carry out your work as a Scout in the proper spirit. Therefore I recommend you to take as the most important ones, the Ambulance Badge, the Child Nurse Badge, and the Home Nursing; after which you can look through the list and pick out others for which you feel that you are particularly keen, or for which there are instruction classes for Scouts that you can attend. Set those badges up before you and do your best to win some of them.

_Where to wear the Badges._—The First and Second Class Badge is worn _on the left arm_. It should be placed about half-way between the elbow and the shoulder strap, so as not to be covered by the shoulder knot.

The Ambulance, Home Nurse, and Child Nurse Badges are also worn on the left arm, just below the Second and First Class Badges. All the other Proficiency Badges are worn on the right arm. They are sewn on as they are won, starting at the bottom of the sleeve, just above the cuff, and growing upwards in couples as the Scout becomes more and more proficient.

The War Service Badge is worn above the right-hand breast pocket.

The Attendance Stars are worn in a horizontal row just above the left-hand breast pocket.

_The War Service Badge._—Is granted to Scouts who have done special service for their country during the Great War. It is worn above the right breast pocket.

Golden Eaglet

To secure this honor a Girl Scout must win the following badges: Ambulance and First Aid, Clerk, Cook, Child Nurse, Dairymaid, Matron, Musician, Needlewoman, Naturalist, Home Nurse, Pathfinder, Pioneer, Signaler, Swimmer, Athletics, Health or Civics. (In case a swimming badge is impossible two badges not already earned may be substituted.)

Life-Saving Medals

These are worn on the right breast and are awarded as follows:—

_Bronze Cross (Red Ribbon)._—Presented as the highest possible award for gallantry. It can only be worn where the claimant has shown special heroism or has faced extraordinary risk of life in saving life.

_Silver Cross (Blue Ribbon)._—For gallantry, with considerable risk to herself.

_Badge of Merit (Gilt Wreath—White Ribbon)._—For a Scout who does her duty exceptionally well, though without grave risks to herself.

_Thanks Badge._—It is the privilege of any Scout, of whatever rank, to present this Badge of Thanks to any one who does a Scout a good turn. It entitles the wearer to make use of the services of any Scout at any time, but does not constitute membership.

Hockey a Fine Game

I should like to see everything that calls itself a girl playing it. Yet there are thousands and thousands of girls who have never yet even seen it played—much less played it themselves.

I should like all of them to play it, not only once but regularly, and this is why.

Because it gives them health and strength through active exertion in the open air; it gives them a jolly time and lots of excitement, happiness, and laughter; it makes them quick with eye, hand, and foot; it makes them all good pals together; it teaches them to take hard knocks without winking such as at other times would make them faint or swear.

It teaches them to play unselfishly and to pass the ball on. It gives them pluck, it gives them hope, for even when things look bad there is often the possibility of winning by an extra effort. They learn to stick to rules and to obey orders, to play fair and to stop sneaking, underhand play.

In a word, they learn to play the game for their side and not for themselves.

Well, that is just what our soldiers at the front are doing, playing the game nobly for their country at no matter what danger to their own life or limb.

It’s just what we want of all Americans in the future—women as well as men—to think of their country and other people first; to obey the laws and play the game for the good of others bravely and hopefully, without caring what hard knocks they get themselves.

Could not some of you who can afford to play hockey yourselves managed to help some other girls to play it too?

Think what joy it would bring into their lives, what health and brightness you could offer them and what good and friendly citizens you could make them.

A Scout Is a Lady

_What is a Lady?_—This is what I saw the other day in the Subway. The seats were all crowded when a smart-looking girl got in. A wounded soldier with a bandaged foot and a walking stick stood up rather painfully and offered her his seat. The girl plumped herself down comfortably and she did not give him a look or even a word of thanks. A pale woman then rose and said to him, “I can stand better than you; you got hurt for me,” and made him take her place.

One of these two women was a lady. Can you guess which?

The Frogs in the Cream

Oh, there is one more thing that hockey teaches. Often you lose a game, but you do not therefore lose your temper or lose your happiness for, as a Scout, you at once cheer the winners and forget to be put out by it.

But you don’t lose every game. Very often it will look as if it was going against you and there seems little chance of winning when, just near the end, the other side give out or get careless, and by sheer sticking to it you win a goal or two in the last few minutes and come out victorious in the end.

Well, it is sticking to it which is so tremendously valuable, not only in the game, but also for getting on as a Scout, and afterwards in getting on in life.

Two frogs, out for a walk one day, came upon a bowl of cream, into which they fell. Thinking it a new kind of water and that it was hopeless trying to swim, one was drowned through having no pluck. The other struggled hard to keep afloat. Just when he felt he _must_ give up a curious thing happened. In his struggles he had churned up the cream so much that he found himself standing safe on a pat of butter!

If you learnt nothing else from Scouting than this little story of the frogs, try, at any rate, to remember that; and when you feel you are failing at your job just think of it; remind yourself of the frogs—and stick to it.

Happy Housemaids Singing Hymns

Someone asked me the other day why it is that housemaids, when they are at work, are always droning most dreary hymn tunes. Well, I couldn’t say exactly why they do it, but I like to hear it, because people who sing at their work evidently don’t find it a drudgery or irksome.

I was at a great aeroplane factory the other day, where the manager had encouraged his men in their spare time to form a band, and he supplied the funds for helping them to get instruments, music, etc.

When they began to get rather good at it they, like all amateur musicians, began to fancy themselves, and said that they would like to get some high-class classical music to play.

But he said: “Not a bit of it, I want you to play all the tunes that you can get, provided that they are jolly ones.”

Then he used to make the men march to their workshops with their band playing, and for the rest of the morning, instead of working sullenly and grudgingly at their machines, the men were whistling and singing the tunes that were running in their heads, and the work consequently was better done and more of it was got through than would otherwise have been possible.

So the wretched Girl Scouts, when they are forced to play these dull games and to do the terrible hard work of Scouting, need something to cheer them up. All they have to do is to learn a few jingles and to sing them, stamp, bang, or whistle them as they go along, and they are sure to feel the better for it.

Patrol Leaders

When you come to be a Patrol Leader you must remember that you are really taking up a very responsible and important position, because you are going to be in charge of a number of girls under you, who will form their characters entirely under your example and guidance, and if you choose to be a slacker they will become slackers, if you choose to be a good Scout they will all become good Scouts, or nearly all of them. That is very much dependent on you yourself. So don’t become a Patrol Leader merely for the swagger of it or the sake of wearing an extra badge or two, but really think whether you are fitted to lead those girls, and take it up with the best of your ability to make good Scouts of them. You have got to _command_ your Patrol; well, you can only command others if you have their confidence, and you can only have their confidence if you have confidence in yourself; you can only have confidence in yourself by knowing your work thoroughly and well. You should therefore study the handbook, learn all about Scouting, what it aims for, and then how you can carry out the instructions given; practise the things yourself that are shown you, know that you can do the different things well; and then you will be able to have confidence in yourself, your Scouts will obey your orders, and so you will be able to carry out the training of them and their discipline perfectly well. You lead entirely by your own personal example, don’t forget that; that is what tells, and that is the easy way to gain success; not only the easy way, but it is the _only_ way.

As a Leader you must be the best at carrying out the Scout Law in your Patrol, the others will follow you in it; you must be the captain also in all the games; you must be the first in every venture; you must be the one to suggest good games, good ideas, good thoughts. If you are the first in every way like this your girls will follow your leads and you will have good discipline among them. Your aim should, of course, be to make your Patrol the best, and if every Patrol tries to be the best in the Troop, you may be sure that that Troop will be a very good one amongst other Troops.

You should take counsel among your Scouts as to what they fancy themselves at, and then challenge another Patrol to have a competition in that particular line, whatever it may be, whether Signalling, or Ambulance Work, or playing a game of Hockey, or baseball, or anything you like; but continually challenge other Patrols to beat you at your own game, and then practise your game well and make yourselves efficient at it, so as you do not get beaten. For every game the whole Patrol should form the team. Don’t have one or two good players and the rest no use at all; and don’t have individual competition, one girl against another, but always try and have your Patrol as a team, then the worst will try and make themselves better in order to play up the average of the lot, and so play for the good of the Patrol and not of themselves. If possible, give each of your Scouts her own job to do in the Patrol. You may find one good at one thing, another good at another; well, urge her to do her particular job, and to do it well for the benefit and honour of the Patrol. You will have one little difficult point that you must keep an eye on; when you are trying to lead the Patrol and at the same time to show them the way, don’t forget that you must not do the work of other girls. Give each one her job and see that she does it, but don’t do it for her, or else she will always be leaning on you and expecting you to do it.

A Patrol can specialise, that is, all members to take one special badge, or a bit of ribbon will do, that a Patrol may be a Despatch Riding Patrol, or a Signalling Patrol, First Aid Patrol, a Home Helping Patrol, or even an Entertaining Patrol. All the members of the Patrol win a certain Proficiency Badge, then that Patrol may be recommended by the Captain to have the honour of wearing that badge on its flag. I have known a great deal of good to come of a Patrol challenging a Patrol in another Troop to some sort of competition, and then going to visit the other Patrol or inviting them to visit themselves at their own headquarters and entertaining them and having their competition and making great friends with them; this leads to very good feeling between different Troops, and is very useful, because you can often pick up ideas from Patrols of another Troop better than you can from one of your own Troops. In camp a Patrol is a very useful unit because a whole Patrol can just pitch into one tent or probably into one room or barn, or wherever it may be, and there the Patrol Leader’s duties are very responsible, because she has to keep order in her own tent and see that it is properly kept clean and tidy.

Example of an English Display

_A Scout Hostel._—Scene: Inside a Scout Headquarters, fitted with bed, stretcher table, cooking stove, cupboard, Scout Law, etc.

Patrol at right of stage learning electricity and telegraphy.

Patrol at left of stage bathing, dressing, and feeding model baby.

In centre Brownies learning a dance; all under their Patrol Leaders to demonstrate the method of instruction in the Scouts.

After short demonstration one of the telegraph Scouts stops all work by saying that she has intercepted a wireless message saying “Air raid coming on.”

Patrols immediately fall in under their leaders, one as stretcher party and the other as first-aiders, with haversacks, etc., and march out to render assistance to police, etc.

Brownies, meantime, clear up the place, make bed ready, get out lint and bandages, etc., from cupboards, boil up kettle, put away electrical apparatus, etc.

Re-enter Scout leading a fat old lady, telling her she will be quite safe here. Old lady very flustered and very grateful. Brownies take charge of her, giving her a chair, and make her comfortable. As the Scout goes out the old lady calls after her and tells her she has dropped her handbag somewhere in the street. Doesn’t know where, dare not go out to look for it, but hopes that the Scout will; which she does smilingly.

Wretched woman with baby and crying children brought in next by another Scout, and made comfortable by Brownies. Fussy old gentleman, cantankerous old woman also come hustling in, led by Scouts, some lost children are brought in howling, also any number of other characters can be devised among your actors, including one man who will insist on making speeches against the Government for not stopping these raids.

When the room becomes full of them they all keep talking at once of their various grievances, and the children howling; bombs are heard without (bang of a drum or box full of old tins dropped), at each side of which all shriek, are silent for a moment or two, and then recommence their jabber.

Finally, half the Scouts having returned, they set to work to prepare food and hand it round to the people, which very soon quiets them, except the speech-maker, who seizes the opportunity of the others becoming quiet to make his speech with greater fervor. The Scouts stop him by putting a sack over his head and bundling him into a corner.

Then the stretcher party bring in an injured person, who is bandaged and put to bed. Others have slight wounds bound up and treated, and the Scouts then set to work with rugs and blankets and make beds on the floor for the whole party.

They then all go to bed comfortably on the floor.

Two Scouts remain on duty, the others lying down to sleep also.

(_Curtain._)

Hints as to Camp Orders

_In going into camp it is essential to have a few “Standing Orders” published, which can be added to from time to time, if necessary. These should be carefully explained to patrol leaders, who should then be held fully responsible for their Scouts carrying them out exactly._

_Such orders might point out that each patrol will camp separately from the others, and that there will be a comparison between the respective cleanliness and good order of tents and surrounding ground._

_Patrol leaders to report on the good work or otherwise of their Captains, which will be recorded in the Captain’s books of marks._

_Bathing under strict supervision to prevent non-swimmers getting into dangerous water. No girl must bathe when not well._

_Bathing picket of two good swimmers will be on duty while bathing is going on, and ready to help any girl in distress. This picket will be in the boat (undressed) with bathing costume and overcoat on. They may only bathe when the general bathing is over and the last of the bathers has left the water._

_Orders as to what is to be done in case of fire alarm._

_Orders as to boundaries, grounds to be worked over, damages to fences, property, good drinking water, etc._

_No Scout allowed out of bounds without leave._

_No boy allowed inside bounds without leave._