Read Ebook: Outdoor Sports and Games by Miller Claude Harris

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In walking for pleasure, avoid a rambling, purposeless style. Decide where you are going and go. Walk out in the country if possible and on roads where the automobiles will not endanger your life or blow clouds of dust in your face. Never mind the weather. One rarely takes cold while in motion. To walk comfortably we should wear loose clothing and old shoes. Walking just for the sake of exercise can easily become a tiresome occupation, but the active mind can always see something of interest, such as wild flowers, gardens, and all the various sides of nature study in the country, and people, houses and life in the city.

A tramping vacation of several days furnishes a fine opportunity to see new scenes and to live economically, but near a city you may have difficulty in persuading the farm-wife where you stop that you are not a tramp who will burn the house in the night. If you intend to live by the wayside, the surest way to inspire confidence is to show in advance that you have money to pay for your accommodations. Also try to avoid looking like a tramp, which is quite different from looking like a tramper.

There seems to be a great difference of opinion on the question of how fast one can walk. The popular idea is "four miles an hour" but any one who has tried to cover a mile every fifteen minutes will testify that such a rate of speed is more like a race than a walk and that it will require great physical exertion to maintain it for any considerable distance. An eighteen or twenty-mile walk is about all the average boy should attempt in a day, and this is allowing the full day for the task from early morning until sunset.

Short and frequent rests are much better than long stops, which have a tendency to stiffen the muscles. The walker on a long tramp must pay especial attention to the care of his feet. They should be bathed frequently in cold water to which a little alum has been added. A rough place or crease in the stocking will sometimes cause a very painful blister.

Mountain climbing is a very interesting branch of walking. It is sometimes very dangerous as well and in such cases should only be attempted under the guidance of some one familiar with the neighbourhood. For rough climbing our shoes should be provided with iron hob nails. Steel nails often become very slippery and will cause a bad fall on rocks.

Cross-country running and hare and hound chases are much more common in England than in America. Our runners as a rule excel in the sprints and short dashes, although in the recent Olympic sports we have shown that our trained athletes are the equal of the world in nearly all branches of sport.

In many of the English schools it is a regular part of the school work for the teacher to organize hare and hound chases. The hares are given a start of several minutes and leave a trail by means of bits of paper or confetti, which they carry in a bag. In this kind of running the object to be sought is not so much speed as endurance. An easy dog trot with deep regular breathing will soon give us our second wind, when we can keep on for a long distance.

After any kind of physical exertion, especially when we are in a perspiration, care must be exercised not to become chilled suddenly. A rub down with a rough towel will help to prevent soreness and stiff muscles. The lameness that follows any kind of unusual exercise is an indication that certain muscles have been brought into use that are out of condition. A trained athlete does not experience this soreness unless he has unduly exerted himself, and the easiest way to get over it is to do more of the same kind of work until we are in condition.

THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

Headquarters--Purpose--Scout law--How to form a patrol of scouts--Organization of a troop--Practical activities for scouts--A scout camp--Model programme of a Sir R.S.S. Baden-Powell scout camp

The Boy Scout movement that has recently been introduced both in England and America with such wonderful success is so closely related to nearly all branches of outdoor recreation and to the things that boys are interested in that this book would be incomplete without mention of the object and purposes of this organization. It is a splendid movement for the making of better citizens, and it cannot be too highly recommended.

The Boy Scouts of America is a permanent organization, and it has its headquarters at 200 Fifth Avenue, New York City. From the central office, patrols and troops are being formed all over the United States. Any information with reference to the movement may be obtained by applying to this office.

Through the courtesy of the managing secretary, Mr. John L. Alexander, certain facts are presented concerning the organization, which are obtained from their published literature, for which due credit is hereby given.

The Boy Scouts is an organization the purpose of which is character-building for boys between the ages of twelve and eighteen. It is an effort to get boys to appreciate the things about them and to train them in self-reliance, manhood, and good citizenship. It is "peace-scouting" these boys engage in, living as much as possible out of doors; camping, hiking and learning the secrets of the woods and fields. The movement is not essentially military, but the military virtues of discipline, obedience, neatness and order are scout virtues. Endurance, self-reliance, self-control and an effort to help some one else are scout objectives. Every activity that lends itself to these aims is good scoutcraft.

The Boy Scouts were started in England by Gen. Sir Robert Baden-Powell. He was impressed with the fact that 46 per cent. of the boys of England were growing up without any knowledge of useful occupations, and wanted to do something that would help the boy to become a useful citizen. He emphatically stated that his intention was not the making of soldiers. In his work. General Baden-Powell has touched the boy's life in all its interests and broadened a boy's outlook by the widest sort of activities. In two and a half years over half a million Boy Scouts have been enrolled, and twenty thousand of these have been in parade at one time in London.

The scout idea has sprung up spontaneously all over America. In Canadian cities the Boy Scouts number thousands. In the United States, towns and cities are being swept by the idea. Gangs of boys are to be seen on every hand, doing their best at scoutcraft, "doing a good turn every day to some one," and getting fun out of it. Prominent business men and educators are behind the movement.

The aim of the Boy Scouts is to supplement the various existing educational agencies, and to promote the ability in boys to do things for themselves and others. The method is summed up in the term "scoutcraft" and is a combination of observation, deduction and handiness--or the ability to do. Scoutcraft consists of "First Aid," Life Saving, Tracking, Signalling, Cycling, Nature Study, Seamanship and other instruction. This is accomplished in games and team play and in pleasure, not work, for the boy. The only equipment it needs is the out-of-doors, a group of boys and a leader.

Before he becomes a scout, a boy must take the scouts' oath thus:

"On my honour, I promise that I will do my best, 1. To do my duty to God and my country. 2. To help other people at all times. 3. To obey the scout law."

When taking this oath the scout will stand holding his right hand raised level with his shoulder, palm to the front, thumb resting on the nail of the little finger, and the other three fingers upright pointing upward. This the scouts' salute and secret sign.

When the hand is raised shoulder high it is called "the half salute."

When raised to the forehead it is called "the full salute."

The three fingers held up remind him of his three promises in the scouts' oath.

There are three classes of scouts. A boy on joining the Boy Scouts must pass a test in the following points before taking the oath:

Know the scouts' laws and signs and the salute.

Know the composition of the national flag and the right way to fly it.

Tie four of the following knots: Reef, sheet bend, clove hitch, bowline, middleman's, fisherman's, sheep-shank.

He then takes the scouts' oath and is enrolled as a tenderfoot and is entitled to wear the buttonhole badge.

A SECOND-CLASS SCOUT

Before being awarded a second-class scout's badge, a boy must pass the following tests:

FIRST-CLASS SCOUT

Before being awarded a first-class scout's badge, a scout must pass the following test in addition to the tests laid down for a second-class scout:

THE SCOUTS' LAW

The scout master is the adult leader of a troop. A troop consists of three or more patrols. The scout master may begin with one patrol. He must have a deep interest in boys, be genuine in his own life, have the ability to lead and command the boys' respect and obedience, and possess some knowledge of a boy's ways. He need not be an expert on scoutcraft. The good scout master will discover experts for the various activities.

To organize a patrol, get together seven or more boys, explain to them the aims of the Boy Scouts, have them elect a leader and corporal from their own number and take the scout oath as tenderfeet. To organize a local committee, call together the leading men of a town or city, teachers, business men, professional men, and all who are interested in the proper training of boys, for a committee to superintend the development of the scout movement.

There are a number of divisions to scouting depending upon the place where the boys live and upon their opportunities. For instance, to obtain:

THE PATROL

The simplest way to form a patrol of scouts is to call together a small group of boys over twelve years of age. A simple recital of the things that scouts do, with perhaps an opportunity to look over the Manual, will be enough to launch the organization. The selection of a patrol leader will then follow, and the scouting can begin. It is well not to attempt too much at the start. Get the boys to start work to pass the requirements for the tenderfoot.

POINTS OF INTEREST

HOW TO ORGANIZE A TROOP

From the outset, the scout master must have the interest of each boy at heart. He must not play favourites with any of the boys in his patrol or troop. While there are sure to be boys in the group who will develop more rapidly than others, and whose keenness will be sure to call forth the admiration of the scout master, he should not permit himself to be "carried away" by the achievements of these "star boys" to such an extent that he will neglect the less aggressive boy. The latter boy is the one who needs your attention most, and your interest in him must be genuine. Every effort he makes, no matter how poor it may be, should be commended just as heartily as the better accomplishments of the more handy boy.

PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES FOR SCOUTS

SIGN POSTS

THE SCOUTS' CAMP

A model scout camp programme is given here. It takes eight days to carry it out, but there is material enough to run ten times the number of days specified.

A SIR R.S.S. BADEN-POWELL SCOUT CAMP MODEL PROGRAMME

CAMP ROUTINES

The father of scouting for boys in America, and in fact the inspiration for the movement in England under Lieut-Gen. Sir Robert S.S. Baden-Powell, K.C.B., is Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton, the distinguished naturalist and nature student.

The official handbook of the organization may be obtained from Doubleday, Page and Company, Garden City, N.Y., the publishers of this book, or from the national headquarters of The Boy Scouts of America.

CAMPS AND CAMPING

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