SCOUTS’ JAMBOREE

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 96, 17 January 1935, Page 4

SCOUTS’ JAMBOREE

“8.P.” Praises New Zealand Contingent : SCENES OF PAGEANTRY “He showed us that he has a tremendous voice, and he was looking very fine after his illness early last year,” said Mr. K. A. Picton, scoutmaster and a member of the Ist Wellington Rovers, when speaking to “The “Dominion” on his return by the Wanganella from the Melbourne Jamboree of the Chief Scout, Lord Baden Powell. Mr. Pieton commented on many of the highspots of the jamboree. There had been up to 11,000 scouts altogether in the series of camps, with 242 comprising the New’ Zealand contingent, he said. The opinion of overseas visitoi’s who had attended previous jamborees had been that the general arrangements were quite up to standard. At the back of the organisation w ere 200 Victorian rovers, who attended to the policing and the traffic duties for the parking of the thousands of visitors’ cars each day, and also to maintainiing the layout and provisioning of the camps. Chief Scout Impressed. “The Chief Scout seemed very favourably impressed with the New Zealand contingent’s march-past on the opening day,” he continued. “In his own words he said we ‘marched past ■like lifegua/rtls.’ 'We were said to have compared favourably with the excellent contingent from India." Describing the “biig show,” w’hen the full strength of the jamboree was drawn up in the arena, Mr. Pieton said it had been an extraordinary spectacle to see the 11,000 move off in a minute or tw’o when given the order. The New’ Zealand camp, arranged in the form of a Maori pa, complete with palisades aud watchtower, and the tents, representing whares with carved entrances and weapons and flax mats for 'general decoration, had been the centre of attraction among visitors. All the tents had been arranged in the form of a horseshoe. In a Maori pageant held in the arena, there had been represented the life of a Maori tribe in the old days, with hakas, war dances and tangis. A battle with an advancing tribe created the climax. The contingent pulled together very W’ell to make the pageant an outstanding success. Cosmopolitan Atmosphere. “On behalf of the New Zealand movement, I spoke at an international gathering of 450 rovers from all countries, and while there I w T as struck with the very fine sentiments expressed by the . representatives concerning their attitude toward international peace and goodwill,” said Mr. Picton. “Among the 'scouts were representatives as well as from all parts of the British Empire, from France, Hungary, the United States and a great many of the Eastern and Pacific countries. ' Members of all these contingents often wandered about making friends with strangers, and this In itself made life In the jamboree most fascinating. Except that khaki shirts were ’ worn by all nationalities, the uniforms had many differences. The Fijians w’ere in picturesque cloth skirts and bare feet, and the Indians had turbans. Many of the other pageants were very flue: for example, the Javanese showed a street scene from their country.. “The Chief visited our camp on the last day of the old year, and he was greeted in true Maori fashion and presented with a Native carving. On his white horse, and with a bodyguard from different .countries, he visited all the camps. As a farewell to the jamboree be handed on a boomerang to each spoke of a huge wheel formed by the scouts all drawn up in the arena. Each boomerang had with it a message of goodwill; It was passed down the spoke and handled by every person. The boomerangs were then presented to all the contingents. Heat Affects March Past. “Last Sunday week there were several thousands of visitors, and on New Year’s Day there were 70,000 visitors and scouts. On account of the tremendous heat, through which people were fainting in large numbers and overtaxing the hospital staffs to the extent of abdut 2000, the Chief thought fit to cancel the rest of the march past. About 8000 metropolitan Melbourne scouts were waiting to march past the Chief, but they were given this opportunity later.” Mr. Picton said that weather conditions on the whole had been ideal, and the “usual jamboree mud” had not been in evidence. The strong storm that had damaged St. Kilda and the waterfronts had done little damage in the camp, despite prominent stories in Australian newspapers. Most of the Auckland scouts returned on the Manama on Monday. The main body left Melbourne last Saturday to travel by the Maheno via Bluff, and the remainder of the New Zealanders will leave Sydney on Thursday in the Maunganui.