SCOUT NOTES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 97, 11 May 1937, Page 15

SCOUT NOTES

"BIG SMOKE" .

Uaing a compaas. Here _are gome hints about using a compass, they are taken from the AustraUan Scout Diary.— Avoid using a compass near electric light wires, railwaya or metal fences. Pay special attention to using the prismatie with "rolled gold" speotacles as they influence it magnetically. JNickel and cobalt also affect compasses in a minor. degree. To indicate the distance of activity these things may have in affecting the compass here is a list of distances rvithin whioh you should never use a compass if you want a correct - reading : Fencing wire, 10 yards; plough or tin shed, 40 yards; Tractor or motor, 60 yards; belt'muckle or knife, 18 inches; hat badges, 18 inches. Of course there are plenty of other things -that have the same result, but this list gives you an idea, for other objects can be. teckoned by these nanied. Accuracy of readings are important because over a distance a slight error will make a big clifference. For instance? a 10. degree error will put you oqe mile out iu five and a half miles. Even a one degree mistake will mean a distance of of mile in fifty-seven miles, .so you will see how accurate you will have tp be. Even a pencil with' a steel cap will affeet your compass jf it is in your pocket when you are trying to get a reading from the compass needle. You will be safe if there is only npnmagnetic metal close to you, but you Will find that there are very ,few of those metals in use. It is mostly ateel or jron about us. Estimnting belghts (Swedish Methods). JDivide /our pencil or measuring stick into four equal parts and at the lowest maka a small notch. Hold. the pencil at arm's 'length and move to distance from objeot so that pencil will cover the height of the thihg to be. measured. Then note what part on object appears in the notch. Go and measure on the objeot the length from the base to the part seen in the notch; multiply this. by fonr and you have the height of the whole thing,If the tree, or whatever has to be measured, is very tall you will have to divide your pencil into more than four parts. If you divide it into eight" multiply; the distance from the base to. the spot seen through the notch by eight instead of ' four. Always multiply by the 'number' of sections your pencil is divided into and you will get the result. • - Artlst's Method. Extend your arm fully with your pencil or measuring stick upright so that the, top coyers tho top o.f the thfng fo b^ mea.spreff. With a. fipger mark on pencil where tbe base of object seems to come. Then tqrn pencil down at right angles, taking car© tp keep.- base mark on, pencil in, line with, base of object, Nbte whereabouts, in line with the objectj ihe top of the pencil comes. Then ihe distance on ground will equal tha heigfiit of object.

Usuai Soout Methqd, Tq find tbe. height of the object, such as a tree or a houso, pace a distance of Say eight yards from it. There drive in your staff or stick of about five feet. Then move to a spot where your eye will, wben you are lying down so that your eye is elose to the ground, be in line with the top of the object. Then measure off the height of your staff or stick ,also the . distance from jvhere ypur eye wasj of the ground over to the staff and ihiq latter distance will be in the same proportion to the height of the stqff as the whole distance from your eye to-th© base of object will be t© the height of the object. That is, if the distance from your eye to the base of staff is twice the heigbt of staff, then the distance from your eye to base of the objcct will be twice height of objeot. There are several other methods of finding out tbe heigbt of anything, but these are the ones usually used by Scouts and so, I have put them in for the benefit of those of you who do not. yet know what to. do if someone asks you the height of a certain tree, or pole and any object. You must be able to.get to the base of the tree, or whatever the thing may be, before you can work any of these methods. If yoU cannot get to the object to be measured fof any of these methodg you can adapt the artists way. When you ar© ready to turn the pencil down you can swing yourself around as well and sight past your finger to a spot as near as possible the same distance from you as is the object, Then sight past the top of tbe pencil to a spot also the same distance away; these two spots must both be aocessible and by measuring their distance apart you will get the height of the object. Of course, the accuracy of the result will depend on your ability of making the measuring lin© the same distance from you as is the objeot. Anzac Day. I want to thank those parents who sent down flowers for the Scout wreath ; there were doubtless many others who would have sent some along if they had known anything about it, but due to our not being able to have meetings we could uot make an arganised affair. We also thank the mother who made the wreath up for us. It is good to know that there are parents who will help us, as for years we could 'not get assistance of this kind. It all takes a lot of worry off the mind of the scouter and his assistants.

National Anthem, There always seems to be a great uncertainty among Scouts as to what they should do when the National Anfchem js played- As a result, when they ar© qu parade and tlie anthem starts, some take their hats off, some put up their hands to do so and then Stop half way, some salute and some just stand at the "Alert". Here is what is reckoned the procedure l'or Scouts : lf you are in a theatre or in any building for that inatter, you Will naturally have your hat off. so leave it off and just stand to "Alert" Jf yoq are outdoors you will have your hat on, so leave it on and junip to the "Alert" as for indoors. Scouters will usually salute in ihe latter instance.

if you are at an outdoor service and have your bats off, put them on for the Anthem. If you have your colours , with you on parade remember that no fiags are lowered for the National Anthem unless come member of Royalty or the Governor-General is present. Dominion Headquarters. You probably know that our Dominion headquarters has been moved to Wellington. They are having to practically start all over again, and it will take them some time to get really into their stride; so if you have to wait a month or so for any special badge that our district badge secretary has not got .in stock himseif, don't go raviiig mad about it — you will get it as soon as it is possible for our new H.Q, Staff to get it from Home. The Scouts' of New Zealand now have a headquarters run by men who know scouting from A to Z, and each is an expert in the section that he has taken on, It will mean that things will buek up splendidly as soon as they begin to see where they are, and that won't be . long .either. Goodj luok $o them. lf it means that we lose most of the help of our "Little John" through his having to 'attend to his new duties, I know that all the Scouters wjll hang together and carry-on, and I also know that all you Scouts will go on with just the same keenness as before. . We all congratuiate • "Little "John" on his. appointment as Commissionqr for Traiqing in the Dominion, and I think we all realise that he is a splendid man for that ioh.