SCOUT NOTES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 148, 8 June 1935, Page 15

SCOUT NOTES

(By

“Friar Tuck.”)

COMMISSIONER'S OUTLOOK. t I was at Dr. Kagawa’s address in Napier last week and two of the speakers referred to Rudyard Kipling s lines, “East is East and West i# U est and never the twain shall meet’’ and said that the writer was certainly mistaken. 1 agree with them and could not help wondering what he would have thought if he had returned to the Melbourne Jamboree camp in the bus that ran from Frankston station to the camp. Here he would have found Japanese, Alamys, Indians. Siugalese and ether Eastern nations sitting on the laps of European JsJouts, singing their songs and •haring ivmt and jellies. Certainly East and West met there.

At the nnish of his address Dr. Kagawa, who is a great Japanese Christian teacher appealed to us to spend money on ptace as we did on war. 1 have been thinking since then, how can we spend it? Why not intelnational jamborees? Not only of Scouts but of grown-up people of all nations, Our jamborees are held every four years. These grown-up jamboree# could be arranged by a minister tor international peace. Of course, the first argument against it would be that it would upset business, and secondly the expense. What about war? Does it not interfere with business? Then expense. What about the expense of war? If we want peace we must make sacrifices. If all know that these jabmorees were coming off every five years they could make business arrangements. The whole nation could be formed into peace regiments and they would be “called up” and sent to “the front.” The “Iront” would be in different nation# and those who went would be paid just as our soldiers were paid, ft would not be a trade mission or an international sports meeting, as both these things too often lead to bad feeling rather than friendship. It would have an object—friendship, just as we do at our jaborees. Tours of the countries would be arranged and matters of government studied. Anything that promoted good fellowship would be organised. If a few millions were spent in this way 1 feel we should get better value from it than the billions spent in blowing the flower of the nation’# manhood to pieces. Of course this may all sound absurd to those who have'never attended a jamboree, but those who have been to one, I feel, will perhaps see some sense in it.

At any rate 1 should like you Rovers to debate the matter and perhap# when the destiny of the nation is in your hands you may be able to put into workable shape a scheme of this sort. If the word “jamboree’’ sounds too juvenile, call it something else. We have our Rover “meets ’’ Why let them drop when business claims you? Why coniine these meetings to Scouts? If “it interferes with, business” is to be the finish of all arguments for peace then war will come. Service means DDcrifice and if it js only loss of money,

it is better than war, which calls for sacrifice of not only money but life and morals. Think it over. Cheerio. —“Littlejohn.” VALUE OF SCOUTING. An account is’given in the “Deerslayer,’’ the book by Fenimore Cooper, of a white man escaping irom a tribe of Huron Red Indians, who were pressing him through the forest. His only chance was to keep running on in a straight line. If he once began to double or turn it would enable more of his pursuers to ceme up and to cut off corners, and so overtake him. The ground was a good deal up and down hill, so in going up-hill he went diagonally across me hill, walking part of the tune to save his strength, and after crossing the top he would run (Straight down the far side. Rut the frequent hills und the steady progress of the Hurons, who were tracking him at a great pace, kept him anxiously struggling on. At length a steeper ridge with a deep valley beyond it, followed by a second hill, invited him to play a trick on his pursuers which gave him a very exciting five minutes.

On gaining the top of the ridge he found a fallen tree lying across his path. He sprang on to it und off again, with a shout and a wave to his pursuers as though he saw a prospect of escape in the gully before him. But, instead of rushing down the hill as he had done before, he crept back and squeezed himself underneath the trunk of the tree, and, pushing back the grass and twigs displaced in doing so, lie lay completely hidden.

One by one his enemies came panting up the slope, leapt on the top of the tree-trunk, and then plunged hurriedly forward where his footmarks showed he had jumped off in the direction of the valley. In a long string they came, some very far behind, tired and blowing with their exertions; and on they went, steadily crashing down through the bushes into the valley. After the first few, hardly any of them paused to look for the trail, imaging that of course the leaders were iollowing it; and these, when they found themselves at fault, were unable to pick up the trail where they had lost it. This was because their comrades, in following, had trampled the ground so completely as to spoil all chance of finding it behind them, and all that they could do was to try farther and farther ahead. The scout himself lay low and recovered his breath while he counted some forty Indians pas# immediately over him. Then as no more came lie crawled cautiously out and crept away in a new direction, and so made good his escape. 1 have known a similar case in Zululand, when three white traders were attacked by Zulus (writes Lord BadenPowell in “The Scout”). One, who was lying ill in the wagon, wa# killed at once. The other two escaped with their rifles into the glass, which extended for miles round and stood about two to three feet high. They ran as well ns they could, for one was wounded, until they got blown; then they both threw themselves flat and waited lor their pursuers, rifle# ready. The Zulus had strung out in the run and were coming on in a, Jong As,

the leaders came near the two men rose to their knees and fired, each killing a Zulu. Then they quickly loaded and euch again fired IUIU Wied onu

rhe remainder of the Zulus, seeing tlieir tour leading men Uiua kdiui witmn a lew secouua, stopped uno Udng .iuck, aim the wtnve men, sinking dowu agani, crawled quietly away Hum the spot—and alter getting a good s.al't uud recovering their wind, tuey got up and ran on again.

ut couise, mo Zulus followed them wiiu a due uuu cry, uu; wuwi igicy uieu cue uuuiea men again flung -uemseives uown in Luu gius», but inaveau oi lying sent turn uuw they muwteq uuvg <.uwurda me Zuiuo.

These, marking the spot where the mon nan uisuppumeu, wwe ruumug w -v reucu it Wuen tq cue.r surpuse vucy ouuuemy came upon imnu luuc.. quicker man tuey nau expected, anu ~ o am the wuue men mane tueir rime, -oil ut close quaivois, and lour mule z-mua nit me nust. immediately, me remainuer ran uuca to get out oi range ui cim uidtien irnuksimii.

Alter this the lugitivus gut along pretty well. Ine Zums lolloped men., -v is true; out wneuever tuey lay down m mo g>a» tee Z.um» stepped also and trieu to surround them; but as tuey aiways smiled meir position in tue grass the enemy did net know exacny wfiere to nun tbem, and otcubiunauy one Zulu in creeping along to get ronun uemuu tnem would find bimseit luce to luce wuu a rifle, and be did not live to tell the tale. The white men thus kept tnem off till nightfall, ami tfien got sateiy away in the darkness and managed to reach our camp next day.

One ot these men was suffering from a nasty jagged wound in the calf of his leg, wnieii uud been made by a large rusty nail winch one ot the Zulus had used for a bullet when loading his gum A very ugly wound it was, too, and 1 well lememiier it because, us there was no doctor in camp, some of us had t<J took after it.

Scouts you know, have to learn, in peace-time, how to care for wounded or sick people, so that they knew wfiat to do in a case of this kind.

Just as he emerged from the tobacconist’s shop, with a fine new briar in his band he bumped up against an old chum who greeted him cheerily with: “What hoi—another new pipe:Must cost you something tor pipes, old sport!” “Oh. I don’t know,” he said with a grin, “fact is my doctor has limited me to two smokes a day, so I’ve been buying a pipe with a decent sized bowl.” Both laughed faaartily. “I know a trick worth two of that.', said his friend—“smoke ‘toasted.’ Next to no nicotine in it. The toasting works the oracle! No need to limit yourself with ‘toasted.’ You can smoke as many pipes of it a day as you like. And yon simply can’t match it for quality ” Thus he solved the riddle of bow to smoko all he wanted, doctor's orders to the contrary, notwithstanding! Substitutes are sometimes offered for “toasted.” But there are no substitutes for Naw Cut No. 3 (Bulldog), Cut Plug No. 10 (Bullshead), Cavendish, Riverhead Gold and Desert Gold, They are unique.*