GUIDES & SCOUTS

Hokitika Guardian, 15 July 1930, Page 7

GUIDES & SCOUTS

the two heads.

VISIT NEXT YEAR,

BOTH FULL OF ZEST.

; , > . LONDON, May 130. On 16th’January Lord and Lady Baden-Powell will leave England lor New ;; Zealand and Australia, vie Panama.

'“We/are /looking : forward to -our three •HvefeEs in New Zealand. with more pleasure than mere words con convey/’ wa<s ; the ,remark made to.me ,by the Chief, 6uide this week. “We shall he iii a'Js/mdhy centres as possible, hut I ant afraid my husband will not be able to/Speak in more , than the four chief/cities.. He is })erfectly fit, but at his agejhe must not be overworked, and I'cannot permit him to take on all the engagements that he woii’d like to fulfil/:'./shall be . accompanied by .Sir. 31 ontagu. Burrows, C.1.E., County Commissioner for Oxfordshire, and he will! genefally deputise for the Chief Scout. /Sir/ Montagu is a man of great experienc/g; t-harm, and zest for both «ipvemeHt?,‘,and he will be a great help to us./'rLiidy Burrows takes great interest/in,v|he Guides.”, It.,;iS.that Lord Baden-Powell canppt'.JbS sa: active as lie would naturally : be. But those who do havef/the opportunity of meeting him and. of?, hearing hi nr speak will never forget, lii|v.delightful personality or his remarkjs.V'i'His cultured voice is strong, his dicti,on. very clear, and lie has a fund of/good stories which he tells in an inimitable manner. However, as a great vadmirer of the Chief Scout remafkddtr i/.'We don’t want New Zealand : or/tAiistralia to kill him, for he can’trbh'/spared just yet. Lady BadenPowell,lppks.,after, him with the utmost him in every possible wayc-”'

* Theft' Cjltief; • Guide . • is a woman ol forty; much energy, directness, ahd. edacity: ishe is beloved by everyone/ and she will memories behind her when she 4ss'(beento New Zealand. She is thinks quickly, is blessed with' and with a memory for namjp|:/and/faces that/is; ineffaceable. y Once/she .has .met a Cuide in any country she Remembers'' her name and e.vbry.|hmg about her . family, even after /a/ eonsiderable lapse of time; “She' is.;siinply wonderful with children,” - friend;: .'.“She is marrallies, : smiling* all over; childreu^H«*P;ly : adore her. - I never knew, anyppe so keen about, things. She does'/nof know what it is to be IxoredJ snthsslaMn for the Guide moverteht knows no limit, and ahe is a capably'organiser."- /LriIn appearance she is tall; she has a .wealth; of dark hair, and her pene-

trating, kindly eyes are of a deep brown. Her life is an extremely busy one, for she has home, family, and social duties in addition to the duties entailed by her position as ChicF Guide.

HUSBAND AND WIFE,

It is generally known that the birhdays of the Chief Scout and the Chief Guide fall on the same day, 2hid February. There is, of course cou- . isidjerable difference in their ages. Their handwriting also is very similar. As a girl Miss Olave Soames, as she then was, had no interest in the usual social round, being much happier with-her parents (who had three children), . her horses, and dogs. Mr Soames always disliked the English whiter,'so in January. 1912, lie took this.; daughter for a trip to Jamaica. To her.mother she wrote: “The only interesting person on board is General Baden-Powell, the Scout man. ’’ .Before the. ship arrived, it is recorded, “the Scout man” and Miss Soames were engaged, though no announcement was made as Mr Soames half hoped liis daugher was not serious In becoming: engaged to a man so much older than herself; The General went on his’ way to America and Australia, and eight months later their wedding took place quietly at Parkstoiie, Dorset, in October, 1912. During the first few years Lord and Lady Baden-Powell were engrossed in their home affairs, for they have three I children—-one son and two daughter,s. The Guide Movement' met with many difficulties at the -start, and had to face much public opposition. : “In 1916,” as Lady Baden-Powell .remarked, “it-was in a very wobbly state, and I felt I must. helf somehow, to get this . excellently conceived idea really established. So I came into it and was made Chief Commissioner in that. year, and two years later, after tlie leaders had time to find out if I would be any good in it, they promoted me to Chief Guide. I am now absolutely thrilled to the bone when I realise the present size of the Guide family all over the world. This great inspiration goes quietly on without any publicity.; it grows and grows, because the. children want it ; what the children'so want the country really needs. We never have had any propaganda or pushing; we have no Government or party backing; we just go quietly on, and the, children themselves have.done the wl.iole thing. The movement is non-class, non-political, and - inter-de-nominational, and it began in a remarkable way.

THE' START OF THE GUIDES

“When, the Boy Scouts were about a year, old the girls in the families used to dress up in their Scout uniforms and call themselves Girl Scouts. -Until then no one had thought of cloying anything for girls, and then to the Chief Scout came the inspiration to start a section for girls—really it started itself because the girls wanted it, In 1915, with a record of slow but tendy growth, a Charter of Incorporation was granted by the Government, and in 1923 the King granted us

a Royal Charter, and since then it has developed with gratifying steadiness. The last annual report (1929-30) shows that there is a grand total membership throughout the world of 894,501 guides of all ranks. These figures are soul-inspiring.”

By degrees the movement has become scT-supporting, and now the present headquarters exists wholly on the profits from the sale of equipment. Though small in themselves, they are in the aggregate sufficient to meet expenses, ’ salaries to local headquarters staff, etc., so groat is the demand for these accessories. It “One of the most thrilling parts of the movement,” said the Chief Glide, “is the • F.mi:-ire side—it is marvellous to think how many people are playing the same game in nearly every corner of the globe. am specially keen about New Zealand. and all it lias attained to under ; is Chief Guide, Mrs Wilson, because they started rather late in your country. I can speak from experience of the good effects that are d M e to the Gin’dp. Movement. In the future we shall see bigger rallies, and our children' will see still bioger ones. There are numberless specific eases, proving tlie great good that is to our credit. School teachers offpn relate instances of the help that we have teen, while clergymen now are taking great notice rtf the movement. Put next generation should see a still greater development.”

DOMINION'S CHIEF GUIDE

; Truly Baden-Powell paid warm and gracious tribute to' the New Zealand Chief ...Guide.. “Airs Wilson,” she- said, ‘“has done remarkable things in an ex. ceptionally short time. All the Leaders here marvel at the excellence with which she has done the Guide work in New Zealand. S'heSis endowed with the true Guide enthusiasm, understanding, and spirit. lam one of her warmeist admirers and friends—we all admire her greatly—and I cannot speak too highly of the way she has carried on, the beautiful and real Guide spirit/bchind all her efforts. In Guide Circles in London 3trs Wilson became tremendously popular immediately she appeared; she was taken straightaway into the hearts of ad. The first function she attended here was. a simple GuHe t°n party—we hold these- every week. The moment- she came /in everyone was attracted to her, and it has been the same at every function she has attended. She lias wonderful sympathy and a real understanding. ' “Tlie Movement in New Zealand must be very proud to have such.a woman as its Chief. There was a big rally at Guildford on Saturday with the Empire pageant, twice given. At the second performance Mrs Wilson took the salute. It was a rally of 7000 girls representing the County of Surrey.”

MUCH-TRAVELLED PEOPLE.

The Chief Scout and the Chief Guide are much-travelled people. Practically all their tours have been undertaken primarily in the interest

of the two growing movements, (but each trip has been a real pleasure i and has been the means of their really gleaning an insight into the people and the country. They have been twice to Canada they spent six months in South Africa, and they have travelled throughout India. They know most of the colonies, including Malta, Gibraltar, Burma, Ceylon, iSierra Leone, and the West Indies. “Travel provides us with many joys and helps us to see the life of so many peoples,”/ said tho Chief Guide. “Having seen so much already doubles our desire to get to know something of Now Zealand and Australia.”- ■ Every two. years an international Conference takes place. In 1920 it was held at Oxford, in 1922 at Cambridge, ip. 1924 at Foxlease (the training centre in the New Forest), in 1926 in tlie-United States, in 1928 in Hungary, and this -year there will be a world conference of the Leaders in England, in July. The World Bureau, started last year, is in full swing under Dame Katherine Ftirse, who, in the' last report, remarks: “In true - Scouting and Guiding as inspired by. Lord Baden-Powell, there is no distinction among the members of tlie organisations. Grown-ups and children, all belong to a great family-throughout the world—a family imbued with desire to be friendlv v'hhin itself, am' to be of service to all humanity. All the members of the family accept the obligation to preserve: the kindliness and beauty of the world as created by the (Supreme Being to • Whom they all owe allegiance, and through these means, to attain social adjustment.”