THE BOY SCOUTS.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 268, 24 December 1928, Page 5

THE BOY SCOUTS.

GENESIS OF THE MOVEMENT. When Sir Robert Baden-Powell held that first small camp on Brownsea Island, off Poole, Dorsetshire, in 1908, he would have been surprised if he could have seen how the Boy Scnut movement was to grow. Twenty-one years ago tlhese few white tents sheltering some 20 scouts were dotted on this little island, wooded and picturesque, three quarters of a mile broad by one and a half miles long, were the very cradle of the Boy Scout movement, which is about tto celebrate its coming of age. Incidentally, there are still over half of these original Scouts alive to-day. Since that memorable year the number of scouts has increased to over one million for the British Empire 1 alone. The movement has spread to nearly every country in the world, and it is estimated that the total number of Boy Scouts exceeds the huge figure of 2,000,000. Scarcely an expedition leaves for unknown parts of the world without a Boy Scout being part of it. Boy Scouts hart seen the dreary wastes of the Polar regions and the scorching heat of the tropical deserts. In New Zealand the move has steadily forged ahead since its inception, until to-day the total strength is 11,034, an increase of 510 over last year.