HOW TO BECOME A FIRST CLASS SCOUT
WHY is a Second-Class Scout like an advertisement of Pears’ Soap?
Because she sees the First Class Badge within her reach if she only
tries for it and “she won’t be happy till she get it.”
At any rate I _hope_ she won’t, because a Scout who is content to sit
down and be a Second Class Scout is only a third class girl.
[Illustration: She won’t be happy till she gets it.]
It is true that when she has got her Second Class, she can go in for
Proficiency Badges and cover her arm with them, but I would much rather
see a Scout with the one Badge of First Class on her left arm than one
with a dozen on her right.
After all the First Class tests are not so very hard. They look a lot,
but like many other difficulties in this world they are not so bad as
they look when you smile at them and tackle them.
Here are the tests that you have to go through for becoming First Class
Scouts:—
First Class Girl Scout
To become a First Class Girl Scout, she must have been a Second Class
Scout.
I. INTELLIGENCE.
BE ABLE to draw a rough sketch of the district around
the troop meeting place, locating the important
landmarks, and be able to direct a stranger to the
nearest doctor, fire station, telephone, postoffice,
etc., from any point within that district, and to judge
distances.
BE ABLE to send and receive messages, in the general
service code at the rate of thirty letters a minute.
HAVE FIFTY cents in the savings banks earned by herself.
PRESENT a girl trained by herself in the test for
Tenderfoot.
KNOW HOW to distinguish and name ten animals, ten wild
birds, ten wild flowers and ten trees.
[Illustration: 1st Class Scout]
II. HANDICRAFT AND SKILL.
BE ABLE to prepare, cook and serve one simple meal, of
three courses.
MUST BRING a shirt waist or skirt made by herself or
the equivalent in needlework and be able to put in
patches.
III. SERVICE.
BE ABLE to dress and bathe a child two years old or
younger. Know the proper food to give a child before it
is a year old, and up to the age of two years. Know how
to clothe the child in winter and summer.
MUST KNOW how to behave in case of accidents; and what
methods of rescue and restoration to use in two cases
such as drowning, ice accident, gas poisoning and
electric shock.
IV. HEALTH.
MUST KNOW the simple laws of sanitation, health and
ventilation; and be able to walk a mile in 20 minutes.
MUST SWIM 25 yds. in her clothes, and undress in the
water.
or
WHERE SWIMMING is impossible because of weak heart
or lack of swimming facilities; must win the other
proficiency badges not already held.
How to Draw a Map
Once I paid a Boer five pounds for a map which he drew for me with a
stub of a pencil on a bit of brown paper. He had never learnt drawing
or mapping, but he was able to jot down a map that was of great value
to me in a campaign against the Zulus.
Almost any savage can draw you a map in the sand with the point of
his stick: so I am sure that any Scout could do it on paper with a
pencil—especially after a little practice.
You know how useful it is to be able to read a map. Well, it is still
more useful to be able to draw one for helping other people to find
their way. You would not be a real Scout unless you could do this.
[Illustration: A sketch map.]
[Illustration: How to indicate roads.]
[Illustration: More ways to show roads.]
[Illustration: Paths and boundaries.]
[Illustration: On highroads between large towns you can show the
mileage like this.]
[Illustration: Bridges are indicated this way.]
[Illustration: Trains and trams.]
[Illustration: This is the way to show buildings, etc.]
[Illustration: Rivers, etc,]
[Illustration: Woods, etc.]
[Illustration: Signs for north on map.]
[Illustration: Contour mapping.]
The above signs are the conventional signs used in map-making.
Contouring is most easily explained by cutting an apple in half and
placing the halves face downwards, to represent a hill. You can then
slice the pieces horizontally at regular distances to illustrate
heights, as shown on a map.
Judging Heights and Distances
Every Scout must be able to judge distance from an inch up to a mile
and more. You ought, first of all, to know exactly what is the span of
your hand and the breadth of your thumb, and the length from your elbow
to your wrist, and the length from one hand to the other with your arms
stretched out to either side, and also the length of your feet and of
your stride; if you remember these accurately, they are a great help to
you in measuring things.
Judging the distance of objects from you is only gained by practice,
and judging the distance of a journey is generally estimated by seeing
how long you have been travelling, and at what rate; that is to say,
supposing you walk at the rate of four miles an hour, if you have been
walking for an hour and a half you know that you have done about six
miles.
[Illustration: A Scout must be able to estimate heights.]
Distance can also be judged by sound; that is to say, if you see a gun
fired in the distance, and you count the number of seconds between the
flash and the sound of the explosion reaching you, you will be able to
tell how far off you are from the gun.
[Illustration]
Sound travels at the rate of 365 yards in a second; that is, as many
yards as there are days in the year.
A Scout must also be able to estimate heights, from a few inches up to
three thousand feet or more.
[Illustration]
The way to estimate the distance across a river is to take an object X,
such as a tree or rock on the opposite bank; start off at right angles
to it from A, and pace, say, ninety yards along your bank; on arriving
at sixty yards, plant a stick or stone, B; on arriving at C, thirty
yards beyond that, that is ninety from the start, turn at right angles
and walk inland, counting your paces until you bring the stick and the
distant tree in line; the number of paces that you have taken from the
bank C D will then give you the half distance across A X.
To find the height of an object such as a tree (A X), or a house, pace
a distance of, say, eight yards away from it, and there at B plant a
stick, say, six feet high; then pass on until you arrive at a point
where the top of the stick comes in line C with the top of the tree;
then the whole distance A C from the foot is to A X, the height of the
tree, the same as the distance B C, from the stick, is to the height
of the stick; that is, if the whole distance A C is thirty-three feet,
and the distance B C from the stick is nine (the stick being six feet
high), the tree is twenty-two feet high.
(S.T.)
Games in Pathfinding
Learn how to recognize the Great Bear and the Pole Star and Orion;
to judge time by the sun; find the south by the watch. Practise map
reading and finding the way by the map; and mark off roads by blazing,
broken branches, and signs drawn on the ground.
Captain takes a patrol in patrolling formation into a strange town or
into an intricate piece of strange country, with a cycling map. She
then gives instructions as to where she wants to go to, makes each
Scout in turn lead the patrol, say, for seven minutes if cycling,
fifteen minutes if walking. This Scout is to find the way entirely by
the map, and points are given for ability in reading.
How to Bank Your Money
To be a first-class Scout you have to have at least a shilling (or a
dollar or a rupee) in the Savings Bank. To do this you apply at your
post office to start a deposit. The postmaster will take your money and
keep it for you, and whenever you can get a few more pennies or dimes
go and hand them in to be added to your account. As these sums mount up
you will begin to be paid back a little “interest” by the postmaster.
This you can spend on candy—if you are foolish; but being a Scout you
will add it to the money already in the bank and so increase your pile.
How to Train a Tenderfoot
You know the things that you had to do as a Tenderfoot. It is now your
business to do a good turn to another girl by showing her how to become
a Scout. Mind you, it is all done by kindness and example. Perhaps you
will find your pupil very shy or slow or stupid. Well, Be Prepared, for
that and—smile. Be jolly with her. Don’t try and teach her everything
all at once. Show her generally all that she has to do and then begin
with one thing and do it for her—then repeat it with her—and finally
let her do it for herself. Let her make her mistakes at first and show
her _afterwards_ where she went wrong. She will soon get the hang of it
all.
Then your own example is what will influence her a lot. If you get
impatient and short-tempered so will she. If you laugh and enjoy the
lesson so will she, and between you, you will get along like a house on
fire.
COOKING
Cooking is great fun—sometimes quite exciting, when you try inventing
new dishes.
You can only become a cook by practice under the help of an experienced
cook. But here are a few practical hints that will be helpful.
_Eggs._—Is an egg lighter or heavier when cooked? An experienced cook
is experienced in eggs. There are “new laid” eggs which are fresh and
“fresh” eggs which are not; there are “cooking” eggs which are liable
to squeak. Eggs are safe in their shells, and think you don’t know
whether they are fresh or not, or whether they are raw. Any egg can be
thrown out of a first-floor window on to the lawn without the shell
breaking, it falls like a cat, right end upwards, and this is not a
boiled egg, either! You can tell that because it will not spin on the
table, so it must have been a raw egg. A cooked egg would spin.
To tell a stale egg, you will see it is more transparent at the _thick_
end when you hold it up to the light.
Fresh eggs are more transparent in the _middle_. Very bad eggs will
_float_ in a pan of water.
_Poached Eggs._—Break each egg separately into a cup. When your water
is boiling fast, drop in an egg sharply. Use a large deep pan, with
salt and vinegar in the water. Lift the egg very carefully in a ladle
before it is set too hard. Place the eggs all round a soup plate, pour
over them a nice sauce, made with flour and butter, a little milk, and
some grated cheese and salt.
_Meat._—Examine the meat before you accept it. If you do not know the
looks of good meat, you should go to a butcher’s shop and ask him to
show you how to know it. Much gristle is a sign of old age. You can
easily tell if meat smells disagreeable. Beef should be of a bright
red color, and juicy and elastic. The fat should be firm and of a pale
straw color. Mutton should feel dryish and the fat look white. All
papers must be taken off at once. The feet of fowls should be soft and
flexible, not dry, and the skin of the back should not be discolored.
Beef and mutton, when underdone, are more easily digested than when
cooked through.
Roasting and grilling of meat is done to so heat the outside that the
juices are kept in. The meat has to be frequently turned to prevent
it burning, but allow plenty of salt to melt into the meat with the
dripping, or it will taste just as good as a sole of a boot.
As Mr. Holding said: “The only method I know of for properly making
your meat thoroughly indigestible” is to hurry a stew.
To stew or braise any meat or fowl you must leave it long and keep it
slow. The flavor is improved if the meat be fried first. Then put in
flavoring vegetables, bacon, herbs, and a little stock, and by the time
you have done a day’s work you will find a dish fit for a king. Even
tough meat can be made delicious in this way, so long as it never gets
near boiling and is closely covered. This is a case of “Sow hurry, and
you reap indigestion.”
_Fish._—A most unwholesome food is stale fish. The gills, if fresh,
should be bright red. Canned fish is often poisonous. Fish is a food
which you can get more good from, considering the price, than if you
bought meat, and the most nourishing fish and the cheapest are the
herring mackerel. Pieces of fish, buttered, can be deliciously steamed
or baked if laid between two plates over a saucepan of water.
_Oatmeal._—Oats, too, are full of value; a pound and a half a day
will keep a hard-working man, for oatmeal increases the power of the
muscles, and is rich in bone and flesh-forming materials. What you can
get out of oats for 5 cents would cost you 75 cents in lean beef. Oats
give increased mental vigour and vitality, as they have so much nerve
and brain nourishment in them.
Oatmeal should be kept _fresh_ in a shut case or package.
If you think your brain requires a fillip, eat plenty of beans, but
they must be very much cooked, and should be well buttered.
_Vegetables._—Of vegetables I should like to say they can scarcely be
too much cooked. Wash well in salted water; let leafy ones have a swim
to get rid of grasshoppers and caterpillars and sand, then put them
into boiling salted water and take off the lid. Roots may be allowed
covers.
Peel and slice your onions under water or at a tap.
I once watched a grand _chef_ cooking potatoes, and he told me that
the best of the potato lies next the skin, so he never cuts it, but he
peels his potatoes on a fork after boiling. The cunning cook boils a
bunch of mint with the potatoes.
Excellent food for workers are parsnips, beetroots, or onions.
_Boiling Meat._—If you want the meat and not the juice, you should have
your pot boiling fast when the meat is put in. But if you want gravy or
beef-tea (not meat), put your meat into cold water and bring it slowly
to the boil.
_Stock Pot._—Keep a pot going all day, into which you can put any
broken-up bones or scraps left over, to make nourishing broth. Clean
turnips, carrots, and onions improve it. Before using let it get cold,
so as to skim off the fat.
Barley, rice, or tapioca may be added, and for flavoring add salt,
pepper, chopped parsley, celery, a clove, or mace.
_Milk._—Milk will take the flavor of any strong smell near it. Stale
milk added to fresh will turn the whole of it sour. Sour milk need not
be wasted. You can use it for baking or cooking, by adding bicarbonate
of soda. Sour milk will clean ink or fruit stains, and in washing it
bleaches linen. Yellowed linen should soak in it, so should spoons and
forks. Sour milk cleanses oil-cloth as well as women’s faces and hands.
Chickens and turkeys get fat and lay better for being fed on it.
[Illustration]
To _weigh_ roughly, tie a loop of string to your package of tea, sugar,
etc., and pass it on to your first finger. I find three pounds is as
much as I can hold on my nail. If the loop is shifted to the root of
the nail, four pounds is all one can hold. If the string is placed on
the first joint, I find the parcel weighs seven pounds. Each person
will be different, but you can find out your own power of lifting, and
then you will know exactly for the future.
FIRELESS COOKER
A jolly useful thing for saving coal, saving time, and saving money is
a Fireless Cooker.
The Fireless Cooker is a very valuable help to you in your enjoyment of
camp, because once you have started the food cooking you shove it in
the Fireless Cooker, you press the lid, and the Fireless Cooker does
the rest!
And you can leave the dinner to cook itself while you go out and play
camp games.
And so, too, in your own home, once you have started the food cooking
you can put out the fire, and thus save fuel or gas, and let the
Fireless Cooker finish the job for you.
Construction of Box
Obtain a large wooden box, such as a soap box. Line with double
newspaper. Fill the box to within two or three inches of the top with
very tightly packed hay, scoop out of the centre of the hay a cavity
large enough to hold the cooking utensil. Make a cushion of house
flannel to fit the top of the box exactly and stuff it tightly with hay.
Rules for Use of Fireless Cooker
Use saucepans with tightly fitting lids and short handles. Those made
of aluminum or earthenware are preferable. Jam jars or large tins
tightly covered may be used.
Bring the food to boiling point on the gas cooker or kitchen range
and while boiling place it _at once_ in the box. Some foods require
a certain amount of cooking previous to being placed in the Fireless
Cooker. (See table below.)
Wrap the cooking utensil in newspaper, and place in the prepared nest
in the Fireless Cooker.
Over this place the hay cushion and close the lid firmly. There must be
no space between the cushion and the lid.
NOTE.—To obtain satisfactory results, pack the stew-pan as quickly and
firmly as possible; this is to prevent loss of heat.
Average Time for Various Foods
_Meat._—Cook for about half the usual time on the gas or kitchen range,
and about four to six hours in the Fireless Cooker.
_Dried Beans._—Soak overnight. Boil for 30 minutes. Allow three to four
hours in the cooker.
_Fresh Fruit._—Bring to boiling point and place in the cooker at once.
Allow one or two hours, according to the firmness of the fruit.
_Dried Fruit._—Soak overnight, bring to boiling point and put in the
cooker for three to five hours.
_Oatmeal._—Boil for five minutes and leave in the cooker all night.
_Quaker Oats._—Bring to boiling point and leave in the cooker two
hours.
Other foods, such as vegetables, bacon, etc., can be cooked by this
method.
Small Economics
In the preparation and cooking of food there should be very little for
the garbage can, and only cabbage or egg water for the drain.
Rinds and bones of bacon.
Outside stalks of celery. }
The young green parts of vegetables. } Flavor soup or stock.
Pieces of gristle, skin and bone. }
Pea pods. }
Thick stems of cabbage or cauliflower leaves may be served with the
vegetables or separately, if given sufficient time to cook.
Water from boiled cauliflower makes a good soup.
Apple skins—stones from jam—the surplus water from bottled fruit—boiled
with a little sugar and water make a very good fruit syrup to serve
with milk or suet puddings.
The sugar from candied peel will sweeten and flavor a rice pudding.
Water from boiled rice makes a thin stock for soups, or can be used to
stiffen articles of clothing in place of starch.
The grease-proof paper from margarine, etc., will cover steamed
puddings.
Salt removes stains from enamel.
Tissue paper cut into rounds and dipped in warm milk will make
air-tight covers for jam-pots, or can be used for polishing glass or
metal.
Newspapers can be used for lining the fireless cooker, wiping greasy
saucepans or knives before washing, making fire lighters, rubbing over
the stoves—the dirty pieces can be soaked in water, made into balls and
put on the fire to keep it at a steady heat.
Dried orange skins, nutshells, used matches, matchboxes, empty reels,
fruit stones, are useful for fire lighting.
Vegetable parings not fit for food should be dried and used as fuel
unless animals are kept.
Gas Stove
The stove and utensils should be kept clean.
Shallow flat-bottomed vessels should be used.
A compartment steamer cooks three or four different foods on one burner.
A pudding in a basin can be raised out of water by a meat stand placed
at the bottom of an ordinary saucepan—and vegetables cooked in a
perforated steam pan above.
Where possible arrange a meal to be cooked all on the top of the stove,
or all in the oven.
Avoid heating the oven to cook a single dish.
Utilise all space when the oven is heated—food may be partly or wholly
cooked for following day.
In a gas oven three or four small tins are better than one large tin
which fills the shelf. By the former method free circulation of heat is
not prevented, and cooking is more efficient. If a large tin is used,
have holes drilled in it to allow passage of heat.
Fill the kettle before lighting the gas, and turn out the gas before
emptying the kettle.
Don’t _fill_ the kettle if only a pint of water is wanted.
_Tips for Cleaning._—Directly your cooking pot is empty pour cold water
into it and put it on the fire to prevent the leavings getting hard, it
will then be quite easy to clean later on.
Personally I like washing up, though some people _don’t_, but the main
thing is to keep the greasy things to the last. Wash the cleaner things
first in hot water with a clean dishcloth, then add hotter water and
deal with the greasy things.
Dry the utensils with a dry towel, then dry further in warm air, and
finally polish with a soft cloth.
NEEDLEWOMAN
_Needlework._—“A stitch in time saves nine.” I cannot agree with this
favorite saying, because I feel sure it saves so many more than nine,
besides saving time and preventing looking untidy.
I will tell you another thing I don’t believe in. Tailors, who are
such neat workers, will say that they never pin their work first. If
you are not a tailor, it is much better to place your work before you
begin, with plenty of pins. You will never get straight lines or smooth
corners if you do not plan and place it all first, just as it has got
to be, and tack it there.
Have you noticed that thread is very fond of tying itself into a bow;
but this can be prevented by threading the needle before you cut the
thread off the spool, making your knot at the end you cut.
Rough measures may be said to be one inch across a 25 cent piece, and
a yard from nose to thumb as far as you can reach. Needle-work is good
for all of us; it rests and calms the mind. You can think peacefully
over all the worries of Europe whilst you are stitching. Sewing
generally solves all the toughest problems, chiefly other people’s.
_The Scouts’ Patch._—I don’t know whether you ever did such a thing as
burn a hole in your dress, but I have, and if it is in the front, oh,
dear! what will mother say? Now, there is a very good way that Scouts
have of making it all right and serviceable; they put in a piece and
darn it in all round. If possible, get a piece of the same stuff, then
it will not fade a different tint, and will wear the same as the rest.
You may undo the hem and cut out a bit, or perhaps you may have some
scraps over from cutting out your dress.
The piece must be cut three or four inches larger than the hole and
frayed out on all four sides. Trim the hole with your scissors neatly
all round quite square with the thread. Then lay your piece over the
hole—of course, on the back or “wrong side”—and tack it there with
cotton. Now take a darning needle, and thread each thread in turn and
darn each one into the stuff. If the ends of stuff are very short, it
is best to run your needle in and out where you are going to darn,
and then, before pulling it through, thread it with the wool. This
patching is excellent for table-linen.
I once had an aunt who was a thorough old Scout, and was rather proud
of her mending, and she always said that she didn’t mind what colored
cotton you gave her to sew with, because her stitches hardly ever
showed, they were so small, and also she put them inside the stuff.
If she was putting on a patch to blue stuff, she could do it with red
cotton, and you would never have noticed it on the right side; her
stitches were all under the edge. Or else she sewed it at the back, on
the “wrong” side, so that it looked perfectly neat.
If you are not able to match the wool for a darn, it is a good plan to
use the ravellings of the stuff itself. Sometimes, away in the country,
you can’t go to shop and you have nothing like the piece you want to
mend. A Scout would turn it inside out and undo a little of the hem and
ravel out the edge. Suppose you were to cut a hole in the front of your
blue serge skirt; if you darn it with the ravellings of the turnings of
the seam or the hem, that will be exactly the same color and the same
thickness as your dress. No wool you could buy would match as well. Or
if you want to mend a jersey or knitted gloves, you never could buy
such a good match—the same sized wools and the tints.
HOW TO DEAL WITH FIRES AND ACCIDENTS
_Fire._—If you discover a house on fire you should—
1st—Alarm the people inside.
2nd—Warn the nearest policeman or fire-brigade station.
3rd—Rouse neighbours to bring ladders, mattresses, carpets, to catch
people jumping.
After arrival of fire engines the best thing girls can do is to help
the police in keeping back the crowd out of the way of the firemen,
hose, etc.
If it is necessary to go into a house to search for feeble insensible
people, the thing is to place a wet handkerchief or worsted stocking
over your nose and mouth and walk in a stooping position, or crawl
along on your hands and knees quite near the floor, as it is here that
there is least smoke or gas. Also, for passing through fire and sparks,
if you can, get hold of a blanket, and wet it, and cut a hole in the
middle through which to put your head; it forms a kind of fireproof
mantle, with which you can push through flames and sparks. [_Practice
this._]
If you find a person with his clothes on fire, you should throw him
flat on the floor, because flames only burn upwards, then roll him up
in the hearthrug or carpet, coat or blanket, and take care in doing so
that you don’t catch fire yourself. The reason for doing this is that
fire cannot continue to burn where it has no air.
When you find an insensible person (and very often in their fright
they will have hidden themselves under beds and tables, etc.), you
should either carry him out on your shoulder, or, what is often more
practicable in the case of heavy smoke, gas fumes, or in battle when
under heavy fire, etc., harness yourself on to him with sheets or
cords and drag him out of the room along the floor, crawling on all
fours yourself.
A soldier was recently awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for thus
getting his wounded officer into safety while being fired at by the
enemy.
To do this you lay the patient on his back, make a bowline at each end
of your rope, one you put over the patient’s chest and under his arms,
and the other over your own neck, then with your back to his head you
start on “all fours” to pull him along, head first. If the bowline
is the right length it will keep his head up off the ground, as the
picture shows.
[Illustration: Moving an insensible girl.]
_Burns._—In treating a man who has been burnt, remove his clothes,
not by peeling them off, but by cutting them with a SHARP knife or
scissors. If any part of the dress sticks to the skin from having been
burnt there do not tear it away, but cut the cloth round it, then as
quickly as possible protect the burnt parts from the air, which causes
intense pain. The best way to protect them is by dusting them with
powdered chalk or flour, or by laying strips of lint well soaked in
sweet oil or linseed oil, and covering the whole with cotton wool, or
by pouring on oil. Keep the patient warm, and give warm drinks, such
as hot tea, hot milk, or salomonia and water.
Major John Garroway, M.D., strongly recommends, instead of flour or oil
to stop the pain of a burn, to put a piece of paper firmly over the
wound, and the pain will be relieved in a few seconds.
Quite a large number of Scouts have saved lives in the water through
knowing how to swim and what to do. Several Scouts have also saved life
in fire, and have received medals for saving life.
[Illustration]
_Saving Life from Drowning._—A moderate swimmer can save a drowning man
if she knows how, and has practised it a few times with her friends.
The popular idea that a drowning person rises three times before he
finally sinks is all nonsense. He often drowns at once, unless someone
is quick to help him. The important point is not to let the drowning
person catch hold of you, or he will probably drown you too. Keep
behind him always. If you find yourself clutched by the wrist, turn
your wrist against his thumb and force yourself free. Your best way in
helping a drowning man is to keep behind and hold him up by the elbows,
or by the back of the neck, or by putting your arms under his armpits
and your hands across his chest, and telling him to keep quiet and not
to struggle. If he obeys, you can easily keep him afloat; but otherwise
be careful that in his terror he does not turn over and catch hold of
you. If he should seize you by the neck, Holbein says, “Scrag him, and
scrag him quickly. Place your arm round his waist, and the other hand,
palm upwards, under his chin, with your fingertips under his nose. Pull
and push with all your might, and he must perforce let go.” But you
will never remember this unless you practise it frequently with other
people first, each taking it in turns to be the drowning man or rescuer.
[_Practice this._]
If you see a person fall into the water and begin to drown, and you
yourself are unable to swim, you must throw a rope, or an oar, or plank
right over him, so that when he comes up again he may clutch at it and
hold it.
_Drowning._—To restore any one who is apparently drowned, it is
necessary at once to clear the water out of his lungs, for which
purpose, therefore, you should incline him face downwards and head
downwards, so that the water may run out of his mouth, and to help it
you should open his mouth and pull forward his tongue. After running
the water out of the patient, place him on his side with his body
slightly hanging down, and keep the tongue hanging out. If he is
breathing, let him rest; if he is not breathing, you must at once
endeavour to restore breathing artificially.
[Illustration: “If I can’t swim I have at least learnt how to fling a
lifebuoy.”]
There are several ways of reviving persons apparently drowned. You may
find one person eager to do exactly the opposite of another, but do
not fight over it; the best thing is to do quickly whatever you can.
Probably “Schäfer’s system” is the simplest. Lay the patient down with
his bent arm to support the forehead.
Place your hands on the small of the patient’s back, one on each side,
with thumbs parallel and nearly touching, and the fingers reaching only
to the lowest ribs.
Bend forward with the arms straight, so as to allow the weight of
your body to fall on your wrists, and then make a firm, steady
downward pressure on the loins of the patient, while you count slowly,
one—two—three, to press the patient’s stomach against the ground and to
force the air from his chest.
Then swing your body backwards so as to relieve the pressure, and
without removing your hands, while you count slowly, one—two.
Continue this backward and forward movement, alternately relieving and
pressing the patient’s stomach against the ground in order to drive
the air out of his chest and mouth, and allowing it to suck itself in
again, until gradually the patient begins to do it for himself.
The proper pace for the movement should be about twelve pressures to
the minute.
As soon as the patient is breathing, you can leave off the pressure;
but watch him, and if he fails you must start again or get some one to
take your place till he can breath for himself.
Then let him lie in a natural position, and set to work to get him warm
by putting hot flannels or bottles of hot water between his thighs, and
under the arms, and against the soles of his feet, but not before he
is breathing. Wet clothing should be taken off and hot blankets rolled
round him. The patient should be disturbed as little as possible, and
encouraged to sleep, while carefully watched for at least an hour
afterwards.
This is called the Schäfer method, and can be used equally well for
drowned people or for those overcome with smoke or gas fumes.
Now just practise this with another Scout a few times, so that you
understand exactly how to do it, and so Be Prepared to do it to some
poor fellow, maybe, really in need of it one day.
Make the Scouts, in pairs, practise above.
Wounded: taking off clothes. Pull off from the well or uninjured side
first, then when all is loose, carefully uncover the injured part. Try
not to move it, cut the sleeve or trouser up the seam with the rounded
end of scissors inside the cloth. If clothes have to be put on again,
sew pairs of tapes to edges.
Accidents
_Electric Shock._—Men frequently get knocked insensible by touching an
electric cable or rail. The patient should be moved from the rail, but
you have to be careful in doing this that you don’t get the electric
shock also. In the first place put glass, if possible, for yourself
to stand upon, or dry wood if glass is not obtainable, or put on
india-rubber boots. Also put on india-rubber gloves before touching the
patient. If you have none, wrap your hands in several thicknesses of
_dry_ cloth, and pull the patient away with a stick.
A boy was hunting butterflies at St. Ouen, in France, the other day,
when he fell on the “live” rail of the electric railway and was
instantly killed by the shock. A passer-by, in trying to lift him off,
fell dead beside him. A brickmaker ran up and tried to rescue them,
and was himself struck dead in the same way. The two would-be rescuers
were killed through not having learned beforehand what was the right
thing to do.
(S.T.)
_Gas, Smoke, or Fumes._—Accidents are continually occurring from
escapes of gas in mines, sewers, and houses.
In endeavoring to rescue a person, keep your nose and mouth well
covered with a wet handkerchief, and get your head as close to the
floor as possible, and drag the insensible person out as I have
suggested in case of a fire. Drag your patient as quickly as possible
into the fresh air—(I say as quickly as possible, because if you
delay about it you are very apt to be overcome by the noxious gas
yourself)—then loosen all his clothing about the neck and chest, dash
cold water in his face. If you find that he is no longer breathing,
then treat him as you would a drowned person, and try and work back
the breath into his body.
[Illustration: Push a long ladder or pole across the hole.]
_Ice Accidents._—If a person falls through ice, and is unable to get
out again because of the edges breaking, throw him a rope and tell him
not to struggle. This may give him confidence until you can get a long
ladder or pole ACROSS the hole, which will enable him to crawl out, or
will allow you to crawl out to catch hold of him.
First Aid
When you see an accident in the street or people injured, the sight
of the torn limbs, the blood, the broken bones, and the sound of the
groans and sobbing all make you feel sick and horrified and anxious to
get away from it—if you’re not a Girl Scout. But that is cowardice:
your business as a Scout is to steel yourself to face it and to help
the poor victim. As a matter of fact, after a trial or two you really
get to like such jobs, because with coolheadedness and knowledge of
what to do you feel you give the much-needed help.
(S.T.)
Every Scout should not only _know how_, but should from frequent
practice be _able to do_ the right thing in every kind of accidental
injury.
In an accident when you are alone with the injured person, if he is
unconscious lay him on his back with his head a little raised and on
one side so that he does not choke, and so that any vomit or water,
etc., can run out of his mouth. Loosen the clothing about his neck and
chest. See where he is injured, and treat him according to what you are
taught in learn “First Aid.”
If you have found the man lying insensible you should carefully examine
the ground round him for any “sign,” and take note of it and of his
position, etc., in case it should be afterwards appear that he had been
attacked by others.
[_Practise above, one girl as patient, the other to find her. Make
“sign” round the patient._]
If you are out with a patrol and an accident happens, or you find an
injured man, the patrol leader should direct one scout to go for a
doctor; she herself will attend to the patient with one Scout to help
her. The second will use the other Scouts in assisting by getting
water or blankets, or making a stretcher, or keeping the crowd back by
forming a fence with their ropes.
As a rule it is best to keep the patient quite quiet at first; unless
it is necessary, do not try to move him; and don’t bother him with
questions until he recovers a bit.
_Broken Limbs._—How to tell when a limb is broken.
There is generally a swelling and pain about the place where the bone
has broken, and sometimes the limb is bent in an unnatural way and the
patient cannot use it.
The broken limb should not be moved about at all, but should be
straightened and bound to something stiff that will keep it stiff and
straight while the patient is being moved to hospital or home.
_Splints._—The stiff thing that you tie to the injured limb is called
a splint. This may be anything such as a wooden batten, Scout’s staff,
tightly rolled newspaper, etc.
Splints should be long enough to go beyond the joints above and below
the break. You should put a splint on each side of the limb if possible.
Then bind the splints firmly from end to end with handkerchiefs or
strips of linen or cloths, but not so tightly as to stop the blood
circulating or to press into the swelling.
[_Practise this._]
_Bandage._—For binding a broken limb you want a good large
three-cornered bandage. Its two sides should be each about forty inches
long.
[Illustration: Bandaging.]
To make a sling for broken arm or collarbone, hang the bandage round
the patient’s neck, tying the two ends together in a reef-knot with
the point of the bandage towards the damaged arm. Rest the arm in this
sling and bring the point round the back of the arm and pin it to hold
the elbow in the sling.
_Fishhook in the Skin._—I got a fishhook into my finger the other day.
I got a knife and cut off all the fly which was on the hook, then
pushed the hook farther into my finger till the point began to push
against the skin from inside. With a sharp knife I cut a little slit in
the skin so that the point came easily through, and I was then able to
get hold of it and to pull the whole hook through. Of course you cannot
get a hook out backwards, as the barb holds tight in the flesh all the
time. Such fun!
_Frost-bite._—In Arctic countries or extreme cold men are liable to
get frost-bitten. That is, their ears, or nose, or fingers, or toes
get killed by the cold. The patient does not feel any pain; the part
becomes numb and turns very white and waxy, and afterwards purple.
Directly this is noticed the part should be rubbed with snow or with
the hand until the blood comes back to it. On no account should it be
warmed by putting the patient in a warm room or near a fire; that would
kill the part at once.
_Hysterics._—Nervous people, especially women, get hysterics when
excited, crying, laughing, and screaming. The best treatment is to shut
the patient into a room and leave her entirely alone till she gets over
it. Don’t try and soothe her, it only makes her worse.
_Fainting._—If your patient faints and is pale—fainting comes from too
little blood in the head—make him sit down, and push his head down
between his knees. Pressure on a nerve (for instance, in top of eye
socket) will often revive. If his face is flushed raise the head—there
is too much blood in it, as in apoplexy or sunstroke.
_Toothache._—This is not mentioned in most first aid instructions, and
yet you can earn many blessings by knowing how to relieve it. Here is
a simple way that is generally successful, especially if the offending
tooth is in the upper jaw. Steep a little bit of cotton-wool in spirits
of camphor. Stuff the wool into one nostril—hold the other nostril
tight shut and make the patient draw in the air through the wool. The
spirit is thus sucked in on to the nerve, which lies near the back of
the nose, and it very quickly relieves the pain.
_Fits._—A man cries out and falls, and twitches and jerks his limbs
about, froths at the mouth: he is in a fit. It is no good to do
anything to him before the doctor comes except to put a bit of wood or
cork between his jaws, so that he does not bite his tongue. Let him
sleep well after a fit.
_Poisoning._—If a person suddenly falls very ill after taking food, or
is known to have taken poison, the first thing to do is to make him
swallow some milk or raw eggs. These seem to collect all the poison
that is otherwise spread about inside him. Then, if the mouth is not
stained or burnt by the poison, make him vomit if possible by giving
him salt and warm water, and try tickling the inside of his throat with
a feather. Then more eggs and milk, and weak tea. If the poison is an
acid that burns, the patient should not be made to vomit, but milk or
salad oil should be given. The patient should be kept awake if he gets
drowsy.
_Blood-Poisoning._—This results from dirt being allowed to get into a
wound. Swelling, pain, red veins appear. Fomenting with hot water is
the best relief.
_Choking._—Loosen collar; hold the patient’s nose with one hand and
with the forefinger of the other, or with the handle of a spoon try and
pull out whatever is stuck in his throat. By pressing down the root of
the tongue you may make him vomit and throw out the obstruction. For
slight choking make patient bend head well back and swallow small pills
made of bread, and sip water. Sometimes a good hard smack on the back
will do him good.
Choking sometimes comes from a sudden swelling inside the throat. In
this case put hot steaming flannel fomentations to the neck and give
the patient ice to suck or cold water to sip.
_Quinsy._—When I was in the Andes Mountains in South America recently,
I heard of two Englishmen who had died there not long before from
choking by quinsy, simply because there was no one by who knew what to
do in such a case. Everybody ought to Be Prepared to deal with quinsy
if away from the help of doctors.
Most people suffer from tonsillitis at one time or another in their
lives—that is a swelling of the tonsils—the round lumps of flesh on
each side of the back of the throat. And sometimes, on rare occasions,
the swelling becomes so great that the patient cannot breathe, the
throat becomes completely blocked up. This is quinsy.
Very hot fomentations is the best step towards easing the pain and
reducing the swelling.
The extreme measure is to lance the patient’s tonsils.
_Acid Burning._—A case occurred only the other day of a woman throwing
vitriol over a man’s face. This is an awful acid, which burns and eats
away the flesh wherever it touches. Fortunately a policeman happened
to be on the spot at the time, and knew what to do. He at once applied
half warm water to which some soda had been added to wash off the acid,
and then applied flour or whitening to protect the wound from the air
and ease the pain as you would do for a burn.
_Snake Bite._—Fortunately poisonous snakes are uncommon. If you go
abroad you may come across them, and you ought always to know how to
deal with bites from them. The same treatment does also for wounds from
poisoned arrows, mad dogs, etc. Remember the poison from a bite gets
into your blood, and goes all through your body in a very few beats
of your pulse. Therefore, whatever you do must be done immediately.
The great thing is to stop the poison rushing up the veins into the
body. To do this bind a cord or handkerchief immediately round the limb
_above_ the place where the patient has been bitten, so as to stop the
blood flying back to the heart with the poison. Then try and suck the
poison out of the wound, and, if possible, cut the wound still more, to
make it bleed, and run the poison out. The poison, when sucked into the
mouth, does no harm unless you have a wound in your mouth. The patient
should also be given stimulants, such as coffee or spirits, to a very
big extent, and not allowed to become drowsy, but should be walked
about and pricked and smacked in order to keep his senses alive.
[_Practise this process in make-believe._]
(S.T.)
_Grit in the Eye._—Do not let your patient rub the eye; it will only
cause inflammation and swelling, and so make the difficulty of removing
the grit all the greater.
If the grit is in the lower eyelid, draw down the lid as far as
you can, and gently brush it out with the corner of a moistened
handkerchief, or with a paint brush, or feather.
If it is under the upper lid, pull the lid away from the eyeball
and push the under lid up underneath the upper one. In this way the
eyelashes of the lower lid will generally clean the inside of the upper
one.
Another way, which every Scout must practise, is to seat your patient
and stand behind him yourself with the back of his head against your
chest. Lay a card, match, or any flat substance under your own thumb on
the upper part of the upper eyelid, and then catch hold of the edge of
the eyelid and draw it upwards over the match so that it turns inside
out; gently remove the grit with a feather or wet handkerchief, and
roll the eyelid down again.
If the eye is much inflamed, bathe it with luke-warm weak tea.
If the grit is firmly imbedded in the eye, drop a little oil (olive or
castor oil) into the lower lid; close the eye, and bandage it with a
soft wet pad and bandage, and get a doctor to see it.
[_Practise above._]
How to make eye-tweezers for removing a piece of grit from eye. Fold a
piece of paper in two. With a sharp knife cut it to a point of an angle
of 30°, and slightly moisten the point. Then bring it straight down
over the eyeball of the patient, so that it can nip the obstruction,
which is generally removed at the first attempt.
STRETCHERS may be arranged in some of the following ways:
(a) A hurdle, shutter, door, gate, covered well with straw, hay,
clothing, sacking.
(b) A piece of carpet, blanket, sacking, tarpaulin or Girl Scout
skirts, spread out, and two stout poles rolled up in the sides. Put
clothes for a pillow.
(c) Two coats, with the sleeves turned inside out; pass two poles
through the sleeves; button the coats over them.
(d) Two poles passed through a couple of sacks, through holes at the
bottom corners of each.
In carrying a patient on a stretcher be careful that he is made quite
comfortable before you start. Let both bearers rise together; they must
walk _out of step_, and take short paces. It should be the duty of the
hinder bearer to keep a careful watch on the patient.
If the poles are short four bearers will be necessary, one at each
corner of the stretcher.
[_Practice these different methods._]
How to Practise
_In practising First Aid it is a great thing to bespatter the patient
with blood and mud to accustom the rescuer to the sight of it,
otherwise it will often unnerve him in a real accident. Sheep’s blood
can be got from the butcher’s shop._
_Prepare a heavy smoke fire in a neighbouring room or building (if
possible on the first floor), while you are lecturing in the club room.
Secretly arrange with two or three Scouts that if an alarm of fire is
given they should run about frightened and try and start a panic._
_Have the alarm given either by getting some one to rush in and tell
you of the fire, or by having some explosive bombs fired. Then let
a patrol, or two patrols, tackle the fire under direction of their
patrol leaders. They should shut windows and doors. Send Scouts into
different parts of the building to see if the fire is spreading, and to
search for people in need of rescue._
_These Scouts should have wet handkerchiefs over their mouths and
noses. “Insensible” people (or sack dummies) should be hidden under
tables, etc._
_Scouts rescue them by shouldering or dragging them out and getting
them down to the ground. Use jumping sheet, chute, etc._
_Other parties lay and connect the hose, or make lines for passing fire
buckets._
_Another party revive the rescued by restoring animation. Another party
form “fence” to help the police and fire brigade by keeping the crowd
back._
Games
“_Dragging Race._”—A line of patients of one patrol are laid out at
fifty yards distance from start. Another patrol, each carrying a rope,
run out, tie ropes to the patients, and drag them in. Time taken of
last in. Patrols change places. The one which completes in shortest
time wins. Knots must be correctly tied.
(S.T.)
Physical Exercises and Health Rules
The simple physical exercises given in the earlier chapters will give
you all the movements needed to keep you well and to help your growth
IF you only practise them. That is the secret. Set apart certain
minutes in the day, especially in the early morning, and make it your
habit to go through these exercises and you will make for yourself a
wonderful difference in your health.
But alongside this giving health to your body, you must see to it that
your surroundings, your home, the air, your food, and your clothing are
also health-giving, otherwise all the exercise in the world will not
help you.
Health Rules for the Home
Scouts should do everything in their power to make and keep their homes
healthy as well as happy.
Most of you cannot choose your own dwelling, but whether you live in a
house, a cottage, a flat, in rooms, or even in one room of a house, you
can do a very great deal to keep it healthy and pure.
Fresh air is your great friend; it will help you to fight disease
better than anything else. Open all your windows as often as you can,
so that the air may get into every nook and corner. Never keep an
unused room shut up. Disease germs, poisonous gases, mildew, insects,
dust, and dirt have it all their own way in stale, used-up air. Air
does not flow in and flow out of the same opening at the same time any
more than water does, so you want two openings in a room—an open window
to let the good air in, and a fireplace and chimney to let the stale
air out, or whether there is no fireplace, a window open both at top
and bottom. The night air in large towns is purer than the day air, and
both in town and country you should sleep with your window open if you
want to be healthy. Draughts are not good, as they carry away the heat
from your body too fast; so if your bed is too near the window, put up
a shelter between it and the open window and cover yourself more. At
least one window on a staircase or landing should always be kept open,
and also the pantry and the closet windows.
_Tidiness._—Half your time will be saved if little things are kept
tidy. Have a place for everything, and have everything in its place. If
you are not sure which is the right place for a thing, think “_Where,
if I wanted it, should I go to look for it?_” That place is the right
one. Get into the habit of always making a ball of any string you get
and collect them.
War must be waged against rats and mice, or they will invade you and
loot everything. If you have no mouse-traps, put a newspaper over a
pail of water, break a hole slightly in the centre in the form of a
star, and place a bit of cheese on the centre tips of star to entice
the mouse. Let the paper reach to the floor, not too upright, for the
mouse to climb up. Try putting broken camphor into their holes; they
dislike the smell. Fly and wasp traps are made by tying paper over a
tumbler half-filled with water and beer or molasses. Break a hole in
the paper, and fit in a tube of rolled paper about one inch long and
one inch across.
_Damp_ is never healthy, and you can prevent it to a great extent by
letting plenty of fresh air go through your house and rooms which have
been shut up.
When you see signs of damp, try to find out the cause; it may be put
right. A pipe or gutter may have got blocked, or there may be a loose
shingle, or the water pipes may be leaking.
In countries where there are mosquitoes people are very careful not to
allow any water to lie near their houses, for the poisonous mosquito
breeds in stagnant water. Sunflowers planted near a house help to keep
the soil dry; also low bushes and plants. Consumption and other deadly
disease germs flourish in damp, ill-aired houses.
_Sunlight_ is a great health-giver and disinfectant, and the more of
it you have in your house the better. Long ago people used to shut out
the sun and air for fear their curtains and carpets would fade, but
it is far better that the sun should fade your curtains than that the
darkness should fade you. Cases of consumption are rare in dry, sunny
houses.
Nurseries and bedrooms should have plenty of morning and mid-day sun.
Motto: “_Tidy as you go_.”
_Cleanliness_ in every part of the house is most necessary, especially
kitchen and refrigerators. Do not let dust or rubbish collect anywhere,
behind furniture or pictures, under beds, or in cupboards. If we
realised what horrid things we may collect from pavement or street
dust on our skirts and shoes, we should be much more careful about the
dusting of our rooms.
Do not allow dogs, cats, or birds to be where they can touch your food
or your cooking utensils; animals have diseases too. Flies, gnats,
and fleas are most dangerous pests; they feed on decayed and diseased
things, and may carry poison on their feet and leave it on your food.
Keep them out of your house, and especially chase them out of your
kitchen and larder. Any bad smell in a house is a danger signal; find
out its cause, and get rid of it.
(S.T.)
Be sure your drinking water is pure. If you are at all doubtful about
it, _boil it well_—that is, for not less than fifteen minutes. Water
cisterns should be often cleaned out. See that all drains, sinks, and
closets are in good order. A very poisonous gas called sewer gas comes
from bad drains, and typhoid, diphtheria, etc., are caused by drinking
bad water and bad drainage. The gas does not come up if there is a
“trap” full of water in the pipe; that is a curve in the pipe where
water collects. Let water run down all sinks once or twice a day to
rinse the pipes. To sum up, “Remember that nearly all the _dangers_
to health in a house or room begin with a D, and these dangers or
destroyers are:
“Darkness.
“Damp.
“Dust.
“Dirt.
“Doubtful drinking water.
“Defective drains.”
Against these destroyers, which bring debility, disease and even death,
the Scouts’ defences are:
“Sunlight.
“Fresh air.
“Cleanliness.”
_Housewifery._—Every Scout is as much a “housewife” as she is a girl.
She is sure to have to “keep house” some day, and whatever house she
finds herself in, it is certain that that place is the better for her
being there.
Too many odds and ends and draperies about a room are only dust-traps,
and rugs or carpet squares, which can be taken up easily, are better
than nailed down carpets. Keep all the furniture clean and bright.
Fresh air, soap, and water are the good housewife’s best allies. Bars
of soap should be cut up in squares and kept for six weeks before being
used. This hardens it and makes it last longer.
In scrubbing boarded floors, the secret is not to deluge the floor;
change the water in the pail frequently.
In the work of cleaning think out your plan beforehand, so as not to
dirty what has been cleaned. Plan out certain times for each kind of
work and have your regular days for doing each thing.
_Pasteboards and Deal Tables._—Scrub hard the way of the grain. Hot
water makes boards and tables yellow. Rinse in cold water and dry well.
_Saucepans._—New saucepans must not be used till they have first been
filled with cold water and a little soda, and boiled for an hour or so,
and must be well scoured. After bowls or saucepans have been used, fill
them at once with cold water to the brim; this will prevent anything
hardening on the saucepan and will make cleaning easier.
Swimming
_Swimming._—Every 1st Class Scout ought to be able to swim. It is not
only for her own amusement that she should do so, but so that she will
not cause other people to risk their lives in rescuing her when she
gets into difficulties in the water, and that she may be able to help
those in distress. British girls are behindhand in learning to swim—it
is very different in Norway and Sweden, or in America, where nearly
every girl can swim.
Where a doctor says swimming is bad for her, or there is no possible
means for her learning, such other badges that she does not hold may be
accepted instead towards qualifying the Scout for her 1st Class.
No Scout can be of real use till she can swim, and to learn swimming is
no more difficult than to learn bicycling.
All you have to do is at first to try and swim like a dog, as if trying
to crawl slowly along in the water; don’t try all at once to swim with
the ordinary breast stroke that swimmers use, because this only lets
your mouth go under water every time. When paddling along like a dog
get a friend to support you at first with a pole or his hand under your
belly.
Any of you who cannot swim as yet, and who fall into the water out of
your depth, remember that you need not sink if you take care to do the
following things. First, keep your mouth upwards by throwing the head
well back. Secondly, keep your lungs full of air by taking in long
breaths, but breathe out very little. Thirdly, keep your arms under
water. To do this you should not begin to shout, which will only empty
your lungs, and you should not throw your arms about or beckon for
help, else you will sink. So the main thing of all is to keep cool and
force yourself to remember and to carry out these things.
CHILD WELFARE
There always are and always will be children to be care of. Perhaps
there is no better way for a girl to help her country than to fit
herself to undertake the care of children. She should learn all she can
about them, and take every opportunity of helping to look after these
small Boy and Girl Scouts of the future. Many girls are already doing
this and are realizing that the Child Welfare badge is one of the most
important in the whole list for a Scout to win.
Health Habits
Children are trained to regular habits in three ways; first, by having
meals at fixed hours; second, by having regular times for sleeping and
waking; and third, by being taught when young to be clean and regular
in their daily clear-out. They must have plenty of healthful, peaceful
sleep and the earlier they go to bed the better for their brains and
nerves in after life. The bedroom must be airy and quiet; the windows
kept open.
Bath
Nobody can be healthy unless he is clean, and cleanliness is one of
the first habits you want Baby to form. So he should have a daily
bath. The temperature for his bath should range from 80° to 98° and
you should be able to read the bath thermometer as well as the room
thermometer. Before you undress Baby get together everything that you
will need for the bath and dressing; your hand basin of warm water,
soap, soft wash cloths and towels, comb and brush, etc., and his
clothes laid out in the order in which you will put them on.
It is handier as well as safer to begin baby laid on a table or bed
rather than on your lap. He should of course have under him a soft
towel or canton flannel. First wash his head carefully and rub it dry
gently. Do the outer parts of his ears and let no water get inside
them. The nose may be cleaned with a bit of cotton rolled to a point
and the nails should be carefully cleaned. Then put him gently in the
tub. Some people soap the baby first, and a soapy little baby wiggles,
so hold him very firmly and comfortably, supporting his head all the
time he is kicking and splashing in the tub. After you lift him out
be careful to dry all the creases in his little body. It is perfectly
proper for a baby to cry as much as twenty minutes every day till he
begins to talk, and he may take his bath time for doing it, so don’t
scold him. A baby can be kept sweet and clean by a daily sponge bath.
Food
The baby needs proper food to build up his body. Milk is his only food
for the first months of his life and even up to three years he takes
mostly milk.
For the first eight or nine months of a baby’s life mother’s milk is
the best food for him, and if he is unfortunate enough to have to take
his milk from a bottle you will have to learn the best kind of bottle
to use and how to prepare it. Baby is very particular about his milk
being fresh and good.
Punctual feeding makes good digestion and even if he wants that extra
nap it is better to wake a healthy baby to give him his meal at regular
hours, than to let his digestion get out of order. Some babies are
very punctual and feel it keenly if you do not feed them at the fixed
hour. They will very likely let you know it too, and woe betide you
if they find you have not properly boiled the bottle after each meal
to sterilize it. Between meals a little drink of water which has been
boiled and cooled (sterile water) will wash out his mouth as well as
refresh him. Do not give a baby too much food at a time, and keep
him on plain food. This applies to you as well as to baby. When the
digestion is not right the appetite will not be good. Digestion makes
the food you eat ready to be turned into muscle and bone and brain,
and indigestion means that you have not used up the food you ate and
therefore you have those uncomfortable pains in the middle of the
night. Eat only the foods you know you can digest comfortably.
By the time a child is two years old, he should have a well varied
though simple bill of fare. This may include cereals such as well
cooked oatmeal and cream of wheat, soft boiled eggs, fresh juice,
(beef) milk puddings, milk toast, baked potatoes, apple sauce and
chicken broth.
Clothing
Children’s clothes should be warm but light, and where possible should
hang from the shoulders. The legs, particularly the ankles, should be
kept warm and the feet dry.
Sunshine, Air and Exercise
Give a baby plenty of fresh air, out of doors if you can, avoiding
drafty places. It gives him a better appetite, makes him sleep sounder
and also helps to give him rosy cheeks, a sign of good red blood.
Be careful that sheet and blankets do not get over a baby’s head; as
this weight causes suffocation, so pin the covers to the side of the
bed and let him have fresh air while he sleeps.
No self respecting baby would ever by himself contract the “pacifier”
habit and he should never be given a pacifier. This article thrust
into his mouth makes the upper jaw protrude, carries germs into a
baby’s mouth, sometimes causes adenoids, is ugly to look at and finally
doesn’t really pacify.
It does a baby good to lie down and kick about. Crawling and climbing
exercise his muscles. Don’t let a baby walk too soon. Bow-legs
come from standing and walking while the bones are soft; also from
under-nourishment. But if a child wants to walk, let him make the
effort; he will not pull himself up unless he wants to try his muscles.
Childhood is a time to form the body; it cannot be altered much when
you are grown up. Playtime should not come directly after feeding or
before sleeptime.
Illnesses
What will you do when you suddenly find that baby is ill? To call in
the doctor is the first thing, that is, if there is a doctor. But when
there is no doctor! You will at once think of all the First Aid you
have learned, and what you know of home nursing. Drugs are bad things.
You may lay up trouble for a child by giving it soothing drugs and
advertised medicines which sometimes make the baby stupid and may cause
constipation. Never neglect the bowels if they become stopped up. This
upsets digestion, poisons the baby and may help to bring on convulsions
or other serious illnesses. If a child is suffering from a convulsion,
lay him flat with his head on a pillow. Pat his head with cold water
and put a hot bottle at his feet. If the convulsion continues put him
in a warm bath of about 106° which is as hot as is comfortable for
your bare elbow, but you must not keep cold cloths on his head. Use
very gentle artificial respiration not trying to straighten the arms.
Of course you will keep a baby away from anyone who has a contagious
disease.
You can very easily train a young child to obey, but after three years
old it becomes more difficult unless a good start has been made.
Children expect you to be just. If you are good tempered and patient
a child will stand a good deal of firmness, but slapping and scolding
ruin young tempers. Answer a child’s question without ridicule. He is
feeling his way in this great big world, and you once asked foolish
questions, too.
Proficiency Badges
Whenever I see a Scout coming along I feel at once a friendly interest
in her, but when she comes nearer that interest either increases or
goes off a bit when I look at her right arm and see on it badges—or no
badges.
Every Scout, as soon as she has passed the Second Class tests, can go
in for proficiency badges. These badges are not intended for swagger,
but to show that you can do things. On the left arm you will wear those
badges which mean that you are good at work that is useful to other
people, and these are the important badges; while on the right arm the
badges show the sort of Scout that you are, that is whether you are
efficient or not in different branches of Scout work.
There are a very large number of badges on the list which you can go
in for, but it does not mean that you are to try and get them all, but
rather that you may look through the list and find out which are most
likely to suit you and then to go in for one or two of those. The most
important of all the badges are those for nursing. They are important
to the Scout herself, because through practising this work she can most
easily carry out the Scout law of doing good turns to other people, and
these would be good turns which really are useful. Also by knowing how
to nurse she can do good work for her country.
_The Value of Nursing._—In the great war hundreds and hundreds of
women have gone to act as nurses in the hospitals, for the wounded
and have done splendid work They will no doubt be thankful all their
lives that while they were yet girls they learnt how to nurse and
how to do hospital work, so that they were useful when the call came
for them. But there are thousands and thousands of others who wanted
to do the work when the time came, but they had not like Scouts been
Prepared, and they had never learnt how to nurse, and so they were
perfectly useless and their services were not required in the different
hospitals. So carry out your motto and Be Prepared and learn all you
can about hospital and child nursing, sick nursing, and every kind,
while you are yet a Scout and have people ready to instruct you and to
help you in learning.
Child nursing is also very important, because so many girls are
wanted now to help mothers in looking after their children. Such a
large number of babies die every year from being nursed by girls who
have never taken the trouble to learn what they ought to do with
children. Babies are delicate little things, and a very little act of
carelessness or want of knowledge of what to do often causes the death
of one who might otherwise have grown up to be a valuable citizen for
the country. On becoming a Scout you promise to Be Prepared to do your
duty in every possible way, and one very important way is that of
nursing children as well as grown ups; and therefore I hope that you
will learn as quickly as possible how to carry out this duty and so
to carry out your work as a Scout in the proper spirit. Therefore I
recommend you to take as the most important ones, the Ambulance Badge,
the Child Nurse Badge, and the Home Nursing; after which you can
look through the list and pick out others for which you feel that you
are particularly keen, or for which there are instruction classes for
Scouts that you can attend. Set those badges up before you and do your
best to win some of them.
_Where to wear the Badges._—The First and Second Class Badge is worn
_on the left arm_. It should be placed about half-way between the elbow
and the shoulder strap, so as not to be covered by the shoulder knot.
[Illustration: BE PREPARED]
The Ambulance, Home Nurse, and Child Nurse Badges are also worn on
the left arm, just below the Second and First Class Badges. All the
other Proficiency Badges are worn on the right arm. They are sewn on
as they are won, starting at the bottom of the sleeve, just above the
cuff, and growing upwards in couples as the Scout becomes more and more
proficient.
The War Service Badge is worn above the right-hand breast pocket.
The Attendance Stars are worn in a horizontal row just above the
left-hand breast pocket.
_The War Service Badge._—Is granted to Scouts who have done special
service for their country during the Great War. It is worn above the
right breast pocket.
Golden Eaglet
To secure this honor a Girl Scout must win the following badges:
Ambulance and First Aid, Clerk, Cook, Child Nurse, Dairymaid, Matron,
Musician, Needlewoman, Naturalist, Home Nurse, Pathfinder, Pioneer,
Signaler, Swimmer, Athletics, Health or Civics. (In case a swimming
badge is impossible two badges not already earned may be substituted.)
Life-Saving Medals
These are worn on the right breast and are awarded as follows:—
_Bronze Cross (Red Ribbon)._—Presented as the highest
possible award for gallantry. It can only be worn where
the claimant has shown special heroism or has faced
extraordinary risk of life in saving life.
[Illustration: Bronze and Silver Cross for Saving Life.]
[Illustration: Gilt Medal of Merit.]
_Silver Cross (Blue Ribbon)._—For gallantry, with
considerable risk to herself.
_Badge of Merit (Gilt Wreath—White Ribbon)._—For a
Scout who does her duty exceptionally well, though
without grave risks to herself.
_Thanks Badge._—It is the privilege of any Scout, of
whatever rank, to present this Badge of Thanks to any
one who does a Scout a good turn. It entitles the
wearer to make use of the services of any Scout at any
time, but does not constitute membership.
Hockey a Fine Game
I should like to see everything that calls itself a girl playing it.
Yet there are thousands and thousands of girls who have never yet even
seen it played—much less played it themselves.
I should like all of them to play it, not only once but regularly, and
this is why.
Because it gives them health and strength through active exertion
in the open air; it gives them a jolly time and lots of excitement,
happiness, and laughter; it makes them quick with eye, hand, and foot;
it makes them all good pals together; it teaches them to take hard
knocks without winking such as at other times would make them faint or
swear.
It teaches them to play unselfishly and to pass the ball on. It gives
them pluck, it gives them hope, for even when things look bad there
is often the possibility of winning by an extra effort. They learn to
stick to rules and to obey orders, to play fair and to stop sneaking,
underhand play.
In a word, they learn to play the game for their side and not for
themselves.
Well, that is just what our soldiers at the front are doing, playing
the game nobly for their country at no matter what danger to their own
life or limb.
It’s just what we want of all Americans in the future—women as well as
men—to think of their country and other people first; to obey the laws
and play the game for the good of others bravely and hopefully, without
caring what hard knocks they get themselves.
Could not some of you who can afford to play hockey yourselves managed
to help some other girls to play it too?
Think what joy it would bring into their lives, what health and
brightness you could offer them and what good and friendly citizens you
could make them.
A Scout Is a Lady
_What is a Lady?_—This is what I saw the other day in the Subway. The
seats were all crowded when a smart-looking girl got in. A wounded
soldier with a bandaged foot and a walking stick stood up rather
painfully and offered her his seat. The girl plumped herself down
comfortably and she did not give him a look or even a word of thanks. A
pale woman then rose and said to him, “I can stand better than you; you
got hurt for me,” and made him take her place.
One of these two women was a lady. Can you guess which?
The Frogs in the Cream
Oh, there is one more thing that hockey teaches. Often you lose a game,
but you do not therefore lose your temper or lose your happiness for,
as a Scout, you at once cheer the winners and forget to be put out by
it.
But you don’t lose every game. Very often it will look as if it was
going against you and there seems little chance of winning when, just
near the end, the other side give out or get careless, and by sheer
sticking to it you win a goal or two in the last few minutes and come
out victorious in the end.
[Illustration: Perseverance: Frogs in the cream.]
Well, it is sticking to it which is so tremendously valuable, not only
in the game, but also for getting on as a Scout, and afterwards in
getting on in life.
Two frogs, out for a walk one day, came upon a bowl of cream, into
which they fell. Thinking it a new kind of water and that it was
hopeless trying to swim, one was drowned through having no pluck. The
other struggled hard to keep afloat. Just when he felt he _must_ give
up a curious thing happened. In his struggles he had churned up the
cream so much that he found himself standing safe on a pat of butter!
If you learnt nothing else from Scouting than this little story of the
frogs, try, at any rate, to remember that; and when you feel you are
failing at your job just think of it; remind yourself of the frogs—and
stick to it.
Happy Housemaids Singing Hymns
Someone asked me the other day why it is that housemaids, when they are
at work, are always droning most dreary hymn tunes. Well, I couldn’t
say exactly why they do it, but I like to hear it, because people who
sing at their work evidently don’t find it a drudgery or irksome.
I was at a great aeroplane factory the other day, where the manager had
encouraged his men in their spare time to form a band, and he supplied
the funds for helping them to get instruments, music, etc.
When they began to get rather good at it they, like all amateur
musicians, began to fancy themselves, and said that they would like to
get some high-class classical music to play.
But he said: “Not a bit of it, I want you to play all the tunes that
you can get, provided that they are jolly ones.”
Then he used to make the men march to their workshops with their band
playing, and for the rest of the morning, instead of working sullenly
and grudgingly at their machines, the men were whistling and singing
the tunes that were running in their heads, and the work consequently
was better done and more of it was got through than would otherwise
have been possible.
So the wretched Girl Scouts, when they are forced to play these dull
games and to do the terrible hard work of Scouting, need something to
cheer them up. All they have to do is to learn a few jingles and to
sing them, stamp, bang, or whistle them as they go along, and they are
sure to feel the better for it.
Patrol Leaders
When you come to be a Patrol Leader you must remember that you are
really taking up a very responsible and important position, because
you are going to be in charge of a number of girls under you, who will
form their characters entirely under your example and guidance, and if
you choose to be a slacker they will become slackers, if you choose
to be a good Scout they will all become good Scouts, or nearly all of
them. That is very much dependent on you yourself. So don’t become a
Patrol Leader merely for the swagger of it or the sake of wearing an
extra badge or two, but really think whether you are fitted to lead
those girls, and take it up with the best of your ability to make good
Scouts of them. You have got to _command_ your Patrol; well, you can
only command others if you have their confidence, and you can only have
their confidence if you have confidence in yourself; you can only have
confidence in yourself by knowing your work thoroughly and well. You
should therefore study the handbook, learn all about Scouting, what
it aims for, and then how you can carry out the instructions given;
practise the things yourself that are shown you, know that you can do
the different things well; and then you will be able to have confidence
in yourself, your Scouts will obey your orders, and so you will be able
to carry out the training of them and their discipline perfectly well.
You lead entirely by your own personal example, don’t forget that; that
is what tells, and that is the easy way to gain success; not only the
easy way, but it is the _only_ way.
As a Leader you must be the best at carrying out the Scout Law in your
Patrol, the others will follow you in it; you must be the captain also
in all the games; you must be the first in every venture; you must be
the one to suggest good games, good ideas, good thoughts. If you are
the first in every way like this your girls will follow your leads and
you will have good discipline among them. Your aim should, of course,
be to make your Patrol the best, and if every Patrol tries to be the
best in the Troop, you may be sure that that Troop will be a very good
one amongst other Troops.