The Project Gutenberg EBook of Boy Scouts Handbook, by Boy Scouts of America This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Boy Scouts Handbook The First Edition, 1911 Author: Boy Scouts of America Release Date: August 1, 2009 [EBook #29558] [Last updated: May 17, 2012] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOY SCOUTS HANDBOOK *** Produced by Don Kostuch

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BOY SCOUTS HANDBOOK The First Edition, 1911







BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

Boy Scouts of America

Official National Out

SIGMUND EISNER

Each part of the uniform is stamped with the official seal of the Boy Scouts of America.

If there is no agency for the official uniform in your city write for samples.

Shredded Wheat

because it has all the muscle-building, bone-making material in the whole wheat grain prepared in a digestible form, supplying all the strength needed for work or play. It is ready-cooked and ready-to-eat. It has the greatest amount of body-building nutriment in smallest bulk. Its crispness compels thorough mastication, and the more you chew it the better you like it. Shredded Wheat is the favorite food of athletes. It is on the training table of nearly every college and university in this country. The records show that the winners of many brilliant rowing and track events have been trained on Shredded Wheat.



The BISCUIT is in little loaf form. It is baked a crisp, golden brown. It is eaten with milk or cream, or fruit, or is delicious when eaten as a toast with butter. TRISCUIT is the Shredded Wheat wafer---the ideal food for the camp or the long tramp.



Building buster boys is bully business--that's the reason we want to help the Boy Scout movement.

The Shredded Wheat Company

Niagara Falls, N. Y.

BOY SCOUTS of AMERICA



THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK

FOR BOYS







Published for

THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

200 FIFTH AVENUE

NEW YORK



GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY

1911





COPYRIGHT 1911

BY BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

BOY SCOUT CERTIFICATE

SCOUT HISTORY

QUALIFIED FOR MERIT BADGES



SUBJECT DATE 1 ________________ ________________ 2 ________________ ________________ 3 ________________ ________________ 4 ________________ ________________ 5 ________________ ________________

PREFACE

The Boy Scout Movement has become almost universal, and wherever organized its leaders are glad, as we are, to acknowledge the debt we all owe to Lieut.-Gen. Sir Robert S. S. Baden-Powell, who has done so much to make the movement of interest to boys of all nations.

The BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA is a corporation formed by a group of men who are anxious that the boys of America should come under the influence of this movement and be built up in all that goes to make character and good citizenship. The affairs of the organization are managed by a National Council, composed of some of the most prominent men of our country, who gladly and freely give their time and money that this purpose may be accomplished.

In the various cities, towns, and villages, the welfare of the boy scouts is cared for by local councils, and these councils, like the National Council are composed of men who are seeking for the boys of the community the very best things.

In order that the work of the boy scouts throughout America may be uniform and intelligent, the National Council has prepared its "Official Handbook," the purpose of which is to furnish to the patrols of the boy scouts advice in practical methods, as well as inspiring information.

The work of preparing this handbook has enlisted the services of men eminently fitted for such work, for each is an expert in his own department, and the Editorial Board feels that the organization is to be congratulated in that such men have been found willing to give their time and ripe experience to this movement. It would be impossible adequately to thank all who by advice and friendly criticism have helped in the preparation of the book, or even to mention their names, but to the authors whose names are attached to the various chapters, we acknowledge an especial obligation. Without their friendly help this book could not be. We wish especially to express our appreciation of the helpful suggestions made by Daniel Carter Beard.

We have carefully examined and approved all the material which goes to make up {vi} the manual, and have tried to make it as complete as possible; nevertheless, no one can be more conscious than we are of the difficulty of providing a book which will meet all the demands of such widely scattered patrols with such varied interests. We have constantly kept in mind the evils that confront the boys of our country and have struck at them by fostering better things. Our hope is that the information needed for successful work with boy scouts will be found within the pages of this book.

In these pages and throughout our organization we have made it obligatory upon our scouts that they cultivate courage, loyalty, patriotism, brotherliness, self-control, courtesy, kindness to animals, usefulness, cheerfulness, cleanliness, thrift, purity and honor. No one can doubt that with such training added to his native gifts, the American boy will in the near future, as a man, be an efficient leader in the paths of civilization and peace.

It has been deemed wise to publish all material especially for the aid of scout masters in a separate volume to be known as "The Scout Masters' Manual."

We send out our "Official Handbook," therefore, with the earnest wish that many boys may find in it new methods for the proper use of their leisure time and fresh inspiration in their efforts to make their hours of recreation contribute to strong, noble manhood in the days to come.



Editorial Board.

WILLIAM D. MURRAY

GEORGE D. PRATT,

A. A. JAMESON,

THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICAEditorial Board.

OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL



BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA



THE FIFTH AVENUE BUILDING, 200 FIFTH AVENUE

NEW YORK CITY

Honorary President THE HON. WILLIAM H. TAFT Honorary Vice-President Colonel THEODORE ROOSEVELT President COLIN H. LIVINGSTONE,

Washington, D. C. 1st Vice-President B. L. DULANEY,

Bristol, Tenn. 2d Vice-President MILTON A. McRAE,

Detroit, Mich. 3d Vice-President DAVID STARR JORDAN,

Stanford, Ca. Chief Scout ERNEST THOMPSON SETON,

Cos Cob, Conn. National Scout Commissioner DANIEL CARTER BEARD,

Flushing, L. I., N.Y. National Scout Commissioner Adj.-Gen. WILLIAM VERBECK,

Albany, N.Y. National Scout Commissioner Colonel PETER S. BOMUS,

New York City Treasurer GEORGE D. PRATT,

Brooklyn, N. Y.

MEMBERS OF NATIONAL COUNCIL



Charles Conrad Abbott

Arthur Adams

Dr. Felix Adler

Harry A. Allison

Henry Morrell Atkinson

B. N. Baker

Ray Stannard Baker

Evelyn Briggs Baldwin

Clifford W. Barnes

Daniel Carter Beard

Henry M. Beardsley

Martin Behrman

August Belmont

Ernest P. Bicknell



{viii}



Edward Bok

Colonel Peter S. Bomus

Hon. Charles J. Bonaparte

William D. Boyce

H. S. Braucher

Roeliff Brinkerhoff

Dr. Elmer E. Brown

Luther Burbank

Dr. Richard C. Cabot

Rev. S. Parkes Cadman

Arthur A. Carey

E. C. Carter

Richard B. Carter

W. D. Champlin

Thomas Chew

Winston Churchill

G. A. Clark

P. P. Claxton

Randall J. Condon

C. M. Connolly

Ernest K. Coulter

Dr. C. Ward Crampton

George H. Dalrymple

Dr. George S. Davis

E. B. DeGroot

Judge William H. De Lacy

William C. Demorest

Dr. Edward T. Devine

Admiral George Dewey

Gov. John A. Diz

Myron E. Douglas

Benjamin L. Dulaney

Hon. T. C. Du Pont

Dr. George W. Ehler

Griffith Ogden Ellis

Robert Erskine Ely

Henry P. Emerson

Hon. John J. Esch

J. W. Everman

Eberhard Faber

Dr. George J. Fisher

Horace Fletcher

Homer Folks

Dr. William Byron Forbush

Dr. Lee K. Frankel

Robert Ives Gammell

Hon. James R. Garfield

Hamlin Garland

Robert Garrett

William H. Gay

Bishop David H. Greer

Jesse A. Gregg

George B. Grinnell

S. R. Guggenheim

Luther Halsey Gulick, M. D.

Dr. G. Stanley Hall

Dr. Winfield Scott Hall

Lee F. Hanmer

Dr. Hastings H. Hart

Hon. W. M. Hays

Prof. C. R. Henderson

Clark W. Hetherington

George W. Hinckley

Allen Hoben

Hon. R. P. Hobson

Rev. R. W. Hogue

John Sherman Hoyt

C. R. H. Jackson

Prof. Jeremiah W. Jenks

G. E. Johnson

Dr. David Starr Jordan

Mayor William S. Jordan

Otto Herman Kahn

Dr. William J. Kerby

Charles H. Kip

Dr. J. H. Kirkland

Judge Henry E. Klamroth

Rev. Walter Laidlow

Charles R. Lamb

Joseph Lee

Samuel McC. Lindsay

Judge Ben B. Lindsey

Colin H. Livingstone

Col. Frank L. Locke

Hon. Nicholas Longworth

Hon. Frank O. Lowden

Hon. Lee McClung

William McCormick

Hon. Henry B. F. Macfarland

J. Horace McFarland

C. W. McKee

Hon. William B. McKinley

J. S. McLain

Francis H. McLean

Milton A. McRae

Charles G. Maphis

George W. Manton

Edgar S. Martin

Frank S. Mason

Frank Lincoln Masseck

Dr. William H. Maxwell

Lieut.-Gen. Nelson A. Miles

John F. Moore

Arthur C. Moses

William D. Murray

Dr. Cyrus Northrop

Frank W. Ober

Hon. C. S. Page

Dr. C. H. Parkhurst

Hon. Herbert Parsons

Hon. Gifford Pinchot

David R. Porter

George D. Porter

Perry Edwards Powell

Frederic B. Pratt

George D. Pratt

Frank Presbrey

G. Barrett Rich, Jr.

Jacob A. Riis

Clarence C. Robinson

Edgar M. Robinson

Colonel Theodore Roosevelt

Lincoln E. Rowley

Oliver J. Sands

Dr. D. A. Sargent

Henry B. Sawyer

Mortimer L. Schiff

Charles Scribner

George L. Sehon

Rear Admiral Thomas Oliver Selfridge

Jefferson Seligman

Jesse Seligman

Ernest Thompson Seton

Samuel Shuman

Rear Admiral Charles Dwight Sigsbee

William F. Slocum

Fred. B. Smith

Hon. George Otis Smith

Lorillard Spencer

Lorillard Spencer, Jr.

Judge William H. Staake

Hon. Adlai Stevenson

Andrew Stevenson

A. E. Stilwell

C. H. Stoddard

Rev. John Timothy Stone, D.D.

Isidor Straus

Hon. Oscar S. Straus

Josiah Strong

Hon. William H. Taft

Edward K. Taylor

Graham Romeyn Taylor

Judge Harry L. Taylor

William L. Terhune

Seth Sprague Terry

John E. Thayer

Rev. James I. Vance

Dr. Henry Van Dyke

Adj. Gen. William Verbeck

John Wanamaker

Henry L. Ward

Lucien T. Warner

Richard Benedict Watrous

Rear Admiral J. C. Watson

W. D. Weatherford

Dr. Benjamin Ide Wheeler

Eli Whitney

Mornay Williams

Gen. George W. Wingate

A. E. Winship

Henry Rogers Winthrop

Major-Gen. Leonard Wood

Surgeon-Gen. Walter Wyman

Major Andrew C. Zabriskie



{x}



A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF SCOUT



TO THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA:

There was once a boy who lived in a region of rough farms. He was wild with the love of the green outdoors--the trees, the tree-top singers, the wood-herbs and the live things that left their nightly tracks in the mud by his spring well. He wished so much to know them and learn about them, he would have given almost any price in his gift to know the name of this or that wonderful bird, or brilliant flower; he used to tremble with excitement and intensity of interest when some new bird was seen, or when some strange song came from the trees to thrill him with its power or vex him with its mystery, and he had a sad sense of lost opportunity when it flew away leaving him dark as ever. But he was alone and helpless, he had neither book nor friend to guide him, and he grew up with a kind of knowledge hunger in his heart that gnawed without ceasing. But this also it did: It inspired him with the hope that some day he might be the means of saving others from this sort of torment--he would aim to furnish to them what had been denied to himself.

There were other things in the green and living world that had a binding charm for him. He wanted to learn to camp out, to live again the life of his hunter grandfather who knew all the tricks of winning comfort from the relentless wilderness the foster-mother so rude to those who fear her, so kind to the stout of heart.

And he had yet another hankering--he loved the touch of romance. When he first found Fenimore Cooper's books, he drank them in as one parched might drink at a spring. He reveled in the tales of courage and heroic deeds, he gloated over records of their trailing and scouting by red man and white; he gloried in their woodcraft, and lived it all in imagination, secretly blaming the writer, a little, for praising without describing it so it could be followed. "Some day," he said, "I shall put it all down for other boys to learn."

As years went by he found that there were books about most of the things he wished to know, the stars, the birds, the {xi} quadrupeds, the fish, the insects, the plants, telling their names; their hidden power or curious ways, about the camper's life the language of signs and even some of the secrets of the trail. But they were very expensive and a whole library would be needed to cover the ground. What he wanted--what every boy wants--is a handbook giving the broad facts as one sees them in the week-end hike, the open-air life. He did not want to know the trees as a botanist, but as a forester; nor the stars as an astronomer, but as a traveler. His interest in the animals was less that of anatomist than of a hunter and camper, and his craving for light on the insects was one to be met by a popular book on bugs, rather than by a learned treatise on entomology.

So knowing the want he made many attempts to gather the simple facts together exactly to meet the need of other boys of like ideas, and finding it a mighty task he gladly enlisted the help of men who had lived and felt as he did.

Young Scouts of America that boy is writing to you now. He thought himself peculiar in those days. He knows now he was simply a normal boy with the interests and desires of all normal boys, some of them a little deeper rooted and more lasting perhaps--and all the things that he loved and wished to learn have now part in the big broad work we call Scouting.

"Scout" used to mean the one on watch for the rest. We have widened the word a little. We have made it fit the town as well as the wilderness and suited it to peace time instead of war. We have made the scout an expert in Life-craft as well as Wood-craft, for he is trained in the things of the heart as well as head and hand. Scouting we have made to cover riding, swimming, tramping, trailing, photography, first aid, camping, handicraft, loyalty, obedience, courtesy, thrift, courage, and kindness.

Do these things appeal to you? Do you love the woods?

Do you wish to learn the trees as the forester knows them? And the stars not as an astronomer, but as a traveler?

Do you wish to have all-round, well-developed muscles, not those of a great athlete, but those of a sound body that will not fail you? Would you like to be an expert camper who can always make himself comfortable out of doors, and a swimmer that fears no waters? Do you desire the knowledge to help the wounded quickly, and to make yourself cool and self-reliant in an emergency?

Do you believe in loyalty, courage, and kindness? Would {xii} you like to form habits that will surely make your success in life?

Then, whether you be farm boy or shoe clerk, newsboy or millionaire's son, your place is in our ranks, for these are the thoughts in scouting; it will help you to do better work with your pigs, your shoes, your papers, or your dollars; it will give you new pleasures in life; it will teach you so much of the outdoor world that you wish to know; and this Handbook, the work of many men, each a leader in his field, is their best effort to show you the way. This is, indeed, the book that I so longed for, in those far-off days when I wandered, heart hungry in the woods.

CONTENTS



PAGE Boy Scout Certificate iii Preface v Officers and Members of the National Council vii

Scoutcraft 3 AIM OF SCOUT MOVEMENT John L. Alexander WHAT SCOUTING MEANS John L. Alexander SCOUT VIRTUES John L. Alexander THE BOY SCOUT ORGANIZATION Special Committee SCOUT OATH Special Committee SCOUT LAW Special Committee TENDERFOOT, SECOND CLASS,

AND FIRST CLASS SCOUT REQUIREMENTS Special Committee BADGES, AWARDS AND EQUIPMENT Special Committee KNOTS EVERY SCOUT SHOULD KNOW. Samuel A. Moffat

Woodcraft 57 WOODLORE Ernest Thompson Seton BIRDCRAFT National Association Audubon Societies SHELLS AND SHELLFISH Dr. Wm. Healey Dall REPTILES Dr. Leonhard Stejneger INSECTS AND BUTTERFLIES United States Bureau of Entomology FISHES AND ANGLING Dr. Hugh M. Smith AQUARIUM Dr. Wm. Leland Stowell ROCKS AND PEBBLES United States Geological Survey FLOWERS, FERNS AND GRASSES Dr. L. C. Corbett MUSHROOMS, FUNGI OR TOADSTOOLS Ernest Thompson Seton COMMON NORTH AMERICAN TREES Ernest Thompson Seton NATIVE WILD ANIMALS Ernest Thompson Seton

Campcraft 145 HIKING AND OVER-NIGHT CAMPS H. W. Gibson TENT MAKING MADE EASY H. J. Holden AN OPEN OUTING TENT Warren H. Miller CANOEING, ROWING, AND SAILING Special Committee

CHAPTER IV. Tracks, Trailing, and Signaling Ernest Thompson Seton 187

CHAPTER V. Health and Endurance George J. Fisher, M.D. 219

CHAPTER VI. Chivalry John L. Alexander 237

CHAPTER VII. First Aid and Life Saving Major Charles Lynch 255

WATER ACCIDENTS Wilbert E. Longfellow

CHAPTER VIII. Games and Athletic Standards

291

INDOOR AND OUTDOOR GAMES Ernest Thompson Seton

ATHLETIC STANDARDS Special Committee

CHAPTER IX. Patriotism and Citizenship Waldo H. Sherman 323

PRACTICAL CITIZENSHIP Col. Theodore Roosevelt

APPENDIX. EQUIPMENT

359 BOOKS FOR REFERENCE

369 INDEX

393

HANDBOOK FOR BOYS

CHAPTER I



SCOUTCRAFT

This chapter is the result of the work of the Committee on Scout Oath, Scout Law, Tenderfoot, Second-class and First-class Requirements; the Committee on Badges, Awards, and Equipment; the Committee on Permanent Organization and Field Supervision, and John L. Alexander and Samuel A. Moffat.

Aim of the Scout Movement

By John L. Alexander, Boy Scouts of America

The aim of the Boy Scouts is to supplement the various existing educational agencies, and to promote the ability in boys to do things for themselves and others. It is not the aim to set up a new organization to parallel in its purposes others already established. The opportunity is afforded these organizations, however, to introduce into their programs unique features appealing to interests which are universal among boys. The method is summed up in the term Scoutcraft, and is a combination of observation, deduction, and handiness, or the ability to do things. Scoutcraft includes instruction in First Aid, Life Saving, Tracking, Signaling, Cycling, Nature Study, Seamanship, Campcraft, Woodcraft, Chivalry, Patriotism, and other subjects. This is accomplished in games and team play, and is pleasure, not work, for the boy. All that is needed is the out-of-doors, a group of boys, and a competent leader.

What Scouting Means

In all ages there have been scouts, the place of the scout being on the danger line of the army or at the outposts, protecting those of his company who confide in his care.

The army scout was the soldier who was chosen out of all the army to go out on the skirmish line.

The pioneer, who was out on the edge of the wilderness, {4} guarding the men, women, and children in the stockade, was also a scout. Should he fall asleep, or lose control of his faculties, or fail on his watch, then the lives of the men, women, and children paid the forfeit, and the scout lost his honor.

But there have been other kinds of scouts besides war scouts and frontier scouts. They have been the men of all ages, who have gone out on new and strange adventures, and through their work have benefited the people of the earth. Thus, Columbus discovered America, the Pilgrim Fathers founded New England, the early English settlers colonized Jamestown, and the Dutch built up New York. In the same way the hardy Scotch-Irish pushed west and made a new home for the American people beyond the Alleghanies and the Rockies.

These peace scouts had to be as well prepared as any war scouts. They had to know scoutcraft. They had to know how to live in the woods, and be able to find their way anywhere, without other chart or compass than the sun and stars, besides being able to interpret the meaning of the slightest signs of the forest and the foot tracks of animals and men.

They had to know how to live so as to keep healthy and strong, to face any danger that came their way, and to help one another. These scouts of old were accustomed to take chances with death and they did not hesitate to give up their lives in helping their comrades or country. In fact, they left everything behind them, comfort and peace, in order to push forward into the wilderness beyond. And much of this they did because they felt it to be their duty.

These little-known scouts could be multiplied indefinitely by going back into the past ages and reading the histories and stories of the knights of King Arthur, of the Crusaders, and of the great explorers and navigators of the world.

Wherever there have been heroes, there have been scouts, and to be a scout means to be prepared to do the right thing at the right moment, no matter what the consequences may be.

The way for achievement in big things is the preparing of one's self for doing the big things--by going into training and doing the little things well. It was this characteristic of Livingstone, the great explorer, that made him what he was, and that has marked the career of all good scouts.

To be a good scout one should know something about the woods and the animals that inhabit them, and how to care for one's self when camping.

The habits of animals can be studied by stalking them and watching them in their native haunts.

The scout should never kill an animal or other living creature needlessly. There is more sport in stalking animals to photograph them, and in coming to know their habits than in hunting to kill.

But woodcraft means more than this. It means not only the following of tracks and other signs, but it means to be able to read them. To tell how fast the animal which made the tracks was going; to tell whether he was frightened, suspicious, or otherwise.

Woodcraft also enables the scout to find his way, no matter where he is. It teaches him the various kinds of wild fruit, roots, nuts, etc., which are good for food, or are the favorite food of animals.

By woodcraft a scout may learn a great number of things. He may be able to tell whether the tracks were made by an animal or by man, bicycle, automobile or other vehicle.

By having his power of observation trained he can tell by very slight signs, such as the sudden flying of birds, that someone is moving very near him though he may not be able to see the person.

Through woodcraft then, a boy may train his eye, and be able to observe things that otherwise would pass unnoticed. In this way he may be able to save animals from pain, as a horse from an ill-fitting harness. He may also be able to see little things which may give him the clew to great things and so be able to prevent harm and crime.





Torture (Note the check or bearing-rein)





Comfort



Besides woodcraft one must know something of camp life. One of the chief characteristics of the scout is to be able to live in the open, know how to put up tents, build huts, throw up a lean-to for shelter, or make a dugout in the ground, how to build a fire, how to procure and cook food, how to bind logs together so as to construct bridges and rafts, and how to find his way by night as well as by day in a strange country.

Living in the open in this way, and making friends of the trees, the streams, the mountains, and the stars, gives a scout a great deal of confidence and makes him love the natural life around him.

To be able to tell the difference between the trees by their bark and leaves is a source of pleasure; to be able to make a {7} bed out of rough timber, or weave a mattress or mat out of grass to sleep on is a joy. And all of these things a good scout should know.

Then too, a good scout must be chivalrous. That is, he should be as manly as the knights or pioneers of old. He should be unselfish. He should show courage. He must do his duty. He should show benevolence and thrift. He should be loyal to his country. He should be obedient to his parents, and show respect to those who are his superiors. He should be very courteous to women. One of his obligations is to do a good turn every day to some one. He should be cheerful and seek self-improvement, and should make a career for himself.

All these things were characteristics of the old-time American scouts and of the King Arthur knights. Their honor was sacred. They were courteous and polite to women and children, especially to the aged, protected the weak, and helped others to live better. They taught themselves to be strong, so as to be able to protect their country against enemies. They kept themselves strong and healthy, so that they might be prepared to do all of these things at a moment's notice, and do them well.

So the boy scout of to-day must be chivalrous, manly, and gentlemanly.

When he gets up in the morning he may tie a knot in his necktie, and leave the necktie outside his vest until he has done a good turn. Another way to remind himself is to wear his scout badge reversed until he has done his good turn. The good turn may not be a very big thing--help an old lady across the street; remove a banana skin from the pavement so that people may not fall; remove from streets or roads broken glass, dangerous to automobile or bicycle tires; give water to a thirsty horse; or deeds similar to these.

The scout also ought to know how to save life. He ought to be able to make a stretcher; to throw a rope to a drowning person; to drag an unconscious person from a burning building, and to resuscitate a person overcome by gas fumes. He ought also to know the method of stopping runaway horses, and he should have the presence of mind and the skill to calm a panic and deal with street and other accidents.

This means also that a boy scout must always be in the pink of condition. A boy cannot do things like these unless he is healthy and strong. Therefore, he must be systematically taking exercise, playing games, running, and walking. It means that he must sleep enough hours to give him the necessary strength, and if possible to sleep very much in the open, or at least {8} with the windows of his bedroom open both summer and winter.

It means also that he should take a cold bath often, rubbing dry with a rough towel. He should breathe through the nose and not through the mouth. He should at all times train himself to endure hardships.

In addition to these the scout should be a lover of his country. He should know his country. How many states there are in it, what are its natural resources, scope, and boundaries. He ought to know something of its history, its early settlers, and of the great deeds that won his land. How they settled along the banks of the James River. How Philadelphia, New York, and other great cities were founded. How the Pilgrim Fathers established New England and laid the foundation for our national life. How the scouts of the Middle West saved all that great section of the country for the Republic. He ought to know how Texas became part of the United States, and how our national heroes stretched out their hands, north and south, east and west, to make one great united country.

He ought to know the history of the important wars. He ought to know about our army and navy flags and the insignia of rank of our officers. He ought to know the kind of government he lives under, and what it means to live in a republic. He ought to know what is expected of him as a citizen of his state and nation, and what to do to help the people among whom he lives.

In short, to be a good scout is to be a well-developed, well-informed boy.

Scout Virtues

There are other things which a scout ought to know and which should be characteristic of him, if he is going to be the kind of scout for which the Boy Scouts of America stand. One of these is obedience. To be a good scout a boy must learn to obey the orders of his patrol leader, scout master, and scout commissioner. He must learn to obey, before he is able to command. He should so learn to discipline and control himself that he will have no thought but to obey the orders of his officers. He should keep such a strong grip on his own life that he will not allow himself to do anything which is ignoble, or which will harm his life or weaken his powers of endurance.

Another virtue of a scout is that of courtesy. A boy scout {9} ought to have a command of polite language. He ought to show that he is a true gentleman by doing little things for others.

Loyalty is also a scout virtue. A scout ought to be loyal to all to whom he has obligations. He ought to stand up courageously for the truth, for his parents and friends.

Another scout virtue is self-respect. He ought to refuse to accept gratuities from anyone, unless absolutely necessary. He ought to work for the money he gets.

For this same reason he should never look down upon anyone who may be poorer than himself, or envy anyone richer than himself. A scout's self-respect will cause him to value his own standing and make him sympathetic toward others who may be, on the one hand, worse off, or, on the other hand, better off as far as wealth is concerned. Scouts know neither a lower nor a higher class, for a scout is one who is a comrade to all and who is ready to share that which he has with others.

The most important scout virtue is that of honor. Indeed, this is the basis of all scout virtues and is closely allied to that of self-respect. When a scout promises to do a thing on his honor, he is bound to do it. The honor of a scout will not permit of anything but the highest and the best and the manliest. The honor of a scout is a sacred thing, and cannot be lightly set aside or trampled on.

Faithfulness to duty is another one of the scout virtues. When it is a scout's duty to do something, he dare not shirk. A scout is faithful to his own interest and the interests of others. He is true to his country and his God.

Another scout virtue is cheerfulness. As the scout law intimates, he must never go about with a sulky air. He must always be bright and smiling, and as the humorist says, "Must always see the doughnut and not the hole." A bright face and a cheery word spread like sunshine from one to another. It is the scout's duty to be a sunshine-maker in the world.

Another scout virtue is that of thoughtfulness, especially to animals; not merely the thoughtfulness that eases a horse from the pain of a badly fitting harness or gives food and drink to an animal that is in need, but also that which keeps a boy from throwing a stone at a cat or tying a tin can on a dog's tail. If a boy scout does not prove his thoughtfulness and friendship for animals, it is quite certain that he never will be really helpful to his comrades or to the men, women, and children who may need his care.

And then the final and chief test of the scout is the doing of a good turn to somebody every day, quietly and without boasting. This is the proof of the scout. It is practical religion, and a boy honors God best when he helps others most. A boy may wear all the scout uniforms made, all the scout badges ever manufactured, know all the woodcraft, campcraft, scoutcraft and other activities of boy scouts, and yet never be a real boy scout. To be a real boy scout means the doing of a good turn every day with the proper motive and if this be done, the boy has a right to be classed with the great scouts that have been of such service to their country. To accomplish this a scout should observe the scout law.

Every boy ought to commit to memory the following abbreviated form of the Scout law.

The Twelve Points of the Scout Law

1. A scout is trustworthy. 2. A scout is loyal. 3. A scout is helpful. 4. A scout is friendly. 5. A scout is courteous. 6. A scout is kind. 7. A scout is obedient. 8. A scout is cheerful. 9. A scout is thrifty. 10. A scout is brave. 11. A scout is clean. 12. A scout is reverent.

The Boy Scout Organization



(Result of work of Committee on Permanent Organization and Field Supervision:--H. S. Braucher, Chairman. Lorillard Spencer. Jr., Colin H. Livingstone. Richard C. Morse. Mortimer Schiff, Dr. George W. Ehler, C. M. Connolly, E. B. DeGroot, Lee F. Hamner.)

To do good scouting a boy must understand the organization of which he is a part. The Boy Scouts of America is promoted and governed by a group of men called the National Council. This National Council is made up of leading men of the country and it is their desire that every American boy shall have the opportunity of becoming a good scout.

The National Council holds one meeting annually at which it elects the officers and the members of the Executive Board. It copyrights badges and other scout designs, arranges for their manufacture and distribution, selects designs for uniforms and scout equipment, issues scout commissioners' and scout masters' certificates, and grants charters for local councils.

A local council through its officers--president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and scout commissioner, its executive committee, court of honor, and other committees--deals with all local matters that relate to scouting.

The scout commissioner is the ranking scout master of the local council and presides at all scout masters' meetings as well as at all scout field meets. It is also the duty of the scout commissioner to report to and advise with the Chief Scout through the Executive Secretary concerning the scouts in his district. The scout commissioner's certificate is issued from National Headquarters upon the recommendation of a local council after this council has been granted a charter.

The scout master is the adult leader of a troop, and must be at least twenty-one years of age. He should have a deep interest in boys, be genuine in his own life, have the ability to lead, and command the boys' respect and obedience. He need not be an expert at scoutcraft; a good scout master will discover experts for the various activities. His certificate is granted upon the recommendation of the local council.

An assistant scout master should be eighteen years of age or over. His certificate is granted by the National Council upon the recommendation of the scout master of his troop and the local council.

Chief Scout and Staff

Chief Scout Surgeon.

Chief Scout Director of Health.

Chief Scout Woodsman.

Chief Scout Athletic Director.

Chief Scout Stalker.

Chief Scout Citizen.

Chief Scout Master.

Chief Scout Director of Chivalry.

Chief Scout Camp Master.



Chief Scout and Staff.

Scout Commissioner.

Scout Master.

Assistant Scout Master.

Patrol Leader.

Assistant Patrol Leader.



Eagle Scout.

Star Scout.

Life Scout.

First-class Scout.

Second-class Scout.

Tenderfoot.



How to Become a Boy Scout

The easiest way to become a boy scout is to join a patrol that has already been started. This patrol may be in {12} a Sunday School, Boys' Brigade, Boys' Club, Young Men's Christian Association, Young Men's Hebrew Association, Young Men's Catholic Association, or any other organization to which you may belong. If there is no patrol near you, get some man interested enough to start one by giving him all the information.

A patrol consists of eight boys, one of whom becomes the patrol leader and another the assistant patrol leader.

A troop consists of three or more patrols, and the leader of the troop is called a scout master. There can be no patrols or troops of boy scouts without this scout master.

The Scout Motto

The motto of the boy scouts is Be Prepared, and the badge of the boy scouts is a copyrighted design with this motto, "Be Prepared," on a scroll at its base.

The motto, "Be Prepared," means that the scout is always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do his duty. To be prepared in mind, by having disciplined himself to be obedient, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that may occur, so that he may know the right thing to do at the right moment, and be willing to do it. To be prepared in body, by making himself strong and active and able to do the right thing at the right moment, and then to do it.

The Scout Badge

The scout badge is not intended to represent the fleur-de-lis, or an arrowhead. It is a modified form of the sign of the north on the mariner's compass, which is as old as the history of navigation. The Chinese claim its use among them as early as 2634 B. C., and we have definite information that it was used at sea by them as early as 300 A. D. Marco Polo brought the compass to Europe on his return from Cathay. The sign of the north on the compass gradually came to represent the north, and pioneers, trappers, woodsmen, and scouts, because of this, adopted it as their emblem. Through centuries of use it has undergone modification until it has now assumed the shape of our badge.

This trefoil badge of the scouts is now used, with slight local variations, in almost every civilized country as the mark of brotherhood, for good citizenship, and friendliness.

Its scroll is turned up at the ends like a scout's mouth, because he does his duty with a smile and willingly.

The knot is to remind the scout to do a good turn to someone daily.

The arrowhead part is worn by the tenderfoot. The scroll part only is worn by the second-class scout. The badge worn by the first-class scout is the whole badge.

The official badges of the Boy Scouts of America are issued by the National Council and may be secured only from the National Headquarters. These badges are protected by the U. S. Patent Laws (letters of patent numbers 41412 and 41532) and anyone infringing these patents is liable to prosecution at law.

In order to protect the Boy Scout Movement and those who have qualified to receive badges designating the various degrees in scoutcraft, it is desired that all interested cooperate with the National Headquarters in safeguarding the sale and distribution of these badges. This may be done by observing the following rules:

1. Badges should not be ordered until after boys have actually complied with the requirements prescribed by the National Council and are entitled to receive them.

2. All orders for badges should be sent in by the scout master with a certificate from the local council that these requirements have been complied with. Blanks for this purpose may be secured on application to the National Headquarters.

Where no local council has been formed, application for badges should be sent direct to Headquarters, signed by the registered scout master of the troop, giving his official number.

Scout commissioners', scout masters', and assistant scout masters' badges can be issued only to those who are registered as such at National Headquarters.

Tenderfoot Badge--Gilt metal.

Patrol Leader's Tenderfoot Badge--Oxidized silver finish.

These badges are seven eighths of an inch wide and are made either for the button-hole or with safety-pin clasp. Price 5 cents.

Second-Class Scout Badge--Gilt metal.

Patrol Leader's Second-Class Scout Badge--Oxidized silver.

These badges--safety-pin style--to be worn upon the sleeve. Price 10 cents.

First-Class Scout Badge--Gilt metal.

Patrol Leader's First-Class Scout Badge--Oxidized silver.

Both badges safety-pin style--to be worn upon the sleeve. Price 15 cents.

Scout Commissioner's, Scout Master's, and Assistant Scout Master's Arm Badges.

These badges are woven in blue, green, and red silk, and are to be worn on the sleeve of coat or shirt. Price 25 cents.



Buttons--The official buttons worn on the scout uniforms sell for 10 cents per set for shirt and 15 cents per set for coat.

Merit Badges--Price 25 cents each.

Boy Scout Certificates--A handsome certificate in two colors, 6 x 8 inches, has been prepared for boy scouts who wish to have a record of their enrolment. The certificate has the Scout Oath and Law and the official Seal upon it, with place for the signature of the scout master. The price is 5 cents.

Directions For Ordering

Important! When ordering supplies send exact remittance with order, If check is used add New York exchange. Make checks and money orders payable to Boy Scouts of America. All orders received without the proper remittance will be shipped C. O. D., or held until remittance arrives.

The Scout Oath





Before he becomes a scout a boy must promise:

On my honor I will do my best:

1. To do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the scout law;

2. To help other people at all times;

3. To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

When taking this oath the scout will stand, holding up his right hand, palm to the front, thumb resting on the nail of the little finger and the other three fingers upright and together.



The Scout Sign

This is the scout sign. The three fingers held up remind him of his three promises in the scout oath.

The Scout Salute

When the three fingers thus held are raised to the forehead, it is the scout salute. The scout always salutes an officer.

The Scout Law

(Result of work of Committee on Scout Oath, Scout Law, Tenderfoot, Second-class and First-class Scout Requirements:--Prof. Jeremiah W. Jenks, Chairman. Dr. Lee K. Frankel, George D. Porter, E. M. Robinson, G. W. Hinckley, B. E. Johnson, Clark W. Hetherington, Arthur A. Carey.)

There have always been certain written and unwritten laws regulating the conduct and directing the activities of men. {15} We have such unwritten laws coming down from past ages. In Japan, the Japanese have their Bushido or laws of the old Samurai warriors. During the Middle Ages, the chivalry and rules of the Knights of King Arthur, the Knights Templar and the Crusaders were in force. In aboriginal America, the Red Indians had their laws of honor: likewise the Zulus, Hindus, and the later European nations have their ancient codes.

The following laws which relate to the Boy Scouts of America, are the latest and most up to date. These laws a boy promises to obey when he takes his scout oath.

1. A scout is trustworthy.

A scout's honor is to be trusted. If he were to violate his honor by telling a lie, or by cheating, or by not doing exactly a given task, when trusted on his honor, he may be directed to hand over his scout badge.

2. A scout is loyal.

He is loyal to all to whom loyalty is due: his scout leader, his home, and parents and country.

3. A scout is helpful.

He must be prepared at any time to save life, help injured persons, and share the home duties. He must do at least one good turn to somebody every day.



4. A scout is friendly.

He is a friend to all and a brother to every other scout.



5. A scout is courteous.

He is polite to all, especially to women, children, old people, and the weak and helpless. He must not take pay for being helpful or courteous.



6. A scout is kind.

He is a friend to animals. He will not kill nor hurt any living creature needlessly, but will strive to save and protect all harmless life.



7. A scout is obedient.

He obeys his parents, scout master, patrol leader, and all other duly constituted authorities.



8. A scout is cheerful.

He smiles whenever he can. His obedience to orders is prompt and cheery. He never shirks nor grumbles at hardships.



9. A scout is thrifty.

He does not wantonly destroy property. He works faithfully, wastes nothing, and makes the best use of his {16} opportunities. He saves his money so that he may pay his own way, be generous to those in need, and helpful to worthy objects.



He may work for pay but must not receive tips for courtesies or good turns.



10. A scout is brave.

He has the courage to face danger in spite of fear and has to stand up for the right against the coaxings of friends or the jeers or threats of enemies, and defeat does not down him.



11. A scout is clean.

He keeps clean in body and thought, stands for clean speech, clean sport, clean habits, and travels with a clean crowd.



12. A scout is reverent.

He is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties and respects the convictions of others in matters of custom and religion.

The Three Classes of Scouts

There are three classes of scouts among the Boy Scouts of America, the tenderfoot, second-class scout, and first-class scout. Before a boy can become a tenderfoot he must qualify for same. A tenderfoot, therefore, is superior to the ordinary boy because of his training. To be a tenderfoot means to occupy the lowest grade in scouting. A tenderfoot on meeting certain requirements may become a second-class scout, and a second-class scout upon meeting another set of requirements may become a first-class scout. The first-class scout may then qualify for the various merit badges which are offered in another part of this chapter for proficiency in scouting. The requirements of the tenderfoot, second-class scout, and first-class scout, are as follows:

Tenderfoot





Tenderfoot

He then takes the scout oath, is enrolled as a tenderfoot, and is entitled to wear the tenderfoot badge.

Second-class Scout





Second-class Scout

First-class Scout





First-class Scout

To become a first-class scout, the second-class scout must pass the following tests:

1. Swim fifty yards.



2. Earn and deposit at least two dollars in a public bank.

3. Send and receive a message by semaphore, or American Morse, or Myer alphabet, sixteen letters per minute.

4. Make a round trip alone (or with another scout) to a point {18} at least seven miles away, going on foot or rowing boat, and write a satisfactory account of the trip and things observed.

5. Advanced first aid: Know the methods for panic prevention; what to do in case of fire and ice, electric and gas accidents; how to help in case of runaway horse, mad dog, or snake bite; treatment for dislocations, unconsciousness, poisoning, fainting, apoplexy, sunstroke, heat exhaustion, and freezing; know treatment for sunburn, ivy poisoning, bites and stings, nosebleed, earache, toothache, inflammation or grit in eye, cramp or stomach ache and chills; demonstrate artificial respiration.

6. Prepare and cook satisfactorily, in the open, without regular kitchen utensils, two of the following articles as may be directed. Eggs, bacon, hunter's stew, fish, fowl, game, pancakes, hoe-cake, biscuit, hardtack or a "twist," baked on a stick; explain to another boy the methods followed.

7. Read a map correctly, and draw, from field notes made on the spot, an intelligible rough sketch map, indicating by their proper marks important buildings, roads, trolley lines, main landmarks, principal elevations, etc. Point out a compass direction without the help of the compass.

8. Use properly an axe for felling or trimming light timber; or produce an article of carpentry or cabinet-making or metal work made by himself. Explain the method followed.

9. Judge distance, size, number, height and weight within 25 per cent.

10. Describe fully from observation ten species of trees or plants, including poison ivy, by their bark, leaves, flowers, fruit, or scent; or six species of wild birds by their plumage, notes, tracks, or habits; or six species of native wild animals by their form, color, call, tracks, or habits; find the North Star, and name and describe at least three constellations of stars.

11. Furnish satisfactory evidence that he has put into practice in his daily life the principles of the scout oath and law.

12. Enlist a boy trained by himself in the requirements of a tenderfoot.

NOTE.--No deviation from above requirements will be permitted unless in extraordinary cases, such as physical inability, and the written consent of the National Headquarters has been obtained by the recognized local scout authority.

Patrol Signs

Each troop of boy scouts is named after the place to which it belongs. For example, it is Troop No. 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., of New York or Chicago. Each patrol of the troop is named after an animal or bird, but may be given another kind of name if there is a valid reason. In this way, the Twenty-seventh New York Troop, for instance, may have several patrols, which may be respectively the Ox, Wolf, Jackal, Raven, Buffalo, Fox, Panther, and Rattlesnake.



Positions of Various Badges

Each scout in a patrol has a number, the patrol leader being No. 1, the assistant patrol leader No. 2, and the other scouts the remaining consecutive numbers. Scouts in this way should {22} work in pairs, Nos. 3 and 4 together; 5 and 6 together; 7 and. 8 together.

MONGOOSE

Squeak--"Cheep"

BROWN AND ORANGE HAWK

Cry (same as Eagle)--"Kreeee"

PINK WOLF

Howl-"How-oooo"

YELLOW AND BLACK PEEWIT

Whistle-"Tewitt"

GREEN AND WHITE

HOUND

Bark "Bawow-wow"

ORANGE CAT

Cry--"Meeaow"

GRAY AND BROWN JACKAL

Laughing Cry-"Wahwah-wah-wah-wah."

GRAY AND BLACK

RAVEN

Cry-"Kar-kaw"

BLACK BUFFALO

Lowing (same as Bull) "Um-maouw"

RED AND WHITE PEACOCK

Cry-"Bee-oik"

GREEN AND BLUE

BULL

Lowing-"Um-maouw"

RED SEAL

Call-"Hark"

RED AND BLACK OWL

Whistle "Koot-koot-koo"

BLUE

TIGER

Purr-"Grrrao"

VIOLET LION

Roar-"Eu-Ugh"

YELLOW AND RED KANGAROO

Call-"Coo-ee"

RED AND GRAY HORSE

Whinney-"Hee-e-e-e"

BLACK AND WHITE

FOX

Bark-"Ha-ha"

YELLOW AND GREEN BEAR

Growl-"Boorrr"

BROWN AND RED STAG

Call-"Baow"

VIOLET AND BLACK STORK

Cry-"Korrr"

BLUE AND WHITE

PANTHER

Tongue in side of mouth--"Keeook"

YELLOW CURLEW

Whistle--"Curley"

GREEN HYENA

Laughing Cry-"Ooowah-oowah-wah"

YELLOW AND BROWN

RAM

Bleat--"Ba-a-a"

BROWN WOOD PIGEON

Call--"Book-hooroo"

BLUE AND GRAY EAGLE

Very shrill cry--"Kreeee"

GREEN AND BLACK

HIPPO

Hiss-"Brrussssh"

PINK AND BLACK RATTLESNAKE

Rattle a pebble in a small potted meat tin. WILD BOAR

Grunt--"Broof-broof"

GRAY AND PINK

COBRA

Hiss--"Pssst"

ORANGE AND BLACK CUCKOO

Call--"Cook-koo"

GRAY OTTER

Cry--"Hoi-oi-oick"

BROWN AND WHITE BEAVER

Slap made by clapping bands

BLUE AND YELLOW

Each scout in a patrol should be able to imitate the call of his patrol animal. That is, the scouts of the Wolf patrol should be able to imitate a wolf. In this way scouts of the same patrol can communicate with each other when in hiding, or in the dark of night. It is not honorable for a scout to use the call of any other patrol except his own.

The patrol leader calls up his patrol at will by sounding his whistle and by giving the call of the patrol.

When the scout makes signs anywhere for others to read he also draws the head of his animal. That is to say, if he were out scouting and wanted to show that a certain road should not be followed by others, he would draw the sign, "not to be followed," across it and add the name of his patrol animal, in order to show which patrol discovered that the road was bad, and by adding his own number at the left of the head to show which scout had discovered it.

BLUE BUFFALO

on white ground FLYING EAGLES

"Yeh-yeh-yeh"

Black and white on red BLUE HERONS

"Hrrrr"

Blue and green HORNED KINGBIRDS

SINAWA

Black on red BLACKBEARS

Black on red AHMEEKS SILVER FOXES

RED TRAILERS MOON BAND

Yellow on blue OWNEOKES BLAZING ARROW

Each patrol leader carries a small flag on the end of his staff {23} or stave with the head of his patrol animal shown on both sides. Thus the Tigers of the Twenty-seventh New York Troop should have the flag shown below.

The Merit Badges

(Result of work of Committee on Badges, Awards and Equipment: Dr. George J. Fisher, Chairman, Gen. George W. Wingate, Dr. C. Ward Crampton, Daniel Carter Beard. C. M. Connolly, A. A. Jameson. Ernest Thompson Seton.)

When a boy has become a first-class scout he may qualify for the merit badges.

The examination for these badges should be given by the Court of Honor of the local council. This examination must not be given any boy who is not qualified as a first-class scout. After the boy has passed the examination, the local council may secure the merit badge for him by presenting the facts to the National Council. These badges are intended to stimulate the boy's interest in the life about him and are given for general knowledge. The wearing of these badges does not signify that a scout is qualified to make his living by the knowledge gained in securing the award.

Scouts winning any of the following badges are entitled to place after their names the insignia of the badges won. For instance, if he has successfully passed the signaling and seamanship tests, he signs his name in this manner--

Agriculture

Angling

Archery

Architecture

Art

Astronomy

Athletics

Automobiling

Aviation

Bee Farming

Blacksmithing

Bugling

Business

Camping

Carpentry

Chemistry

Civics

Conservation

1. Be able to recognize in the forest all important commercial trees in his neighborhood; distinguish the lumber from each and tell for what purpose each is best suited; tell the age of old blazes on trees which mark a boundary or trail; recognize the difference in the forest between good and bad logging, giving reasons why one is good and another bad; tell whether a tree is dying from injury by fire, by insects, by disease or by a combination of these causes; know what tools to use, and how to fight fires in hilly or in flat country. Collect the seeds of two commercial trees, clean and store them, and know how and when to plant them.

2. Know the effect upon stream-flow of the destruction of forests at head waters; know what are the four great uses of water in streams; what causes the pollution of streams, and how it can best be stopped; and how, in general, water power is developed.

3. Be able to tell, for a given piece of farm land, whether it is best suited for use as farm or forest, and why; point out examples of erosion, and tell how to stop it; give the reasons why a growing crop pointed out to him is successful or why not; and tell what crops should be grown in his neighborhood and why.

4. Know where the great coal fields are situated and whether the use of coal is increasing, and if so at what rate. Tell what are the great sources of waste of coal, in the mines, and in its use, and how they can be reduced.

5. Know the principal game birds and animals in his neighborhood, the seasons during which they are protected, the methods of protection, and the results. Recognize the track of any two of the following: rabbit, fox, deer, squirrel, wild turkey, ruffed grouse and quail.

Cooking

1. Prove his ability to build a fireplace out of stone or sod {31} or logs, light a fire, and cook in the open the following dishes in addition to those required for a first-class scout: Camp stew, two vegetables, omelet, rice pudding; know how to mix dough, and bake bread in an oven; be able to make tea, coffee, and cocoa, carve properly and serve correctly to people at the table.

Craftsmanship

1. Build and finish unassisted one of the following articles: a round, square or octagonal tabouret; round or square den or library table; hall or piano bench; rustic arm chair or swing to be hung with chains; or rustic table

2. He must also make plans or intelligent rough sketch drawing of the piece selected.

Cycling

To obtain a merit badge for Cycling a scout must

1. Be able to ride a bicycle fifty miles in ten hours.

2. Repair a puncture.

3. Take apart and clean bicycle and put together again properly.

4. Know how to make reports if sent out scouting on a road.

5. Be able to read a map and report correctly verbal messages.

Dairying

1. Understand the management of dairy cattle.

2. Be able to milk.

3. Understand the sterilization of milk, and care of dairy utensils and appliances.

4. Test at least five cows for ten days each, with the Babcock test, and make proper reports.

Electricity

1. Illustrate the experiment by which the laws of electrical attraction and repulsion are shown.

2. Name three uses of the direct current, and tell how it differs from the alternating current.

3. Make a simple electro-magnet.

4. Have an elementary knowledge of the action of simple battery cells and of the working of electric bells and telephones.

5. Be able to remedy fused wire, and to repair broken electric connections.

6. Construct a machine to make static electricity or a wireless apparatus.

7. Have a knowledge of the method of resuscitation and rescue of a person insensible from shock.

Firemanship

To obtain a merit badge for Firemanship, a scout must

1. Know how to turn in an alarm for fire.

2. Know how to enter burning buildings.

3. Know how to prevent panics and the spread of fire.

4. Understand the use of hose; unrolling, joining up, connecting two hydrants, use of nozzle, etc.

5. Understand the use of escapes, ladders, and chutes, and know the location of exits in buildings which he frequents.

6. Know how to improvise ropes and nets.

7. Know what to do in case of panic, understand the fireman's lift and drag, and how to work in fumes.

8. Understand the use of fire extinguishers; how to rescue animals; how to save property; how to organize a bucket brigade, and how to aid the police in keeping back crowds.

First Aid

To obtain a merit badge for First Aid a scout must

1. Be able to demonstrate the Sylvester and Schaefer methods of resuscitation.

2. Carry a person down a ladder.

3. Bandage head and ankle.

4. Demonstrate treatment of wound of the neck with severe arterial hemorrhage.

5. Treat mangling injury of the leg without severe hemorrhage.

6. Demonstrate treatment for rupture of varicose veins of the leg with severe hemorrhage.

7. Show treatment for bite of finger by mad dog.

8. Demonstrate rescue of person in contact with electric wire.

9. Apply tourniquet to a principal artery.

10. State chief differences between carbolic poisoning and intoxication.

11. Explain what to do for snake bite.

12. Pass first aid test of American Red Cross Society.

First Aid to Animals

To obtain a merit badge for First Aid to Animals a scout must

1. Have a general knowledge of domestic and farm animals.

2. Be able to treat a horse for colic.

3. Describe symptoms and give treatment for the following: wounds, fractures and sprains, exhaustion, choking, lameness.

4. Understand horseshoeing.

Forestry

To obtain a merit badge for Forestry a scout must

1. Be able to identify twenty-five kinds of trees when in leaf, or fifteen kinds of deciduous (broad leaf) trees in winter, and tell some of the uses of each.

2. Identify twelve kinds of shrubs.

3. Collect and identify samples of ten kinds of wood and be able to tell some of their uses.

4. Determine the height, and estimate the amount of timber, approximately, in five trees of different sizes.

5. State laws for transplanting, grafting, spraying, and protecting trees.

Gardening

To obtain a merit badge for Gardening, a scout must

1. Dig and care for during the season a piece of ground containing not less than 144 square feet.

2. Know the names of a dozen plants pointed out in an ordinary garden.

3. Understand what is meant by pruning, grafting, and manuring.

4. Plant and grow successfully six kinds of vegetables or flowers from seeds or cuttings.

5. Cut grass with scythe under supervision.

Handicraft

To obtain a merit badge for Handicraft a scout must

1. Be able to paint a door.

2. Whitewash a ceiling.

3. Repair gas fittings, sash lines, window and door fastenings.

4. Replace gas mantles, washers, and electric light bulbs.

5. Solder.

6. Hang pictures and curtains.

7. Repair blinds.

8. Fix curtains, portiere rods, blind fixtures.

9. Lay carpets and mend clothing and upholstery.

10. Repair furniture and china.

11. Sharpen knives.

12. Repair gates.

13. Fix screens on windows and doors.

Horsemanship

To obtain a merit badge for Horsemanship a scout must

1. Demonstrate riding at a walk, trot, and gallop.

2. Know how to saddle and bridle a horse correctly.

3. Know how to water and feed and to what amount, and how to groom a horse properly.

4. Know how to harness a horse correctly in single or double harness and to drive.

5. Have a knowledge of the power of endurance of horses at work and know the local regulations concerning driving.

6. Know the management and care of horses.

7. Be able to identify unsoundness and blemishes.

8. Know the evils of bearing or check reins and of ill-fitting harness or saddlery.

9. Know two common causes of, and proper remedies for, lameness, and know to whom he should refer cases of cruelty and abuse.

10. Be able to judge as to the weight, height, and age of horses; know three breeds and their general characteristics.

Interpreting

To obtain a merit badge for Interpreting, a scout must

1. Be able to carry on a simple conversation.

2. Write a simple letter on subject given by examiners.

3. Read and translate a passage from a book or newspaper, in French, German, English, Italian, or any language that is not of his own country.

Invention

To obtain a merit badge for Invention a scout must

1. Invent and patent some useful article;

2. Show a working drawing or model of the same.

Leather Working

To obtain a merit badge for Leather Working a scout must

1. Have a knowledge of tanning and curing.

2. Be able to sole and heel a pair of boots, sewed or nailed, and generally repair boots and shoes.

3. Be able to dress a saddle, repair traces, stirrup leathers, etc., and know the various parts of harness.

Life Saving

To obtain a merit badge for Life Saving a scout must

1. Be able to dive into from seven to ten feet of water and bring from bottom to surface a loose bag of sand weighing five pounds.

2. Be able to swim two hundred yards, one hundred yards on back without using the hands, and one hundred yards any other stroke.

3. Swim fifty yards with clothes on (shirt, long trousers, and shoes as minimum).

4. Demonstrate (a) on land--five methods of release; (b) in the water--two methods of release; (c) the Schaefer method of resuscitation (prone pressure).

Machinery

To obtain a merit badge for Machinery a scout must

1. State the principles underlying the use and construction of the lathe, steam boiler and engine, drill press and planer.

2. Make a small wood or metal model illustrating the principles of either levers, gears, belted pulleys, or block and fall.

Marksmanship

To obtain a merit badge for Marksmanship a scout must

1. Qualify as a marksman in accordance with the regulations of the National Rifle Association.

Masonry

To obtain a merit badge for Masonry a scout must

1. Lay a straight wall with a corner.

2. Make mortar and describe process.

3. Use intelligently a plumb-line, level, and trowel.

4. Build a stone oven.

5. Demonstrate a knowledge of various uses for cement.

6. Build a dry wall.

Mining

To obtain a merit badge for Mining a scout must

1. Know and name fifty minerals.

2. Know, name and describe the fourteen great divisions of the earth's crust (according to Geikie).

3. Define watershed, delta, drift, fault, glacier, terrace, stratum, dip; and identify ten different kinds of rock.

4. Describe methods for mine ventilation and safety devices.

Music

To obtain a merit badge for Music a. scout must

1. Be able to play a standard musical instrument satisfactorily.

2. Read simple music.

3. Write a satisfactory essay of not less than five hundred words on the history of American music.

Ornithology

To obtain a merit badge for Ornithology a scout must

1. Have a list of one hundred different kinds of birds personally observed on exploration in the field.

2. Have identified beyond question, by appearance or by note, forty-five different kinds of birds in one day.

3. Have made a good clear photograph of some wild bird, the bird image to be over one half inch in length on the negative.

4. Have secured at least two tenants in bird boxes erected by himself.

5. Have daily notes on the nesting of a pair of wild birds from the time the first egg is laid until the young have left the nest.

6. Have attracted at least three kinds of birds, exclusive of the English sparrow, to a "lunch counter" which he has supplied.

Painting

To obtain a merit badge for Painting a scout must

1. Have knowledge of how to combine pigments in order to produce paints in shades and tints of color.

2. Know how to add positive colors to a base of white lead or of white zinc.

3. Understand the mixing of oils; turpentine, etc., to the proper consistency.

4. Paint a porch floor or other surface evenly and without laps.

5. Know how and when to putty up nail holes and uneven surfaces.

6. Present for inspection a panel covered with three coats of paint, which panel must contain a border of molding, the body of the panel to be painted in one color and the molding in another.

Pathfinding

To obtain a merit badge for Pathfinding a scout must

1. Know every lane, by-path, and short cut for a distance of at least two miles in every direction around the local scouts' headquarters in the country.

2. Have a general knowledge of the district within a five mile radius of his local headquarters, so as to be able to guide people at any time, by day or night.

3. Know the general direction and population of the five principal neighboring towns and be able to give strangers correct directions how to reach them.

4. Know in the country in the two mile radius, approximately, the number of horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs owned on the five neighboring farms: or in a town must know in a half-mile radius what livery stables, garages and blacksmiths there are.

5. Know the location of the nearest meat markets, bakeries, groceries, and drug stores.

6. Know where the nearest police station, hospital, doctor, fire alarm, fire hydrant, telegraph and telephone offices, and railroad stations are.

7. Know something of the history of the place, its principal public buildings, such as town or city hall, post-office, schools, and churches.

8. As much as possible of the above information should be entered on a large scale map.

Personal Health

To obtain a merit badge for Personal Health a scout must

1. Write a statement on the care of the teeth.

2. State a principle to govern in eating, and state in the order of their importance, five rules to govern the care of his health.

3. Be able to tell the difference in effect of a cold and hot bath.

4. Describe the effect of alcohol and tobacco on the growing boy.

5. Tell how to care for the feet on a march.

6. Describe a good healthful game and state its merit.

7. Describe the effects of walking as an exercise.

8. Tell how athletics may be overdone.

Photography

To obtain a merit badge for Photography a scout must

1. Have a knowledge of the theory and use of lenses, of the construction of cameras, and the action of developers.

2. Take, develop, and print twelve separate subjects: three interiors, three portraits, three landscapes, and three instantaneous "action photos."

3. Make a recognizable photograph of any wild bird larger than a robin, while on its nest; or a wild animal in its native haunts; or a fish in the water.

Pioneering

To obtain a merit badge for Pioneering a scout must

1. Fell a nine-inch tree or pole in a prescribed direction neatly and quickly.

2. Tie six knots of knots quickly.

3. Lash spars properly together for scaffolding.

4. Build a modern bridge or derrick.

5. Make a camp kitchen.

6. Build a shack of one kind or another suitable for three occupants.

Plumbing

To obtain a merit badge for Plumbing a scout must

1. Be able to make wiped and brazed joints.

2. Repair a burst pipe.

3. Mend a ball or faucet tap.

4. Understand the ordinary hot and cold water system of a house.

Poultry Farming

1. Have a knowledge of incubators, foster-mothers, sanitary fowl houses, and coops and runs.

2. Understand rearing, feeding, killing, and dressing birds for market.

3. Be able to pack birds and eggs for market.

4. Raise a brood of not less than ten chickens.

5. Report his observation and study of the hen, turkey, duck, and goose.

Printing

To obtain a merit badge for Printing a scout must

1. Know the names of ten different kinds of type and ten sizes of paper.

2. Be able to compose by hand or machines.

3. Understand the use of hand or power printing machines.

4. Print a handbill set up by himself.

5. Be able to read and mark proof correctly.

Public Health

To obtain a merit badge for Public Health a scout must

1. State what the chief causes of each of the following disease are: tuberculosis, typhoid, malaria.

2. Draw a diagram showing how the house-fly carries disease.

3. Tell what should be done to a house which has been occupied by a person who has had a contagious disease.

4. Tell how a scout may cooperate with the board of health in preventing disease.

5. Describe the method used in his community in disposing of garbage.

6. Tell how a city should protect its foods; milk, meat, and exposed foods.

7. Tell how to plan the sanitary care of a camp.

8. State the reason why school children should undergo a medical examination.

Scholarship

NOTE: The requirements for the merit badge for Scholarship had not been decided upon when this book was published. Information about same may be secured upon application to National Headquarters.

Sculpture

To obtain a merit badge for Sculpture a scout must

1. Make a clay model from an antique design.

2. Make a drawing and a model from nature, these models to be faithful to the original and of artistic design.

Seamanship

To obtain a merit badge for Seamanship

1. Be able to tie rapidly six different knots.

2. Splice ropes.

3. Use a palm and needle.

4. Fling a rope coil.

5. Be able to row, pole, scull, and steer a boat; also bring a boat properly alongside and make fast.

6. Know how to box the compass, read a chart, and show use of parallel rules and dividers.

7. Be able to state direction by the stars and sun.

8. Swim fifty yards with shoes and clothes on.

9. Understand the general working of steam and hydraulic winches, and have a knowledge of weather wisdom and of tides.

Signaling

To obtain a merit badge for Signaling a scout must

1. Send and receive a message in two of the following systems of signaling: Semaphore, Morse, or Myer, not fewer than twenty-four letters per minute.

2. Be able to give and read signals by sound.

3. Make correct smoke and fire signals.

Stalking

To obtain a merit badge for Stalking a scout must

1. Take a series of twenty photographs of wild animals or birds from life, and develop and print them.

2. Make a group of sixty species of wild flowers, ferns, or grasses, dried and mounted in a book and correctly named.

3. Make colored drawings of twenty flowers, ferns, or grasses, or twelve sketches from life of animals or birds, original sketches as well as the finished pictures to be submitted.

Surveying

To obtain a merit badge for Surveying a scout must

1. Map correctly from the country itself the main features of half a mile of road, with 440 yards each side to a scale of two feet to the mile, and afterward draw same map from memory.

2. Be able to measure the height of a tree, telegraph pole, and church steeple, describing method adopted.

3. Measure width of a river.

4. Estimate distance apart of two objects a known distance away and unapproachable.

5. Be able to measure a gradient.

Swimming

To obtain a merit badge for Swimming a scout must

1. Be able to swim one hundred yards.

2. Dive properly from the surface of the water.

3. Demonstrate breast, crawl, and side stroke.

4. Swim on the back fifty feet.

Taxidermy

To obtain a merit badge for Taxidermy a scout must

1. Have a knowledge of the game laws of the state in which he lives.

2. Preserve and mount the skin of a game bird, or animal, killed in season.

3. Mount for a rug the pelt of some fur animal.

Life Scout

The life scout badge will be given to all first-class scouts who have qualified for the following five-merit badges: first aid, athletics, life-saving, personal health, and public health.

Star Scout

The star scout badge will be given to the first-class scout who has qualified for ten merit badges. The ten include the list of badges under life scout.

Eagle Scout

Any first-class scout qualifying for twenty-one merit badges will be entitled to wear the highest scout merit badge. This is an eagle's head in silver, and represents the all-round perfect scout.

Honor Medals

A scout who is awarded any one of the following medals is entitled to wear the same on the left breast:

Bronze medal. Cross in bronze with first-class scout badge superimposed upon it and suspended from a bar by a red ribbon. This is awarded to a scout who has saved life.

Silver Medal. Silver Cross with first-class scout badge superimposed upon it and suspended from bar by blue ribbon. This medal is awarded to a scout who saves life with considerable risk to himself.

Gold Medal. Gold Cross with first-class scout badge superimposed upon it and suspended from bar by white ribbon. This medal is the highest possible award for service and heroism. It may be granted to a scout who has saved life at the greatest possible risk to his own life, and also to anyone who has rendered service of peculiar merit to the Boy Scouts of America.

The Honor Medal is a national honor and is awarded only by the National Council. To make application for one of these badges the facts must first be investigated by the Court of Honor of the Local Council and presented by that body to the Court of Honor of the National Council.

The Local Court of Honor may at any time invite experts to share in their examinations and recommendations.

When the National Court of Honor has passed upon the application, the proper medal will be awarded.

Badges of Rank

The following devices are used to distinguish the various ranks of scouts:

Patrol Leader

Patrol Leader: The patrol leader's arm badge consists of two bars, 1-1/2-inches long and 3/8-inch wide, of white braid worn on the sleeve below the left shoulder. In addition he may {45} wear all oxidized silver tenderfoot, second-class or first-class scout badge according to his rank. The assistant patrol leader wears one bar.

Service Stripes: For each year of service as a boy scout, he will be entitled to wear a stripe of white braid around the sleeve above the wrist, three stripes being changed for one red one. Five years of scouting would be indicated by one red stripe and two white stripes. The star indicates the position for wearing merit badges.

Scout Master: The badge of the scout commissioner, scout master, and assistant scout master is the first-class scout's badge reproduced in blue, green, and red, respectively, and are worn on the sleeve below the left shoulder.

Chief Scout: The badge of the Chief Scout is the first-class scout badge with a five-pointed star above it embroidered in silver.

Chief Scout Surgeon: The badge of the Chief Scout Surgeon is the first-class scout badge with a caduceus above it embroidered in green. (The Chief Scout's staff wear the badge of rank in the same manner as the Chief Scout.)

Chief Scout Woodsman: The badge of the Chief Scout Woodsman is the first-class scout badge with two crossed axes above it embroidered in green.

Chief Scout Stalker: The badge of the Chief Scout Stalker is the first-class scout badge with an oak leaf above it embroidered in blue.

Chief Scout Director of Health: The badge of the Chief Scout Director of Health is the first-class scout badge with {46} tongues of fire above it embroidered in red.

Chief Scout Camp Master: The badge of the Chief Scout Camp Master is the first-class scout badge with a moccasin above it embroidered in green:

Chief Scout of Athletics: The badge of the Chief Scout Director of Athletics is the first-class scout badge with a winged Mercury foot above it embroidered in green.

Chief Scout Director of Chivalry: The badge of the Chief Scout Director of Chivalry is the first-class scout badge with the scout sign above it embroidered in gold.

Chief Scout Citizen: The badge of the Chief Scout Citizen is the first-class scout badge with the United States flag above it in silver.

Appropriate badges for national and local councilmen may be secured from the National Headquarters.

Equipment

It should be clearly understood by all interested in the Scout Movement that it is not necessary for a boy to have a uniform or any other special equipment to carry out the scout program. There are a great many troops in the country which have made successful progresswithout any equipment whatever.

However, for the convenience of boys who wish to secure a uniform or other equipment, the National Council has made arrangements with certain manufacturers to furnish such parts of the equipment as may be desired by the boys. Such arrangements have been made with these manufacturers only after a great number of representative firms have been given an opportunity to submit samples and prices; the prices quoted to be uniform throughout the country. These manufacturers {47} are given the privilege of using for a limited period an imprint of the official badge as an indication that the Committee on Equipment is willing to recommend the use of that particular article. The official badge is fully protected by the U. S. Patent Laws and anyone using it without expressed authority from National Headquarters is subject to prosecution at law.

Considerable difficulty has been experienced in the selection of the material used in making coats, breeches, and shirts. The material used in the boy scout coat, breeches, and shirt has been submitted to a thirty-day sun test, the acid and strength test and is guaranteed to be a fast color and durable. To show the result of the selection made, the manufacturer of these articles has been given the privilege of using the imprint of the official seal and the right to use the official buttons. We recommend the purchase of the articles having this imprint through any local dealer or through National Headquarters. However, where a local council exists, buttons will be supplied on order of the Executive Committee for use on such uniforms as the Committee may desire to have made locally. In communities where no local council has been formed, they may be supplied on order of a registered scout master. Prices of the buttons per set for coat is 15 cents and per set for shirt 10 cents.

Every effort is made to have all parts of the uniform and equipment available to scouts through local dealers. If such arrangements have not been made in a community, the National Headquarters will be glad to help in making such an arrangement. Many scout masters prefer to order uniforms and other supplies direct from National Headquarters. In order to cover the expense involved in handling these supplies, the manufacturers have agreed to allow National Headquarters the same trade discount allowed to local dealers. Trade through National Headquarters if sufficiently large will help to meet a part of the current expenses of the National Organization. Any combination desired may be made from this list. A fairly complete equipment may be secured at the very nominal sum of $2.15. For instance, the Summer equipment which consists of: Hat, 50 cents; Shirt, 75 cents; Shorts, 50 cents; Belt, 40 cents.

Where it is desired to equip the members of the troop with a standard uniform the following equipment is suggested: Hat, Shirt, Coat, Breeches or Knickerbockers, Belt, Leggings or Stockings, shoes, Haversack.

Other combinations may be made according to the resources of the boys forming the troop.

However, it is recommended that each troop decide upon a definite combination to be worn by its members so that all of the scouts in the troop may dress alike. Each boy should pay for his own supplies and equipment. Soliciting donations for this purpose should be prohibited.



A complete list of all supplies and equipment with full information about places where same can be secured is given in the appendix of this book.

KNOTS EVERY SCOUT SHOULD KNOW

By Samuel A. Moffat, Boy Scouts of America

Every scout knows what rope is. From the earliest moment of his play life he has used it in connection with most of his games. In camp life and on hikes he will be called upon to use it again and again. It is therefore not essential to describe here the formation of rope; its various sizes and strength. The important thing to know is how to use it to the best advantage. To do this an intelligent understanding of the different knots and how to tie them is essential. Every day sailors, explorers, mechanics, and mountain-climbers risk their lives on the knots that they tie. Thousands of lives have been sacrificed to ill-made knots. The scout therefore should be prepared in an emergency, or when necessity demands, to tie the right knot in the right way.

There are three qualities to a good knot:

1. Rapidity with which it can be tied.

2. Its ability to hold fast when pulled tight, and

3. The readiness with which it can be undone.

The following knots, recommended to scouts, are the most serviceable because they meet the above requirements and will be of great help in scoutcraft. If the tenderfoot will follow closely the various steps indicated in the diagrams, he will have little difficulty in reproducing them at pleasure

In practising knot-tying a short piece of hemp rope may be used. To protect the ends from fraying a scout should know how to "whip" them. The commonest method of "whipping" is as follows:

Lay the end of a piece of twine along the end of the rope. {49} Hold it to the rope with the thumb of your left hand while you wind the standing part around it and the rope until the end of the twine has been covered. Then with the other end of the twine lay a loop back on the end of the rope and continue winding the twine upon this second end until all is taken up. The end is then pulled back tight and cut off close to the rope.

For the sake of clearness a scout must constantly keep in mind these three principal parts of the rope:

1. The Standing Part--The long unused portion of the rope on which he works;

2. The Bight--The loop formed whenever the rope is turned back upon itself; and,

3. The End--The part he uses in leading.



Before proceeding with the tenderfoot requirements, a scout should first learn the two primary knots: the overhand and figure-of-eight knots.

The Overhand Knot.

Start with the position shown in the preceding diagram. Back the end around the standing part and up through the bight and draw tight.

The Figure of Eight Knot.

Make a bight as before. Then lead the end around back of the standing part and down through the bight.

After these preliminary steps, the prospective tenderfoot may proceed to learn the required knots.

Square or Reef Knot.

The commonest knot for tying two ropes together. Frequently used in first-aid bandaging. Never slips or jams; easy to untie.

False Reef or Granny.

If the ends are not crossed correctly when making the reef knot, the false reef or granny is the result. This knot is always bad.

Sheet Bend or Weaver's Knot.

This knot is used in bending the sheet to the clew of a sail and in tying two rope-ends together.

Make a bight with one rope A, B, then pass end C, of other rope up through and around the entire bight and bend it under its own standing part.

The Bowline.

A noose that neither jams nor slips. Used in lowering a person from a burning building, etc.

Form a small loop on the standing part leaving the end long enough for the size of the noose required. Pass the end up through the bight around the standing part and down through the bight again. To tighten, hold noose in position and pull standing part.

Halter, Slip, or Running Knot.

A bight is first formed and an overhand knot made with the end around the standing part.

Sheepshank.

Used for shortening ropes. Gather up the amount to be shortened, then make a half hitch round each of the bends as shown in the diagram.

Clove Hitch.

Used to fasten one pole to another in fitting up scaffolding; this knot holds snugly; is not liable to slip laterally. Hold the standing part in left hand, then pass the rope around the pole; cross the standing part, making a second turn around the pole, and pass the end under the last turn.

The Fisherman's Bend.

Used aboard yachts for bending on the gaff topsail halliards. It consists of two turns around a spar or ring, then a half hitch around the standing part and through the turns on the spar, and another half hitch above it around the standing part.

Timber Hitch.

Used in hauling timber. Pass the end of the rope around the timber. Then lead it around its standing part and bring it back to make two or more turns on its own part. The strain will hold it securely.

Two Half Hitches.

Useful because they are easily made and will not slip under any strain. Their formation is sufficiently indicated by the diagram.

Blackwall Hitch.

Used to secure a rope to a hook. The standing part when hauled tight holds the end firmly.

Becket Hitch.

For joining a cord to a rope. May be easily made from diagram.

The Fisherman's Knot.

Used for tying silk-worm gut for fishing purposes. It never slips; is easily unloosed by pulling the two short ends.

The two ropes are laid alongside one another, then with each end an overhand knot is made around the standing part of the other. Pull the standing parts to tighten.

Carrick Bend.

Used in uniting hawsers for towing. Is easily untied by pushing the loops inwards.

Turn the end of one rope A over its standing part B to form a loop. Pass the end of the other rope across the bight thus formed, back of the standing part B over the end A, then under the bight at C, passing it over its own standing part and under the bight again at D.

The Mariner's Compass



Boxing the Compass consists in enumerating the points, beginning with north and working around the circle as follows:

CHAPTER II



WOODCRAFT



Woodlore

By Ernest Thompson Seton, Chief Scout



The Watch for a Compass

(From "Boy Scouts of America," by Ernest Thompson Seton. Copyright, 1910, by Doubleday, Page & Company )



The watch is often used to give the compass point exactly. Thus: Point the hour-hand to the sun; then, in the morning, half-way between the hour-hand and noon is due south. If afternoon, one must reckon half-way backward.

Thus: at 8 A. M., point the hour-hand to the sun and reckon forward half-way to noon; the south is at 10. If at 4 P. M., point the hour-hand at the sun and reckon back half-way. The south is at two o'clock.

The "half-way" is because the sun makes a course of twenty-four hours and the clock of but twelve. If we had a rational timepiece of twenty-four hours, it would fit in much better with all nature, and with the hour-hand pointed to the sun would make 12 o'clock, noon, always south.

If you cannot see the sun, get into a clear, open space, hold your knife point upright on your watch dial, and it will cast a faint shadow, showing where the sun really is, unless the clouds are very heavy.

Finding Your Latitude by the Stars

The use of the stars to the scout is chiefly to guide him by showing the north, but the white man has carried the use a step farther: he makes the Pole-star tell him not only where the north is, but where he himself is. From the Pole-star, he can learn his latitude.

It is reckoned an exploit to take one's latitude from the North Star with a cart-wheel, or with two sticks and a bucket of water.

The first attempt I made was with two sticks and a bucket of water. I arranged the bucket in the daytime, so that it could be filled from rim to rim; that is, it was level, and that gave me the horizon line; next, I fastened my two sticks together at an adjustable angle. Then, laying one stick across the bucket as a base, I raised the other till the two sight notches on its upper edge were in straight line for the Pole-star. The sticks were now fastened at this angle and put away till the morning. On a smooth board--the board is allowable because it can be found either far on the plains when you have your wagon, or on the ship at sea--I mapped out, first a right angle, by the old plan of measuring off a triangle, whose sides were six, eight, and ten inches, and applied the star angle to this. By a process of equal subdivision I got 45 degrees, 22-1/2 degrees, finally 40 degrees, which seemed to be the latitude of my camp; subsequent looking-up showed it to be 41 degrees 10 minutes.



To make a scout's sundial, prepare a smooth board about fifteen inches across, with a circle divided into twenty-four equal parts, and a temporarily hinged pointer, whose upper edge is in the middle of the dial. Place on some dead level, solid post or stump in the open. At night fix the dial so that the twelve o'clock line points exactly to north, as determined by the Polestar. Then, using two temporary sighting sticks of exactly the same height (so as to permit sighting clear above the edge of the board) set the pointer exactly pointing to the Pole-star; that is, the same angle as the latitude of the place, and fix it there immovably. Then remove the two sighting sticks. As a timepiece, this dial will be found roughly correct for that latitude. The angle of the pointer, or style, must be changed for each latitude.

Building a Log Cabin

(From Country Life in America. May, 1905 )

There are as many different kinds of log cabins as of any other architecture. It is best to begin with the simplest. The tools needed are a sharp ax, a crosscut saw, an inch auger, and a spade. It is possible to get along with nothing but an ax (many settlers had no other tool), but the spade, saw, and auger save much work.

For the site select a high, dry place, in or near the woods, and close to the drinking-water. It should be a sunny place, and with a view, preferably one facing south or east. Clear off and level the ground. Then bring your logs. These are more picturesque with the bark left on, but last longer peeled. Eight feet by twelve feet outside makes a good cabin for three or four boys.

Cut and carry about twelve logs, each ten feet long; and twelve more, each fourteen feet long. The logs should be at least six inches through. Soft wood is preferable, as it is easier to handle; the four ground logs or sills, at least, should be of cedar, chestnut, or other wood that does not rot. Lay two of the fourteen-foot logs on the ground, at the places for the long sides, and seven feet apart. Then across them, at the end, lay two short ones, eleven feet apart. This leaves about a foot projecting from each log. Roll the last two into their resting places, and flatten them till they sit firmly. It is of prime importance that each log rest immovably on the one below. Now cut the upper part of each end log, to an edge over each corner. (Fig. 1.)

Next put on two long logs, roll them onto the middle, taking care to change off, so the big end at a given comer may be followed next time by the small end and insure the corner rising evenly. Roll one of these large logs close to where it is to be placed, then cut on its upper surface at each end a notch corresponding with the ridge on the log it is to ride on. When ready, half a roll drops it into place. The log should be one to three inches above the one under it, and should not touch except at {61} the ends. Repeat the process now with the other sides, then the two ends, etc., always keeping the line of the corner plumb. As the walls rise, it will be found necessary to skid the larger logs; that is, roll them up on two long logs, or skids, leaning against the wall. (Fig. 2.)

When the logs are in place to the height of four and a half feet from the ground, it is time to decide where the door and window are to be; and at that place, while the next long log is lying on top, bottom up, cut out a piece four feet long and four inches deep. Roll this log into place. (Fig. 3.) One more log above this, or certainly two, will make your shanty high enough for boys. Put on final end logs, then two others across the shanty. (Fig. 4.) Roll up the biggest, strongest log of all for the ridge (sometimes two are used side by side); it should lie along the middle of the four cross pieces shown in Fig. 4.

The two cross logs, B and C, and the ridge log should be very strong, as the roof is heavy. Now we are ready to cut the doorway and window.

First, drive in blocks of wood between each of the logs, all the way down from A to the ground, and from B down to D, and C to E. (Fig. 5.) Saw down now from A half-way through the ground log F. Then from B down to half-way through the log D; now continue from G, cutting down to half through the ground log. Use the ax to split out the upper half of the ground log, between the saw-cuts and also the upper half of the log D.

Hew a flat piece of soft wood, five or six inches wide, about two inches thick, and as long as the height of this doorway. Set it up against the ends of the logs A to F. Bore an auger hole through it into the end of each log (these holes must not be in line lest they split the jamb), including the top and bottom ones, and drive into each a pin of oak. This holds all safely. Do the same on the other side, H to E, and put a small one down B, D, which is the side of the window.

Now we are ready to finish the roof. Use the ax to bevel off the corners of the four cross-logs, A and B. (Fig. 6.) Then get a lot of strong poles, about five feet long, and lay them close together along the two sides of the roof till it is covered with poles; putting a very heavy one, or small log, on the outer edge of each, and fastening it down with a pin into the ridge log. Cut two long poles and lay one on each of the lower ends of the roof poles, as at A, B, and C (Fig. 7), pinning them to the side logs.

Cover this roof with a foot of hay or straw or grass, and cover {62} that again evenly with about four inches of stiff clay. Pack this down. It will soon squeeze all that foot of straw down to little more than one inch, and will make a warm and water-tight roof. As the clay is very heavy, it is wise, before going inside, to test the roof by jumping on it. If it gives too much, it will be well to add a centre prop.

Now for the door: Hew out planks; two should be enough. Fasten these together with two cross-pieces and one angle-piece, using oak pegs instead of nails, if you wish to be truly primitive. For these the holes should be bored part way with a gimlet, and a peg used larger than the hole. The lower end of the back plank is left projecting in a point. (Fig. 8.) This point fits into a hole pecked with a point or bored with an auger into the door-sill.

Bore another hole near the top of the door (A), and a corresponding one through the door-jamb between two logs. Set the door in place. A strip of rawhide leather, a limber willow branch, or a strip of hickory put through the auger hole of the door and wedged into the hole in the jamb, makes a truly wild-wood hinge. A peg in the front jamb prevents the door going too far out, and a string and peg inside answer for a latch.

The window opening may be closed with a glass sash, with a piece of muslin, or with the rawhide of an animal, scraped clear of hair and stretched on a frame.

It now remains to chink and plaster the place.

Chinking is best done from the inside. Long triangular strips and blocks of wood are driven in between the logs and fastened there with oak pins driven into the lower log till nothing but small crannies remain. Some cabins are finished with moss plugged into all the crannies, but mud worked into plaster does better.

It should be put on the outside first, and afterward finished form the inside. It is best done really with two plasterers working together, one inside and one out.

This completes the shanty, but a bunk and fireplace are usually added.

The fireplace may be in one corner, or in the middle of the end. It is easiest to make in the former.

Across the corner, peg three angle braces, each about three feet long. These are to prevent the chimney falling forward.

Now begin to build with stone, using mud as mortar, a fireplace this shape. (Fig. 9.) Make the opening about eighteen inches across; carry it up two feet high, drawing it in a little, then lay a long stone across the front, after which build up {63} the flue behind the corner braces right up to the roof. The top corner-piece carries the rafter that may be cut off to let the flue out. Build the chimney up outside as high as the highest part of the ridge.

But the ideal fireplace is made with the chimney on the outside of the cabin, at the middle of the end farthest from the door. For this you must cut a hole in the end log, like a big, low window, pegging a jamb on the ends as before.

With stones and mud you now build a fireplace inside the shanty, with the big chimney carried up outside, always taking care that there are several inches of mud or stone between the fire and any of the logs.

In country where stone cannot be found, the fireplace is often built of mud, sustained by an outside cribbing of logs.

If the flue is fair size, that is, say one quarter the size of the fireplace opening, it will be sure to draw.

The bunk should be made before the chinks are plastered, as the hammering is apt to loosen the mud.

Cut eight or ten poles a foot longer than you need the bunk; cut the end of each into a flat board and drive these between the long logs at the right height and place for the bunk, supporting the other end on a crosspiece from a post to the wall. Put a very big pole on the outer side, and all is ready for the bed; most woodsmen make this of small fir boughs.

There are two other well-known ways of cornering the logs--one is simply flattening the logs where they touch. This, as well as the first one, is known in the backwoods of Canada as hog-pen finish. The really skilful woodsmen of the North always dovetail the comers and saw them flush: (Fig. 10)

Sometimes it is desirable to make a higher gable than that which one ridge log can make. Then it is made thus: (Fig. 11.) This is as much slope as a clay roof should have; with any more, the clay would wash off.

This is the simplest way to build a log-cabin, but it illustrates all the main principles of log building. Shingle roofs and gables, broad piazzas outside, and modern fitting inside, are often added nowadays in summer camps, but it must be clear that the more towny you make the cabin, the less woodsy it is, and less likely to be the complete rest and change that is desired.

For fuller instructions, see "Log-Cabins and Cottages." By. Wm. S. Wicks, 1900. (Pub. Forest and Stream, N. Y.) {64} Also, "The Jack of All Trades." By Dan C. Beard, Scribner's; and "Field and Forest Handy Book."

Measuring Distances

(See "Two Little Savages," 1903.)

The height of a tree is easily measured when on a level, open place, by measuring the length of its shadow, then comparing that with your own shadow, or that of a ten-foo