ENDURANCE FOR SCOUTS.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
HOW TO HELP IN A GREAT NATIONAL WORK.

Recent reports on the deterioration of our race ought to act as a warning to be taken in time before it goes too far.

One cause which contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire was the fact that the soldiers fell away from the standard of their forefathers in bodily strength.

Our standard of height in the Army was 5ft. 6in. in 1845; it was FOUR INCHES less in 1895. In 1900 forty-four men in every thousand recruits weighed under 7st. 12lbs.; in 1905 this deficiency had increased to seventy-six per thousand.

This year our recruits were two inches below the standard height of men of their age, viz., eighteen to nineteen, and six pounds under the average weight.

Three thousand men were sent home from the South African War on account of bad teeth.

Reports on school children, made by the London County Council, show that out of 700 examined only twenty had sound teeth, 323 had more than five teeth decayed.

Out of 1,521 examined for adenoids in the throat 29 per cent. had enlargements, 10 per cent. required operation. Out of 1,000 boys of thirteen, sons of rich or well-to-do persons, examined by Dr. Clement Dukes, 526 had knock-knees, 445 had curvature of the spine, 329 flat feet, 126 pigeon-breasts—all preventable deformities. In this case, however, the teeth were well cared for.

Deafness from adenoids and weak eyesight are also very prevalent among them.

Dr. Wright Thomson, in the "British Medical Journal," September 14th, 1907, shows how town children suffer greatly from defective sight, which might be, to a great extent, remedied by special exercises for the eyes and by good feeding.

The report [see Blue Book C. D. 3637] last year on the school children of Glasgow showed their average weight and height were very much below the standard; and these varied almost exactly according to the number of rooms occupied by the family, that is, according to the air space available.

These and the many similar reports show that much PREVENTABLE deterioration is being allowed to creep in among the rising generation.

Then there is also prevalent a great amount of illness resulting from self-abuse and venereal disease, as well as from drink. Also much pauper over-population due to want of self-restraint on the part of men and women.

The training of Boy Scouts would be therefore incomplete if it did not endeavour to help in remedying these evils. Some idea is much needed among boys of their personal hygiene. It has been stated on good authority that half our losses in the Boer War from sickness might have been avoided had our men and officers had any knowledge of personal care of their health.

No doubt it is the same in peace time, as numbers of men are thrown out of work by sickness, which might be avoided if they knew how to look after themselves, and took reasonable precautions.

Since most of these causes of physical decay are preventable, they open to instructors a field for doing a work of national value.

For these reasons the following chapter suggests the instruction of boys in being PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for their own Strength, Health and Sanitary Surroundings.

CHAPTER VI.
ENDURANCE for SCOUTS;

or,

How to be Strong.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 17.
HOW TO GROW STRONG.

Need for Scouts to be strong—Exercises—Care of Body—Nose—Ears—Eyes—Teeth—Practices.

A SCOUT'S ENDURANCE.

A scout lay sick in hospital in India with that most fatal disease called cholera. The doctor told the native man in attendance on him that the only chance of saving his life was to violently warm up his feet and keep the blood moving in his body by constantly rubbing him. The moment the doctor's back was turned the native gave up rubbing and squatted down to have a quiet smoke. The poor patient, though he could not speak, understood all that was going on—and he was so enraged at the conduct of his native attendant, that he resolved then and there that he would get well if only to give the native a lesson. Having made up his mind to get well he got well.

A scout's motto is "Never say die till you're dead"—and if he acts up to this it will pull him out of many a bad place when everything seems to be going wrong for him. It means a mixture of pluck, patience, and strength, which we call "Endurance."

The great South African hunter and scout, F. C. Selous, gave a great example of scout's endurance when on a hunting expedition in Barotseland north of the Zambesi River some years ago. In the middle of the night his camp was suddenly attacked by a hostile tribe who fired into it at close range and charged in.

He and his small party of natives scattered at once into the darkness and hid themselves away in the long grass. Selous himself had snatched up his rifle and a few cartridges and got safely into the grass. But he could not find any of his men, and seeing that the enemy had got possession of his camp and that there were still a few hours of darkness before him in which to make his escape, he started off southward, using the stars of the Southern Cross as his guide.

He crept past an outpost of the enemy whom he overheard talking, and then swam across a river and finally got well away, only dressed in a shirt, and shorts and shoes. For the next few days and nights he kept walking southward, having frequently to hide to avoid hostile natives. He shot deer for food.

But one night going into what he thought was a friendly village he had his rifle stolen from him, and was again a fugitive without any means of protecting himself or of getting food. However, he was not one to give in while there was a chance of life left, and he pushed on and on till at length he reached a place where he met some of his men who had also escaped, and after further tramping they got safely back into friendly country.

But what a terrible time they must have had!

Three weeks had passed since the attack, and the great part of that time Selous had been alone—hunted, starving, and bitterly cold at night, and in sweltering heat by day.

None but a scout with extraordinary endurance could have lived through it, but then Selous is a man who as a lad had made himself strong by care and exercise; and he neither drinks nor smokes. And he kept up his pluck all the time.

It shows you that if you want to get through such adventures safely when you are a man you must train yourself up to be strong, healthy, and active as a lad.

EXERCISES AND THEIR OBJECT.

There is a great deal of nonsense in fashion in the way of bodily exercises; so many people seem to think that their only object is to make huge muscle. But to make yourself strong and healthy it is necessary to begin with your inside and to get the blood into good order and the heart to work well; that is the secret of the whole thing, and physical exercises should be taken with that intention. This is the way to do it:

(a) Make the heart strong, in order to pump the blood properly to every part of the body and so to build up flesh, bone, and muscle.

Exercise: The "Struggle" and "Wrist Pushing." See Page [219].

(b) Make the lungs strong, in order to revive the blood with fresh air.

Exercise: "Deep breathing." See Page [227].

Exercise: Bath, or dry rub with a damp towel every day.

(d) Make the stomach work, to feed the blood.

Exercise: "Cone," or "Body Bending," and "Twisting." See Page [237].

(e) Make the bowels active, to remove the remains of food and dirt from the body.

Exercise: "Body Bending" and "Kneading the Abdomen." Drink plenty of good water. Regular daily "rear."

(f) Work muscles in each part of the body, to make the blood circulate to that part, and so increase your strength.

Exercise: Running and walking, and special exercises of special muscles, such as "Wrist Pushing," etc.

The secret of keeping well and healthy is to keep your blood clean and active. These different exercises will do that if you will use them everyday. Someone has said, "If you practise body exercises every morning you will never be ill: and if you also drink a pint of hot water every night you will never die."

The blood thrives on simple good food, plenty of exercise, plenty or fresh air, cleanliness of the body both inside and out, and proper rest of body and mind at intervals.

The Japs are particularly strong and healthy, as was shown in the late war with Russia. There was very little sickness among them and those who were wounded generally very quickly recovered because their skin was clean and their blood was in a healthy, sound condition. They are the best example that we can copy. They keep themselves very clean by having two or three baths every day.

They eat very plain food, chiefly rice and fruit, and not much of it. They drink plenty of water, but no spirits. They take lots of exercise. They make themselves good-tempered and do not worry their brain. They live in fresh air as much as possible day and night. Their particular exercise is "Ju-Jitsu," which is more of a game than drill and is generally played in pairs. And pupils get to like the game so much that they generally go on with it after their course of instruction has finished.

By Ju-Jitsu, the muscles and body are developed in a natural way in the open air as a rule. It requires no apparatus, and once the muscles have been formed by it they do not disappear again when you cease the practices as is the case in ordinary gymnastics.

Admiral Kamimura, the great Admiral of our friends the Japanese, strongly recommends all young men and lads to practise Ju-Jitsu, as it not only makes them strong, but also quick in the mind.

THE NOSE.

A scout must be able to smell well in order to find his enemy by night. If he always breathes through the nose and not through the mouth this helps him considerably. But there are other reasons more important than that for always breathing through the nose. Fifty years ago, Mr. Catlin in America wrote a book called "Shut your mouth and save your life," and he showed how the Red Indians for a long time had adopted that method with their children to the extent of tying up their jaws at night to ensure their only breathing through their nose.

Breathing through the nose prevents germs of disease getting from the air into the throat and stomach, it also prevents a growth in the back of the throat called "adenoids" which are apt to stop the breathing power of the nostrils, and also to cause deafness.

For a scout nose-breathing is also specially useful.

By keeping the mouth shut you prevent yourself from getting thirsty when you are doing hard work. And also at night if you are in the habit of breathing through the nose it prevents snoring, and snoring is a dangerous thing if you are sleeping anywhere in an enemy's country. Therefore practise keeping your mouth shut and breathing through your nose at all times.

EARS.

A scout must be able to hear well. Generally the ears are very delicate and once damaged are apt to become incurably deaf. People are too apt to fiddle about with their ears in cleaning them by putting the corners of handkerchiefs, hairpins and so on into them, and also stuffing them up with hard cotton wool, all of which are dangerous with such a delicate organ as the ear, the drum of the ear being a very delicate, tightly-stretched skin which is easily damaged. Very many children have had the drums of their ears permanently injured by getting a box on the ear.

EYES.

A scout, of course, must have particularly good eyesight; he must be able to see anything very quickly and to see at a long way off. By practising your eyes in looking at things at a great distance they will grow stronger. While you are young you should save your eyes as much as possible, or they are not strong when you get older: therefore avoid reading by lamplight as much as possible and also sit with your back or side to the light when doing any work during the day; if you sit facing the light it strains your eyes.

The strain of the eyes is a very common failure with growing boys, although very often they do not know it, and headaches come most frequently from the eyes being strained; frowning on the part of a boy is very generally a sign that his eyes are being strained.

A scout, besides having good eyesight, must be able to tell the colour of things which he sees. Colour blindness is a great infliction which some boys suffer from. It takes away a pleasure from them, and it also makes them useless for certain trades and professions.

For instance, a railway signalman or engine-driver or a sailor would not be much good if he couldn't tell the difference between red and green.

It can very often be cured, and a simple way of doing this, if you find you are rather colour blind, is to get a collection of little bits of wool, or paper, of every different kind of colour, and pick out which you think is red, blue, yellow, green, and so on, and then get someone to tell you where you were right and where wrong. Then you go at it again, and in time you will find yourself improving, until you have no difficulty in recognising the right colours. It is better still to practise by looking at coloured lights at night in chemists' shops, railway signals, etc.

TEETH.

A would-be recruit came up to the recruiting officer to be enlisted during the Boer War. He was found to be a sufficiently strong and well-made man but when they came to examine his teeth they found that these were in bad condition, and he was told that he could not be accepted as a soldier. To this he replied: "But, sir, that seems hard lines. Surely we don't have to eat the enemy when we've killed them, do we?"

A scout with bad teeth is no use at all for scouting work, because he has to live on hard biscuits and hard meat which he cannot possibly eat or digest if his teeth are not good, and good teeth depend upon how you look after them when you are young, it means that you should keep them very carefully clean. At least twice a day they should be brushed, when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed, both inside and out, with a tooth brush and tooth powder; and should be rinsed with water if possible after every meal but especially after eating fruit or acid food.

Scouts in the jungle cannot always find tooth brushes, but they make substitutes out of dry sticks which they fray out at the end and make an imitation of a brush.

Three thousand men had to be sent away from the war in South Africa because their teeth were so bad that they could not chew the hard biscuits, etc., on which they had to live there.

Camp Toothbrush.

"Out West," in America, cowboys are generally supposed to be pretty rough customers, but they are in reality peace scouts of a high order. They live a hard life doing hard and dangerous work far away from towns and civilisation—where nobody sees them. But there is one civilised thing that they do—they clean their teeth every day, morning and evening.

Years ago I was travelling through Natal on horseback, and I was anxious to find a lodging for the night, when I came across a hut evidently occupied by a white man, but nobody was about. In looking round inside the hut, I noticed that though it was very roughly furnished there were several tooth-brushes on what served as a wash-hand stand, so I guessed that the owner must be a decent fellow, and I made myself at home until he came in, and I found that I had guessed aright.

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.

PRACTICES IN DEVELOPING STRENGTH.

Measurement of the Boy.

It is of paramount importance to teach the young citizen to assume responsibility for his own development and health.

Physical drill is all very well as a disciplinary means of development, but it does not give the lad any responsibility in the matter.

It is therefore deemed preferable to tell each boy, according to his age, what ought to be his height, weight, and various measurements (such as chest, waist, arm, leg, etc.). He is then measured, and learns in which points he fails to come up to the standard. He can then be shown which exercises to practise for himself in order to develop those particular points. Encouragement must afterwards be given by periodical measurements, say every three months or so.

Cards can be obtained from the "Boy Scouts" Office, Henrietta Street, London, W.C., which, besides giving the standard measurements for the various ages, give columns to be filled in periodically showing the boy's re-measurements and progress in development. If each boy has his card it is a great incentive to him to develope himself at odd times when he has a few minutes to spare.

Teach how to make camp tooth brushes out of sticks. "Dragon-root" sticks for cleaning teeth can be got at chemists' shops as samples.

GAMES TO DEVELOP STRENGTH.

Boxing, wrestling, rowing, skipping, cock-fighting, are all valuable health aids to developing strength.

Old Spotty-face (To develop eyesight).—Prepare squares of cardboard divided into about a dozen small squares. Each scout should take one, and should have a pencil and go off a few hundred yards, or, if indoors, as far as space will allow. The umpire then takes a large sheet of cardboard, with twelve squares ruled on it of about three inch sides if in the open, or one and a half to two inches if indoors. The umpire has a number of black paper discs (half an inch diameter) and pins ready, and sticks about half a dozen on to his card, dotted about where he likes. He holds up his card so that it can be seen by the scouts. They then gradually approach, and as they get within sight they mark their cards with the same pattern of spots. The one who does so at the farthest distance from the umpire wins. Give five points for every spot correctly shown, deduct one point for every two inches nearer than the furthest man. This teaches long sight.

"Spotty-face" for Strengthening the Eyesight.

"Quick Sight" can also be taught with the same apparatus, by allowing the scouts to come fairly close, and then merely showing your card for five seconds, and let them mark their cards from memory. The one who is most correct wins.

"The Struggle."—Two players face each other about a yard apart, stretch arms out sideways, lock fingers of both hands, and lean towards each other till their chests touch, push chest to chest, and see who can drive the other back to the wall of the room or on to a goal line. At first a very short struggle is sufficient to set their hearts pumping, but after practice for a few days the heart grows stronger and they can go on for a long time.

The "Struggle" for Strengthening the Heart.

"Wrist Pushing" by one man alone. Stand with both your arms to the front about level with the waist, cross your wrists so that one hand has knuckles up, the other knuckles down. Clench the fists.

Now make the lower hand press upwards and make the upper hand press downwards.

Press as hard as you can with both wrists gradually, and only after great resistance let the lower push the upper one upwards till opposite your fore-head, then let the upper press the lower down, the lower one resisting all the time.

These two exercises, although they sound small and simple, if carried out with all your might, develop most muscles in your body and especially those about the heart. They should not be carried on too long at a time, but should be done at frequent intervals during the day for a minute or so.

"Wrist Pushing" can also be played by two boys half facing each other, each putting out the wrist nearest to his opponent, at arm's length; pressing it against the other's wrist and trying to turn him round backwards.

BOOKS TO READ.

"Cassell's Physical Educator," by E. Miles (Cassell & Co.). A complete compendium of all kinds of Physical Training for boys and girls.

"Ju-jitsu." Price 6d. (Published by Richard Fox.)

"School Games," by T. Chesterton. (Educational Supply Association.)

"Boxing," by A. J. Newton, 1s. (C. A. Pearson Ltd.)

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 18.
HEALTH-GIVING HABITS.

Keep Clean—Don't Smoke—Don't Drink—Avoid Self-Abuse—Rise Early—Laugh and Grow Fat.

HOW TO KEEP HEALTHY.

All the great peace-scouts who have succeeded in exploring or hunting expeditions in wild countries have only been able to get on by being pretty good doctors themselves; because diseases, accidents, and wounds are always being suffered by them or their men, and they don't find doctors and chemists' shops in the jungles to cure them. So that a scout who does not know something about doctoring would never get on at all; he might just as well stay at home for all the good he will be.

Therefore, practise keeping healthy yourself, and then you will be able to show others how to keep themselves healthy too.

In this way you can do many good turns.

David Livingstone, the great missionary and peace-scout, endeared himself to the natives by his cleverness as a doctor.

Also, if you know how to look after yourself you need never have to pay for medicines. The great English poet, Dryden, in his poem, "Cymon and Iphigenia," wrote that it was better to trust to fresh air and exercise than to pay doctors' bills to keep yourself healthy:

Better to hunt in fields for health unbought

Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught;

The wise, for cure, on exercise depend;

God never made his work for man to mend.

KEEP YOURSELF CLEAN.

In the war in South Africa we lost an enormous number of men dying from disease as well as from wounds. The Japs, in their war, lost very few from sickness, and a very small proportion of those who were wounded. What made the difference? Probably a good many things. Our men were not so particular as to what water they drank as the Japs were, and they ate more meat than the Japs; but, also, they did not keep themselves or their clothes very clean—it was often difficult to find water. The Japs, on the other hand, kept themselves very clean, with baths every day.

If you cut your hand when it is dirty it is very likely to fester, and to become very sore; but if your hand is quite clean and freshly washed no harm will come of it, it heals up at once. It was the same with wounds in the war; they became very bad in the case of men who had not kept themselves clean.

Cleaning your skin helps to clean your blood. The Japs say that half the good of exercise is lost if you do not have a bath immediately after it.

It may not be always possible for you to get a bath every day, but you can at any rate rub yourself over with a wet towel, or scrub yourself with a dry one, and you ought not to miss a single day in doing this if you want to keep fit and well.

You should also keep clean in your clothing, both your underclothing as well as that which shows. Beat it out with a stick every day before putting it on.

And to be healthy and strong you must keep your blood healthy and clean inside you. This is done by breathing in lots of pure, fresh air, by deep breathing, and by clearing out all dirty matter from inside your stomach, which is done by having a "rear" daily, without fail; many people are the better for having it twice a day. If there is any difficulty about it one day, drink plenty of good water, both morning and evening, and practise body-twisting exercises, and all should be well.

Never start work in the morning without some sort of food inside you, if it is only a cup of hot water.

Never bathe in deep water very soon after a meal, it is very likely to cause cramp, which doubles you up, and so you get drowned.

SMOKING.

A scout does not smoke. Any boy can smoke; it is not such a very wonderful thing to do. But a scout will not do it because he is not such a fool. He knows that when a lad smokes before he is fully grown up it is almost sure to make his heart feeble, and the heart is the most important organ in a lad's body. It pumps the blood all over him to form flesh, bone, and muscle. If the heart does not do its work the body cannot grow to be healthy. Any scout knows that smoking spoils his eyesight, and also his sense of smell, which is of greatest importance to him for scouting on active service.

The boy who apes the man by smoking will never be much good.

A strong and healthy boy has the ball at his feet.

Sir William Broadbent, the great doctor, and Professor Sims Woodhead have both told us what bad effects tobacco smoking has on the health of boys. Numerous well-known sportsmen and others in all kinds of professions have given up the use of tobacco as they find they can do better without it. Lord Roberts and Lord Wolseley as soldiers, Lord Charles Beresford as a sailor, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the judge, Sir William Grantham, all do not smoke, nor do Dr. Grace the cricketer, Mr. Noble and seven of the chief Australian cricketers, Mr. Eustace Miles the champion tennis player, Basset the football player, Hanlon the sculler, Weston the pedestrian, Taylor the golf player, Burnham the scout, Selous the hunter, and very many other celebrated men. They are all non-smokers.

The railway and post office authorities in America will not employ boys who smoke. I know one big employer who not only does not smoke, but will not employ a boy who does. So with a great many other employers in Great Britain. In Japan no boy under twenty is allowed to smoke, and if he does his parents are taken up and fined.

Professor Osler, in speaking against tobacco, said it would be a good thing if all the beer and spirits in England could be thrown into the sea one day, and if, on the second day, you dumped all the tobacco there too it would be very good for everyone in England—although unhealthy for the fish.

No boy ever began smoking because he liked it, but generally because either he feared being chaffed by the other boys as afraid to smoke, or because he thought that by smoking he would look like a great man—when all the time he only looks like a little ass.

So don't funk, but just make up your own mind for yourself that you don't mean to smoke till you are grown up; and stick to it. That will show you to be a man much more than any slobbering about with a half-smoked cigarette between your lips. The other fellows will in the end respect you much more, and will probably in many cases secretly follow your lead. If they do this you will already have done a good thing in the world, although you are only a boy. From that small start you will most probably go on and do big things as you grow up.

DRINKING.

A priest in the East End of London has lately stated that out of a thousand cases of distress known to him only two or three were not caused by drink.

A soldierly-looking man came up to me one night and brought out his discharge certificates, showing that he had served with me in South Africa. He said he could get no work, and he was starving. Every man's hand was against him, apparently because he was a soldier. My nose and eyes told me in a moment another tale, and that was the real cause of his being in distress.

A stale smell of tobacco and beer hung about his clothes, his finger-tips were yellow with cigarette smoke, he had even taken some kind of scented lozenge to try and hide the whisky smell in his breath. No wonder nobody would employ him, or give him more money to drink with, for that was all that he would do with money if he got it.

Very much of the poverty and distress in this country is brought about by men getting into the habit of wasting their money and time on drink. And a great deal of crime, and also of illness, and even madness is due to the same habit of drinking too much. Liquor—that is beer or spirits—is not at all necessary to make a man strong and well. Quite the contrary. The old saying, "Strong drink makes weak men," is a very true one.

Yet £166,400,000 were spent last year alone on drink in the United Kingdom—enough to have made every family in the country better off by £15 if they had drunk water. And this £15 would be increased to £22 if the men gave up tobacco.

It would be simply impossible for a man who drinks to be a scout. Keep off liquor from the very first, and make up your mind to have nothing to do with it. Water, tea, or coffee are quite good enough drinks for quenching your thirst or for picking you up at any time, or if it is very hot lemonade or a squeeze of lemon are much better refreshment.

A good scout trains himself pretty well to do without liquid. It is very much a matter of habit. If you keep your mouth shut when walking or running, or chew a pebble (which also makes you keep your mouth shut), you do not get thirsty like you do when you go along with your mouth open sucking in the air and dry dust. But you must also be in good, hard condition. If you are fat from want of exercise you are sure to get thirsty and want to drink every mile. If you do not let yourself drink the thirst wears off after a short time. If you keep drinking water on the line of march, or while playing games, it helps to tire you and spoils your wind.

It is often difficult to avoid taking strong drinks when you meet friends who want to treat you, but they generally like you all the better if you say you don't want anything, as then they don't have to pay for it; if they insist you can take a gingerbeer or something quite harmless. But it is a stupid fashion when, in order to prove that you are friends, you have to drink with each other. Luckily it is dying out now; the best men do not do it because they know it does them no good. Wasters like to stand about a bar talking and sipping—generally at the other fellow's expense, but they are wasters, and it is as well to keep out of their company, if you want to get on and have a good time.

EARLY RISING.

The scout's time for being most active is in the early morning, because that is the time when wild animals all do their feeding and moving about; and also in war the usual hour for an attack is just before dawn, when the attackers can creep up unseen in the dark, and get sufficient light to enable them to carry out the attack suddenly while the other people are still asleep.

So a scout trains himself to the habit of getting up very early; and when once he is in the habit it is no trouble at all to him, like it is to some fat fellows who lie asleep after the daylight has come.

The Emperor Charlemagne, who was a great scout in the old days, used always to get up in the middle of the night.

The Duke of Wellington, who, like Napoleon Bonaparte, preferred to sleep on a little camp bed, used to say, "When it is time to turn over in bed it is time to turn out?"

Many men who manage to get through more work than others in a day, do so by getting up an hour or two earlier. By getting up early you also can get more time for play.

If you get up one hour earlier than other people you get thirty hours a month more of life than they do; while they have twelve months in the year you get 365 extra hours, or thirty more days—that is, thirteen months to their twelve.

The old rhyme has a lot of truth in it when it says,

"Early to bed and early to rise,

Makes a man healthy, and wealthy, and wise."

SMILE.

Want of laughter means want of health. Laugh as much as you can: it does you good; so whenever you can get a good laugh on. And make other people laugh too, when possible, as it does them good.

If you are in pain or trouble make yourself smile at it: if you remember to do this, and force yourself, you will find it really does make a great difference.

If you read about great scouts like Captain John Smith, the "Pathfinder," and others, you will generally find that they were pretty cheery old fellows.

The ordinary boy is apt to frown when working hard at physical exercises, but the boy scout is required to smile all the time: he drops a mark off his score whenever he frowns.

HOW TO KEEP HEALTHY.

PRACTICES.

Deep Breathing.—Deep breathing is of the greatest importance for bringing fresh air into the lungs to be put into the blood, and for developing the size of the chest, but it should be done carefully, according to instructions, and not overdone, otherwise it is liable to strain the heart. The Japs always carry on deep breathing exercise for a few minutes when they first get up in the morning, and always in the open air. It is done by sucking air in through the nose until it swells out your ribs as far as possible, especially at the back; then, after a pause, you breathe out the air slowly and gradually through the mouth until you have not a scrap of air left in you, then after a pause draw in your breath again through the nose as before.

Singing, if carried out on a system like that of Mr. Tomlin's, develops simultaneously proper breathing and development of heart, lungs, chest, and throat, together with dramatic feeling in rendering the song.

"Japanese Cock Fighting" to Strengthen the Legs.

For instance, his method of "Hooligan Taming" is to get a large crowd of wild lads together, and to start shouting a chorus to piano accompaniment—say, "Hearts of Oak." He shouts the suggestion of a story as they go along with it; how they are marching boldly to attack a fort which they mean to carry in style for the glory of themselves and their country, when suddenly they become aware that the enemy does not know of their approach, so they must creep and crawl, "in a whisper," as they stealthily get nearer to the fort. Closer and closer they come with gradually increasing tone. Now charge on up the hill, through shot and shell, a scramble, a rush and a fight, and the fort is theirs. But there are wounded to be picked up tenderly, and the dead to be laid out reverently with quiet and measured song, solemn and soft.

"Body Twisting" for Stomach Muscles.

And then they pick up their arms again, and with the prisoners and spoils of war they march gaily away in triumph, at the full power of their lungs.

Old English Morris Dances, too, are excellent practice for winter evenings, with their quaint music and movements.

BOOKS TO READ.

"What's the Harm in Smoking?" By B. McCall Barbour, 1d. (Published by S. W. Partridge.)

"In My Youth." Same series. Practical Hints on Purity. (B. M. Barbour, 37 Chambers Street, Edinburgh.)

"What a Young Boy ought to Know." By Sylvanus Stall. 4s. Giving information and warning to boys regarding the organs of reproduction.

"A Note for Parents." By J. H. Bradley. 3d. (Ballantyne Press, London.) Suggestions for teaching children about reproduction.

CAMP FIRE YARN.—No. 19.
PREVENTION OF DISEASE.

Camp doctoring—Microbes and how to fight them—Proper food—Clothing—Use of drill and exercise.

CAMP DOCTORING.

Some years ago, when I was in Kashmir, Northern India, some natives brought to me a young man on a stretcher who they said had fallen off a high rock and had broken his back and was dying. I soon found that he had only dislocated his shoulder and had got a few bruises, and seemed to think that he ought to die.

So I pulled off my shoe, sat down alongside him facing his head, put my heel in his arm-pit, got hold of his arm, and pulled with all my force till the bone jumped into its socket. The pain made him faint and his friends thought I really had killed him. But in a few minutes he recovered and found his arm was all right. Then they thought I must be no end of a doctor, so they sent round the country for all the sick to be brought in to be cured; and I had an awful time of it for the next two days. Cases of every kind of disease were carried in and I had scarcely any drugs with which to treat them, but I did the best I could, and I really believe that some of the poor creatures got better from simply believing that I was doing them a lot of good.

But most of them were ill from being dirty and letting their wounds get poisoned with filth; and many were ill from bad drainage, and from drinking foul water, and so on.

This I explained to the headmen of the villages, and I hope that I did some good for their future health.

At any rate, they were most grateful, and gave me a lot of help ever afterwards in getting good bear-hunting and in getting food, etc.

If I had not known a little doctoring I could have done nothing for these poor creatures.

MICROBES AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM.

Disease is carried about in the air and in water by tiny invisible insects called "germs" or "microbes," and you are very apt to breathe them in through the mouth or to get them in your drink or food and to swallow them, and then they breed disease inside you. If your blood is in really good order it generally does not matter, no harm results; but if your blood is out of order from weakness or constipation—that is, not going regularly to the "rear"—these microbes will very probably make you ill. A great point is, therefore, to abolish the microbes if possible. They like living in dark, damp, and dirty places. And they come from bad drains, old dustbins, and rotting flesh, etc.; in fact, generally where there is a bad smell. Therefore, keep your room, or your camp, and your clothes clean, dry, and as sunny as possible and well aired; and keep away from places that smell badly. Before your meals you should always wash your hands and finger-nails, for they are very apt to harbour microbes which have come from anything that you may have been handling in the day.

You frequently see notices in omnibuses and public places requesting you not to spit. The reason for this is that many people spit who have diseased lungs and from their spittle the microbes of their diseases get in the air and are breathed by healthy people into their lungs, and they become also diseased. Often you may have a disease in you for some years without knowing it and if you spit you are liable to communicate that disease to sound people; so you should not do it for their sake.

But you need not be afraid of diseases if you breathe through your nose and keep your blood in good order. It is always well on coming out of a crowded theatre, church or hall, to cough and blow your nose in order to get rid of microbes which you might have breathed in from other people in the crowd. One in every thirty of people that you meet has got the disease of consumption on him—and it is very catching. It comes very much from living in houses where the windows are kept always shut up. The best chance of getting cured of it if you get the disease is to sleep always out of doors.

A scout has to sleep a great deal in the open air, therefore when he is in a house he sleeps with the windows as wide open as possible, otherwise he feels stuffy; and also if he gets accustomed to sleeping in warm atmosphere he would catch cold when he goes into camp, and nothing could be more ridiculous or more like a tenderfoot than a scout with a cold in his head. When once he is accustomed to having his windows open he will never catch cold in a room.

FOOD.

A good many illnesses come from over-eating or eating the wrong kind of food.

A scout must know how to take care of himself, else he is of no use. He must keep himself light and active. Once he has got the right kind of muscles on he can remain fit without further special exercising of those muscles, provided that he eats the right kind of food.

Eustace Miles, the tennis and racket champion, does not go into training before he plays his matches; he knows he has got his muscles rightly formed, and he simply lives on plain, light food always, and so is always fit to play a hard game. He never eats meat.

In the siege of Mafeking, when we were put on short commons, those of the garrison who were accustomed to eat very little at their meals did not suffer like some people, who had been accustomed to do themselves well in peace time; these became weak and irritable. Our food there towards the end was limited to a hunk of pounded-up oats, about the size of a penny bun, which was our whole bread-supply for the day, and about a pound of meat and two pints of "sowens," a kind of stuff like bill-stickers' paste that had gone wrong.

English people as a rule eat more meat than is necessary, in fact they could do without it altogether if they tried, and would be none the worse. It is an expensive luxury. The Japanese are as strong as us, but they do not eat any meat, and only eat small meals of other things.

The cheapest and best foods are Dried Peas, 2d. per lb; Flour, 1s. 4d. per stone; Oatmeal, 2d. per lb.; Potatoes, 1/2d. per lb.; Hominy, 1-1/2d. per lb.; Cheese at 6d. per lb. Other good foods are fruit, vegetables, fish, eggs, nuts, rice, and milk, and one can live on these perfectly well without meat; bananas are especially good food, they are cheap, have no seeds nor pips to irritate your inside, their skin protects them from germs of disease and their flesh is of a wholesome kind and satisfying.

The natives of the West Coast of Africa eat very little else all their lives and they are fat and happy.

If you have lots of fresh air you do not want much food, if on the other hand you are sitting indoors all day much food makes you fat and sleepy, so that in either case you are better for taking a little; still, growing boys should not starve themselves but, at the same time, they need not be like that little hog at the school-feast who, when asked, "Can't you eat any more?" replied, "Yes, I could eat more, but I've no room to swallow it."

A great cause of illness nowadays is the amount of medicine which fellows dose themselves with when there is no reason for taking any medicine at all. The best medicine is open-air and exercise and a big cup of water in the early morning if you are constipated, and a pint of hot water on going to bed.

CLOTHING.

A scout's clothing should be of flannel or wool as much as possible, because it dries easily. Cotton next the skin is not good unless you change it directly it gets wet—it is so likely to give you a chill, and a scout is no use if he gets laid up.

One great point that a scout should take care about, to ensure his endurance and being able to go on the march for a long time, is his boots.

A scout who gets sore feet with much walking becomes useless.

You should therefore take great care to have good, well-fitting, roomy boots, and fairly stout ones, and as like the natural shape of your bare feet as possible with a straighter edge on the inside than bootmakers usually give to the swagger boot. Scouts have no use for swagger boots.

The feet should be kept as dry as possible; if they are allowed to get wet the skin is softened and very soon gets blistered and rubbed raw where there is a little pressure of the boot.

Of course they get wet from perspiration as well as from outside wet. Therefore to dry this it is necessary to wear good woollen socks.

If a man wears thin cotton or silk socks you can tell at once that he is no walker. A fellow who goes out to a Colony for the first time is called a "Tender-foot" because he generally gets sore feet until by experience he learns how to keep his feet in good order. It is a good thing to soap or grease your feet and the inside of your socks before putting them on.

If your feet always perspire a good deal it is a useful thing to powder them with powder made of boric acid, starch, and oxide of zinc in equal parts. This powder should be rubbed in between the toes so as to prevent soft corns forming there. Your feet can be hardened to some extent by soaking them in alum and water, or salt and water.

Keep your boots soft with lots of grease, mutton fat, dubbin, or castor oil—especially when they have got wet from rain, etc. Wash the feet every day.

PRACTICES.

Drill.

Scouts have to drill to enable them to be moved quickly from one point to another in good order. Drill also sets them up, and makes them smart and quick.

It strengthens the muscles which support the body and by keeping the body upright the lungs and heart get plenty of room to work, and the inside organs are kept on the proper position for proper digestion of food and so on.

A slouching position on the other hand depresses all the other organs and prevents them doing their work properly, so that a man in that position is generally weak and often ill.

Growing lads are very apt to slouch and should therefore do all they can to get out of the habit by plenty of physical exercises and drill.

Stand upright when you are standing and when you are sitting down sit upright with your back well into the back part of the chair. Alertness of the body whether you are moving, standing, or sitting means alertness of mind and it is a paying thing to have because many an employer will select an alert-looking boy for work and pass over a sloucher. When you have to stoop over writing at a table or even tying a boot-lace do not round your back but tuck in the small of your back which thus helps to strengthen your body.

How not to sit.

How to sit.

Drill.—On the word "Alert" the scout stands upright with both feet together, hands hanging naturally at the sides, fingers straight, and looking straight to his front.

On the word "Easy" he carries the right foot away six inches to the right, and clasps his hands behind his back, and can turn his head about. At the word "Sit Easy" he squats down on the ground in any position he likes. "Sit Easy" should usually be given whenever you don't want the boys to be at the "Alert," provided that the ground is dry.

On the command "Quick March," boys move off with the left foot leading, at a smart pace, swinging the arms freely, as this gives good exercise to the body and muscles and interior organs.

Walking for Exercise. 1.—The right way. 2.—A common way. 3.—A very usual way.

At the command "Double" boys run at a jog-trot with short sharp steps, hands swinging loosely, not tucked up at the side.

On the command "Scout Pace" the boys march at the quick march for fifty paces then double fifty paces, and so on alternately running and walking, until the word is given "Quick March" or "Halt."

"Right turn" each boy turns to the right.

"Follow Your Leader." "Leader Right Turn"—the leading man turns to his right, the remainder move up to the place where he turned and then follow after him.

"Front Form" (when "following the leader"). Those in rear run up and form in line alongside the leader on his left.

"Cone Exercises."—Standing at the "Alert" raise both hands as high as possible over the head, and link fingers, lean backwards, then sway the arms very slowly round in the direction of a cone so that the hands make a wide circle above and round the body, the body turning from the hips, and leaning over to one side then to the front, then to the other side and then back; this is to exercise the muscles of the waist and stomach, and should be repeated say six times to either hand. With the eyes you should be trying to see all that goes on behind you during the movement.

"Body-bending" or "Cone" Exercise. Note.—The arrow —> means when to draw in breath; the O—> means when to breathe out.

"Touch the Toes."—From the position of "Alert" raise the hands above the head then bend slowly forward and touch the toes with the fingers, or knuckles of clenched fists, then slowly rise to the original position and continue the motion a dozen times, the knees not to be bent in performing this exercise. This makes the body supple, and strengthens the back and legs.

"Squatting Exercise."—From the position of the "Alert" bend the knees and slowly lower the body into a squatting position, the back being kept upright; after a momentary pause slowly rise to the standing position again, repeat this a dozen times standing on the toes throughout. The hands may be resting on the hips or held out straight to the front in line with the shoulders. This exercise strengthens the leg and feet muscles.

"Leg Raising from the Back."—Lie on your back and slowly raise the legs till they are upright above you, then slowly lower them almost to the ground and raise them again, several times in succession. This strengthens the stomach muscles.

GAMES.

"Ju-jitsu"—contains numerous interesting games to teach grips and holds, and development of muscles.

"Doctoring"—each scout in turn acts as an explorer or missionary, with a few simple remedies. Three patients are brought to him in succession to be treated, each having a different disease or injury. He has to advise or show what treatment should be carried out.

All ordinary boys' games, where all are players and none lookers-on, are good for health and cheerfulness—"Leap-frog," "Rounders," "Squash-football," "Tip-and run."

BOOKS TO READ.

"Japanese Physical Training," by Irving Hancock. (Pub. Putnam.)

"How to be well and strong," by W. Edwards. 4d. (Melrose.)

"Walking," by C. Lang Neil. 1s. (C. A. Pearson Ltd.) Useful hints on walking, training, mountain-climbing, food, etc.

"Modern Physical Culture," by C. Lang Neil. 1s. (C. A. Pearson Ltd.) Gives summary of various systems: Curative exercises; hints on food, on organs of the body, etc.

"Health and Strength." Monthly Journal. 2d.