First Class Girl Scout
To become a First Class Girl Scout, she must have been a Second Class Scout.
I. Intelligence.
Be able to draw a rough sketch of the district around the troop meeting place, locating the important landmarks, and be able to direct a stranger to the nearest doctor, fire station, telephone, postoffice, etc., from any point within that district, and to judge distances.
Be able to send and receive messages, in the general service code at the rate of thirty letters a minute.
Have fifty cents in the savings banks earned by herself.
Present a girl trained by herself in the test for Tenderfoot.
Know how to distinguish and name ten animals, ten wild birds, ten wild flowers and ten trees.
1st Class Scout
II. Handicraft and Skill.
Be able to prepare, cook and serve one simple meal, of three courses.
Must bring a shirt waist or skirt made by herself or the equivalent in needlework and be able to put in patches.
III. Service.
Be able to dress and bathe a child two years old or younger. Know the proper food to give a child before it is a year old, and up to the age of two years. Know how to clothe the child in winter and summer.
Must know how to behave in case of accidents; and what methods of rescue and restoration to use in two cases such as drowning, ice accident, gas poisoning and electric shock.
IV. Health.
Must know the simple laws of sanitation, health and ventilation; and be able to walk a mile in 20 minutes.
Must swim 25 yds. in her clothes, and undress in the water.
or
Where swimming is impossible because of weak heart or lack of swimming facilities; must win the other proficiency badges not already held.
How to Draw a Map
Once I paid a Boer five pounds for a map which he drew for me with a stub of a pencil on a bit of brown paper. He had never learnt drawing or mapping, but he was able to jot down a map that was of great value to me in a campaign against the Zulus.
Almost any savage can draw you a map in the sand with the point of his stick: so I am sure that any Scout could do it on paper with a pencil—especially after a little practice.
You know how useful it is to be able to read a map. Well, it is still more useful to be able to draw one for helping other people to find their way. You would not be a real Scout unless you could do this.
A sketch map.
How to indicate roads.
More ways to show roads.
Paths and boundaries.
On highroads between large towns you can show the mileage like this.
Bridges are indicated this way.
Trains and trams.
This is the way to show buildings, etc.
Rivers, etc,
Woods, etc.
Signs for north on map.
Contour mapping
The above signs are the conventional signs used in map-making. Contouring is most easily explained by cutting an apple in half and placing the halves face downwards, to represent a hill. You can then slice the pieces horizontally at regular distances to illustrate heights, as shown on a map.
Judging Heights and Distances
Every Scout must be able to judge distance from an inch up to a mile and more. You ought, first of all, to know exactly what is the span of your hand and the breadth of your thumb, and the length from your elbow to your wrist, and the length from one hand to the other with your arms stretched out to either side, and also the length of your feet and of your stride; if you remember these accurately, they are a great help to you in measuring things.
Judging the distance of objects from you is only gained by practice, and judging the distance of a journey is generally estimated by seeing how long you have been travelling, and at what rate; that is to say, supposing you walk at the rate of four miles an hour, if you have been walking for an hour and a half you know that you have done about six miles.
A Scout must be able to estimate heights.
Distance can also be judged by sound; that is to say, if you see a gun fired in the distance, and you count the number of seconds between the flash and the sound of the explosion reaching you, you will be able to tell how far off you are from the gun.
Sound travels at the rate of 365 yards in a second; that is, as many yards as there are days in the year.
A Scout must also be able to estimate heights, from a few inches up to three thousand feet or more.
The way to estimate the distance across a river is to take an object X, such as a tree or rock on the opposite bank; start off at right angles to it from A, and pace, say, ninety yards along your bank; on arriving at sixty yards, plant a stick or stone, B; on arriving at C, thirty yards beyond that, that is ninety from the start, turn at right angles and walk inland, counting your paces until you bring the stick and the distant tree in line; the number of paces that you have taken from the bank C D will then give you the half distance across A X.
To find the height of an object such as a tree (A X), or a house, pace a distance of, say, eight yards away from it, and there at B plant a stick, say, six feet high; then pass on until you arrive at a point where the top of the stick comes in line C with the top of the tree; then the whole distance A C from the foot is to A X, the height of the tree, the same as the distance B C, from the stick, is to the height of the stick; that is, if the whole distance A C is thirty-three feet, and the distance B C from the stick is nine (the stick being six feet high), the tree is twenty-two feet high.
S.T.
Games in Pathfinding
Learn how to recognize the Great Bear and the Pole Star and Orion; to judge time by the sun; find the south by the watch. Practise map reading and finding the way by the map; and mark off roads by blazing, broken branches, and signs drawn on the ground.
Captain takes a patrol in patrolling formation into a strange town or into an intricate piece of strange country, with a cycling map. She then gives instructions as to where she wants to go to, makes each Scout in turn lead the patrol, say, for seven minutes if cycling, fifteen minutes if walking. This Scout is to find the way entirely by the map, and points are given for ability in reading.
How to Bank Your Money
To be a first-class Scout you have to have at least a shilling (or a dollar or a rupee) in the Savings Bank. To do this you apply at your post office to start a deposit. The postmaster will take your money and keep it for you, and whenever you can get a few more pennies or dimes go and hand them in to be added to your account. As these sums mount up you will begin to be paid back a little “interest” by the postmaster. This you can spend on candy—if you are foolish; but being a Scout you will add it to the money already in the bank and so increase your pile.
How to Train a Tenderfoot
You know the things that you had to do as a Tenderfoot. It is now your business to do a good turn to another girl by showing her how to become a Scout. Mind you, it is all done by kindness and example. Perhaps you will find your pupil very shy or slow or stupid. Well, Be Prepared, for that and—smile. Be jolly with her. Don’t try and teach her everything all at once. Show her generally all that she has to do and then begin with one thing and do it for her—then repeat it with her—and finally let her do it for herself. Let her make her mistakes at first and show her afterwards where she went wrong. She will soon get the hang of it all.
Then your own example is what will influence her a lot. If you get impatient and short-tempered so will she. If you laugh and enjoy the lesson so will she, and between you, you will get along like a house on fire.