Girls of good feeling should be especially careful to be modest in dress and deportment on social occasions. Unfortunately many girls who are perfectly innocent and unconscious, cause comment and are the cause of improper feelings being aroused among their companions. Girls should not risk, by their manner of dress or method of dancing, bringing temptation to others. It is easily possible for a girl to exert an excellent influence upon her friends by setting a proper example.

Reading

Wherever you go you will have the choice of good or bad reading, and as reading has such a lasting effect on the mind, you should try to read only good things. If you find that you are tempted by reading rubbish, it is easy to stop doing so. Once you know what your fault is you can fight it squarely. Ruskin says, "All your faults are gaining on you every hour that you do not fight them."

The thing is, when there is danger before you, don't stop and think about it,—the more you look at it the less you will like it,—but take the plunge and go boldly in at it, and it will not be half as bad as it looked, when you are once in it. This is the way to deal with any difficulty in life. If you have a job, or if any trouble arises which seems too difficult to meet, don't shirk it—just smile, and try and think out a way by which you may get successfully through with it. Read in Æsop's Fables how the old man advised his son that it was easy to break a bundle of rods, but only if you took them one at a time.

Economy

More women are engaged in housekeeping than in all the other professions and employments combined. This is a difficult profession and requires knowledge and training, if good results are to be secured. Housekeepers need to have a plan, and especially a budget of expenses. One of the chief duties of housekeeping consists in seeing that there be no waste of any kind. The efficient housekeeper prevents a waste of food, of light, fuel, and of every other item. The wise individual gives special care to preventing a waste of time on the part of herself and others. The real orderly Girl Scout has a place for everything and keeps everything in its place. She has a time for performing each of her duties and does it at that time.

Thrift

It seems easy to learn how to spend money, but it is an art to learn how best to spend. Scouts gain experience by being allowed to purchase for the company, also by keeping the accounts, and they should always keep their own accounts neatly. We have to keep accounts when we grow up, and it is well to get into the way of measuring our expenditure from the first. You will remember that one of the Scout laws is to BE THRIFTY. The girl who begins making money young will go on making it as she grows older. It may be difficult at first, but it will come easier later on, especially if you earn money by hard work. If you try to make it only by easy means you are bound to lose after a time. Any number of poor girls have become rich, but in nearly every case it was because they meant to do so from the first. They worked for it and put every penny that could be spared into a savings account. The history of the majority of the world's greatest millionaires is that they began life without a dollar. To become a first-class Scout a girl must have a certain amount in the savings bank before she can have the honor of receiving her badge. By saving only two cents a week at least a dollar a year is saved.

Employment

"Stick to it" the thrush sings. One of the worst weaknesses of many people is that they do not have the perseverance to stick to what they have to do. They are always wanting to change. Whatever you take up, do it with all your might, and stick to it. Besides the professions of nursing, teaching, stenography and type-writing, and clerking, there are many less crowded employments, such as hair-dressing, making flowers, coloring photographs, assisting dentists, and gardening. There are many occupations for women, but before any new employment can be taken up one must begin while young to make plans and begin collecting information. "Luck is like a street car; the only way to get it is to look out for every chance and seize it—run at it and jump on; don't sit down and wait for it to pass. Opportunity is a street car which has few stopping places."