Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts

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Title: Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts

Author: Girl Scouts

Editor: Josephine Daskam Bacon

Release Date: April 4, 2009 [EBook #28490]

Language: English

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SCOUTING for GIRLS


[Illustration]


THIS BOOK BELONGS TO

___________________________________________________________


MEMBER OF

_____________________________________________________ Troop


MY SCOUT RECORD

Registration Date and Place _______________________________

Passed Tenderfoot Test ____________________________________

Passed Second Class Test __________________________________

Passed ____________________________________________________




SCOUTING _for_ GIRLS


[Illustration]

[Illustration: MAGDELAINE DE VERCHERES

The First Girl Scout in the New World. From Statue erected by Lord Grey,
near the site of Fort Vercheres on the St. Lawrence.]




SCOUTING _for_ GIRLS


_OFFICIAL HANDBOOK_

OF THE

GIRL SCOUTS

[Illustration]

SIXTH REPRINT

1925


PUBLISHED BY THE GIRL SCOUTS, INC.
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
670 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y.


_Copyright 1920 by Girl Scouts, Inc._
_All Rights Reserved._

PRINTED IN NEW YORK CITY




_To_

JULIETTE LOW

THEIR FOUNDER

in grateful acknowledgment of all that
she has done for them, the American
Girl Scouts dedicate this Handbook




FOREWORD

_How Scouting Began_


_"How did Scouting come to be used by girls?" That is what I have been
asked. Well, it was this way. In the beginning I had used Scouting--that
is, wood craft, handiness, and cheery helpfulness--as a means for
training young soldiers when they first joined the army, to help them
become handy, capable men and able to hold their own with anyone instead
of being mere drilled machines._

_You have read about the Wars in your country against the Red Indians,
of the gallantry of your soldiers against the cunning of the Red Man,
and what is more, of the pluck of your women on those dangerous
frontiers._

_Well, we have had much the same sort of thing in South Africa. Over and
over again I have seen there the wonderful bravery and resourcefulness
of the women when the tribes of Zulu or Matabeles have been out on the
war path against the white settlers._

_In the Boer war a number of women volunteered to help my forces as
nurses or otherwise; they were full of pluck and energy, but
unfortunately they had never been trained to do anything, and so with
all the good-will in the world they were of no use. I could not help
feeling how splendid it would be if one could only train them in peace
time in the same way one trained the young soldiers--that is, through
Scoutcraft._

_I afterwards took to training boys in that way, but I had not been long
at it before the girls came along, and offered to do the very thing I
had hoped for, they wanted to take up Scouting also._

_They did not merely want to be imitators of the boys; they wanted a
line of their own._

_So I gave them a smart blue uniform and the names of "Guides" and my
sister wrote an outline of the scheme. The name Guide appealed to the
British girls because the pick of our frontier forces in India is the
Corps of Guides. The term cavalry or infantry hardly describes it since
it is composed of all-round handy men ready to take on any job in the
campaigning line and do it well._

_Then too, a woman who can be a good and helpful comrade to her brother
or husband or son along the path of life is really a guide to him._

_The name Guide therefore just describes the members of our sisterhood
who besides being handy and ready for any kind of duty are also a jolly
happy family and likely to be good, cheery comrades to their mankind._

_The coming of the Great War gave the Girl Guides their opportunity, and
they quickly showed the value of their training by undertaking a variety
of duties which made them valuable to their country in her time of
need._

_My wife, Lady Baden-Powell, was elected by the members to be the Chief
Guide, and under her the movement has gone ahead at an amazing pace,
spreading to most foreign countries._

_It is thanks to Mrs. Juliette Low, of Savannah, that the movement was
successfully started in America, and though the name Girl Scouts has
there been used it is all part of the same sisterhood, working to the
same ends and living up to the same Laws and Promise._

_If all the branches continue to work together and become better
acquainted with each other as they continue to become bigger it will
mean not only a grand step for the sisterhood, but what is more
important it will be a real help toward making the new League of Nations
a living force._

_How can that be? In this way:_

_If the women of the different nations are to a large extent members of
the same society and therefore in close touch and sympathy with each
other, although belonging to different countries, they will make the
League a real bond not merely between the Governments, but between the
Peoples themselves and they will see to it that it means Peace and that
we have no more of War._

_Robert Baden Powell._
_May, 1919_




PREFACE


The present edition of "Scouting for Girls" is the result of
collaboration on the part of practical workers in the organization from
every part of the country. The endeavor on the part of its compilers has
been to combine the minimum of standardization necessary for dignified
and efficient procedure, with the maximum of freedom for every local
branch in its interpretation and practice of the Girl Scout aims and
principles.

Grateful acknowledgments are due to the following:

Miss Sarah Louise Arnold, Dean, and Miss Ula M. Dow, A.M., and Dr. Alice
Blood, of Simmons College for the Part of Section XI entitled "Home
Economics"; Sir Robert Baden-Powell for frequent references and excerpts
from "Girl Guiding"; Dr. Samuel Lambert for the Part on First Aid,
Section XI, and Dr. W. H. Rockwell for reading and criticizing this;
Miss Marie Johnson with the assistance of Miss Isabel Stewart of
Teachers College, for the Part entitled "Home Nursing" in Section XI;
Dr. Herman M. Biggs for reading and criticizing the Parts dealing with
Public Health and Child Care; Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton and The
Woodcraft League, and Doubleday, Page & Co. for Section XIII and plates
on "Woodcraft"; Mr. Joseph Parsons, Mr. James Wilder, Mrs. Eloise
Roorbach, and Mr. Horace Kephart and the Macmillan Company for the
material in Section XIV "Camping for Girl Scouts"; Mr. George H.
Sherwood, Curator, and Dr. G. Clyde Fisher, Associate Curator, of the
Department of Public Education of the American Museum of Natural History
for the specially prepared Section XV and illustrations on "Nature
Study," and for all proficiency tests in this subject; Mr. David Hunter
for Section XVI "The Girl Scout's Own Garden," and Mrs. Ellen Shipman
for the part on a perennial border with the specially prepared drawing,
in the Section on the Garden; Mr. Sereno Stetson for material in Section
XVII "Measurements, Map Making and Knots"; Mr. Austin Strong for
pictures of knots; Mrs. Raymond Brown for the test for Citizen; Miss
Edith L. Nichols, Supervisor of Drawing in the New York Public Schools,
for the test on Craftsman; Mr. John Grolle of the Settlement Music
School, Philadelphia, for assistance in the Music test; Miss Eckhart for
help in the Farmer test; The Camera Club and the Eastman Kodak Company
for the test for Photographer; Mrs. Frances Hunter Elwyn of the New York
School of Fine and Applied Arts, for devising and drawing certain of the
designs for Proficiency Badges and the plates for Signalling; Miss L. S.
Power, Miss Mary Davis and Miss Mabel Williams of the New York Public
Library, for assistance in the preparation of reference reading for
Proficiency Tests, and general reading for Girl Scouts.

It is evident that only a profound conviction of the high aims of the
Girl Scout movement and the practical capacity of the organization for
realizing them could have induced so many distinguished persons to give
so generously of their time and talent to this Handbook.

The National Executive Board, under whose auspices it has been compiled,
appreciate this and the kindred courtesy of the various organizations of
similar interests, most deeply. We feel that such hearty and friendly
cooperation on the part of the community at large is the greatest proof
of the vitality and real worth of this and allied movements, based on
intelligent study of the young people of our country.

JOSEPHINE DASKAM BACON,
_Chairman of Publications._

_March 1, 1920._




CONTENTS


Foreword by Sir Robert Baden-Powell.
Preface by Josephine Daskam Bacon, _Editor_.

SECTION:
I. HISTORY OF THE GIRL SCOUTS 1
II. PRINCIPLES OF THE GIRL SCOUTS 3
III. ORGANIZATION OF THE GIRL SCOUTS 13
IV. WHO ARE THE SCOUTS? 17
V. THE OUT OF DOOR SCOUT 35
VI. FORMS FOR GIRL SCOUT CEREMONIES 44
VII. GIRL SCOUT CLASS REQUIREMENTS 60
VIII. WHAT A GIRL SCOUT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE FLAG 67
IX. GIRL SCOUT DRILL 84
X. SIGNALLING FOR GIRL SCOUTS 97
XI. THE SCOUT AIDE 105

Part 1. The Home Maker 106
Part 2. The Child Nurse 157
Part 3. The First Aide 164
Part 4. The Home Nurse 217
Part 5. The Health Guardian 254
Part 6. The Health Winner 257

XII. SETTING-UP EXERCISES 273
XIII. WOODCRAFT 280
XIV. CAMPING FOR GIRL SCOUTS 313
XV. NATURE STUDY FOR GIRL SCOUTS 373
XVI. THE GIRL SCOUTS' OWN GARDEN 456
XVII. MEASUREMENTS, MAP-MAKING AND KNOTS 466
XVIII. PROFICIENCY TESTS AND SPECIAL MEDALS 497
XIX. REFERENCE READING FOR GIRL SCOUTS 540
INDEX 548




GIRL SCOUTS


Motto--"Be Prepared"

Slogan--"Do a Good Turn Daily"


[Illustration: SYMBOL

TREFOIL: TO INDICATE THREEFOLD PROMISE]



PROMISE

On My Honor, I will Try:
To do my duty to God and my Country.
To help other people at all times.
To obey the Scout Laws.


LAWS

I A Girl Scout's Honor is to be Trusted
II A Girl Scout is Loyal
III A Girl Scout's Duty is to be Useful and to Help Others
IV A Girl Scout is a Friend to All and a Sister to every other
Girl Scout
V A Girl Scout is Courteous
VI A Girl Scout is a Friend to Animals
VII A Girl Scout obeys Orders
VIII A Girl Scout is Cheerful
IX A Girl Scout is Thrifty
X A Girl Scout is Clean in Thought, Word and Deed




SECTION I

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN GIRL SCOUTS


When Sir Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scout movement in England,
it proved too attractive and too well adapted to youth to make it
possible to limit its great opportunities to boys alone. The sister
organization, known in England as the Girl Guides, quickly followed and
won an equal success.

Mrs. Juliette Low, an American visitor in England, and a personal friend
of the Father of Scouting, realized the tremendous future of the
movement for her own country, and with the active and friendly
co-operation of the Baden-Powells, she founded the Girl Guides in
America, enrolling the first patrols in Savannah, Georgia, in March
1912. In 1915 National Headquarters were established in Washington, D.
C., and the name was changed to Girl Scouts.

In 1916 National Headquarters were moved to New York and the methods and
standards of what was plainly to be a nation-wide organization became
established on a broad, practical basis.

The first National Convention was held in 1915, and each succeeding year
has shown a larger and more enthusiastic body of delegates and a public
more and more interested in this steadily growing army of girls and
young women who are learning in the happiest way how to combine
patriotism, outdoor activities of every kind, skill in every branch of
domestic science and high standards of community service.

Every side of the girl's nature is brought out and developed by
enthusiastic Captains, who direct their games and various forms of
training, and encourage team-work and fair play. For the instruction of
the Captains national camps and training schools are being established
all over the country; and schools and churches everywhere are
cooperating eagerly with this great recreational movement, which, they
realize, adds something to the life of the growing girl that they have
not been able to supply.

Colleges are offering training in scouting as a serious course for
prospective officers, and prominent citizens in every part of the
country are identifying themselves with the Local Councils, in an
advisory and helpful capacity.

At the present writing nearly 107,000 girls and more than 8,000 Officers
represent the original little troop in Savannah--surely a satisfying
sight for our Founder and First President, when she realizes what a
healthy sprig she has transplanted from the Mother Country!




SECTION II

PRINCIPLES OF THE GIRL SCOUTS


The Motto:

=Be Prepared=

A Girl Scout learns to swim, not only as an athletic accomplishment, but
so that she can save life. She passes her simple tests in child care and
home nursing and household efficiency in order to be ready for the big
duties when they come. She learns the important facts about her body, so
as to keep it the fine machine it was meant to be. And she makes a
special point of woodcraft and camp lore, not only for the fun and
satisfaction they bring, in themselves, but because they are the best
emergency course we have today. A Girl Scout who has passed her First
Class test is as ready to help herself, her home and her Country as any
girl of her age should be expected to prove.


The Slogan:

="Do a Good Turn Daily"=

This simple recipe for making a very little girl perform every day some
slight act of kindness for somebody else is the _seed_ from which grows
the larger _plant_ of helping the world along--the steady attitude of
the older Scout. And this grows later into the great tree of organized,
practical community service for the grown Scout--the ideal of every
American woman today.


The Pledge:

="I pledge allegiance to my flag, and to the
Republic for which it stands; one nation
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."=

This pledge, though not original with the Girl Scouts, expresses in
every phrase their principles and practice. Practical patriotism, in
war and peace, is the cornerstone of the organization. A Girl Scout not
only knows how to make her flag, and how to fly it; she knows how to
respect it and is taught how to spread its great lesson of democracy.
Many races, many religions, many classes of society have tested the Girl
Scout plan and found that it has something fascinating and helpful in it
for every type of young girl.

This broad democracy is American in every sense of the word; and the
Patrol System, which is the keynote of the organization, by which eight
girls of about the same age and interests elect their Patrol Leader and
practice local self-government in every meeting, carries out American
ideals in practical detail.


The Promise:

=On My Honor I will try:=
To do my duty to God and my country.
To help other people at all times.
To obey the Scout Laws.

This binds the Scouts together as nothing else could do. It is a promise
each girl _voluntarily_ makes; it is not a rule of her home nor a
command from her school nor a custom of her church. She is not forced to
make it--she deliberately chooses to do so. And like all such promises,
it means a great deal to her. Experience has shown that she hesitates to
break it.


THE LAWS OF THE GIRL SCOUTS

=I. A Girl Scout's Honor Is To Be Trusted=

This means that a Girl Scout's standards of honor are so high and sure
that no one would dream of doubting her simple statement of a fact when
she says: "This is so, on my honor as a Girl Scout."

She is not satisfied, either, with keeping the letter of the law, when
she really breaks it in spirit. When she answers you, _she_ means what
_you_ mean.

Nor does she take pains to do all this only when she is watched, or when
somebody stands ready to report on her conduct. This may do for some
people, but not for the Scouts. You can go away and leave her by herself
at any time; she does not require any guard but her own sense of honor,
which is always to be trusted.


=II. A Girl Scout Is Loyal=

This means that she is true to her Country, to the city or village where
she is a citizen, to her family, her church, her school, and to those
for whom she may work, or who may work for her. She is bound to believe
the best of them and to defend them if they are slandered or threatened.
Her belief in them may be the very thing they need most, and they must
feel that whoever may fail them, a Girl Scout never will.

This does not mean that she thinks her friends and family and school are
perfect; far from it. But there is a way of standing up for what is dear
to you, even though you admit that it has its faults. And if you insist
on what is best in people, behind their backs, they will be more likely
to take your criticism kindly, when you make it to their faces.


=III. A Girl Scout's Duty Is To Be Useful and to Help Others=

This means that if it is a question of being a help to the rest of the
world, or a burden on it, a Girl Scout is always to be found among the
helpers. The simplest way of saying this, for very young Scouts, is to
tell them to do a GOOD TURN to someone every day they live; that is, to
be a _giver_ and not a _taker_. Some beginners in Scouting, and many
strangers, seem to think that any simple act of courtesy, such as we all
owe to one another, counts as a good turn, or that one's mere duty to
one's parents is worthy of Scout notice. But a good Scout laughs at this
idea, for she knows that these things are expected of all decent people.
She wants to give the world every day, for good measure, something over
and above what it asks of her. And the more she does, the more she sees
to do.

This is the spirit that makes the older Scout into a fine, useful,
dependable woman, who does so much good in her community that she
becomes naturally one of its leading citizens, on whom everyone relies,
and of whom everyone is proud. It may end in the saving of a life, or in
some great heroic deed for one's country. _But these things are only
bigger expressions of the same feeling that makes the smallest
Tenderfoot try to do at least one good turn a day._


=IV. A Girl Scout Is a Friend to All, and a Sister to Every Other Girl
Scout=

This means that she has a feeling of good will to all the world, and is
never offish and suspicious nor inclined to distrust other people's
motives. A Girl Scout should never bear a grudge, nor keep up a quarrel
from pride, but look for the best in everybody, in which case she will
undoubtedly find it. Women are said to be inclined to cliques and
snobbishness, and the world looks to great organizations like the Girl
Scouts to break down their petty barriers of race and class and make
our sex a great power for democracy in the days to come.

The Girl Scout finds a special comrade in every other Girl Scout, it
goes without saying, and knows how to make her feel that she need never
be without a friend, or a meal, or a helping hand, as long as there is
another Girl Scout in the world.

She feels, too, a special responsibility toward the very old, who
represent what she may be, some day; toward the little children, who
remind her of what she used to be; toward the very poor and the
unfortunate, either of which she may be any day. The sick and helpless
she has been, as a Scout, especially trained to help, and she is proud
of her handiness and knowledge in this way.


=V. A Girl Scout Is Courteous=

This means that it is not enough for women to be helpful in this world;
they must do it pleasantly. The greatest service is received more
gratefully if it is rendered graciously. The reason for this is that
true courtesy is not an affected mannerism, but a sign of real
consideration of the rights of others, a very simple proof that you are
anxious to "do as you would be done by." It is society's way of playing
fair and giving everybody a chance. In the same way, a gentle voice and
manner are very fair proofs of a gentle nature; the quiet,
self-controlled person is not only mistress of herself, but in the end,
of all the others who cannot control themselves.

And just as our great statesman, Benjamin Franklin proved that "honesty
is the best policy," so many a successful woman has proved that a
pleasant, tactful manner is one of the most valuable assets a girl can
possess, and should be practised steadily. At home, at school, in the
office and in the world in general, the girl with the courteous manner
and pleasant voice rises quickly in popularity and power above other
girls of equal talent but less politeness. Girl Scouts lay great stress
on this, because, though no girl can make herself beautiful, and no girl
can learn to be clever, _any girl can learn to be polite_.


=VI. A Girl Scout Is a Friend to Animals=

All Girl Scouts take particular care of our dumb friends, the animals,
and are always eager to protect them from stupid neglect or hard usage.
This often leads to a special interest in their ways and habits, so that
a Girl Scout is likely to know more about these little brothers of the
human race than an ordinary girl.


=VII. A Girl Scout Obeys Orders=

This means that you should obey those to whom obedience is due, through
thick and thin. If this were not an unbreakable rule, no army could
endure for a day. It makes no difference whether you are cleverer, or
older, or larger, or richer than the person who may be elected or
appointed for the moment to give you orders; once they are given, it is
your duty to obey them. And the curious thing about it is that the
quicker and better you obey these orders, the more quickly and certainly
you will show yourself fitted to give them when your time comes. The
girl or woman who cannot obey can never govern. The reason you obey the
orders of your Patrol Leader, for instance, in Scout Drill, is not that
she is better than you, but because she happens to be your Patrol
Leader, and gives her orders as she would obey yours were you in her
place.

A small well trained army can always conquer and rule a big,
undisciplined mob, and the reason for this is simply because the army
has been taught to obey and to act in units, while the mob is only a
crowd of separate persons, each doing as he thinks best. The soldier
obeys by instinct, in a great crisis, only because he has had long
practice in obeying when it was a question of unimportant matters. So
the army makes a great point of having everything ordered in military
drill, carried out with snap and accuracy; and the habit of this, once
fixed, may save thousands of lives when the great crisis comes, and turn
defeat into victory.

A good Scout must obey instantly, just as a good soldier must obey his
officer, or a good citizen must obey the law, with no question and no
grumbling. If she considers any order unjust or unreasonable, let her
make complaint through the proper channels, and she may be sure that if
she goes about it properly she will receive attention. _But she must
remember to obey first and complain afterward._


=VIII. A Girl Scout Is Cheerful=

This means that no matter how courteous or obedient or helpful you try
to be, if you are sad or depressed about it nobody will thank you very
much for your effort. A laughing face is usually a loved face, and
nobody likes to work with a gloomy person. Cheerful music, cheerful
plays and cheerful books have always been the world's favorites; and a
jolly, good-natured girl will find more friends and more openings in the
world than a sulky beauty or a gloomy genius.

It has been scientifically proved that if you deliberately _make_ your
voice and face cheerful and bright you immediately begin to feel that
way; and as cheerfulness is one of the most certain signs of good
health, a Scout who appears cheerful is far more likely to keep well
than one who lets herself get "down in the mouth." There is so much
real, unavoidable suffering and sorrow in the world that nobody has any
right to add to them unnecessarily, and "as cheerful as a Girl Scout"
ought to become a proverb.


=IX. A Girl Scout Is Thrifty=

This means that a Girl Scout is a girl who is wise enough to know the
value of things and to put them to the best use. The most valuable thing
we have in this life is time, and girls are apt to be stupid about
getting the most out of it. A Girl Scout may be known by the fact that
she is either working, playing or resting. All are necessary and one is
just as important as the other.

Health is probably a woman's greatest capital, and a Girl Scout looks
after it and saves it, and doesn't waste it by poor diet and lack of
exercise and fresh air, so that she goes bankrupt before she is thirty.

Money is a very useful thing to have, and the Girl Scout decides how
much she can afford to save and does it, so as to have it in an
emergency. A girl who saves more than she spends may be niggardly; a
girl who spends more than she saves may go in debt. A Girl Scout saves,
as she spends, on some system.

Did you ever stop to think that no matter how much money a man may earn,
the women of the family generally have the spending of most of it? And
if they have not learned to manage their own money sensibly, how can
they expect to manage other people's? If every Girl Scout in America
realized that she might make all the difference, some day, between a
bankrupt family and a family with a comfortable margin laid aside for a
rainy day, she would give a great deal of attention to this Scout law.

In every great war all nations have been accustomed to pay the costs of
the war from loans; that is, money raised by the savings of the people.
Vast sums were raised in our own country during the great war by such
small units as Thrift Stamps. If the Girl Scouts could save such
wonderful sums as we know they did in war, why can they not keep this up
in peace? For one is as much to their Country's credit as the other.

[Illustration: SALUTING THE FLAG IN A GIRL SCOUT CAMP]


=X. A Girl Scout Is Clean in Thought, Word and Deed=

This means that just as she stands for a clean, healthy community and a
clean, healthy home, so every Girl Scout knows the deep and vital need
for clean and healthy bodies in the mothers of the next generation. This
not only means keeping her skin fresh and sweet and her system free from
every impurity, but it goes far deeper than this, and requires every
Girl Scout to respect her body and mind so much that she forces everyone
else to respect them and keep them free from the slightest familiarity
or doubtful stain.

A good housekeeper cannot endure dust and dirt; a well cared for body
cannot endure grime or soil; a pure mind cannot endure doubtful thoughts
that cannot be freely aired and ventilated. It is a pretty safe rule for
a Girl Scout not to read things nor discuss things nor do things that
could not be read nor discussed nor done by a Patrol all together. If
you will think about this, you will see that it does not cut out
anything that is really necessary, interesting or amusing. Nor does it
mean that Scouts _should_ never do anything except in Patrols; that
would be ridiculous. But if they find they _could_ not do so, they had
better ask themselves why. When there is any doubt about this higher
kind of cleanliness Captains and Councillors may always be asked for
advice and explanation.




SECTION III

ORGANIZATION OF THE GIRL SCOUTS


Lone Scout

The basis of the Girl Scout organization is the individual girl. Any one
girl anywhere who wishes to enroll under our simple pledge of loyalty to
God and Country, helpfulness to other people and obedience to the Scout
Laws, and is unable to attach herself to any local group, is privileged
to become a Lone Scout. The National Organization will do its best for
her and she is eligible for all Merit Badges which do not depend upon
group work.


Patrol

But the ideal unit and the keystone of the organization is the Patrol,
consisting of eight girls who would naturally be associated as friends,
neighbors, school fellows or playmates. They are a self selected and,
under the regulations and customs of the organization, a self governing
little body, who learn, through practical experiment, how to translate
into democratic team-play, their recreation, patriotic or community
work, camp life and athletics. Definite mastery of the various subjects
they select to study is made more interesting by healthy competition and
mutual observation.


Patrol Leader

Each Patrol elects from its members a Patrol Leader, who represents them
and is to a certain extent responsible for the discipline and dignity of
the Patrol.


Corporal

The Patrol Leader is assisted by her Corporal, who may be either elected
or appointed; and she is subject to re-election at regular intervals,
the office is a practical symbol of the democratic basis of our American
government and a constant demonstration of it.


Troop

From one to four of these Patrols constitute a Troop, the administrative
unit of the organization. Girl Scouts are registered and chartered by
troops, and the Troop meeting is their official gathering. The Troop has
the privilege of owning a flag and choosing from a list of flowers,
trees, birds, and so forth, its own personal crest and title.


Captain

The leader is called a Captain. She must be twenty-one or over, and
officially accepted by the National Headquarters, from whom she receives
the ratification of her appointment and to whom she is responsible. She
may be chosen by the girls themselves, suggested by local authorities,
or be herself the founder of the Troop. She represents the guiding,
friendly spirit of comradely leadership, the responsibility and
discretion, the maturer judgment and the definite training which shapes
the policy of the organization.


Lieutenants

She may, in a small troop, and should, in a large one, be assisted by a
Lieutenant, who must be eighteen or over, and who must, like herself, be
commissioned from National Headquarters; and if desired, by a Second
Lieutenant, who must be at least sixteen.


Council

The work of the Girl Scouts in any community is made many times more
effective and stimulating by the cooperation of the Council, a group of
interested, public spirited citizens who are willing to stand behind the
girls and lend the advantages of their sound judgment, broad point of
view, social prestige and financial advice. They are not expected to be
responsible for any teaching, training or administrative work; they are
simply the organized Friends of the Scouts and form the link between the
Scouts and the community. The Council is at its best when it is made up
of representatives of the church, school, club and civic interests of
the neighborhood, and can be of inestimable value in suggesting and
affording means of co-operation with all other organizations,
patronizing and advertising Scout entertainments, and so forth. One of
its chief duties is that of finding interested and capable judges for
the various Merit Badges, and arranging for the suitable conferring of
such badges. The Council, or a committee selected from its members, is
known for this purpose as the Court of Awards.

A Captain who feels that she has such a body behind her can go far with
her Troop; and citizens who are particularly interested in constructive
work with young people who find endless possibilities in an organized
Girl Scout Council. The National Headquarters issues charters to such
Councils and cooperates with them in every way.


National Organization

The central and final governing body is the National Council. This is
made up of delegates elected from all local groups throughout the
country, and works by representation, indirectly through large State and
District sub-divisions, through the National Executive Board which
maintains its Headquarters in New York.


National Director

The National Director is in charge of these Headquarters and directs the
administrative work under the general heading of Field, Business,
Publication and Education.


Policy

From the youngest Lone Scout up to the National Director, the
organization is democratic, self-governing and flexible, adjusting
itself everywhere and always to local circumstances and the habits and
preferences of the different groups. It is not only non-sectarian, but
is open to all creeds and has the enthusiastic support of all of them.
It offers no new system of education, but co-operates with the schools
and extends to them a much appreciated recreational plan. It affords the
churches a most practical outlet for their ideals for their young
people. Its encouragement of the intelligent domestic interests is shown
by the stress laid on every aspect of home and social life and by the
great variety of Merit Badges offered along these lines. The growing
interest in the forming of Girl Scout Troops by schools, churches and
parents proves as nothing else could, how naturally and helpfully this
simple organization fits in with the three factors of the girl's life;
her home, her church, her school. And the rapid and never ceasing growth
of the Girl Scouts means that we are able to offer, every year, larger
and larger numbers of healthy and efficient young citizens to their
country.




SECTION IV

WHO ARE THE SCOUTS?


In the early days of this great country of ours, before telephones and
telegrams, railroads and automobiles made communications of all sorts so
easy, and help of all kinds so quickly secured, men and women--yes, and
boys and girls, too!--had to depend very much on themselves and be very
handy and resourceful, if they expected to keep safe and well, and even
alive.

Our pioneer grandmothers might have been frightened by the sight of one
of our big touring cars, for instance, or puzzled as to how to send a
telegram, but they knew an immense number of practical things that have
been entirely left out of our town-bred lives, and for pluck and
resourcefulness in a tight place it is to be doubted if we could equal
them today.

"_You press a button and we do the rest_" is the slogan of a famous
camera firm, and really it seems as if this might almost be called the
slogan of modern times; we have only to press a button nowadays, and
someone will do the rest.

But in those early pioneer days there was no button to press, as we all
know, and nobody to "do the rest": everybody had to know a little about
everything _and be able to do that little pretty quickly_, as safety and
even life might depend upon it.

The men who stood for all this kind of thing in the highest degree were
probably the old "Scouts," of whom Natty Bumpo, in Cooper's famous old
Indian tales is the great example. They were explorers, hunters,
campers, builders, fighters, settlers, and in an emergency, nurses and
doctors combined. They could cook, they could sew, they could make and
sail a canoe, they could support themselves indefinitely in the
trackless woods, they knew all the animals and the plants for miles
around, they could guide themselves by the sun, and stars, and finally,
they were husky and hard as nails and always in the best of health and
condition. Their adventurous life, always on the edge of danger and new,
unsuspected things, made them as quick as lightning and very clever at
reading character and adapting themselves to people.

In a way, too, they had to act as rough and ready police (for there were
no men in brass buttons in the woods!) and be ready to support the
right, and deal out justice, just as our "cow-boys" of later ranch days
had to prevent horse-stealing.

Now, the tales of their exploits have gone all over the world, and
healthy, active people, and especially young people, have always
delighted in just this sort of life and character. So, when you add the
fact that the word "scout" has always been used, too, to describe the
men sent out ahead of an army to gain information in the quickest,
cleverest way, it is no wonder that the great organizations of Boy and
Girl Scouts which are spreading all over the world today should have
chosen the name we are so proud of, to describe the kind of thing they
want to stand for.

Our British Scout-sisters call themselves "Girl Guides," and here is the
thrilling reason for this title given by the Chief Scout and Founder of
the whole big band that is spreading round the world today, as so many
of Old England's great ideas have spread.


WHY "GUIDES"?

On the North-West Frontier of India there is a
famous Corps of soldiers known as the Guides, and
their duty is to be always ready to turn out at
any moment to repel raids by the hostile tribes
across the Border, and to prevent them from coming
down into the peaceful plains of India. This body
of men must be prepared for every kind of
fighting. Sometimes on foot, sometimes on
horseback, sometimes in the mountains, often with
pioneer work wading through rivers and making
bridges, and so on. But they have to be a skilful
lot of men, brave and enduring, ready to turn out
at any time, winter or summer, or to sacrifice
themselves if necessary in order that peace may
reign throughout India while they keep down any
hostile raids against it. So they are true
handymen in every sense of the word, and true
patriots.

When people speak of Guides in Europe one
naturally thinks of those men who are mountaineers
in Switzerland and other mountainous places, who
can guide people over the most difficult parts by
their own bravery and skill in tackling obstacles,
by helpfulness to those with them, and by their
bodily strength of wind and limb. They are
splendid fellows those guides, and yet if they
were told to go across the same amount of miles on
an open flat plain it would be nothing to them, it
would not be interesting, and they would not be
able to display those grand qualities which they
show directly the country is a bit broken up into
mountains. It is no fun to them to walk by easy
paths, the whole excitement of life is facing
difficulties and dangers and apparent
impossibilities, and in the end getting a chance
of attaining the summit of the mountain they have
wanted to reach.

Well, I think it is the case with most girls
nowadays. They do not want to sit down and lead an
idle life, not to have everything done for them,
nor to have a very easy time. They don't want
merely to walk across the plain, they would much
rather show themselves handy people, able to help
others and ready, if necessary to sacrifice
themselves for others just like the Guides on the
North-West frontier. And they also want to tackle
difficult jobs themselves in their life, to face
mountains and difficulties and dangers and to go
at them having prepared themselves to be skilful
and brave; and also they would like to help other
people meet their difficulties also. When they
attain success after facing difficulties, then
they feel really happy and triumphant. It is a big
satisfaction to them to have succeeded and to have
made other people succeed also. That is what the
Girl Guides want to do, just as the mountaineer
guides do among the mountains.

Then, too, a woman who can do things is looked up
to by others, both men and women, and they are
always ready to follow her advice and example, so
there she becomes a Guide too. And later on if she
has children of her own, or if she becomes a
teacher of children, she can be a really good
Guide to them.

By means of games and activities which the Guides
practise they are able to learn the different
things which will help them to get on in life, and
show the way to others to go on also. Thus camping
and signalling, first aid work, camp cooking, and
all these things that the Guides practise are all
going to be helpful to them afterwards in making
them strong, resourceful women, skilful and
helpful to others, and strong in body as well as
in mind, and what is more it makes them a jolly
lot of comrades also.

The motto of the Guides on which they work is "Be
Prepared," that is, be ready for any kind of duty
that may be thrust upon them, and what is more, to
know what to do by having practised it beforehand
in the case of any kind of accident or any kind of
work that they may be asked to take up.


MAGDELAINE DE VERCHERES

"THE FIRST GIRL SCOUT"

It is a great piece of luck for us American Scouts that we can claim the
very first Girl Scout for our own great continent, if not quite for our
own United States. A great Englishman calls her "the first Girl Scout,"
and every Scout must feel proud to the core of her heart when she thinks
that this statue which we have selected for the honor of our
frontispiece, standing as it does on British soil, on the American
continent, commemorating a French girl, the daughter of our Sister
Republic, joins the three great countries closely together, through the
Girl Scouts! Magdelaine de Vercheres lived in the French colonies around
Quebec late in the seventeenth century. The colonies were constantly
being attacked by the Iroquois Indians. One of these attacks occurred
while Magdelaine's father, the Seigneur, was away. Magdelaine rallied
her younger brothers about her and succeeded in holding the fort for
eight days, until help arrived from Montreal.

The documents relating this bit of history have been in the Archives for
many years, but when they were shown to Lord Grey about twelve years
ago he decided to erect a monument to Magdelaine de Vercheres on the St.
Lawrence. It was Lord Grey who called Magdelaine "The First Girl Scout,"
and as such she will be known.

The following is taken from "A Daughter of New France," by Arthur G.
Doughty who wrote the book for the Red Cross work of the Magdelaine de
Vercheres Chapter of the Daughters of the Empire, and dedicated it to
Princess Patricia, whose name was given to the famous "Princess Pat"
regiment.

"On Vercheres Point, near the site of the Fort, stands a statue in
bronze of the girl who adorned the age in which she lived and whose
memory is dear to posterity. For she had learned so to live that her
hands were clean and her paths were straight.... To all future visitors
to Canada by way of the St. Lawrence, this silent figure of the First
Girl Scout in the New World conveys a message of loyalty, of courage and
of devotion."

Our own early history is sprinkled thickly with brave, handy girls, who
were certainly Scouts, if ever there were any, though they never
belonged to a patrol, nor recited the Scout Laws. But they lived the
Laws, those strong young pioneers, and we can stretch out our hands to
them across the long years, and give them the hearty Scout grip of
fellowship, when we read of them.


THE EXPLORER

If we should ever hold an election for honorary membership in the Girl
Scouts, open to all the girls who ought to have belonged to us, but who
lived too long ago, we should surely nominate for first place one of the
most remarkable young Indian girls who ever found her way through the
pathless forests,--Sacajawea, "The Bird Woman."

In 1806 she was brought to Lewis and Clark on their expedition into the
great Northwest, to act as interpreter between them and the various
Indian tribes they had to encounter. From the very beginning, when she
induced the hostile Shoshones to act as guides, to the end of her daring
journey, during which, with her papoose on her back, she led this band
of men through hitherto impassable mountain ranges, till she brought
them to the Pacific Coast, this sixteen-year-old girl never faltered. No
dangers of hunger, thirst, cold or darkness were too much for her. From
the Jefferson to the Yellowstone River she was the only guide they had;
on her instinct for the right way, her reading of the sun, the stars and
the trees, depended the lives of all of them. When they fell sick she
nursed them; when they lost heart at the wildness of their venture, she
cheered them. Their party grew smaller and smaller, for Lewis and Clark
had separated early in the expedition, and a part of Clark's own party
fell off when they discovered a natural route over the Continental
Divide where wagons could not travel. Later, most of those who remained,
decided to go down the Jefferson River in canoes; but Clark still guided
by the plucky Indian girl, persisted in fighting his way on pony back
overland, and after a week of this journeying, crowded full of
discomforts and dangers, she brought him out in triumph at the
Yellowstone, where the river bursts out from the lower canon,--and the
Great Northwest was opened up for all time!

* * * * *

The women of Oregon have raised a statue to this young explorer, and
there she stands in Portland, facing the Coast, pointing to the Columbia
River where it reaches the sea.

These great virtues of daring and endurance never die out of the race;
though the conditions of our life today, when most of the exploring has
been done, do not demand them of us in just the form the "Bird Woman"
needed, still, if they die out of the nation, and especially out of the
women of the nation, something has been lost that no amount of book
education can ever replace. Sacajawea, had no maps to study--she _made_
maps, and roads have been built over her footsteps. And so we Scouts,
not to lose this great spirit, study the stars and the sun and the trees
and try to learn a few of the wood secrets she knew so well. This
out-of-door wisdom and self-reliance was the first great principle of
Scouting.


THE HOMEMAKER

But of course, a country full of "Bird Women" could not be said to have
advanced very far in civilization. Though we should take great pleasure
in conferring her well-earned merit badges on Sacajawea, we should
hardly have grown into the great organization we are today if we had not
badges for quite another class of achievements.

In 1832, not so many years after the famous Lewis and Clark expedition,
there was born a little New England girl who would very early in life
have become a First Class Scout if she had had the opportunity. Her name
was Louisa Alcott, and she made that name famous all the world over by
the book by which the world's girls know her--"Little Women." Her
father, though a brilliant man, was a very impractical one, and from her
first little story to her last popular book, all her work was done for
the purpose of keeping her mother and sisters, in comfort. While she was
waiting for the money from her stories she turned carpets, trimmed hats,
papered the rooms, made party dresses for her sisters, nursed anyone
who was sick (at which she was particularly good)--all the homely,
helpful things that neighbors and families did for each other in New
England towns.

In those days little mothers of families could not telephone specialists
to help them out in emergencies; there were neither telephones nor
specialists! But there were always emergencies, and the Alcott girls had
to know what to put on a black-and-blue spot, and why the jelly failed
to "jell," and how to hang a skirt, and bake a cake, and iron a
table-cloth. Louisa had to entertain family guests and darn the family
stockings. Her home had not every comfort and convenience, even as
people counted those things then, and without a brisk, clever woman,
full of what the New Englanders called "faculty," her family would have
been a very unhappy one. With all our modern inventions nobody has yet
invented a substitute for a good, all-round woman in a family, and until
somebody can invent one, we must continue to take off our hats to girls
like Louisa Alcott. Imagine what her feelings would have been if someone
had told her that she had earned half a dozen merit badges by her
knowledge of home economics and her clever writing!

And let every Scout who finds housework dull, and feels that she is
capable of bigger things, remember this: the woman whose books for girls
are more widely known than any such books ever written in America, had
to drop the pen, often and often, for the needle, the dish-cloth and
the broom.

To direct her household has always been a woman's job in every century,
and girls were learning to do it before Columbus ever discovered
Sacajawea's great country. To be sure, they had no such jolly way of
working at it together, as the Scouts have, nor did they have the
opportunity the girl of today has to learn all about these things in a
scientific, business-like way, in order to get it all done with the
quickest, most efficient methods, just as any clever business man
manages his business.

We no longer believe that housekeeping should take up all a woman's
time; and many an older woman envies the little badges on a Scout's
sleeve that show the world she has learned how to manage her cleaning
and cooking and household routine so that she has plenty of time to
spend on other things that interest her.


THE PIONEER

But there was a time in the history of our country when men and women
went out into the wilderness with no nearer neighbors than the Indians,
yet with all the ideals of the New England they left behind them; girls
who had to have all the endurance of the young "Bird Woman" and yet keep
up the traditions and the habits of the fine old home life of Louisa
Alcott.

One of these pioneer girls, who certainly would have been patrol leader
of her troop and marched them to victory with her, was Anna Shaw. In
1859, a twelve-year old girl, with her mother and four other children
she traveled in a rough cart full of bedding and provisions, into the
Michigan woods where they took up a claim, settling down into a log
cabin whose only furniture was a fireplace of wood and stones.

She and her brothers floored this cabin with lumber from a mill, and
actually made partitions, an attic door and windows. They planted
potatoes and corn by chopping up the sod, putting seed under it and
leaving it to Nature--who rewarded them by giving them the best corn
and potatoes Dr. Shaw ever ate, she says in her autobiography.

For she became a preacher and a physician, a lecturer and organizer,
this sturdy little Scout, even though she had to educate herself,
mostly. They papered the cabin walls with the old magazines, after they
had read them once, and went all over them, in this fashion, later. So
eagerly did she devour the few books sent them from the East, that when
she entered college, years later, she passed her examinations on what
she remembered of them!

They lived on what they raised from the land; the pigs they brought in
the wagon with them, fish, caught with wires out of an old hoop skirt,
and corn meal brought from the nearest mill, twenty miles away. Ox teams
were the only means of getting about.

Anna and her brothers made what furniture they used--bunks, tables,
stools and a settle. She learned to cut trees and "heart" logs like a
man. After a trying season of carrying all the water used in the
household from a distant creek, which froze in the winter so that they
had to melt the ice, they finally dug a well. First they went as far as
they could with spades, then handed buckets of earth to each other,
standing on a ledge half-way down; then, when it was deep enough, they
lined it with slabs of wood. It was so well made that the family used it
for twelve years.

Wild beasts prowled around them, Indians terrified them by sudden
visits, the climate was rigorous, amusements and leisure scanty. But
this brave, handy girl met every job that came to her with a good heart
and a smile; she learned by doing. The tests and sports for mastering
which we earn badges were life's ordinary problems to her, and very
practical ones. She never knew it, but surely she was a real Girl Scout!

It is not surprising to learn that she grew up to be one of the women
who earned the American girl her right to vote. A pioneer in more ways
than one, this little carpenter and farmer and well-digger worked for
the cause of woman's political equality as she had worked in the
Michigan wilderness, and helped on as much as any one woman, the great
revolution in people's ideas which makes it possible for women today to
express their wishes directly as to how their country shall be governed.
This seems very simple to the girls of today, and will seem even simpler
as the years go on, but, like the Yellowstone River, it needed its
pioneers!

In the Great War through which we have just passed, the Scouts of all
countries gave a magnificent account of themselves, and honestly earned
the "War Service" badges that will be handed down to future generations,
we may be sure, as the proudest possessions of thousands of
grandchildren whose grandmothers (think of a Scout grandmother!) were
among the first to answer their Country's call.

Let us hear what our British sisters accomplished, and we must remember
that at the time of the war there were many Girl Guides well over Scout
age and in their twenties, who had had the advantage, as their book
points out, of years of training.

This is what they have done during the Great War.

In the towns they have helped at the Military
Hospitals.

In the country they have collected eggs for the
sick, and on the moors have gathered sphagnum moss
for the hospitals.

Over in France a great Recreation and Rest Hut for
the soldiers has been supplied by the Guides with
funds earned through their work. It is managed by
Guide officers, or ex-Guides. Among the older
Guides there are many who have done noble work as
assistants to the ward-maids, cooks, and laundry
women. In the Government offices, such as the War
Office, the Admiralty, and other great departments
of the State, they have acted as orderlies and
messengers. They have taken up work in factories,
or as motor-drivers or on farms, in order to
release men to go to the front.

At home and in their club-rooms they have made
bandages for the wounded, and warm clothing for
the men at the Front and in the Fleet.

At home in many of the great cities the Guides
have turned their Headquarters' Club-Rooms into
"Hostels." That is, they have made them into small
hospitals ready for taking in people injured in
air-raids by the enemy.

So altogether the Guides have shown themselves to
be a pretty useful lot in many different kinds of
work during the war, and, mind you, they are only
girls between the ages of 11 and 18. But they have
done their bit in the Great War as far as they
were able, and have done it well.

There are 100,000 of them, and they are very
smart, and ready for any job that may be demanded
of them.

They were not raised for this special work during
the war for they began some years before it, but
their motto is "Be Prepared," and it was their
business to train themselves to be ready for
anything that might happen, even the most unlikely
thing.

So even when war came they were "all there" and
ready for it.

It is not only in Great Britain that they have
been doing this, but all over our great Empire--in
Canada and Australia, West, East and South Africa,
New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, West Indies,
and India. The Guides are a vast sisterhood of
girls, ready to do anything they can for their
country and Empire.

Long before there was any idea of the war the
Guides had been taught to think out and to
practise what they should do supposing such a
thing as war happened in their own country, or
that people should get injured by bombs or by
accidents in their neighborhood. Thousands of
women have done splendid work in this war, but
thousands more would have been able to do good
work also had they only Been Prepared for it
beforehand by learning a few things that are
useful to them outside their mere school work or
work in their own home. And that is what the
Guides are learning in all their games and camp
work: they mean to be useful in other ways besides
what they are taught in school.


WHAT THE GUIDES DO

As a Guide your first duty is to be helpful to
other people, both in small everyday matters and
also under the worst of circumstances. You have to
imagine to yourself what sort of things might
possibly happen, and how you should deal with them
when they occur. Then you will know what to do.

I was present when a German aeroplane dropped a
bomb on to a railway station in London. There was
the usual busy scene of people seeing to their
luggage, saying good-bye and going off by train,
when with a sudden bang a whole carriage was blown
to bits, and the adjoining ones were in a blaze;
seven or eight of those active in getting into the
train were flung down--mangled and dead; while
some thirty more were smashed, broken, and
bleeding, but still alive. The suddenness of it
made it all the more horrifying. But one of the
first people I noticed as keeping her head was a
smartly dressed young lady kneeling by an injured
working-man; his thigh was smashed and bleeding
terribly; she had ripped up his trousers with her
knife, and with strips of it had bound a pad to
the wound; she found a cup somehow and filled it
with water for him from the overhead hose for
filling engines. Instead of being hysterical and
useless, she was as cool and ready to do the right
thing as if she had been in bomb-raids every day
of her life. Well, that is what any girl can do if
she only prepares herself for it.

These are things which have to be learnt in
peace-time, and because they were learnt by the
Guides beforehand, these girls were able to do
their bit so well when war came.


FIRST AID.

When you see an accident in the street or people
injured in an air raid, the sight of the torn
limbs, the blood, the broken bones, and the sound
of the groans and sobbing all make you feel sick
and horrified and anxious to get away from it--if
you're not a Girl Guide. But that is cowardice:
your business as a Guide is to steel yourself to
face it and to help the poor victim. As a matter
of fact, after a trial or two you really get to
like such jobs, because with coolheadedness and
knowledge of what to do you feel you give the
much-needed help.

_The Value of Nursing._--In this war hundreds and
hundreds of women have gone to act as nurses in
the hospitals for the wounded and have done
splendid work. They will no doubt be thankful all
their lives that while they were yet girls they
learnt how to nurse and how to do hospital work,
so that they were useful when the call came for
them. But there are thousands and thousands of
others who wanted to do the work when the time
came, but they had not like Guides, Been Prepared,
and they had never learnt how to nurse, and so
they were perfectly useless and their services
were not required in the different hospitals. So
carry out your motto and Be Prepared and learn all
you can about hospital and child nursing, sick
nursing, and every kind, while you are yet a Guide
and have people ready to instruct you and to help
you in learning.

In countries not so settled and protected as England and America, where
the women and girls are taught to count upon their men to protect them
in the field, the Girl Scouts have sometimes had to display a courage
like that of the early settlers. A Roumanian Scout, Ecaterina Teodorroiu
actually fought in the war and was taken prisoner. She escaped, traced
her way back to her company, and brought valuable information as to the
enemy's movements. For these services she was decorated "as a reward for
devotion and conspicuous bravery" with the Order of Merit and a special
gold medal of the Scouts, only given for services during the war. At the
same time she was promoted to the rank of Honorary Second Lieutenant.

Can we wonder that she is known as the Joan of Arc of Roumania?

During the Russian Revolution the Girl Scouts were used by the
Government in many practical ways, as may be seen from the following
letter from one of them:

"The Scouts assisted from the beginning, from
seven in the morning until twelve at night,
carrying messages, sometimes containing state
secrets, letters, etc., from the Duma to the
different branches of it called commissariats, and
back again. They also fed the soldiers that were
on guard. The Scout uniform was our protection,
and everywhere that uniform commanded the respect
of the soldiers, peasants and workingmen.

"As great numbers of soldiers came from the front,
food had to be given them. It was contributed by
private people, but the Scouts had lots of work
distributing it. All the little taverns were
turned into eating houses for the soldiers, and
there we helped to prepare the food and feed them.
As there were not enough Boy Scouts, the Girl
Scouts helped in the same way as the boys.

"The Scouts also did much First Aid work. In one
instance I saw an officer whose finger had been
shot off. I ran up to him and bandaged it up for
him. (All of us Scouts had First Aid kits hanging
from our belts.)

"It was something of a proud day for us Scouts
when the Premier after a parade, called us all
before the Duma and publicly thanked us for our
aid."

Indeed it was and we heartily congratulate our Sister Scouts! But if we
do our duty by our Patrol and the Patrols all do their duty by their
Troop, that proud moment is going to come to every single Scout of us,
when the town where we live tells us by its smiles and applause, when we
go by in uniform, what it thinks of us.

We Scouts shall be more and more interested, as the years go on, to
remember that in the great hours of one of the world's greatest crises
we helped to make its history. Instances like these are very
exceptional; they could not occur to one in ten thousand of us; but we
stay-at-homes can always remind ourselves that it was the obedience, the
quickness, and the skill learned in quiet, every-day Scouting that made
these few rise to their opportunity when it came.

War and revolution do not make Scouts either brave or useful; they only
bring out the bravery and the usefulness that have been learned, as we
are all learning them, every day!

All we have to do is to fix Scout habits in our hearts and hands, and
then when our Country calls us, we shall be as ready as these little
Russian Scouts were.

In France the Scouts, known as the Eclaireuses, have agreed with us that
the "land Army" is the best army for women. Rain or shine, in heat and
cold, they have dug and ploughed and planted, and learned the lesson
American girls learned long ago--that team work is what counts!

A bit of one of their reports is translated here:

"The crops were fine--potatoes, radishes, greens
and beans were raised. The crop of potatoes,
especially, was so good that the Eclaireuses were
able to supply their families with them at a price
defying competition, and they always had enough
besides for their own use on excursions. (Our
hikes.)

"Such has been the reward of the care, given so
perseveringly and intelligently to the gardening.

"And what an admirable lesson! Not a minute was
lost in this out-of-door work; chests and muscles
filled out; and at the same time the girls learned
to recognize weather signs; rain or sun were the
factors which determined the success or
non-success of the planting. And each day, there
grew in them also love and gratitude for the earth
and its elements, without the assistance of which
we could harvest nothing.

"Is this not the best method of preparing our
youth to return to the land, to the healthy and
safe life of the beautiful countryside of France;
by showing them the interest and usefulness that
lie in agricultural labor?

"So the Eclaireuse becomes a model of the new
women, used to sport, possessing her First Aid
Diploma, able to cook good simple meals, marching
under orders, knowing how to obey, ready to accept
her responsibility, good-natured and lively in
rain or sun, in public or in her home.... They
continue their courses in sewing, hygiene and
gymnastics and assist eagerly at conferences
arranged for them to discuss the duties of the
Eclaireuses and what it is necessary to do to
become a good Captain.

"To make themselves useful--that is the ideal of
the Eclaireuses. They know that in order to do
this it is becoming more and more necessary to
acquire a broad and complete knowledge."

It is quite a feather in the cap of this great Scout Family of ours that
we are teaching the French girl, who has not been accustomed to leave
her home or to work in clubs or troops, what a jolly, wonder-working
thing a crowd of girls, all forging ahead together, can be.

In our own country we were protected from the worst sides of the great
war, but we had a wonderful opportunity to show how we could Be Prepared
ourselves by seeing that our brave soldiers were prepared.

Our War Records show an immense amount of Red Cross supplies, knitting,
comfort kits, food grown and conserved in every way, money raised for
Liberty Loans and Thrift Stamps, war orphans adopted, home replacement
work undertaken and carried through; all these to so great an amount
that the country recognized our existence and services as never before
in our history, the Government, indeed, employing sixty uniformed Scouts
as messengers in the Surgeon General's Department.

Perhaps it is only the truth to say that the war showed our country what
we could Be Prepared to do for her! And it showed us, too.

It has been said that women can never be the same after the great events
of the last few years, and we must never forget that the Girl Scouts of
today are the women of tomorrow.

[Illustration: FLAG RAISING AT DAWN]




SECTION V

THE OUT-OF-DOOR SCOUT


Busy as the Girl Scout may be with learning to do in a clever,
up-to-date way all the things to improve her home and town that the old
pioneer girls knew how to do, she never forgets that the original Scouts
were out-of-door people. So long as there are bandages to make or babies
to bathe or meals to get or clothes to make, she does them all, quickly
and cheerfully, and is very rightly proud of the badges she gets for
having learned to do them all, and the sense of independence that comes
from all this skill with her hands. It gives her a real glow of pleasure
to feel that because of her First Aid practice she may be able to save a
life some day, and that the hours of study she put in at her home
nursing and invalid cooking may make her a valuable asset to the
community in case of any great disaster or epidemic; but the real fun of
scouting lies in the great life of out-of-doors, and the call of the
woods is answered quicker by the Scout than by anybody, because the
Scout learns just how to get the most out of all this wild, free life
and how to enjoy it with the least trouble and the most fun.

One of our most experienced and best loved Captains says that "a camp is
as much a necessity for the Girl Scouts as an office headquarters," and
more and more girls are learning to agree with her every year.

Our British cousins are the greatest lovers of out-of-door life in the
world, and it is only natural that we should look to our Chief Scout to
hear what he has to say to his Girl Guides on this subject so dear to
his heart that he founded Scouting, that all boys and girls might share
his enthusiastic pleasure in going back to Nature to study and to love
her and to gain happiness and health from her woods and fields.


HOW CAMPING TEACHES THE GUIDE LAW

Last year a man went out into the woods in America
to try and see if he could live like the
prehistoric men used to do; that is to say, he
took nothing with him in the way of food or
equipment or even clothing--he went just as he
was, and started out to make his own living as
best he could. Of course the first thing he had to
do was to make some sort of tool or weapon by
which he could kill some animals, cut his wood and
make his fire and so on. So he made a stone axe,
and with that was able to cut out branches of
trees so that he could make a trap in which he
eventually caught a bear and killed it. He then
cut up the bear and used the skin for blankets and
the flesh for food. He also cut sticks and made a
little instrument by which he was able to ignite
bits of wood and so start his fire. He also
searched out various roots and berries and leaves,
which he was able to cook and make into good food,
and he even went so far as to make charcoal and to
cut slips of bark from the trees and draw pictures
of the scenery and animals around him. In this way
he lived for over a month in the wild, and came
out in the end very much better in health and
spirits and with a great experience of life. For
he had learned to shift entirely for himself and
to be independent of the different things we get
in civilization to keep us going in comfort.

That is why we go into camp a good deal in the Boy
Scout and in the Girl Guide movement, because in
camp life we learn to do without so many things
which while we are in houses we think are
necessary, and find that we can do for ourselves
many things where we used to think ourselves
helpless. And before going into camp it is just as
well to learn some of the things that will be most
useful to you when you get there. And that is what
we teach in the Headquarters of the Girl Guide
Companies before they go out and take the field.
For instance, you must know how to light your own
fire; how to collect dry enough wood to make it
burn; because you will not find gas stoves out in
the wild. Then you have to learn how to find your
own water, and good water that will not make you
ill. You have not a whole cooking range or a
kitchen full of cooking pots, and so you have to
learn to cook your food in the simplest way with
the means at your hand, such as a simple cooking
pot or a roasting stick or an oven made with your
own hands out of an old tin box or something of
that kind.


NATURE STUDY

It is only while in camp that one can really learn
to study Nature in the proper way and not as you
merely do it inside the school; because here you
are face to face with Nature at all hours of the
day and night. For the first time you live under
the stars and can watch them by the hour and see
what they really look like, and realize what an
enormous expanse of almost endless space they
cover. You know from your lessons at school that
our sun warms and lights up a large number of
different worlds like ours, all circling round it
in the Heavens. And when you hold up a shilling at
arm's length and look at the sky, the shilling
covers no less than two hundred of those suns,
each with their different little worlds circling
around them. And you then begin to realize what an
enormous endless space the Heavens comprise. You
realize perhaps for the first time the enormous
work of God.

Then also in camp you are living among plants of
every kind, and you can study them in their
natural state, how they grow and what they look
like, instead of merely seeing pictures of them in
books or dried specimens of them in collections.

All round you, too, are the birds and animals and
insects, and the more you know of them the more
you begin to like them and to take an interest in
them; and once you take an interest in them you do
not want to hurt them in any way. You would not
rob a bird's nest; you would not bully an animal;
you would not kill an insect--once you have
realized what its life and habits are. In this
way, therefore, you fulfill the Guide Law of
becoming a friend to animals.

By living in camp you begin to find that though
there are many discomforts and difficulties to be
got over, they can be got over with a little
trouble and especially if you smile at them and
tackle them.

Then living among other comrades in camp you have
to be helpful and do good turns at almost every
minute, and you have to exercise a great deal of
give and take and good temper, otherwise the camp
would become unbearable.

So you carry out the different laws of
courteousness, of helpfulness, and friendliness to
others that come in the Guide Law. Also you pick
up the idea of how necessary it is to keep
everything in its place, and to keep your kit and
tent and ground as clean as possible; otherwise
you get into a horrible state of dirt, and dirt
brings flies and other inconveniences.

You save every particle of food and in this way
you learn not only cleanliness, but thrift and
economy. And you very soon realize how cheaply you
can live in camp, and how very much enjoyment you
can get for very little money. And as you live in
the fresh, pure air of God you find that your own
thoughts are clean and pure as the air around you.
There is hardly one of the Guide Laws that is not
better carried out after you have been living and
practising it in camp.

_Habits of Animals._--If you live in the country
it is of course quite easy to observe and watch
the habits of all sorts of animals great and
small. But if you are in a town there are many
difficulties to be met with. But at the same time
if you can keep pets of any kind, rabbits, rats,
mice, dogs or ponies you can observe and watch
their habits and learn to understand them well;
but generally for Guides it is more easy to watch
birds, because you see them both in town and
country; and especially when you go into camp or
on walking tours you can observe and watch their
habits, especially in the springtime.

Then it is that you see the old birds making their
nests, hatching out their eggs and bringing up
their young; and that is of course the most
interesting time for watching them. A good
observant guide will get to know the different
kinds of birds by their cry, by their appearance,
and by their way of flying. She will also get to
know where their nests are to be found, what sort
of nests they are, what are the colors of the eggs
and so on. And also how the young appear. Some of
them come out fluffy, others covered with
feathers, others with very little on at all. The
young pigeon, for instance, has no feathers at
all, whereas a young moorhen can swim about as
soon as it comes out of the egg; while chickens
run about and hunt flies within a few minutes; and
yet a sparrow is quite useless for some days and
is blind, and has to be fed and coddled by his
parents.

Then it is an interesting sight to see the old
birds training their young ones to fly, by getting
up above them and flapping their wings a few times
until all the young ones imitate them. Then they
hop from one twig to another, still flapping their
wings, and the young ones follow suit and begin to
find that their wings help them to balance; and
finally they jump from one branch to another for
some distance so that the wings support them in
their effort. The young ones very soon find that
they are able to use their wings for flying, but
it is all done by degrees and by careful
instruction.

Then a large number of our birds do not live all
the year round in England, but they go off to
Southern climes such as Africa when the winter
comes on; but they generally turn up here at the
end of March and make their nest during the
spring. Nightingales arrive early in April;
wagtails, turtle doves, and cuckoos come late in
April; woodcock come in the autumn, and redpoles
and fieldfares also come here for the winter. In
September you will see the migrating birds
collecting to go away, the starlings in their
crowds and the swallows for the South, and so do
the warblers, the flycatchers, and the swifts. And
yet about the same time the larks are arriving
here from the Eastward, so there is a good deal of
traveling among the birds in the air at all times
of the year.

How many of our American Scouts are able to supply from their
observation all of our native birds to take the places of these
mentioned in this lovely paragraph? Everyone should be able to.

_Nature in the City._--This noticing of small
things, especially in animal life, not only gives
you great interest, but it also gives you great
fun and enjoyment in life. Even if you live in a
city you can do a certain amount of observation
of birds and animals. You would think there is not
much fun to be got out of it in a murky town like
London or Sheffield, and yet if you begin to
notice and know all about the sparrows you begin
to find there is a great deal of character and
amusement to be got out of them, by watching their
ways and habits, their nesting, and their way of
teaching their young ones to fly.


OBSERVATION.

"_Stalking._--A Guide has to be sharp at seeing
things if she is going to be any good as a Guide.
She has to notice every little track and every
little sign, and it is this studying of tracks and
following them out and finding out their meaning
which we include under the name of stalking. For
instance, if you want to find a bird's-nest you
have to stalk. That is to say, you watch a bird
flying into a bush and guess where its nest is,
and follow it up and find the nest. With some
birds it is a most difficult thing to find their
nests; take, for instance, the skylark or the
snipe. But those who know the birds, especially
the snipe, will recognize their call. The snipe
when she is alarmed gives quite a different call
from when she is happy and flying about. She has a
particular call when she has young ones about. So
that those who have watched and listened and know
her call when they hear it know pretty well where
the young ones are or where the nest is and so on.

"_How to Hide Yourself._--When you want to observe
wild animals you have to stalk them, that is,
creep up to them without their seeing or smelling
you.

"A hunter when he is stalking wild animals keeps
himself entirely hidden, so does the war scout
when watching or looking for the enemy; a
policemen does not catch pickpockets by standing
about in uniform watching for them; he dresses
like one of the crowd, and as often as not gazes
into a shop window and sees all that goes on
behind him reflected as if in a looking-glass.

"If a guilty person finds himself being watched,
it puts him on his guard, while an innocent person
becomes annoyed. So, when you are observing
people, don't do so by openly staring at them, but
notice the details you want to at one glance or
two, and if you want to study them more, walk
behind them; you can learn just as much from a
back view, in fact more than you can from a front
view, and, unless they are scouts and look around
frequently, they do not know that you are
observing them.

"War scouts and hunters stalking game always carry
out two important things when they don't want to
be seen."

One is _Background_.--They _take care that the
ground behind them, or trees, or buildings, etc.,
are of the same colour as their clothes_.

And the other is "_Freezing_".--If an enemy or a
deer is seen looking for them, _they remain
perfectly still without moving so long as he is
there_.

_Tracking._--The native hunters in most wild
countries follow their game by watching for tracks
on the ground, and they become so expert at seeing
the slightest sign of a footmark on the ground
that they can follow up their prey when an
ordinary civilized man can see no sign whatever.
But the great reason for looking for signs and
tracks is that from these you can read a meaning.
It is exactly like reading a book. You will see
the different letters, each letter combining to
make a word, and the words then make sense; and
there are also commas and full-stops and colons;
all of these alter the meaning of the sense. These
are all little signs, which one who is practised
and has learnt reading, makes into sense at once,
whereas a savage who has never learned could make
no sense of it at all. And so it is with tracking.


TRACKING.

"Sign" is the word used by Guides to mean any
little details, such as footprints, broken twigs,
trampled grass, scraps of food, old matches, etc.

Some native Indian trackers were following up the
footprints of a panther that had killed and
carried off a young kid. He had crossed a wide
bare slab which, of rock, of course, gave no mark
of his soft feet. The tracker went at once to the
far side of the rock where it came to a sharp
edge; he wetted his finger, and just passed it
along the edge till he found a few kid's hairs
sticking to it. This showed him where the panther
had passed down off the rock, dragging the kid
with him. Those few hairs were what Guides call
"signs."

This tracker also found bears by noticing small
"signs." On one occasion he noticed a fresh
scratch in the bark of a tree, evidently made by a
bear's claw, and on the other he found a single
black hair sticking to the bark of a tree, which
told him that a bear had rubbed against it.

_Details in the Country._--If you are in the
country, you should notice landmarks--that is,
objects which help you to find your way to prevent
your getting lost--such as distant hills and
church towers; and nearer objects, such as
peculiar buildings, trees, gates, rocks, etc.

And remember in noticing such landmarks that you
may want to use your knowledge of them some day
for telling some one else how to find his way, so
you must notice them pretty closely so as to be
able to describe them unmistakably and in their
proper order. You must notice and remember every
by-road and foot-path.

Remembrance of these things will help you to find
your way by night or in fog when other people are
losing themselves.


HORSES' TRACKS

[Illustration: Walking.]

[Illustration: Trotting.]

[Illustration: Canter.]

[Illustration: _O.H. = Off Hind, etc._

Galloping.]

[Illustration: Lame Horse Walking: Which leg is he lame in?

_N.B.--The long feet are the hind feet._]

These are the tracks of two birds on the ground. One that lives
generally on the ground, the other in bushes and trees. Which track
belongs to which bird?

_Using your Eyes._--Let nothing be too small for
your notice--a button, a match, a hair, a cigar
ash, a feather, or a leaf might be of great
importance, even a fingerprint which is almost
invisible to the naked eye has often been the
means of detecting a crime.

With a little practice in observation you can tell
pretty accurately a man's character from his
dress.

How would you recognize that a gentleman was fond
of fishing. If you see his left cuff with little
tufts of cloth sticking up, you may be sure he
fishes. When he takes his flies off the line he
will either stick them into his cap to dry, or
hook them into his sleeve. When dry he pulls them
out, which often tears a thread or two of the
cloth.

Remember how "Sherlock Holmes" met a stranger, and
noticed that he was looking fairly well-to-do, in
new clothes with a mourning band on his sleeve,
with a soldiery bearing and a sailor's way of
walking, sunburns, with tattoo marks on his hands,
and he was carrying some children's toys in his
hands. What would you have supposed that man to
be. Well, Sherlock Holmes guessed correctly that
he had lately retired from the Royal Marines as a
sergeant, that his wife had died, and that he had
some small children at home.

PRACTICE IN OBSERVATION.--_Instructor can take the
fingermarks of each girl. Lightly rub the thumb on
blacklead or on paper that is blacked with pencil,
then press the thumb on paper and examine with
magnifying glass. Show that no two persons' prints
are alike._

IN TOWN.--_Practice your girls first in walking
down a street to notice the different kinds of
shops as they pass, and to remember them in their
proper sequence at the end._

_Then to notice and remember the names on the
shops._

_Then to notice and remember the contents of a
shop window after two minutes' gaze. Finally, to
notice the contents of several shop windows in
succession with half a minute at each. Give marks
for the fullest list._

_The Guides must also notice prominent buildings
as landmarks, and the number of turnings off the
street they are using._

IN THE COUNTRY.--_Take the patrol out for a walk
and teach the girls to notice distant prominent
features, such as hills, church steeples, and so
on; and as nearer landmarks such things as
peculiar buildings, trees, rocks, gates, by-roads
or paths, nature of fences, crops different kinds
of trees, birds, animals, tracks, people,
vehicles, etc. Also any peculiar smells of plants,
animals, manure, etc.; whether gates or doors were
open or shut, whether any smoke from chimneys,
etc._

_Send Guides out in pairs._

_It adds to the value of the practice if the
instructor makes a certain number of small marks
in the ground beforehand, or leaves buttons or
matches, etc., for the girls to notice or to pick
up and bring in as a means of making them examine
the ground close to them as well as distant
objects._

PRACTICES IN NATURAL HISTORY.--_Take out Guides to
get specimens of leaves, fruit, or blossoms of
various trees, shrubs, etc., and observe the shape
and nature of the tree both in summer and in
winter._

_Collect leaves of different trees; let Guides
make tracings of them and write the name of the
tree on each._

_In the country make Guides examine crops in all
stages of their growth, so that they know pretty
well by sight what kind of crop is coming up._

_Start gardens if possible, either a patrol garden
or individual Guides' gardens. Let them grow
flowers and vegetables for profit to pay for their
equipment, etc. Show all the wild plants which may
be made use of for food. Find yew trees; report if
any good branches to make archers' bows of._

_Encourage the keeping of live pets, whether
birds, animals, reptiles, insects. Show how to
keep illustrated diary-records of plants, insects,
birds, etc., giving dates when seen for comparison
following year and showing their peculiar
markings, etc._

_If in a town take your Guides to the Zoological
Gardens, menagerie or Natural History Museum, and
show them particular animals on which you are
prepared to lecture. Not more than half a dozen
for one visit._

_If in the country get farmers or shepherd to help
with information on the habits of farm animals,
e. g., how a cow lies down and when. How to milk,
stalk rabbits, water voles, trout, birds, etc.,
and watch their habits._




SECTION VI

FORMS FOR SCOUT CEREMONIES


1. ENROLLMENT

Before a girl may become enrolled as a regular Girl Scout she must be at
least ten years old, and must have attended the meetings of a Troop for
at least a month, during which time she must have passed her Tenderfoot
Test. The Captain must have prepared the candidate for enrollment by
explaining the meaning of the Promise and the Laws and making sure that
she fully understands the meaning of the oath she is about to make, and
that she also comprehends the meaning of "honor." The following is a
convenient form for enrollments.

(1) The Scouts stand in the form of a horseshoe
with the officer who is to enroll at the open
side, facing Scouts.

(2) Officer addresses troops on the subject of
what it means to be a Scout.

(3) Patrol Leader brings candidate to officer and
salutes and returns to place.

(4) Officer addresses candidate in low tone: "What
does your honor mean?"

Candidate answers.

Officer: "Will you on your honor, try: To do your
duty to God and to your Country; to help other
people at all times; to obey the Scout Laws?"

Candidate and officer both salute as candidate
repeats Promise. Officer: "I trust you on your
honor to keep this Promise."

(5) Officer pins Tenderfoot Badge on the new
scout, explaining what it stands for, that it
symbolizes her Scout life, and so forth.

(6) Scout and officer salute each other. Scout
turns and troop salutes her, scout returning
salute, and then goes alone to her place.

(7) All Scouts present repeat Promise and Laws.
Troop then breaks ranks to take up some Scout
activity.

When many scouts are to be enrolled, four at a time may be presented to
the officer, but each should singly be asked and should answer the
question: "What does your honor mean?" All four repeat the Promise
together and the officer addresses all together in saying: "I trust you
on your honor to keep this Promise," but speaks to each separately as
she puts on the pin.

A Captain may perform this ceremony or she may ask some higher Scout
officer to do so.


2. _Presentation of Other Badges_

The following form of ceremony was devised for special use in the
presentation of the highest honor attainable by a Girl Scout, the Golden
Eaglet, but the same outline may be followed for giving Merit Badges,
and First and Second Class Badges, or any other medals or honors.

_Presentation of Golden Eaglet._--As the presentation of the Golden
Eaglet is an important occasion in the life of a Scout and her Troop, it
should take place at a public Scout function, such as a District or
Community Rally, a reception to a distinguished guest of the Scouts, or
possibly at the time of a civic celebration.

The Court of Awards is responsible for all details of the meeting, and
it is suggested that it invite parents, friends and other persons
interested in the Scout movement to be present. The medal may be
presented by the Chairman of the Court of Awards, some other member of
that Committee or by a higher Scout officer.

Arrangements for the ceremony should be planned so that during the
presentation of guests, the Court of Awards, the Eaglet's troop and the
Color Guard form a hollow square, with the Captain at her post three
paces in front of the Troop, the Lieutenant at her post "center and
rear" of the Troop. The ceremony should be rehearsed wherever possible,
so that all action and form shall be as smart as possible.

1. The Court of Awards enters and takes its place at right angles to the
assembled guests.

2. The Captain enters, takes post, and gives all commands.

3. The Color Guard (bearer of the American flag, bearer of the Troop
flag, and two guards) followed by Troop to which the Eaglet belongs,
enter and march two paces in front of the Court of Awards. The
lieutenant is at the left of the leading file. The Troop marches in
single file, by twos or in Squad formation according to the number, and
the space available.

When the Troop is very large, or the space restricted, the Eaglet's
Patrol may take the place of the Troop. As the Colors pass, the Court of
Awards should rise, stand at attention, and if Scouts, salute.

4. When the Color Guard at the head of the column has passed the Court
of Awards, the command "Column left, MARCH!" is given. When the last
file has completed the movement, the following commands are given:

(1) "Scouts, HALT!"

(2) "Left, FACE," or

"Squads, left, MARCH, Squads, HALT," according to
the formation of the column.

(3) "Right, DRESS, FRONT!"

5. At the command "Left, FACE," or "Squads, left, MARCH, Squads HALT,"
the Color Guard makes a left turn, marches forward until on a line with
the Court of Awards, again makes a left turn, immediately halts and
grounds flags.

6. When the Troop and Color Guard are in position, the Captain gives the
command "Patrol Leader and Eaglet, forward, MARCH!" The Patrol Leader
escorts the Eaglet to the Captain, salutes the Captain and returns to
her position in line.

7. The Chairman of the Court of Awards comes forward, the Captain faces
her, salutes, and presents the Eaglet to her.

8. The Chairman after reading the list of Merit Badges which the Scout
has earned in order to receive the Golden Eaglet, pins the medal on to
the Eaglet's blouse, over the middle of the right pocket. The Eaglet
salutes.

If desired this is the opportunity for the Official presenting the badge
to say a few words.

9. After the presentation, the Eaglet turns, and facing her Captain and
Troop, stands at attention as the Colors are raised, the Scout flag
dipped, and the Troop salutes. The Eaglet returns the salute and then
marches to her position in line.

10. The Captain gives the command "Color Guard forward, MARCH." The
Color Guard marches in front of the Captain and Troop who salute as the
Colors pass, make a right turn two paces in front of the Court of Honor
and march out.

11. After the Colors have left the "square" the Lieutenant takes her
position at the left of the leading file.

The Captain gives the commands:

"Right, FACE, MARCH!" or "Squads right, MARCH!"

"Column left, MARCH!"

and the Troop marches out. The Captain turns, salutes the Court of
Awards and passes out.

O--LIEUT.
0000 0000
Troop--
0000 0000
O--Capt.
c xx
Color c xx Court of
Guard c xx Awards
c xx
--------
--------
--------
Guests

Where there is no Local Council or Court of Awards, Captains are asked
to communicate with the National Headquarters concerning the ceremony of
presentation of the Golden Eaglet.


ALTERNATE FORMS FOR SCOUT CEREMONIES

In the case of troops for which this formal procedure is not practical,
and for the better assistance of Captains and Councils who feel the need
of a more definite formulation of the Scout principles on these
occasions, the following ceremonies are suggested. They are designed to
meet the necessity for expressing at each stage of the Scout's progress,
recognition of her achievement up to that point and appreciation of her
future responsibilities.


1. Tenderfoot Enrollment

1. The Troop being assembled in any desired formation, the Captain calls
forward those who have passed the test.

Captain: "Scout ----, do you think you know what
it means to be loyal to God and your Country, to
help other people at all times, and to obey the
Scout Laws?"

Scout: "I think I do, and I will try my best not
to fail in any of them."

_This is repeated to each Tenderfoot._

Captain: "Are you ready to make your Promise with
your Troop?"

New Scouts (_together_): "Yes."

Captain: "Scouts of Troop ----, repeat your
promise."

_All salute and repeat the Promise._

Captain: "I trust you on your honor to keep this
Promise."

(_Here, when practicable, investiture of hat,
neckerchief, etc., takes place._)

_Captain then pins on Tenderfoot pin While
attaching it, she says:_

Captain: "This pin makes you a Girl Scout. It is
yours, so long as you are worthy of it."

_Captain dismisses recently enrolled Scouts to
their Troop position._

(_Here the Captain may add, if she wishes,
anything in her judgment applicable to the Troop
as a whole, or to the new Scouts individually._)


2. Conferring Second Class Badges

The Troop being assembled in any desired formation, the Captain calls
forward those who have passed the test.

Captain: "Scout ----, you have learned what is
necessary for a Second Class Scout to know. Do you
think you can apply your knowledge, if the
occasion should arise?"

Scout: "I think so, and I will always try to =Be
Prepared=."

Captain: "Scouts (_reciting the candidates' names
in order_), do you think that the discipline and
training you have gone through have made you more
capable of doing your duty to God and to your
Country, of helping other people at all times and
of obeying the Scout Laws, than you were as a
Tenderfoot?"

Scouts (_together_): "Yes."

Captain (_pinning on each badge, and speaking to
each Scout as she does so_): "You are now a Second
Class Scout, which means that though you have
learned much, you have still much to learn."

_Captain dismisses Second Class Scouts to their
Troop position._

(_Here the Captain may address the Troop at her
discretion._)


3. Conferring First Class Badge

_The Troop being assembled in any desired formation, the Captain calls
forward those who have passed the test and presents them to the
presiding Official._

Captain: "Commissioner ----, these Scouts of ----
Troop have passed their First Class Tests. I
recommend them to you for First Class badges."

Official (_to each Scout separately, the Captain
giving her the name_): "Scout ----, you have
passed the final Scout test. You should thoroughly
understand by now the meaning of duty to God and
Country, the privilege of helpfulness to others,
and the seriousness of the Scout Laws. Are you
sure that you do."

Scout: "I am. And I realize that I must help other
Scouts to see these things as I see them."

Official: "Scouts ---- (_reading the candidates'
names in order_), it has taken a great deal of
thought and time and energy on the part of a great
many people to enable you to wear this badge. Are
you prepared to pay this back in generous service,
when and where you can?"

Scouts (_together_): "Yes."

Official (_pinning on each badge and speaking to
each Scout as she does so_): "You are now a First
Class Scout. Remember that the world will judge us
by you."

Official (to Captain): "I congratulate you,
Captain ----, Troop ----, and the members of the
Council, on these First Class Scouts, and I trust
that the Town of ---- will have every reason to be
proud of them and to feel that it can depend upon
them as especially good citizens and loyal
Americans."

_Captain acknowledges this in suitable manner and
dismisses First Class Scouts to Troop position._

(_Here the Official may address the audience at
discretion._)


4. Conferring Merit Badges

The Troop being assembled in any desired formation, the Captain calls
forward those who have passed the test and presents them to the
presiding Official. (Note--The Merit Badges may be conferred by a member
or members of the Council, if desired.)

Captain: "Members of the Girl Scout Council of
----, these Scouts have passed the various tests
for their Merit Badges, and I recommend them to
you for decoration accordingly."

Official: "Scouts (_reading the list_), you have
fairly won the right to wear these badges we are
about to present to you, and we are glad to do
so. We take this opportunity of reminding you,
however, that all good Scouts understand that they
are far from having completely mastered the
subjects represented by these badges. The symbols
which you wear on your sleeve mean that you have
an intelligent interest in the subjects you have
chosen, understand the principles of them, and can
give reasonable, practical proof of this. Do you
realize that the Girl Scout Organization credits
you with a good foundation and trusts to you to
continue to build upon it intelligently?"

Scouts (_together_): "Yes."

Official (_pinning on badges and speaking to each
girl separately_): "We congratulate you on your
perseverance and wish you all success in your
work."

(_Note--When more than one badge is to be
presented to a Scout, they may be attached, for
the ceremony, to a piece of ribbon and put on with
one motion._)

_Captain dismisses Scouts to Troop position._

(_Here the official may address the audience at
discretion._)

_This ceremony being distinctly less formal and
intimate than the regular class awards, Scout
songs and cheers are in order._


5. Golden Eaglet Ceremony

The Troop being assembled in any desired formation, the Captain presents
the Golden Eaglet to the Official who is to make the award.

Captain: "Commissioner ----, Scout ----, of Troop
----, of ----, has not only passed the twenty-one
Merit Badge Tests required for the honor of the
Golden Eaglet, but is, in the judgment of her
Troop, fully worthy of it. We therefore recommend
her to you for the decoration."

Official: "What badges does Scout ---- offer?"

_Captain reads the list Badges earned by the
Candidate._

Official: "Troop ----, do you agree that Scout
---- has fairly won this decoration and that you
are willing to have her represent you to your
National Organization as your Golden Eaglet?"

Troop (_together_): "Yes."

Official: "Members of the Council, do you agree
that Scout ---- has fairly won this decoration and
that you are willing to have her represent you to
your community as your Golden Eaglet?"

Council (_rising if seated_): "Yes."

Official: "Scout ----, you have won the highest
honor in the gift of the Girl Scouts."

"If the Scout life meant nothing more to you than
a reasonable understanding of certain subjects,
there would now be nothing more for the Girl
Scouts to teach you; but I am sure that your
training has not failed in this respect, and that
you understand now, even better than the average
Girl Scout, that your great principles of duty to
God and Country, helpfulness to others, and
obedience to the Scout Laws, are lessons that no
Scout can fully learn as long as she lives. Do you
agree to this?"

Golden Eaglet: "I agree to it thoroughly."

Official (_pinning on badge_): "I have the honor
of naming you a Golden Eaglet, and in the name of
the Girl Scouts I congratulate you heartily on
your fine achievement."

_Scout salutes or shakes the hand of the Official,
as desired, and returns to her troop position._

_(Here the Official may address the audience at
discretion)._

The accompanying diagram of suggested relative positions in Scout
ceremonies lends itself equally to a small room, theatre, hall or open
field. Whether the Scouts form a troop or even one patrol; whether they
make use of strict military formation or informal grouping; whether the
visiting Scout dignitaries are many or limited to one member of the
local Council, the Scout bodies face each other, and the guest or guests
of honor, equally with the general audience, can observe the Troop and
the candidates easily from the side.

All Troops who are familiar with military drill can take their usual
positions in their usual manner and observe all details of color guard,
salutes, etc., to any desired extent. Troops and Captains not familiar
with such procedure, by accustoming themselves to this general grouping,
will always be able to present a dignified appearance.

Note: These suggestions for the various ceremonials assume that the
regular opening of the Scout meetings has already taken place; therefore
nothing is given but the actual matter of the presentations, etc. In the
case of the Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class awards, the
ceremonies constitute the special business of the meeting, and opening
and closing should proceed as usual. They are distinctly Scout business
and are not, in general, offered to the public.

The awarding of Merit Badges might with advantage be connected with any
local civic ceremony where interest in young people may be created; and
in the case of the Golden Eaglet award it is distinctly desirable thus
to connect it. Any visiting dignitary, national or state, may with
propriety be asked to officiate; and where different organizations are
taking their various parts in a public function, it will not always be
possible to claim the time nor the space for the regular Scout opening
ceremonies, nor would this necessarily be advisable. It is, therefore,
well to be provided with a form like the preceding, where a small
delegation from the Troop, the Captain and a Councillor could, if
necessary, represent the essential units of the organization among a
number of other societies; and the words of the ceremony would explain
the occasion sufficiently without much concerted action, and may be
inserted at the proper place, preceded and followed by any Troop or
local customs preferred.

[Illustration:


Guests of honor

Scout Troop Candidates All local and visiting
with with Scout personnel,
Captain and Lieutenant Official Council, Commissioners, etc.


General Audience

PLAN OF ASSEMBLY FOR GIRL SCOUT CEREMONIES]


6. How to Conduct a Scout Meeting

1. One long whistle blast: Silence, listen for
orders.

2. Three short whistle blasts: "Fall In," or
"Assemble," three paces in front of Captain, Squad
formation.

5 6 7 8 5 6 7 8
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
* Captain
Lieutenant *

3. "Right Dress," "Front."

4. Inspection. Captain inspects for posture, and
for personal appearance which should be neat and
clean in every particular, and uniform, which
should be correct as to style, length, placing of
insignia, etc. All necessary corrections should be
made in a low tone of voice to the individual
Scout.

5. "Color Bearer, Forward--Center" "March." The
Color Bearer, appointed to carry flag, upon
receiving order to "March", takes one step
backward, executes "Right Face," marches out of
rank, executes "Left Face," marches to point on
line with flag, executes "Right Face," marches to
within two steps of flag and comes to "Halt." She
salutes flag, takes staff in both hands, wheels
right, and marches to position three paces in
front of, and facing troop. The captain and
Lieutenant have moved to position at right angles
to, and at right of troop. If a color Guard is
used instead of Color Bearer, two Scouts act as
guards, their position being on either side of
bearer. They leave ranks together, form in line at
right of troop, march shoulder to shoulder and
always wheel to the right, the Color Bearer being
the pivot and giving all orders to Guard. After
Bearer has taken flag and turns, the Guards
salute, take one step forward, about-face, and all
march to position in front of troop. The Color
Guard never takes part in the repeating of the
Promise, Laws, Pledge of Allegiance or singing of
Star Spangled Banner.

6. "Scouts, the flag of your country, Pledge
Allegiance." The Pledge of Allegiance should be
followed by one verse of the Star Spangled Banner.

7. "The Scout Promise," "Salute."

8. "The Scout Laws, Repeat."

9. "Color Bearer, Post-March." The Color Bearer,
turning always to right, returns flag to its post,
places it in position, salutes, and returns to
place, entering ranks from rear of line. The Color
Guard, wheels right, marches to post, Guards stand
at attention while the Bearer places flag,
salutes, and about-faces. The Guards step forward,
about-face, and the Color Guard wheels and returns
to ranks.

10. "Fall Out."

11. Business Meeting.

12. Scout activities, including work for tests and
badges, singing games and discussion of Scout
principles.

13. Closing Exercises.


Closing Exercises

1. "Fall In."

2. America, or Battle Hymn of the Republic.

3. "Dismissed." Scouts salute Captain.

The form for opening and closing exercises suggested above takes only 20
minutes and is a practical method of ensuring uniformity when groups
from different troops come together. Troops may use more elaborate
forms, depending upon the amount of time which the girls wish to spend
upon this type of work. For instance:

(a) In a troop composed of many patrols each Corporal forms her patrol
and reports to the Lieutenant, who in turn reports to the Captain, "The
company is formed," etc.

(b) In dismissing, troops with a bugler may play "Taps" or may sing the
same to words locally composed.

(c) In some troops Corporals give commands. This is good because it
emphasizes the patrol system.

But the form outlined is given as the minimum requirement, and troops
using it need never feel at a loss in large rallies, for every ceremony
necessary to express the Scout spirit with dignity is there.

No additions made locally should change the essential order of these
exercises, all additions which are made being merely amplifications of
it in detail, which may not be possible nor desirable in every
community.


Business Meeting

The meeting opens with the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer in place,
with the Secretary at the right and the Treasurer at the left of the
Chairman. The idea is to have every Scout in the troop learn to be the
Chairman so that any and all could act in the capacity of a Business
Chairman at any kind of meeting.

The meeting is called to order by the Chairman. "Will the meeting please
come to order?"

The Chairman asks the Secretary to call the roll. "Will the Secretary
call the roll? And will the Treasurer collect the dues?"

The Chairman calls for the Secretary's report. "Will the Secretary read
the minutes of the last meeting?"

The Chairman calls for corrections of the minutes. "Are there any
corrections?"

If there are none she says: "If not, the minutes stand approved."

If there are corrections the Chairman calls for further corrections,
"Are there further corrections, etc. If not, the minutes stand approved
as corrected."

Form of Secretary's report: "The regular meeting of Pansy Troop No. 5,
held at the club house, on April 4th, was called to order at 3 o'clock.
In the absence of the Chairman, Scout ---- took the chair. The minutes
of the previous meeting were read and approved, dues collected amounted
to ----. After ---- was discussed and voted upon, the meeting
adjourned."

The Chairman calls for the Treasurer's report. "Will the Treasurer give
her report?"

Form of Treasurer's report:

Balance on hand Jan. 1, 1919 $2.50
Members' dues $1.00
Fines .30 1.30
-----
Total $3.80
Disbursements--
Janitor $1.00 $1.00
Balance on hand 2.80
-----
Total $3.80

The Chairman calls for corrections as before.

Then the Chairman calls for a discussion of old business, that is,
anything discussed at previous meetings, that has been left undone or
left to be decided at a later date. Any member of the meeting may bring
up this old business, or the Chairman may start the discussion. "The
business before the meeting is ----. What is your pleasure in regard to
this," or "Will anyone make a motion?"

The member who wishes to make the motion says: "Madam Chairman, I move
that--"

Another member who agrees to this says: "I second the motion."

If the motion is not seconded at once, the Chairman says: "Will anyone
second the motion?"

After the motion has been moved and seconded the Chairman immediately
states the question as, "It has been moved and seconded that the troop
have a Rally on May 2. Are you ready for the question?" or "The question
is now open for discussion." If no one rises, the Chairman proceeds to
put the question. "All those in favor say aye, opposed no."

Then the Chairman says, "The motion is carried," or "The motion is not
carried," as the case may be.

After the old business has been attended to, the Chairman calls for new
business, saying, "Is there any new business to be discussed?"

The Chairman then dismisses the meeting by calling for a motion for
adjournment.

Adjournment: "Will some one move that the meeting be adjourned?"

If this is moved and seconded it is not necessary to put it to a vote.

The Chairman says: "The meeting is adjourned."




SECTION VII

GIRL SCOUT CLASS TESTS


1. Tenderfoot Test

Before enrolling as a Tenderfoot a girl must be ten years old and have
attended at least four meetings, covering at least one month in time. In
addition to the material covered by the test, the Captain must have
thoroughly explained to her the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to
the Flag, the Scout Promise and the Scout Laws, and be sure of her
general understanding of them as well as of her ability to respect them.
This test is given by the Troop Captain.


Tenderfoot Test

1. What are the Scout Promise and the Scout Laws?


Head

Give them as printed in Handbook.

2. Demonstrate the Scout Salute. When do Scouts
use the Salute?

3. What are the Scout Slogan and the Scout Motto?

4. How is the respect due the American Flag
expressed? Give the Pledge of Allegiance.

5. What are the words of the first and last stanza
of The Star-Spangled Banner?

6. What is the full name of the President of the
United States?

What is the full name of the Governor of your
State?

What is the full name of the highest city, town or
village official where you live?


Hands

7. Make or draw an American Flag, using correct
proportions.

8. Tie the Reef, Bowline, Clove-hitch and
Sheep-shank knots according to instructions given
in Handbook, and tell use of each.

Whip the end of a piece of rope. Indicate and
define the three parts of a rope.


Helpfulness

9. Present record that you have saved or earned
enough money to buy some part of the Scout uniform
or insignia.

Recommended: Practice Setting-up Exercises, Scout positions and
Tenderfoot Drill as shown in Handbook.


II. Second Class Test

While it is not necessary to devote any specified length of time to the
training for this test, it is well to remember that if too long a time
is taken, either because of lack of interest on the part of the Troop,
or too inflexible standards on the part of the Captain, the possibility
of winning Merit Badges is delayed and the feeling of steady progress is
likely to be lost. The girls should be urged to keep together as a body,
and reminded that regular attendance and team-work will be fairer to
all. Quick learners can spend their extra time on private or group
preparation for their Merit Badges, for which they become eligible as
soon as they have passed the test, but not before.

This test may be given by the Troop Captain, or at her request by
another Captain or competent authority, such as a registered nurse for
bedmaking, health officer for First Aid, fire chief for fire prevention,
and so forth.


Second Class Scout Test


Head

1. What is the history of the American Flag, and
for what does it stand?

2. Describe six animals, six birds, six trees and
six flowers.

3. What are the sixteen points of the compass?
Show how to use a compass.

4. How may fire be prevented, and what should a
Scout do in case of fire?

5. Send and receive the alphabet of the General
Service or Semaphore Code.

6. Demonstrate ability to observe quickly and
accurately by describing the contents of a room or
a shop window, _or_ a table with a number of
objects upon it, after looking a short time, (not
more than ten seconds); _or_ describe a passer-by
so that another person could identify him; _or_
prove ability to make a quick rough report on the
appearance and landmarks of a stretch of country,
not to exceed one-quarter of a mile and to be
covered in not more than five minutes. Report
should include such things as ground surface,
buildings in sight, trees, animals, etc.

(Note: This territory must have been gone over by
person administering the test. The test is not to
be confused with the First Class requirement for
map making. It may be made the object of a hike,
and tested in groups or singly. Artificial hazards
may be arranged.)


Hands

7. Lay and light a fire in a stove, using not more
than two matches, or light a gas range, top
burner, oven and boiler, without having the gas
blow or smoke. Lay and light a fire in the open,
using no artificial tinder, such as paper or
excelsior, and not more than two matches.

8. Cook so that it may be eaten, seasoning
properly, one simple dish, such as cereal,
vegetables, meat, fish or eggs in any other form
than boiled.

9. Set a table correctly for a meal of two
courses.

10. Make ordinary and hospital bed, and show how
to air them.

11. Present samples of seaming, hemming, darning,
and either knitting or crocheting, and press out a
Scout uniform, as sample of ironing.


Health

12. Demonstrate the way to stop bleeding, remove
speck from eye, treat ivy poisoning, bandage a
sprained ankle, remove a splinter.

13. What do you consider the main points to
remember about Health?

(Note: This is based on a knowledge of the section
in the Handbook on Personal Health. It is
suggested that a good way to demonstrate
practically a knowledge of the main points is to
keep for a month the Daily Health Record. This
will incidentally complete one-third of the
requirement for Health Winner's Badge.)

14. What are your height and weight, and how do
they compare with the standard?


Helpfulness

15. Present to Captain or Council the proof of
satisfactory service to Troop, Church or
Community.

16. Earn or save enough money for some part of
personal or troop equipment.

Recommended: Practice Setting-up Exercises and Second Class Drill.


III. First Class Test

Work on this test should not be hurried. It is purposely made more
thorough and more difficult, because it is designed for the older and
longer trained Scout. The work for the Merit Badges, which all Scouts
enjoy, should not be considered as interfering with this period, as such
work is also the preparation for a possible Golden Eaglet degree. As a
general rule, girls under fifteen are not likely to make thoroughly
trained First Class Scouts, nor is the community likely to take their
technical ability in the important subjects very seriously. The First
Class Scout is the ideal Scout, of whom the organization has every right
to feel proud; and ability to grasp a subject quickly and memorize
details is not so important as practical efficiency, reliability and
demonstrated usefulness to the Troop and the community. While the
standard must not be set so high as to discourage the average girl,
impatience to get through in any given time should not be encouraged, as
this is not important.


First Class Scout Test


Head

1. Draw a simple map of territory seen on hike or
about camping place, according to directions in
Handbook, using at least ten conventional map
signs. Area covered must equal a quarter square
mile, and if territory along road is used it
should be at least 2 miles long.

2. Demonstrate ability to judge correctly height,
weight, number and distance, according to
directions in Handbook.

3. Demonstrate ability to find any of the four
cardinal points of the compass, using the sun or
stars as guide.

4. Send and receive messages in the General
Service or the Semaphore Code at the rate of
sixteen and thirty letters a minute respectively.

5. Present the following Badges:

Home Nurse


First Aide
Homemaker

and any two of the following:

Child Nurse
Health Winner
Laundress
Cook
Needlewoman
Gardener


Health

6. Take an overnight hike carrying all necessary
equipment and rations; _or_

Take a group of younger girls on a day time hike,
planning the whole trip, including where and how
to get the food, assigning to each girl her part
in responsibility, directing transportation and
occupation, and so forth; _or_

Be one of four to construct a practical lean-to;
_or_

Demonstrate skating backwards, the outer edge, and
stopping suddenly; _or_

Run on skis; _or_

Show your acquaintance from personal observation
of the habits of four animals or four birds.

7. Be able to swim fifty yards, _or_ in case of
inaccessibility to water, be able to shin up ten
feet of rope, or in case of physical disability,
earn any merit badge selected that involves
out-of-door activity.


Helpfulness

8. Present a Tenderfoot trained by candidate.

9. Present to Captain or Council some definite
proof of service to the community.

10. Earn or save one dollar and start a savings
account in bank or Postal Savings, or buy Thrift
Stamps.

Recommended: Practice Setting-up Exercises. Practice First Class Drill.

[Illustration: AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

KATHARINE LEE BATES

Music by
WILL C. MACFARLANE,
Municipal Organist, Portland, Maine

_Maestoso_

1. O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee.
And crown thy good with brotherhood.
From sea to shining sea!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee!

2. O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw.
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee!

3. O beautiful for heroes proved,
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved.
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee!

4. O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimm'd by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee.
And crown thy good with brotherhood.
From sea to shining sea!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee!

Copyright, 1913, by WILL C. MACFARLANE]

FOOTNOTE:

[1] By permission of the author.



SECTION VIII

WHAT A GIRL SCOUT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE FLAG


_We take the star from Heaven, the red from our
mother country, separating it by white stripes,
thus showing we have separated from her, and the
white stripes shall go down to posterity
representing liberty._--_George Washington._

The American flag is the symbol of the one-ness of the nation: when a
Girl Scout salutes the flag, therefore, she salutes the whole country.
The American Flag is known as "Old Glory," "Stars and Stripes,"
"Star-Spangled Banner," and "The Red, White and Blue."

The American flag today consists of red and white stripes, with the blue
field, sometimes known as the Union in the upper left-hand corner, with
forty-eight white stars. The thirteen stripes stand for the thirteen
original States--New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The stars stand
for the States now in the Union.

The colors of the flag are red, representing valor; white, representing
hope, purity and truth; blue, representing loyalty, sincerity and
justice. The five-pointed star, which is used, tradition says, at Betsy
Ross' suggestion, is the sign of infinity.


History of the American Flag

We think of ourselves as a young country, but we have one of the oldest
written Constitutions under which a Nation operates, and our flag is one
of the oldest in existence.

When our forefathers came from Europe to settle in this country, which
is now the United States, they brought with them the flags of their home
countries, and planted them on the new territory in symbol of taking
possession of it in the name of their liege kings and lands. Gradually
the colonies came to belong to England, and the Union Jack became the
flag of all, with the thirteen colonies represented by thirteen stripes
and the Union Jack in the corner. This flag was known as the Grand Union
or Cambridge Flag, and was displayed when Washington first took command
of the army at Cambridge. It was raised on December 3, 1775, on the
_Alfred_, flagship of the new little American Navy, by the senior
Lieutenant of the ship, John Paul Jones, who later defended it gallantly
in many battles at sea.

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed in
Philadelphia and the United Colonies dissolved all ties that bound them
to England and became an independent nation--the United States. It was
immediately necessary to adopt a new flag, as the new nation would not
use the Union Jack. Tradition says that in the latter part of May, 1776,
George Washington, Robert Morris and Colonel Ross called on Betsy Ross
in Philadelphia to make the first flag, which they designed. They kept
the thirteen stripes of the Colonial flag, but replaced the Union Jack
by a blue field bearing thirteen stars, arranged in a circle.

The birthday of the flag was June 14, 1777, when Congress passed this
resolution: Resolved: That the flag of the thirteen United States be
thirteen stripes; alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen
stars, white on a blue field, representing a constellation.

The first American unfurling the Stars and Stripes over a warship was
John Paul Jones when he took command of the _Ranger_ in June, 1777.
Tradition says that this flag was made for John Paul Jones by the young
ladies of Portsmouth Harbor, and that it was made for him from their own
and their mothers' gowns. It was this flag, in February, 1778, that had
the honor of receiving from France the first official salute accorded by
a foreign nation to the Stars and Stripes.

It was first carried into battle at the Battle of Brandywine in
September, 1777, when Lafayette fought with the Colonists and was
wounded. This was the famous flag made out of a soldier's white shirt, a
woman's red petticoa