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Show I This Fine Organization Is Active In Many Directions, Direc-tions, Icluding Red Cross Work, Home Economics, Garden Work, Canning Clubs, Helping the Alien, SellingLibertvBonds.etc. CopjrltfUt, 1918, ly The lotcruatK-aal ! Syndicate. WACK OF THE FIRST, and back M of the !-e- ond. and still farther I I ck, behind llo third lino of defense, Is another line, which for over a year has been slowly but steadily and very thoroughly preparing prepar-ing to do it.i part In behalf of victory In tho great war for liberty. This line represents the boys and girls of the nation, organized as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, eagerly watchful for opportunity op-portunity for helpfulness, alert to perform the good deed, the right action ac-tion in a trained and efficient manner. Thero are now well over ono hundred hun-dred thousand girl scouts In America, a fifth of the world supply. Some of theso girls will bo tho wives of tho men who today arc in the front line trenches, and their war work today should be. as It Is tho aim of the organization that it may be, "Woni-an's-CTOrk cut down-to girl size." In All li.lds. There Is scarcely an avenue of war work which has not been entered by tho Girl Scouts of today. In the Red Cross service they have knitted and sewed and rolled bandages for the tl :hting men under the sacred insignia. in-signia. For the same sorvlco they have been trained In canteen work, to give first aid to the injured. In home hygiene, dietetics, and Infant care. , In a manner to render them capable of performing such duties as a -measure of home relief, which will be of real value when tho majority of trained nurses have gone abroad. In cooperation with tho Department Depart-ment of Agriculture and the Food Administration, the Girl Scouts have taken up 1 h r. study of home ceonom-1 ceonom-1 les in the most whole-hearted man ; nor with the result that in some cities they are employed to assist the Government's Gov-ernment's trained Instructors In their i demonstrations In the making of Victory Vic-tory breads. In the uses of srubstltutos ! for meat, sugar and fat and In war emergency generally. Flag Prom Mrs. wiNon. The Girl Scout organisations are Unking up with the States Relations ServJco of tho Department of Agriculture Agri-culture In tbe tatter's Boys' and Girls' Club Work, and are raising gardens. I corn, chickens and pigs as a material I addition to tho food supply of tho nation. In their canning clubs they aro cooperating with tho Goem-mcnt's Goem-mcnt's youthful workers for national conservation. In the Treasury department de-partment the work of Girl Scouts Is recognized as a valuable factor. The first and second Liberty Loans had j most efficient help from them, and tho Woman's National Liberty Loan j Committee looks to their Girl Scout ; allies with confidence In their ability to bring in rich returns on the third i Liberty Loan. In recognition of their ifforts In this direction Secretary Mc-1 Mc-1 Adoo will present tho Girl Scouts the satue service medal for achieve-I achieve-I ment as Is being awarded tho Boy Scouts. As further stimulus to supremo su-premo action In this cause there reposes re-poses at tho Girl Scout headquarters I in New York a beautiful white silk flag, the gift of Mr Wood row Wll-I Wll-I son, honorary President of tho order, 1 to to presented with a personal mes-J mes-J sage from the donor to the Girl Scout I I troop In the United States which gives I the best scrvlco y tho third Liberty j Loan. A flag Is also to be given in each Federal Reserve district to tho troop whleh sells the greatest number num-ber of bonds in that district It Is not 1 the amount of the bonds that will count, but the number of bonds sold to different persons or In different homes. In tho Bureau of Education the Girl Scouts arc performing distinct war service in connection with the Americanization of aliens. Their ' mission In this connection is to make foreign children who come within I their Influence substituto English' I words and sentences for thoso In foreign language. With the Depart- ment of Labor tho Girl Scouts are I cooperating to the extent of assisting jobless men and women to the bu-I bu-I reaus of that department in the various vari-ous cities which seek to fit each man I and each woman to his and her right place in tho national service of today. to-day. Enthusiastic Gardeners. The Girl Scouts all over the country coun-try accomplished splendid things In emergency garden work last season, and canned and dried their products with enthusiasm and skill which will stand them in good stead this season when tho need for food production and conservation Is more than ever pressing In Washington, where man women of the official and social circle have allied themselves with tho Girl Scout movement as a detlnlto and valuable war endeavor, the garden work for tho coming summer has been planned on a largo scale, and I big results are anticipated. Mrs. H r-bert r-bert Hoover is chairman of the District Dis-trict of Columbia War Garden Committee, Com-mittee, and she is making plans whereby every Girl Scout troop In Washington will have a war garden which will bo a troop responsibility. Even the "Brownies." the little Girl Scouts under ten. who are permitted 'o take their part In scout activities In preparation for tho day when they will put on the full regalia of their elder sisters, are performing their own war work. These littledaughters of the woods, whose badge Is the ! acorn and whose crest is the leaf, are j knitting afghan squares for the in-' valids; packing comfort pillows to I case their Injuries and pasting pic . turcs In scrap books for their amusement amuse-ment during convalescence. Story Of The llr Scouts. The story of the organization of the "Jei Scon An.. ; er picturesque. It was perhaps :i dozen years ago that Mrs. Juliette Gordon Low, of Savannah. Georgia, 1 happened to be present at the organ-lzation organ-lzation of the Boy Scouts of England by Sir Robert Baden-Powell, orig-inator orig-inator of the Scout Idea and head of , I the British order. At that meeting Mrs. Low heard reports of six thou-, thou-, sand English girls clamoring for an organization similar to that of their I brothers, since there seemed no placo among the Boy Scouts for girls. Sir ! Robert then suggested to his sister, j Miss Agnes P.aden-Powell. the formation forma-tion of an order which has slnco bo- 1 1 come the Girl Guides. Shortly after this Mrs. Low had Sir Robert and Lady Baden-Powell on her Scottish estate as guests, and there was or- J ganlzed the first troop of Scottish , Girl Guides. On her return tn America six years , 1 ego, Mrs. Low placed the direction of 'the Scottish Girl Guides In other j hands and established the Girl Scout 1 organization of America In her home I 1 city of Savannah, Georgia. Thenco I the movement moved upward to I Washington and on to New York, and 1 the order has slnco been organized 1 I in every Stato of the Union but four, 1 and in 209 cities and towns through- out the land. Until last year, when It became self-sustaining, Mrs. Low J financed the order, setting aside every t personal Interest for the sake of the I t ; m v- - J i " ' j larger end. A Talk With Ucad OI The Girl Scouts. In a talk about the Girl Scouls and their work Mrs. Low said: "These girls are reaching out to help the country, and are coming to be of the greatest assistance in its time of lUj n. There whole previous tralnln-in tralnln-in scout work has rendered them alert and prepared for emcrsPncy war work hero as they have been found in England. One of the tasks allotted to the girl Guides of Fng-:md Fng-:md has been the charge at the tomb proof shelters In London, whleh urc provided to serve in tho case of nemy air r ilds. In these c II irs are provided cots, first-aid supplies and rood Tho Girl Guides have their patrols and In the event of n raid hey go on duty and direct the pajopLl o the shelters and In case of Injury hey care for them. Throe Grades Thero are three grades of Girl ' scouts. To cnt.r the third grade or ecome a "Tenderfoot." the girl must e ten years old. fr older, know the, ir sj eel- V and how to fly It. More difficult tests ar I applied for admission to the second and first class grades. To enter tha I second grade the girl has to show that I she can sew. cook a simple meal, light I a lire In the open, or In a stove, with two matches, know tho alphabet In I signalling, and know the points of th l compass and can make an Invalid's I I I bed To become a first class scout I I a girl must pass a yet moro rigid l test. I After a girl Is a second class scout I she becomes eligible for proficiency II j tests, and works for the proficiency I j badges, of which there arc approxl m.itely forty. These she attaches IB I I picturesque manner 1o the sleeve of I her khaki blouse In tho order of their IS I attainment. Among the subjects for 1 which she may strive to obtain the proficiency badge are, first aid. art. 1ST athletics, automobile driving, avis- la tion. bird lort boating, chlld-nurslng. I cooking, civics, public health. horse- IS J manship, housekeeping, laundry. 'aa I J guage. music, marksmanship, nat IS urn I Li.tory, illlnft ( telegraphy, writing and swimming. "A fair number of proficiency badec j j I on a girl's sleeve Implies a liberal 1 education," remarked an official of , (the organization. In referring to th scope of the subjects taught. ' The Golden Eaglet. The 1 dd n . agh I Is 11. highest , t honor attain., hie by a Girl Scout, and 1 to caln this the Girl Scout must tak I I I I I badges. But three American glrH j ' have gained this distinction of wear- Ing the golden . A t0 II receive it ibis month J 4 The expense attached to Girl ?' :' g membership is norm 1 1, the only abso J lutely necessary expense for the is dividual Scout being the annual roc- j Istration feo of 25 cents. Tho unl- I form may be purchased from IBt urgani'.-itjun or the simple khaki dreiJ I may bo made by the girl herself, ac j y cording to an official pattern. |
