Show 1 WEEK IN A boy scout story by clare storrs we were a gaping mouthed staring ged eyed roup group of fourteen year old kids collected cosily around the great stone fireplace fire place in t the he old scout room 11 what were we so intent upon of course it could be nothing csore nor less than our scout master riving us u instructions along the lines 0 of aftin f hiking ik gi ng and camp craft it is such occasions that have led me to believe that scouting is educational as well is as recreational in order to ni make ake this theory a fact I 1 will set before you the ins and outs of a scout hike all winter long our troop consisting of thirty two fun thirsty fellows met regularly lar once a week in in an old stone building commonly termed the scout room we were all looking forward to the annual summer hike bike slowly but tactfully ully our leader instilled into us the principles of scouting every friday night we would find ourselves grouped around the old fireplace unknowingly learning and innocently enjoying the proceedings the time had bad slipped by speedily aard a W the time for the big hike was only seven days hence we now of course began our preparations actions in in earnest our first concern was a means of transportation which was by no means a simple matter we had already decided to use trek carts and our problem now was to build them we first went in search of old buggy wheels after collecting several pairs we proceeded diligently to build boxes to put on them our purpose was to make the carts as light as possible with a maximum amount of durability to satisfy this aim we used one half inch lumber and strengthened it with two by two braces throughout we then bolted green birch tongues to the boxes and by means of U bolts fastened them to the axes each two wheeled cart was made to carry the equipment of eight boys bedding eats and camp ing apparatus with the completion of the trek ai carts we turned our attention to the building of grub boxes this was one of our most important concerns which is evident from the fact that food is an item of deep interest to growing boys fourteen years of age in order to make the boxes fit the carts we built them all using standard dimensions the same factors of li lightness hg atness and strength entered into the e making of the grub boxes as in the building of the trek carts these factors were observed by the same principles braced one half inch lumber with these preliminaries completed and the lay day of the hike two lays days off we were all in a high pitch of excitement cit ement we had two whole days to wait with nothing to do but fill our grub boxes with eats these two days however did somehow slip by and the well remembered night preceding the trip came into the limelight this was indeed a night of nights we all slept on the scout campus a quarter of a block set aside by the city for our disposal did I 1 say we slept there I 1 think I 1 would use better terminology by saying that we stayed there we assembled on the spot at eight thirty an and attempted t e to sleep until four thirty in in the t he morning at this point in my narration I 1 dm am going to stop and point to you just how all the foregoing is related to education I 1 said that all winter long we had bad received instructions in scouting I 1 might now ask Is scouting educational I 1 think the general answer would be yes for instance the scouts have a law or set of principles which they are under oath to abide by these aliese principles are condensed down to these one word suggestions gest ions trustworthy loyal helpful friendly kind courteous cheerful thrifty obedient clean brave and levei ent whenever a boy joins the scouts he is required to take an oath binding him to the foregoing law it reads on my honor I 1 will do my best 1 to do my duty to god and my country and to obey the scout law to help other people at all times and to keep myself physically strong mentally awake and morally straight upon the scout law and the scout oath all the work of scouting is based hikes kienic roasts and all the good times of scouts have a psychological background in fulfillment of the scout law and oath which tend for higher education now let us resume the story of the hike the night preceding the trip passed and we were all scurrying about industriously loading and packing the trek carts with the necessaries we first loaded the grub boxes and on top of these we placed our tents and bedding in long rolls on the sides and bottom of the carts we hung frying pans dutch ovens buckets bucket and other cooking utensils with the completion of the loading we awaited only the signal to start and this came without further delay each patrol of eight fellows was expected to get one calt and its contents to our destination on level ground four boys pulled while the other four rested in this manner we traveled until late that afternoon when we reached the mouth of the canyon now the going began to be more difficult to the steep grades and rough roads which were growing worse the farther we went the difficulties of travel however were of meagre importance to us we were I 1 too busy enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery to worry ourselves about the complexities of pulling the carts when an extra steep grade loomed up before us the entire patrol would put their shoulders to the wheel and smoothly the cart would glide up the hill whenever an especially interesting plant or animal was found we would stop and study it while our leader would tell us some of its habits and characteristics I 1 after a long but interesting lay day we made a temporary camp for the night A short distance from the road we located a level dry grassy spot not very far from the creek it was an ideal location for a temporary camp the night being clear and with no indications of storm we mere sly rolled our beds out on the ground without pitching tents or making artificial mattresses and after a hurried but hearty bearty supper we rolled in a tired happy lot about two the following morning but what we supposed to be about five the gang of us got up for the purpose of fishing none of us troubled ourselves to look at a watch and after we had been up some thirty or forty minutes we discovered to our disgust that it was only two thirty A M we were of course by this time too wide awake to return to bed so we went out in quest of the wary mountain trout after a hot trout breakfast we were ready for the second days journey which would undoubtedly be a very interesting one we packed our carts s securely and before six we were rolling steadily up the narrow canyon road the farther we went the more beautiful did the scenery become tall straight longleaf long leaf pines began to replace the scrubby yellow pines of the lowlands the side hills were covered with palm shaped quaking aspens ashens instead of the scrawny crooked scrub oaks the creek began to narrow down and become more clear about noon we readied reached a point where the bridges of the creek crossings had bad been washed away we however were scouts and were of f course prepared for such emergencies we all had a pair of wading shoes which at this point were brought into use before we reached our final anal destination we counted twenty seven creek crossings all of which we waded dragging with us the grub and equipment laden trek carts As the sun began to sink lower in the west we began to look for a place to establish our permanent camp we of course did not look for a ready made location what we did look for was a dry level spot in a handy bandy place for wood and water such a place was discovered but which was covered with a thick growth of underbrush the latter however was a trivial matter with us in the short lapse of an hour we had bad cleared over a halfacre of ground which would meet all of the requirements of an ideal scout camp by the time we had finished clearing the ground it was beginning to get dark not having time to pitch our tents that night we decided to sleep in a temporary fashion and then prepare an ideal camp the next day this we did however we profited by the preceding nights experiences and succeeded in remaining in bed until seven which is a comparatively late hour for a group of scouts on a hike after a hot and real camp style breakfast we were all eager to begin on the camp our first procedure was to pitch the pup tents which was a very simple matter then came the making of scientific beds this was lone done by first making the ground on the interior of the tents perfectly smooth our next step was to gather an abundant supply of green fluffy pine or spruce boughs preferably the latter to obtain these we of course avoided the mutilation of trees that is we would cut the branches from around the lower part of tile the trunk leaving the tree a well groomed specimen when a sufficient supply of the boughs were collected we proceeded to weave them into an outdoor out door mattress this was done by first carefully laying a row of the boughs across the desired head of the bed with the butt ends towards the foot then another row was laid similar to the first and overlapping it in this manner we built from the head of the bed to the foot each new row of boughs covering the butt ends of those preceding after the pine bough mattress was completed the blankets were placed upon it in a manner familiar to everybody when each pair of boys had their pup tents pitched and beds made N we ve as a group were ready to build some municipal utilities the first and most important of these was a water system our leader first assigned to each of us a specific task to perform in the building of this common need four boys were assigned the duty of making a dam in the creek about seventy five yards above the camp another group of about twelve were given the task of building trestles from the dam to the camp A third group was given the duty of laying the pipe along the trestles in this manner all of the connected with the building of the water system was assigned to small groups and within three hours the utility was completed and we as a municipality ready for the building of another necessity before leaving home we had purchased a minature mina tuie electrical generator and all of the materials necessary for its installation we now proceeded to turn the water energy of the creek into a usable form when we built the dam for our water system we had two purposes in view view one was to form a settling pond from which to take our water supply and the other and more important was to form a and made to turn our generator water fall which would be harnessed we first placed our water wheel beneath the fall in such a manner that the falling water would cause it to whirl with a suitable set of gears we connected the water wheel to the generator so that the latter would turn at a terrific rate of speed from the generator we led the current to camp by means of small copper wire in each of the sixteen pup tents we installed an electric light with the completion of the water and lighting systems there was nothing left to do in the perfection of the camp but to build crude benches tables cupboards and other essentials to a comfortable camp we perform these operations as a I 1 body each pair of boys had bad to build their own camp furniture by the time the camp was into perfection the lay day was well s spent p ent we were all highly elated and enthusiastic over our accomplishment and justifiably so our purpose now was to plan something recreational as is well as educational for the ten days which were to follow this we did in the following manner that manner we all collected about a large roaring campfire camp fire and proceeded to formulate a program for the remainder of the trip we discussed overnight over night hikes fishing trips observation tours and other forms of camp activities As each days program was outlined our scribe jotted it down and in the course of an hour or so we had a future ten days teeming with joys and chri thrills 11 s that night we crawled into our soft cozy beds with tired limbs but with soaring spirits we set out one morning bright and early in the direction of an old mining camp which had long since gone I 1 to ruin and which was situated in a vicinity of exceptionally beautiful scenery late that afternoon as we were returning from perhaps one of the most interesting scenes of the entire trip we ran upon a porcupine these animals are very destructive to trees and other foliage and as scouts it was our duty to kill it we proceeded to bury it but our leader suggested taking it to camp and using its meat in the preparation of a mulligan stew the thought exactly appeal to us but we decided to try it out this we did and one who has never tried it cannot know what a real delicacy leli cacy is the mention of mulligan stow reminds me that such a paper as this is s incomplete without telling how such a i delicacy is made first a dutch oven iven is thoroughly cleaned and greased on the bottom of the oven is s placed several thin strips of bacon then hen comes a layer of cubed potatoes then hen meat preferably porcupine then carrots then onions then potatoes and so on until the oven is full after putting a desirable amount of s seasoning ason in the hot lid is placed over it and the oven is buried in red hot coals after about an hour the stew is ready f for 0 r use which is very important in t the he estimation of a group of scouts I 1 will now attempt to point out how the he experiences of a scout hike of which the foregoing is typical are related to education as well as recreation we are all unified in the conclusion that diversion from the regular routine of life is recreational and we of course get plenty of such during the annals of a scout hike bike but now let us see how such a trip contributes education to the growing boy this will be plainly seen if we get an idea as to what education really is we might say that the education of an individual is measured by his adaptability with this in mind let us recall the experiences of the hike was i not building trek carts grub boxes lighting system water system camp furniture etc adaptation to certain conditions it unquestionably is therefore scouting is educational as well as recreational |