After more than 30 years of dealing with the boy life of this state and other parts of the country, Rev. Frank H. Scattergood, Presbyterian minister and Scoutmaster of Elizabeth City, declares that the boys of Elizabeth City are of a type far superior to the average, and in fact are the finest boys he has yet been associated with in all his experience.
Mr. Scattergood is qualified to speak for the boys of Elizabeth City. In the short time he has been here, he has developed a scout troop the like of which has never before been seen in Elizabeth City, outnumbering any similar organization program that has yet been undertaken here. There are now more than 100 boys in this city under Mr. Scattergood’s direction.
It may sound incredible but Mr. Scattergood says he can now give first class medals to 30 of this troop who have qualified as first class Scouts in just a few months. To understand just how great an achievement it is for a Boy Scout to become First Class it must be remembered that among other things, a scout has to be swim 50 yards; he must be able to send a semaphore message in the Morse International code with flags at the rate of 30 words a minute; he must write an essay of 50 words on some subject of scoutcraft; he must know how to draw a map and to read topographical maps intelligently enough to find his way over the country described; he must know what to do in case of serious accident, how to bind a broken limb, what to do in case of snakebite, how to stop the flow of blood from a wound; and he must know the chief characteristics of at least 12 trees, six birds, and six animals.
“The boys of this city rank above the average boys of the state in their natural capability, morals and morale, they are basically clean and full of initiative,” declared Mr. Scattergood, who in his observation of some SS boys in camp for two weeks here this summer, failed to notice any evidence of immorality, vulgarity, profanity or dishonesty.
The Boy Scout organization here was placed on a tentative basis in the beginning according to Mr. Scattergood, because he believed it is best that the troop should develop themselves and at the same time develop their own leaders. It is his experience that the troop that develops its own leaders will fare better if they should be obliged to make any change in Scoutmasters, and further that the example set by leaders who qualify from the ranks is good for the health development of the organization.
“The Elizabeth City troop is now on a firm footing,” Mr. Scattergood declares. “Such boys as we hav here should be encouraged in their effort to keep themselves physically fit, mentally awake and morally straight. Nothing is too good for them and I shall try my best to bring their ability and enterprise to the attention of the citizen. The encouragement of their work should be a community affair.”
Mr. Scattergood has launched a drive which is now gaining momentum, to raise funds to provide a camp and a boat for the scouts. The Camp site has already been given the scouts, and they spent two weeks on it this summer. Next summer if their plans mature, they will have better advantages and may be able to spend an entire month at the camp.
It is the plan of the Scoutmaster to give the boys a moth’s trip to the mountains next summer. The entire troop will be taken to the mountains in automobiles. The boys will carry their own tents and cooking utensils. They will sleep out in the open, will cook their own meals and will learn scoutcraft by first hand contact with nature itself.
“The feature that has contributed so well toward any success in organizing the boys here,” says Mr. Scattergood, “is the picture I have given them of what it means to a human being to be both mentally and physically healthy. I have told the boys that if they have a well developed body, and an underdeveloped mind, they are no more than brutes and of little service to the world. And I have shown them that no matter how well developed their minds may be, unless they are physically fit, they cannot long keep mentally efficient. The boys have taken hold of the idea and have gone ahead with action.”
From the first page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Friday, Sept. 14, 1923
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