Why is a Second-Class Scout like an advertisement of Pears’ Soap? Because she sees the First Class Badge within her reach if she only tries for it and “she won’t be happy till she get it.”
At any rate I hope she won’t, because a Scout who is content to sit down and be a Second Class Scout is only a third class girl.
It is true that when she has got her Second Class, she can go in for Proficiency Badges and cover her arm with them, but I would much rather see a Scout with the one Badge of First Class on her left arm than one with a dozen on her right.
After all the First Class tests are not so very hard. They look a lot, but like many other difficulties in this world they are not so bad as they look when you smile at them and tackle them.
Here are the tests that you have to go through for becoming First Class Scouts:—
To become a First Class Girl Scout, she must have been a Second Class Scout.
I. Intelligence.
Be able to draw a rough sketch of the district around the troop meeting place, locating the important landmarks, and be able to direct a stranger to the nearest doctor, fire station, telephone, postoffice, etc., from any point within that district, and to judge distances.
Be able to send and receive messages, in the general service code at the rate of thirty letters a minute.
Have fifty cents in the savings banks earned by herself.
Present a girl trained by herself in the test for Tenderfoot.
Know how to distinguish and name ten animals, ten wild birds, ten wild flowers and ten trees.
II. Handicraft and Skill.
Be able to prepare, cook and serve one simple meal, of three courses.
Must bring a shirt waist or skirt made by herself or the equivalent in needlework and be able to put in patches.
III. Service.
Be able to dress and bathe a child two years old or younger. Know the proper food to give a child before it is a year old, and up to the age of two years. Know how to clothe the child in winter and summer.
Must know how to behave in case of accidents; and what methods of rescue and restoration to use in two cases such as drowning, ice accident, gas poisoning and electric shock.
IV. Health.
Must know the simple laws of sanitation, health and ventilation; and be able to walk a mile in 20 minutes.
Must swim 25 yds. in her clothes, and undress in the water.
or
Where swimming is impossible because of weak heart or lack of swimming facilities; must win the other proficiency badges not already held.
Once I paid a Boer five pounds for a map which he drew for me with a stub of a pencil on a bit of brown paper. He had never learnt drawing or mapping, but he was able to jot down a map that was of great value to me in a campaign against the Zulus.
Almost any savage can draw you a map in the sand with the point of his stick: so I am sure that any Scout could do it on paper with a pencil—especially after a little practice.
You know how useful it is to be able to read a map. Well, it is still more useful to be able to draw one for helping other people to find their way. You would not be a real Scout unless you could do this.
The above signs are the conventional signs used in map-making. Contouring is most easily explained by cutting an apple in half and placing the halves face downwards, to represent a hill. You can then slice the pieces horizontally at regular distances to illustrate heights, as shown on a map.
Every Scout must be able to judge distance from an inch up to a mile and more. You ought, first of all, to know exactly what is the span of your hand and the breadth of your thumb, and the length from your elbow to your wrist, and the length from one hand to the other with your arms stretched out to either side, and also the length of your feet and of your stride; if you remember these accurately, they are a great help to you in measuring things.
Judging the distance of objects from you is only gained by practice, and judging the distance of a journey is generally estimated by seeing how long you have been travelling, and at what rate; that is to say, supposing you walk at the rate of four miles an hour, if you have been walking for an hour and a half you know that you have done about six miles.
Distance can also be judged by sound; that is to say, if you see a gun fired in the distance, and you count the number of seconds between the flash and the sound of the explosion reaching you, you will be able to tell how far off you are from the gun.
Sound travels at the rate of 365 yards in a second; that is, as many yards as there are days in the year.
A Scout must also be able to estimate heights, from a few inches up to three thousand feet or more.
The way to estimate the distance across a river is to take an object X, such as a tree or rock on the opposite bank; start off at right angles to it from A, and pace, say, ninety yards along your bank; on arriving at sixty yards, plant a stick or stone, B; on arriving at C, thirty yards beyond that, that is ninety from the start, turn at right angles and walk inland, counting your paces until you bring the stick and the distant tree in line; the number of paces that you have taken from the bank C D will then give you the half distance across A X.
To find the height of an object such as a tree (A X), or a house, pace a distance of, say, eight yards away from it, and there at B plant a stick, say, six feet high; then pass on until you arrive at a point where the top of the stick comes in line C with the top of the tree; then the whole distance A C from the foot is to A X, the height of the tree, the same as the distance B C, from the stick, is to the height of the stick; that is, if the whole distance A C is thirty-three feet, and the distance B C from the stick is nine (the stick being six feet high), the tree is twenty-two feet high.
Learn how to recognize the Great Bear and the Pole Star and Orion; to judge time by the sun; find the south by the watch. Practise map reading and finding the way by the map; and mark off roads by blazing, broken branches, and signs drawn on the ground.
Captain takes a patrol in patrolling formation into a strange town or into an intricate piece of strange country, with a cycling map. She then gives instructions as to where she wants to go to, makes each Scout in turn lead the patrol, say, for seven minutes if cycling, fifteen minutes if walking. This Scout is to find the way entirely by the map, and points are given for ability in reading.
To be a first-class Scout you have to have at least a shilling (or a dollar or a rupee) in the Savings Bank. To do this you apply at your post office to start a deposit. The postmaster will take your money and keep it for you, and whenever you can get a few more pennies or dimes go and hand them in to be added to your account. As these sums mount up you will begin to be paid back a little “interest” by the postmaster. This you can spend on candy—if you are foolish; but being a Scout you will add it to the money already in the bank and so increase your pile.
You know the things that you had to do as a Tenderfoot. It is now your business to do a good turn to another girl by showing her how to become a Scout. Mind you, it is all done by kindness and example. Perhaps you will find your pupil very shy or slow or stupid. Well, Be Prepared, for that and—smile. Be jolly with her. Don’t try and teach her everything all at once. Show her generally all that she has to do and then begin with one thing and do it for her—then repeat it with her—and finally let her do it for herself. Let her make her mistakes at first and show her afterwards where she went wrong. She will soon get the hang of it all.
Then your own example is what will influence her a lot. If you get impatient and short-tempered so will she. If you laugh and enjoy the lesson so will she, and between you, you will get along like a house on fire.
Cooking is great fun—sometimes quite exciting, when you try inventing new dishes.
You can only become a cook by practice under the help of an experienced cook. But here are a few practical hints that will be helpful.
Eggs.—Is an egg lighter or heavier when cooked? An experienced cook is experienced in eggs. There are “new laid” eggs which are fresh and “fresh” eggs which are not; there are “cooking” eggs which are liable to squeak. Eggs are safe in their shells, and think you don’t know whether they are fresh or not, or whether they are raw. Any egg can be thrown out of a first-floor window on to the lawn without the shell breaking, it falls like a cat, right end upwards, and this is not a boiled egg, either! You can tell that because it will not spin on the table, so it must have been a raw egg. A cooked egg would spin.
To tell a stale egg, you will see it is more transparent at the thick end when you hold it up to the light.
Fresh eggs are more transparent in the middle. Very bad eggs will float in a pan of water.
Poached Eggs.—Break each egg separately into a cup. When your water is boiling fast, drop in an egg sharply. Use a large deep pan, with salt and vinegar in the water. Lift the egg very carefully in a ladle before it is set too hard. Place the eggs all round a soup plate, pour over them a nice sauce, made with flour and butter, a little milk, and some grated cheese and salt.
Meat.—Examine the meat before you accept it. If you do not know the looks of good meat, you should go to a butcher’s shop and ask him to show you how to know it. Much gristle is a sign of old age. You can easily tell if meat smells disagreeable. Beef should be of a bright red color, and juicy and elastic. The fat should be firm and of a pale straw color. Mutton should feel dryish and the fat look white. All papers must be taken off at once. The feet of fowls should be soft and flexible, not dry, and the skin of the back should not be discolored.
Beef and mutton, when underdone, are more easily digested than when cooked through.
Roasting and grilling of meat is done to so heat the outside that the juices are kept in. The meat has to be frequently turned to prevent it burning, but allow plenty of salt to melt into the meat with the dripping, or it will taste just as good as a sole of a boot.
As Mr. Holding said: “The only method I know of for properly making your meat thoroughly indigestible” is to hurry a stew.
To stew or braise any meat or fowl you must leave it long and keep it slow. The flavor is improved if the meat be fried first. Then put in flavoring vegetables, bacon, herbs, and a little stock, and by the time you have done a day’s work you will find a dish fit for a king. Even tough meat can be made delicious in this way, so long as it never gets near boiling and is closely covered. This is a case of “Sow hurry, and you reap indigestion.”
Fish.—A most unwholesome food is stale fish. The gills, if fresh, should be bright red. Canned fish is often poisonous. Fish is a food which you can get more good from, considering the price, than if you bought meat, and the most nourishing fish and the cheapest are the herring mackerel. Pieces of fish, buttered, can be deliciously steamed or baked if laid between two plates over a saucepan of water.
Oatmeal.—Oats, too, are full of value; a pound and a half a day will keep a hard-working man, for oatmeal increases the power of the muscles, and is rich in bone and flesh-forming materials. What you can get out of oats for 5 cents would cost you 75 cents in lean beef. Oats give increased mental vigour and vitality, as they have so much nerve and brain nourishment in them.
Oatmeal should be kept fresh in a shut case or package.
If you think your brain requires a fillip, eat plenty of beans, but they must be very much cooked, and should be well buttered.
Vegetables.—Of vegetables I should like to say they can scarcely be too much cooked. Wash well in salted water; let leafy ones have a swim to get rid of grasshoppers and caterpillars and sand, then put them into boiling salted water and take off the lid. Roots may be allowed covers.
Peel and slice your onions under water or at a tap.
I once watched a grand chef cooking potatoes, and he told me that the best of the potato lies next the skin, so he never cuts it, but he peels his potatoes on a fork after boiling. The cunning cook boils a bunch of mint with the potatoes.
Excellent food for workers are parsnips, beetroots, or onions.
Boiling Meat.—If you want the meat and not the juice, you should have your pot boiling fast when the meat is put in. But if you want gravy or beef-tea (not meat), put your meat into cold water and bring it slowly to the boil.
Stock Pot.—Keep a pot going all day, into which you can put any broken-up bones or scraps left over, to make nourishing broth. Clean turnips, carrots, and onions improve it. Before using let it get cold, so as to skim off the fat.
Barley, rice, or tapioca may be added, and for flavoring add salt, pepper, chopped parsley, celery, a clove, or mace.
Milk.—Milk will take the flavor of any strong smell near it. Stale milk added to fresh will turn the whole of it sour. Sour milk need not be wasted. You can use it for baking or cooking, by adding bicarbonate of soda. Sour milk will clean ink or fruit stains, and in washing it bleaches linen. Yellowed linen should soak in it, so should spoons and forks. Sour milk cleanses oil-cloth as well as women’s faces and hands. Chickens and turkeys get fat and lay better for being fed on it.
To weigh roughly, tie a loop of string to your package of tea, sugar, etc., and pass it on to your first finger. I find three pounds is as much as I can hold on my nail. If the loop is shifted to the root of the nail, four pounds is all one can hold. If the string is placed on the first joint, I find the parcel weighs seven pounds. Each person will be different, but you can find out your own power of lifting, and then you will know exactly for the future.
A jolly useful thing for saving coal, saving time, and saving money is a Fireless Cooker.
The Fireless Cooker is a very valuable help to you in your enjoyment of camp, because once you have started the food cooking you shove it in the Fireless Cooker, you press the lid, and the Fireless Cooker does the rest!
And you can leave the dinner to cook itself while you go out and play camp games.
And so, too, in your own home, once you have started the food cooking you can put out the fire, and thus save fuel or gas, and let the Fireless Cooker finish the job for you.
Obtain a large wooden box, such as a soap box. Line with double newspaper. Fill the box to within two or three inches of the top with very tightly packed hay, scoop out of the centre of the hay a cavity large enough to hold the cooking utensil. Make a cushion of house flannel to fit the top of the box exactly and stuff it tightly with hay.
Use saucepans with tightly fitting lids and short handles. Those made of aluminum or earthenware are preferable. Jam jars or large tins tightly covered may be used.
Bring the food to boiling point on the gas cooker or kitchen range and while boiling place it at once in the box. Some foods require a certain amount of cooking previous to being placed in the Fireless Cooker. (See table below.)
Wrap the cooking utensil in newspaper, and place in the prepared nest in the Fireless Cooker.
Over this place the hay cushion and close the lid firmly. There must be no space between the cushion and the lid.
Note.—To obtain satisfactory results, pack the stew-pan as quickly and firmly as possible; this is to prevent loss of heat.
Meat.—Cook for about half the usual time on the gas or kitchen range, and about four to six hours in the Fireless Cooker.
Dried Beans.—Soak overnight. Boil for 30 minutes. Allow three to four hours in the cooker.
Fresh Fruit.—Bring to boiling point and place in the cooker at once. Allow one or two hours, according to the firmness of the fruit.
Dried Fruit.—Soak overnight, bring to boiling point and put in the cooker for three to five hours.
Oatmeal.—Boil for five minutes and leave in the cooker all night.
Quaker Oats.—Bring to boiling point and leave in the cooker two hours.
Other foods, such as vegetables, bacon, etc., can be cooked by this method.
In the preparation and cooking of food there should be very little for the garbage can, and only cabbage or egg water for the drain.
| Rinds and bones of bacon. | ||
| Outside stalks of celery. | —Flavor soup or stock. | |
| The young green parts of vegetables. | ||
| Pieces of gristle, skin and bone. | ||
| Pea pods. |
Thick stems of cabbage or cauliflower leaves may be served with the vegetables or separately, if given sufficient time to cook.
Water from boiled cauliflower makes a good soup.
Apple skins—stones from jam—the surplus water from bottled fruit—boiled with a little sugar and water make a very good fruit syrup to serve with milk or suet puddings.
The sugar from candied peel will sweeten and flavor a rice pudding.
Water from boiled rice makes a thin stock for soups, or can be used to stiffen articles of clothing in place of starch.
The grease-proof paper from margarine, etc., will cover steamed puddings.
Salt removes stains from enamel.
Tissue paper cut into rounds and dipped in warm milk will make air-tight covers for jam-pots, or can be used for polishing glass or metal.
Newspapers can be used for lining the fireless cooker, wiping greasy saucepans or knives before washing, making fire lighters, rubbing over the stoves—the dirty pieces can be soaked in water, made into balls and put on the fire to keep it at a steady heat.
Dried orange skins, nutshells, used matches, matchboxes, empty reels, fruit stones, are useful for fire lighting.
Vegetable parings not fit for food should be dried and used as fuel unless animals are kept.
The stove and utensils should be kept clean.
Shallow flat-bottomed vessels should be used.
A compartment steamer cooks three or four different foods on one burner.
A pudding in a basin can be raised out of water by a meat stand placed at the bottom of an ordinary saucepan—and vegetables cooked in a perforated steam pan above.
Where possible arrange a meal to be cooked all on the top of the stove, or all in the oven.
Avoid heating the oven to cook a single dish.
Utilise all space when the oven is heated—food may be partly or wholly cooked for following day.
In a gas oven three or four small tins are better than one large tin which fills the shelf. By the former method free circulation of heat is not prevented, and cooking is more efficient. If a large tin is used, have holes drilled in it to allow passage of heat.
Fill the kettle before lighting the gas, and turn out the gas before emptying the kettle.
Don’t fill the kettle if only a pint of water is wanted.
Tips for Cleaning.—Directly your cooking pot is empty pour cold water into it and put it on the fire to prevent the leavings getting hard, it will then be quite easy to clean later on.
Personally I like washing up, though some people don’t, but the main thing is to keep the greasy things to the last. Wash the cleaner things first in hot water with a clean dishcloth, then add hotter water and deal with the greasy things.
Dry the utensils with a dry towel, then dry further in warm air, and finally polish with a soft cloth.
Needlework.—“A stitch in time saves nine.” I cannot agree with this favorite saying, because I feel sure it saves so many more than nine, besides saving time and preventing looking untidy.
I will tell you another thing I don’t believe in. Tailors, who are such neat workers, will say that they never pin their work first. If you are not a tailor, it is much better to place your work before you begin, with plenty of pins. You will never get straight lines or smooth corners if you do not plan and place it all first, just as it has got to be, and tack it there.
Have you noticed that thread is very fond of tying itself into a bow; but this can be prevented by threading the needle before you cut the thread off the spool, making your knot at the end you cut.
Rough measures may be said to be one inch across a 25 cent piece, and a yard from nose to thumb as far as you can reach. Needle-work is good for all of us; it rests and calms the mind. You can think peacefully over all the worries of Europe whilst you are stitching. Sewing generally solves all the toughest problems, chiefly other people’s.
The Scouts’ Patch.—I don’t know whether you ever did such a thing as burn a hole in your dress, but I have, and if it is in the front, oh, dear! what will mother say? Now, there is a very good way that Scouts have of making it all right and serviceable; they put in a piece and darn it in all round. If possible, get a piece of the same stuff, then it will not fade a different tint, and will wear the same as the rest. You may undo the hem and cut out a bit, or perhaps you may have some scraps over from cutting out your dress.
The piece must be cut three or four inches larger than the hole and frayed out on all four sides. Trim the hole with your scissors neatly all round quite square with the thread. Then lay your piece over the hole—of course, on the back or “wrong side”—and tack it there with cotton. Now take a darning needle, and thread each thread in turn and darn each one into the stuff. If the ends of stuff are very short, it is best to run your needle in and out where you are going to darn, and then, before pulling it through, thread it with the wool. This patching is excellent for table-linen.
I once had an aunt who was a thorough old Scout, and was rather proud of her mending, and she always said that she didn’t mind what colored cotton you gave her to sew with, because her stitches hardly ever showed, they were so small, and also she put them inside the stuff. If she was putting on a patch to blue stuff, she could do it with red cotton, and you would never have noticed it on the right side; her stitches were all under the edge. Or else she sewed it at the back, on the “wrong” side, so that it looked perfectly neat.
If you are not able to match the wool for a darn, it is a good plan to use the ravellings of the stuff itself. Sometimes, away in the country, you can’t go to shop and you have nothing like the piece you want to mend. A Scout would turn it inside out and undo a little of the hem and ravel out the edge. Suppose you were to cut a hole in the front of your blue serge skirt; if you darn it with the ravellings of the turnings of the seam or the hem, that will be exactly the same color and the same thickness as your dress. No wool you could buy would match as well. Or if you want to mend a jersey or knitted gloves, you never could buy such a good match—the same sized wools and the tints.
Fire.—If you discover a house on fire you should—
1st—Alarm the people inside.
2nd—Warn the nearest policeman or fire-brigade station.
3rd—Rouse neighbours to bring ladders, mattresses, carpets, to catch people jumping.
After arrival of fire engines the best thing girls can do is to help the police in keeping back the crowd out of the way of the firemen, hose, etc.
If it is necessary to go into a house to search for feeble insensible people, the thing is to place a wet handkerchief or worsted stocking over your nose and mouth and walk in a stooping position, or crawl along on your hands and knees quite near the floor, as it is here that there is least smoke or gas. Also, for passing through fire and sparks, if you can, get hold of a blanket, and wet it, and cut a hole in the middle through which to put your head; it forms a kind of fireproof mantle, with which you can push through flames and sparks. [Practice this.]
If you find a person with his clothes on fire, you should throw him flat on the floor, because flames only burn upwards, then roll him up in the hearthrug or carpet, coat or blanket, and take care in doing so that you don’t catch fire yourself. The reason for doing this is that fire cannot continue to burn where it has no air.
When you find an insensible person (and very often in their fright they will have hidden themselves under beds and tables, etc.), you should either carry him out on your shoulder, or, what is often more practicable in the case of heavy smoke, gas fumes, or in battle when under heavy fire, etc., harness yourself on to him with sheets or cords and drag him out of the room along the floor, crawling on all fours yourself.
A soldier was recently awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for thus getting his wounded officer into safety while being fired at by the enemy.
To do this you lay the patient on his back, make a bowline at each end of your rope, one you put over the patient’s chest and under his arms, and the other over your own neck, then with your back to his head you start on “all fours” to pull him along, head first. If the bowline is the right length it will keep his head up off the ground, as the picture shows.
Burns.—In treating a man who has been burnt, remove his clothes, not by peeling them off, but by cutting them with a SHARP knife or scissors. If any part of the dress sticks to the skin from having been burnt there do not tear it away, but cut the cloth round it, then as quickly as possible protect the burnt parts from the air, which causes intense pain. The best way to protect them is by dusting them with powdered chalk or flour, or by laying strips of lint well soaked in sweet oil or linseed oil, and covering the whole with cotton wool, or by pouring on oil. Keep the patient warm, and give warm drinks, such as hot tea, hot milk, or salomonia and water.
Major John Garroway, M.D., strongly recommends, instead of flour or oil to stop the pain of a burn, to put a piece of paper firmly over the wound, and the pain will be relieved in a few seconds.
Quite a large number of Scouts have saved lives in the water through knowing how to swim and what to do. Several Scouts have also saved life in fire, and have received medals for saving life.
Saving Life from Drowning.—A moderate swimmer can save a drowning man if she knows how, and has practised it a few times with her friends. The popular idea that a drowning person rises three times before he finally sinks is all nonsense. He often drowns at once, unless someone is quick to help him. The important point is not to let the drowning person catch hold of you, or he will probably drown you too. Keep behind him always. If you find yourself clutched by the wrist, turn your wrist against his thumb and force yourself free. Your best way in helping a drowning man is to keep behind and hold him up by the elbows, or by the back of the neck, or by putting your arms under his armpits and your hands across his chest, and telling him to keep quiet and not to struggle. If he obeys, you can easily keep him afloat; but otherwise be careful that in his terror he does not turn over and catch hold of you. If he should seize you by the neck, Holbein says, “Scrag him, and scrag him quickly. Place your arm round his waist, and the other hand, palm upwards, under his chin, with your fingertips under his nose. Pull and push with all your might, and he must perforce let go.” But you will never remember this unless you practise it frequently with other people first, each taking it in turns to be the drowning man or rescuer.
[Practice this.]
If you see a person fall into the water and begin to drown, and you yourself are unable to swim, you must throw a rope, or an oar, or plank right over him, so that when he comes up again he may clutch at it and hold it.
Drowning.—To restore any one who is apparently drowned, it is necessary at once to clear the water out of his lungs, for which purpose, therefore, you should incline him face downwards and head downwards, so that the water may run out of his mouth, and to help it you should open his mouth and pull forward his tongue. After running the water out of the patient, place him on his side with his body slightly hanging down, and keep the tongue hanging out. If he is breathing, let him rest; if he is not breathing, you must at once endeavour to restore breathing artificially.
There are several ways of reviving persons apparently drowned. You may find one person eager to do exactly the opposite of another, but do not fight over it; the best thing is to do quickly whatever you can. Probably “Schäfer’s system” is the simplest. Lay the patient down with his bent arm to support the forehead.
Place your hands on the small of the patient’s back, one on each side, with thumbs parallel and nearly touching, and the fingers reaching only to the lowest ribs.
Bend forward with the arms straight, so as to allow the weight of your body to fall on your wrists, and then make a firm, steady downward pressure on the loins of the patient, while you count slowly, one—two—three, to press the patient’s stomach against the ground and to force the air from his chest.
Then swing your body backwards so as to relieve the pressure, and without removing your hands, while you count slowly, one—two.
Continue this backward and forward movement, alternately relieving and pressing the patient’s stomach against the ground in order to drive the air out of his chest and mouth, and allowing it to suck itself in again, until gradually the patient begins to do it for himself.
The proper pace for the movement should be about twelve pressures to the minute.
As soon as the patient is breathing, you can leave off the pressure; but watch him, and if he fails you must start again or get some one to take your place till he can breath for himself.
Then let him lie in a natural position, and set to work to get him warm by putting hot flannels or bottles of hot water between his thighs, and under the arms, and against the soles of his feet, but not before he is breathing. Wet clothing should be taken off and hot blankets rolled round him. The patient should be disturbed as little as possible, and encouraged to sleep, while carefully watched for at least an hour afterwards.
This is called the Schäfer method, and can be used equally well for drowned people or for those overcome with smoke or gas fumes.
Now just practise this with another Scout a few times, so that you understand exactly how to do it, and so Be Prepared to do it to some poor fellow, maybe, really in need of it one day.
Make the Scouts, in pairs, practise above.
Wounded: taking off clothes. Pull off from the well or uninjured side first, then when all is loose, carefully uncover the injured part. Try not to move it, cut the sleeve or trouser up the seam with the rounded end of scissors inside the cloth. If clothes have to be put on again, sew pairs of tapes to edges.
Electric Shock.—Men frequently get knocked insensible by touching an electric cable or rail. The patient should be moved from the rail, but you have to be careful in doing this that you don’t get the electric shock also. In the first place put glass, if possible, for yourself to stand upon, or dry wood if glass is not obtainable, or put on india-rubber boots. Also put on india-rubber gloves before touching the patient. If you have none, wrap your hands in several thicknesses of dry cloth, and pull the patient away with a stick.
A boy was hunting butterflies at St. Ouen, in France, the other day, when he fell on the “live” rail of the electric railway and was instantly killed by the shock. A passer-by, in trying to lift him off, fell dead beside him. A brickmaker ran up and tried to rescue them, and was himself struck dead in the same way. The two would-be rescuers were killed through not having learned beforehand what was the right thing to do.
Gas, Smoke, or Fumes.—Accidents are continually occurring from escapes of gas in mines, sewers, and houses.
In endeavoring to rescue a person, keep your nose and mouth well covered with a wet handkerchief, and get your head as close to the floor as possible, and drag the insensible person out as I have suggested in case of a fire. Drag your patient as quickly as possible into the fresh air—(I say as quickly as possible, because if you delay about it you are very apt to be overcome by the noxious gas yourself)—then loosen all his clothing about the neck and chest, dash cold water in his face. If you find that he is no longer breathing, then treat him as you would a drowned person, and try and work back the breath into his body.
Ice Accidents.—If a person falls through ice, and is unable to get out again because of the edges breaking, throw him a rope and tell him not to struggle. This may give him confidence until you can get a long ladder or pole ACROSS the hole, which will enable him to crawl out, or will allow you to crawl out to catch hold of him.
When you see an accident in the street or people injured, 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 Scout. But that is cowardice: your business as a Scout 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.