HOW TO ORGANIZE A TROOP

First:  Write to Headquarters, which is at 200 Fifth Avenue, New York City, for a scout master’s certificate.

Second:  Either combine three or more patrols or having one patrol, appoint several patrol leaders and enlist boys for the new patrols.

Third:  The minimum number of patrols in a troop is three, and the maximum the number a scout master can rightly handle.  Care should be taken not to organize for the sake of a big showing.

Hints on starting:  In actually starting a troop, it has been found better to start in a small way.  Begin by one or two leader-men making a careful study of “Scouting for Boys” and as soon as the main ideas have been grasped, get together a small number of boys, and go through with them the initial stages step by step, until the boys bubble over with scouting ideals, and until the notion of a fancy uniform and games in the country have given place to a definite desire to qualify for manhood and citizenship.  These boys will make the nucleus round which to form a troop, and should pass on their training and enthusiasm to the boys who are enlisting under them.  It has been found better to obtain distinctly older fellows for patrol leaders:  the scout masters should invariably be men who feel the great responsibility of having boys under their charge, and the possibility of leading the boys from the moment when they enlist in the scouts to the time they pass out again to be fully fledged men.

Finances:  The finances necessary to run a troop of scouts should be met by the scouts themselves.  It is a main principle of scouting to teach the boys to be self-reliant, and anything which will militate against the constant sending round of the hat will be a national good.

The Scout Master:  The scout master is the adult leader of a troop.  The scout master may begin with one patrol.  He must have a deep interest in boys, be genuine in his own life, have the ability to lead and command the boys’ respect and obedience and possess some knowledge of a boy’s ways.  He need not be an expert on scoutcraft.  The good scout master will discover experts for the various activities.  Applications for scout masters’ certificates may be made at the Headquarters, 200 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

From the outset, the scout master must have the interest of each boy at heart.  He must not play favourites with any of the boys in his patrol or troop.  While there are sure to be boys in the group who will develop more rapidly than others, and whose keenness will be sure to call forth the admiration of the scout master, he should not permit himself to be “carried away” by the achievements of these “star boys” to such an extent that he will neglect the less aggressive boy.  The latter boy is the one who needs your attention most, and your interest in him must be genuine.  Every effort he makes, no matter how poor it may be, should be commended just as heartily as the better accomplishments of the more handy boy.