Robert Robert - Scouting for Boys

On the other hand there was that disgraceful scene which occurred at Hampstead, where a woman drowned herself before a whole lot of people in a shallow pond, and took half an hour doing it, while not one of them had the pluck to go in and bring her out. One would not have thought it possible that a lot of men could only stand on the bank and chatter—but so it was, to their eternal disgrace. The first man on the scene did not like to go in. More came up, but finding that those already there did not go in, would not go in themselves, and so let the poor woman drown before their eyes.

What a Scout Can Do

Had one Boy Scout been there, there would, I hope, have been a very different tale to tell. It was just the opportunity for a Boy Scout to distinguish himself. He would have remembered his training.

Do your duty.

Help your fellow-creature, especially if it be a woman. Don’t mind if other people are shirking. Plunge in boldly and look to the object you are trying to attain, and don’t consider your own safety first.

Boys have an idea that they are too young and too small to take part in saving life. But this is a great mistake.

Since I wrote this book many thousands of cases have occurred of Boy Scouts plunging in to save drowning people where the crowd was afraid to help.

In the Scouts, we have medals for gallantry, which are granted for acts of heroism and life saving.

Let every Boy Scout prepare himself to win one of these. Some day an accident may happen before you to give you your chance. If you have learned beforehand what to do, you can step forward at once and do the right thing and possibly earn the medal. In any case, you will have what is far greater than a mere medal—you will have the satisfaction of having helped a fellow-creature at the risk of your own life.

CAMP FIRE YARN NO. 24

ACCIDENTS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM

Panic - Fire - Drowning -

Runaway Horse - Mad Dog - Miscellaneous

Every year numbers of lives are lost by panics, which very often are due to the smallest causes, and which might be stopped if only one or two men would keep their heads.

One evening some years ago, on board a ferry-boat in New York harbour, a man who had been catching some crabs thought it would be a good joke to let one of them loose on board the boat. One crab caught hold of the ship’s cat and made it squeal, and it jumped into the middle of a crowd of schoolgirls, who at once scattered, screaming. This started a panic among the hundreds of passengers on board. They rushed in every direction, and in a moment the railings broke and eight people fell overboard. Before anything could be done they were swept away by the tide and drowned.

Some years back a man in a town in Russia, on opening his shop in the morning, saw a big black bomb lying on the counter. He rushed out into the street to get away from it, and a policeman seeing him running mistook him for a thief, and when he would not stop he fired at him. The bullet missed him, but hit another man; panic broke out and many lives were lost. After it was over the man went back to his shop and found the bomb still on his counter—but it was not a bomb, it was only a black watermelon!

Some years ago occurred a case of crush and panic among children in a theatre at Barnsley, from no cause at all except overcrowding, and eight children were crushed to death. More lives would certainly have been lost had not two men kept their heads and done the right thing. One man, named Gray, called to a number of the children in a cheery voice to come another way, while the man who was working the show threw a picture on the screen and so diverted the attention of the rest, and prevented a panic. If only one or two people keep their heads and do the right thing on the spur of the moment, they can often calm hundreds of people, and thus save many lives.

When there is a panic among those around you, you may get a sudden desire to do as the others are doing. Perhaps it is to run away, perhaps it is to stand still and cry “Oh!” Well, you should check yourself when you have this feeling. Don’t catch the panic, as you see others do—keep your head and think what is the right thing to do, and do it at once.

Rescue from Fire

Instances of gallant rescues of people from burning houses are frequent. One sees them every day in the newspapers. You should study each of these cases as they occur, and imagine to yourself what you would have done under the circumstances. In this way you begin to learn how to deal with the different accidents.

An instance occurred some years ago where a young sailor, George Obeney, stationed at Chatham in H.M.S. Andromeda, was walking along the Kingsland Road, when he suddenly saw a house on fire. A woman several stories up was screaming that she had some children there who could not get out. The sailor rushed from his friends and somehow scrambled up the face of the wall till he reached the window below the woman, and broke in the glass so that he could obtain room to stand. The woman at the window above was then able to lower a child so that he could catch it, and in turn pass it down to the ground. Child after child was thus handed down till he had passed six of them to the ground, and finally two women. Then the sailor, overcome by smoke himself, fell insensible, but was caught by the people below. His was an example to you of how to do your duty AT ONCE, without thinking of dangers or difficulties.

A house caught fire at Shoreham Beach, and the local Troop of Boy Scouts was quickly on the scene. They did their work as true Scouts, not only in acting as firemen and getting the fire under control, but also as life-savers in rescuing two ladies and a child, and then in rendering first aid to them and dressing their injuries.

House on Fire!

If you discover a house on fire you should—

1st—Alarm the people inside.

2nd—Warn the nearest policeman or fire station.

3rd—Rouse neighbors to bring ladders, mattresses, carpets, to catch people jumping.

After arrival of fire engines the best thing boys can do is to help the police in keeping back the crowd out of the way of the firemen.

It is not pleasant to he rolled on the floor in a rug or carpet, but that is the way to help a person with his clothes on fire. Take care that your own clothes do not catch fire.

If it is necessary to go into a house to search for feeble or insensible people, the thing is to place a wet handkerchief or cloth 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, get hold of a blanket, if you can, and wet it. and cut a hole in the middle through which to put your head; it forms a kind of sparkproof mantle with which you can push through flames and sparks.

When a fire occurs anywhere near, Scouts should assemble their Patrols as quickly as possible and go off at Scout’s Pace guided by the glare or the smoke. Then the Patrol Leader should report to the police or firemen, and offer the help of his Patrol either to form a line to keep the crowd back, or to run messages, or guard property, or to help in any way.

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 a rug or carpet, coat or blanket. 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.