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MATILDA.
March, 1936.
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"Matilda" An Official Treas ure llou se fo r G uiders' In fo rmation for Victoria, Austrsl i8l.
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Volume XII.
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MARCH, 1936.
Number Nine.
"The Other Half." The work of a Post Company can be divided Gu ider, but there are captains who are "too int o two halves, the Post Captain's part and busy" for this extra, and cases where there is the local Guiding part. Most of the difficulties no company near t he Post Guide's home. Then, disappear when these two halves. are combinperhaps, any Guider, or ex-Guider in t he ing well, and much good. work IS wasted o,n neighbourhood, could take on the job and see both sides when they fall to connect; so It th at t he Post Guide gets all that is possible might be useful to examine what is required of local Guiding. of the "other half"! Now for the other half. What does the local What does a Post Captain want? First she Guider want from the Post captain? Precise would like to be certain of someone who will information as regards alternative tests, th e give her regular and accurate information procedure of the Post company, and t he kind about her Post Guide, her home circumof help required. So often one is just vaguely stances, capabilities and progress. A Post a~ k ed to "look after" a Post Guide, and how Guider is not always able to visit her recruits does one start? very often, and through the .Company Letter The Post Guider, from her experience, can it will take her months to dIscover what the supply ideas for work and games, handicrafts ordinary captain finds out in one meeting. and warning of pitfalls! Not to expect to~ It certainly feels like setting out in the dark. much from a new recruit; a girl who has been The replies she will get from her Guides or used to an atmosphere of "you can't do t h is" their families are very scrappy. "Mary has will need a good deal of encouragement and not had much schooling so I am writing for assur ance to start with. To begin cautiously her. Jane (her sister)." "I have not been and avoid making rash promises that will out of the house for a year so cannot do the cause disappointment if t hey cannot be carried out. To space out the visits and events so competition. Love from Elsie." "I have learned the promise. No one has been to see me yet. t hat there is always something to look for Nora." These throw a little light which set ward to rather than a lot of excitement in a her asking questions. Is it too late for Mary week and then nothing for six months. While to learn to write? Does her disability prevent keeping an eye on her, yet to treat her as normally as possible. Too much attention will her? Why hasn't Elsie been out? Because she is too ill? Has she no one to take her? N o d('feat the aims of making her a Guide. These chair? She must know the answers if she is are some of the points a Post Guider is apt to ~ oing to make her letters meet the case, .and take f or granted, and the local captain does -ive the right encouragement at the nght not fin d out till she has made the mistake ! t ime. How easy it is when the "other half" Then, please, Post captains, remember we t.here and able to solve the riddles, and are busy people, and only write to us when hOW tiresome when dozens of letters have to there is something really important to be sa id be written to find someone who will do the job. or done; give plenty of notice of an y a rSecondly, a Post Guider wants to know 'rangements to be made, such as transpor t to that her Guide is getting as much contact with camp. Do not fuss about your precious Guide, practical guiding as her capabilities permit. and avoid our rush hours if you want an imThis will vary with the individual, from the mediate answer! A clear understanding about finan ce and slig htly handicapped girl who may get her introduction to Guiding through the Post badges will save the girl falling between two Company, and then, when she has gained some st ools and receiving her badges some six confidence, be keen to transfer to an active mont hs after being tested! one, and the girl who is so ill that an occa.To some it may be a new idea to t hink of 9i onal visit from a Guider is all that is prac. the P ost Guide as anything but t he concern Heable. Between these two lie all the many ,.. ' of her P ost captain, but put yourself in t he '-'ho will enjoy opportunities for practice and '. ~ P ost Guide's hoes. Would not t he sight of a I", .(real Guide in uniform be equal to three Comservice, being visited or taken out by their Guide and Ranger friends. 'Pany Letters? Yes, and though t he P ost Ca pIt is, of course, ideal when there is a local t ain puts in more work, the two halves ar e company, whose captain will arrange all this equally important. (M. E. PEAKE, in "The part, and work in co-operation with the Post Guider.")
4
MATILDA
March, 1936.
CONDOLENCE. The following cable was sent by Lady Isaacs to Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal, President Girl Guides Association, London. "The Girl Guides of Australia respectfully offer deep regret and most profound sympathy in the great sorrow that has befallen your Royal Highness and Family. -Daisy Isaacs, Federal President Australia." Lady Isaacs has received the following reply: "Deeply appreciate sympathy from Guides. Mary."
Guiding among Aborigines of Australia. Miss Hawthorn, Deputy State Commissioner for Queensland, writes as follows: "Guiding is being made possible in the Torres Straits Islands through the co-operation which we are receiving from the Aboriginal Department of the State Government. The native girls themselves are tremendously keen to join, and during my 600 miles' cruise in the Straits I found many little groups working at Guide work about whom we knew absolutely nothing. This happened througha company run several years ago by a Miss Pryor (now married and transferred) on Moa bland, which is one of the bigger islands of the Goup and another old-established compan,{ on Badu island. These two islands, the most important ones in the Straits, are the ones tc which the Government sends girls of promise . from the outlying smaller islands for special training at school, so that in due cour's e they can go back to their own islands, and become assistants at the schools there. While at Badu and Moa Islands these girls joined the aboriginal companies already established, and learned something of Guide work. When they returned to their own islands they took back this small knowledge and a tremendous amount of keenness, and proceeded to get their own small groups together. They formed Patrols and taught the other girls on the islands what they themselves remembered about Guide work. The Movement appealeq. tremendously to the islanders, and dozens of girls desired to join, the "girls" ranging in age from 12 to 40 in some cases. Badu and Moa were under the supervision of white teachers, but when I visited the outlying islands, especially the ones on the New Guinea coastline, I found native
girls trying to carry on with their smattering of knowledge, as best they could. "The problem of these outlying small islands has worried me considerably. They are patrolled once a month by the Deputy Protector (it was on one of his usual patrols that I accompanied him), but otherwise they have no contact with white people, and the administration of the affairs on the islands is carried on in between times by a group of four or five of the older men, or 'Councillors,' as they are called. "In addition to starting Guiding throughout the Islands, of the Straits, the Department further wishes to start companies in connection with its Native Settlements on the mainland. There, of course, it will be simpler to organise, as white superintendents, or their wives, or white teachers, will probably be available to take training and become warranted Captains. It is not possible to put native girls in complete charge, without this white supervision. They have had only 45 years of civilisation here in Queensland; in the Straits particularly they were notorious Head-hunt.ers before that time. We cannot expect them. as yet, to take responsibility to the same extent as white girls. The women of the tribes, too, have always been considered very 'inferior cattle' by their lords and masters, and their duties have been confined mainly to doing the cooking, gardening and hunting; while the men have done all the plannIng of raidings, trad'ings, administering and other activities. In the already established companies of Guides, however. I have seen what the girls are capable of doing under white supervision, and I say without hesitation that they make excellent Guides, and that their capabilities as reg-ards test work are for the most part up to 'white' standard, and in some cases even better." ("The Council Fire,")
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dom from the lists: Water wasp and nest, toadptool, rye:-grass, cNcket, golden beetle, red-gum, cup-moth cocoon, dandelion clock, kangaroo apple, banksia, call of boobook owl, bull-ants, sea anemone, limpets, cone shells, tapestry shells, etc., etc.
N OW "Matilda" Asks YOU! THE COMING AUTUMN. "The months we used to read of Have come to us again With sunniness and sunniness And rare delights of rain." Yes, "with sunniness and sunniness!" and as a result, our bush walks are. fewer, and if we are among the unlucky ones who didn't get to Camp, or away to the seaside or country for a holiday, our interest in Nature has waned. Yet there are. heaps of lovely things belonging only to the summer months-the vivid heauty of the scarlet gum; the mauv·e clusters of the white cedar (melia azerach); the fascinating flowers of the kurrajong; certain wattles even' and one of our loveliest blue bush flowers-th~ finger-flower-brightening the dusty bushroad, beautifying barren est spots. The cicada revelling in the heat; tree crickets chirping, and in the evenings a merry chorus of bull-frogs, the thin sweet note of the grass-bird, so plaintive, while in fine contrast come the full-throated bursts of the reedwarbler's s·ong. And after summer, Autumn! Loveliest of seasons! April, yes, with its still evenings' falling· l;eaves; w;ealtH, of colpr-golds 'and reds and browns. Visit those beautiful gardens you ~ave, Guiders-the Fitzroy and the Botamcal Gardens! Make time, during this season of autumn, and Country Guiders visit your parks in your home towns! And, if you are too busy for ~ven one visit, do go into your garden, and lookmg up, stand quite quiet for a brief space, beneath the beauty of the autumn stars..
COMPETITION CORNER. Results of "Camp Museum." No doubt you aroe all eagerly awaiting the result of the "Camp Museum," even you guilty ones who dJid NOT send that list along perhaps h~ping that no one else: would, anJ then your sms would be completely overlooked. Well, do~'t ~et such a thing happen again!!! The wmnmg entry was sent in by the "3rd Bendigo Camp" with a total of 108; the "Hawthorn, ~roadford'; Seville Camp" was n€xt with 91, and "Camberwell South District Camp" third with 88. T.be lists were most interesting-such a varIety of sea-creatures from the seaside camps, and beetles, and "wogs" and all manner of things, from both seaside and inloand camps. The bird-lists were rather disappointing, especially as I have a bias towards them; but several nests were noted, one, a blue wren's, being in use. Here are a few observations taken at ran-
STARLINGS-Where do the Starlings sleep in your district? Seems a funny quoestion, but it is a mOllt interesting one, because I want to find out whether it is a universal habit for starlings to sleep in reed beds, as they do here. Watch them in your district and see where they go. Just now in the evenings they gather in one big flock, coming in twos and threes, tens and t:venties-you'll see the!? and hear them, rIght enough!! Some ,e vemngs our gum-tree is alive with them, looking like black fruit; other eve~ings they string alon~ the electric wires, untIl you feel sure they WIll break it; then, off they go to the reed-beds to sleep. A week or so ago I passed another reed bed, and looking was interested to notice that each reed had ~ black top to it. The second look, however prove.d my mistak·e -each black top was ~ starling. ["Matilda" will wait anxiously for wordwho knows, we might make a scientific discovery!] Rainbow Birds. , Swan Hill, Nyah West, Northern Guiders will you keep your eyes very wide open fo~ "Matilda," and let her know when the beautiful Rainbow bird migrates? You know him? Greeny, bluish, like a kingfisher-but there I'm not going to tell you, because I want yO~ to tell "Matilda." Thread-waisted Wasps. Do you remember the bit about them in "Matilda" last year? Well, the wasps hatched out while I was away-things have a habit of doing this-the first week in January, and when I returned the nest had fallen to the ground. Previous to this wasp had returned, and sealed up the cell left half-finished last year-why I don't know. So that completes the story. Now what about yours?
NATURE OBSERVATIONS. Hamilton. O~e morning I heard a swan calling, and lookmg towards our swamp which was in flood, I saw six fully grown black swans, and three smaller ones. The swans used to swim about in pairs. Later in the morning seven more came, flying in a straight line. About a week later, when the swamp went down, all the swans flew away. [Could we hear more of your swamp birds, Hamilton ?] Hawthorn, Broadford, SeviUe Camp. Scarlet Pimpernel, this was our rain prophet, but 0!le day the monsoonal shower upset Its calculatIOns. We hope it kept its pollen dry nevertheless.
______________________-=M~A~Tl_L_n~A~___________________=M=a~r=ch2,~1~9~36.
CORRESPONDENCE Dear Matilda, As a very new and very raw Captain I was unable to reply adequately to a question put by a recruit: What exactly does the trefoil mean, and in particular what does the star represent? The explanation of the symbols of the World Flag in the December issue of "The Guider" partly explains the composition of our badge, but perhaps there are readers who will be able to offer a full explanation. Of course we know that the three parts of the Promise are symbolised by the threeleaved clover, but what of the star? Yours truly, A.L. This is the explanation of the star that I heard from some overseas Guider: Before being able to re-register a design when the copyright has run out, it is necessary to make some slight alteration in the design. We have seen various designs of the trefoil; there is the very old one (Miss Campbell wears one) with B.P.G.G. on the top segment of the trefoil; there is also the one with the top leaflet blank. The next issue seems to have been the one with the star stamped out of the top leaflet; a later "edition" had this star outlined with a raised edge. Some of us have noticed the difference in the colour of the metal of succeeding issues, and there are some badges in which the "surround" is much flatter than in others. Occasionally one sees one of the Queensland badges, dating from a period when we ran out here and had to obtain a fairly large stock from there to carry us through. These particular badges were very difficult to clean. It would be interesting to know the inside story of who thought of the star as the new addition to the design; the originator probably had a plan about its meaning, but we can put any construction we like on its presence. I think I was told that it let the Guide blue of the tie shine through, and reminded us of the EtaI' to which we hitched our waggon. F.V.B.
Aunt Helen's Garden.
The Girl Scouts conceived the idea of building for her just the nicest kind of garden, and of having it come as a gift from every Girl Scout in New England. So the garden was completed and given to Mrs. Storrow on Sunday evening, September 15th. She came, in the uniform of the W()rld Committe,e, to the Girl Scout booth at the Eastern States Exposition, where she was received by the members of the Regional Committee. A Girl Scout in Greek dress led the way, her arms filled with sweet herbs, through lines of girls dressed in the costumes of difIerent lands, each carrying the flag of her country; their way lay along a path over which their guide scattered sweet-smelling herbs. There is a lovely flat stone wall enclosing the garden, and several red cedars growing close to it outside, between which will later be a mass of sweet briar, we hope. Inside is a tiny pool, about which grow several kinds of mint; the pool is fed with fresh water that drips from the old stone well. There was a grape arbour already there. The walks are of flagstones, and in the centre of the garden is a little boulder on which the sundial has been set. It was great fun making the garden and keeping it a surprise. We had to have a plan, of course. This was made by Mrs. Grace H. Kirkwood, a former Girl Scout and a graduate of the Cambridge School of Landscape Architecture. Most of the herbs were planted by the girls themselves; many were raised by them first for the garden, while many came from those who already had herbs in their gardens. Allday planting parties were held; groups of Girl Scouts brought their lunches and spent most of the day in planting. The garden is thirty-five feet by thirtyseven feet; the entrance to the grape arbour has a turnstile; long seats run along each side. This made a delightful place t6 serve tea on the day the garden was presented to Mrs. Storr ow. With all the sweet herbs growing within it, each symbolising a thought of protection, happiness, health and love, could anything express better than this garden what the Girl Scouts feel for Mrs. Storr()w?
(From "The Trailmaker")
A SIGNALLING GAME. "Aunt Hel-en," Mrs. Storr ow, has for a number of years been showering the Girl Scouts with gifts, and when the new Pine Tree Training Camp was completed last Spring, many expressed a wish that they might do something for Mrs. Ston¡ow. It was eventually discovered that she was intel'ested in having a herb garden as part of Stol'l'owton, the village of old New England buildings, which has been given by her to the Eastern States Exposition so that it may be preserved for future generations.
Guides stand in a straight line facing Guider. Guider calls out a letter and Guides signal it. First to signal correctly takes on2 step backwards, all the others who were correct stand still, and any incorrect take one pace forward. Guider continues until somebody touches the wall at the back and wins. A good! point is that the good signallers are behind and the weak ones cannot copy; also nobody wrong falls out, but remains to prac~ tise. . D. HAYMAN.
March, 1936.
7
MATILDA
PRAYERS IN PACK MEETINGS.
"Green is the fresh emblem of well-founded hope. In blue the spirit can wander, but in green it can rest." Mary Webb.
St. PATRICK'S DAY, MARCH 17th. The school bell just stops ringing as Bro~ Owl and Tawny open the cupboa~d and'. m about ten minutes all the Browmes arrrve, breathles-sly asking: "What to-day, Brown Owl?" "You wait and see," says Brown Owl. In a very few minutes the Pack is all in a ring, waiting to know what is to happen, and then they suddenly find that they. are no longer Brownies, but Irish robbers, saJlors, Frenchmen and Irishmen. P.L. is St. Patrick, and is kidnapped by the robbers who tie him up (knots). When the robbers' are asleep, he escapes in a boat and the sailors take him to France (guiding themselves by compass directions given by the Captain) When St. Patrick a~rives in F~ance, he goes ito a monastery (wrIte letters In Semaphore), then some time later, he goes b.ack to Ireland where the Irish folk make up theIr flag, After St. Patrick leaves the robhers and s~il ors, they can come on and be French and Irrsh. Before the Brownies start acting, Brown Owl could explain what to do by telling the Brownies about St. Patrick, also the legend which says that he had power over all snakes. R.L.S.
EXCHANGE OF IDEAS. Last month we made an appeal to Country Guiders to send us ideas for Pack meetings, ceremonies, games, handicrafts, .etc. This appeal is not limited to Country GUIders only, but to all Brownie Guiders wherever they are! We stressed "country" because these folk do not have our opportunities of meeting and exchanging ideas. We wanted not only to help them but also ourselves ! We all feel a little stale' at times and new ideas, or new thoughts on old subjects are always welcome.. We want to have an "Ideas Month," a page of new and interestin~ ideas on all subjects, and we cannot do thIS unless everyone will help, So please, everyone, read this and then go through your Pack books and send ~s that interesting handfcl1aft, th~~ cel'emomes of yours that are going to help us find new ones for ourselves, your Pack's f'a vorite games, and your ways of tackling the tests. It is only a little we ask of you, but it will mean a lot to someone else. Send in your contributions to the Editor, "Mlatilda," Brownie Page, 401 Dandenong Road, Armadale, S.E,3,
Mrs. Coupe, of Portland, very kindly answered my enquiry for a tune to the prayer of hers published in last month's "Matilda." Here are her suggestions: . " ... There 'arc a few hymn tunes whIch fit in fairly well with those words. In Hymn book, Ancient and Modern, No. 346 (Now the day is over)-two verses of hymn to words of prayer, omitting and or all: 'God ~less al~ our Brownies and/ or all our Tweemes too. Also in Church Hymn tunes, No. 634-also 'Now the day is over,' sung in the same way as the first ~me. , "There is another in Carey Bonner's ChIld Songs (red book), No. 119-The Missionary Penny, and lastly. in Chur:ch, Hymns, No. 616: 'Do no sinful action,' omIttmg the word and or all in the first line as before. These are the most suitable so far that I have found."
PACK OPENING. "The Magic Forest." Brownies are all hidden away in their "homes" and are all very quiet. Brown Owl and Tawny are walking together in a Magic Forest, admiring the lovely gree~ gra~3, ,the beautiful trees and flowers, the bIrds smgmg, etc., when Tawny says: "Brown Owl, what are those tiny houses over there?" Brown Ow1' "We will go and see." Both walk quietly to "homes." They go and knock at the "door," the Sixer or a Brownie comes out and is asked by Brown Owl: "Who are you little peopJ.e?" Brownie replies: "We are little people who live in this Magic Forest, and we try to do good turns every day. We are Brownies, and sometimes we dance and sing on the grass in the moonlight." Each home is visited, and Brown Owl gets the same reply from each. Then Brown Owl asks if they will all come out and dance and sing for them. The Brownies all come out, form Fairy Ring and sing: "We're the Brownies," etc.; then they invite Brow]! Owl, Tawny and Pack Leader to join in and dance and sing with them. So they all join in with "We're the Brownies," etc. A.M.C.
The Adventures of a GumNut Baby. Tobier lived with his family in the tallest gum-tree at the foot of the garden. He was a very restless fellow, and he was so tired of playing with Mary Gum-Leaf, his little sister, and Bobby Gum-Nut, his elder brotherhe wanted something fresh to do! Tobier had been so discontented of late that at last his pretty little Mother and his handsome brown Father put their wise heads together and decided to send him on a visit to his Aunt, who lived in the gum-tree across the garden. Now, to go across a big garden was not an easy task for one small boy; besides, it got dark so quickly and the dew was so cold in the morning, but Tobier, who was so tired of
8
MA'f'itbA
doing the same things every day, thought nothing of the dark and the dew, he was so eager to be off. Mother made him a smart, new suit, a brownie-green gum leaf for a hat, a pair of pants with pockets e:ither s,idE!! and in one pocket was a note for his Aunt, written on a daisy petal. With a supply of honey and gum juice to last him for his journey, Tohier was ready to depart. He was so eager to be on his way that he only gave his family the briefest of farewells, and he climbed down the big gum tree in a flash. He had not time to notice that they were all a little sad because he was going away, preferring other playmates to them. Tobier set off in great spirits, slipping over the little hillocks, and being carried by the wind when he felt tired. The wind did not mind carrying him, for he was such a gay companion. On, on he went, until the sun decided to go to bed, and Tobier knew it was night tim~. He sat down under a toadstool and ate some of the honey and gum juice, for he was tired and hungry. Presently he began to feel very sleepy. The wind became cold and very loud. Tobier pulled his knees up to his chin and watched the stars appearing one by one. An old Owl sent his call into the night. Tobier felt rather grateful to him, and wished he would come down to talk to him. But the Owl was very busy and could not stay very long at anyone place, so away he flew. As time went on, Tobier began to wonder what they would! be doing at home, and he, wished very much that his mother was near him now, It began to rain and he crawled closer to the stem of the toadstool. He began to feel very damp and very sorry for himself, and he wondered just how far away he wa!' from the tall old gum-tree. At last he could bear things no longer, so up he got and ran, ran, ran in the direction of home. On, on he went, retracing his steps, stumbling over the little hillocks, hurting his little knees on the hard stones. He was still a long way from home, and so very, very tired, he rolled under a clump of rushes, fe,e ]ing brave no longer. Two big tears rolled down his chubby face, and he wondered how he was going the rest of the way. When suddenly-out of the noise of the wind and rain he heard "Twit-twit-twoooo-oo!" He glanced up quickly, and there saw the two bright eyes of the dear old owl. Tobier was delighted, he jumped up quickly and called to him. The Owl flew to him and with his wise old head on one side, said: "What is the trouble with you, my little man?" Tobier told him everything, he said: "I do want my mother and father and brother and sister and my own dear warm bed, I'll never go away again and leave them, if only I can get back." The Owl blinked his eyes and thought very hard, then he said: "Do not worry, little man, jump on my back and I will take you home." So away they flew; presently Tobier spied the old gum-tree. Thanking the old Owl very much for his trouble, he scrambled off his back and up to his home. He, went ever so
March, 19313.
quietly, peeping in at the door. He saw his mother bathing his little sister in a gum-nut with a little soft sponge. He rushed over to mother and threw hill arms around her and at the commotion the rest of the family hurried in. They were so glad to see him, they hugged and kissed him, and all talked at once. So Tobier felt so contented, being with them all again. Later, that evening, as mother was tucking flim in bed, he did a lot of hard thinking, and his thoughts were: that he would never like to go away again and in future he would love playing with his brother and sister and have mother and father always near. Soon the sleepy dust was in his eyes, and just as he had nearly entered dream-land, from out of the dark he heardl: "Twit-twittwoo-oo-ool" F.D.
Adventures. All our Guiding is be,c oming more out-doors with all these adventures and what-not, as for the new Ranger test most of it simply can't be done inside. And a very good thing too. But difficult. Why? I.-Because in Australia-well, better say Victoria--conditions are all against us. Our climate is changeable, and quite impossible-hot one minute and distinctly cold the next. But it is far worse in other places-oh, much worse in Europe, and their Guides go outside, and in some cases nearly every meeting. Perhaps we are too afraid of the weather, but it i3 possible to take an umbrella in rain, and in extreme heat there is the quiet type of adventure to evolve. 2,-Our evenings have no twilight. No. W.ell, nothing can be done about that. But it means that we can do things in the dark, and we can study the stars, and perhaps find our way with them, which is a thing that no English Guide can do in summer, unless she is prepared to sit up later than is right and proper for the young. . 3.-0ur outside public is so conservative that it would be painfully surprised if Guides engaged in adventures in the streets. Well, the public has already been educated a great deal; and if it sees small bodies of Guides doing strange things, perhaps it will become accustomed to this, and we have the feeling that this always happpens to pioneers. In any case they are small bodies, and as such attract less attention than in the old days when we marched thirty strong with colours flying, down the road to church. If our adventures are well planned so that no child asks the same question of the same person twice (a point sometimes overlooked) it is surprising how helpful people will be, and how interested. An Australian Guider who was in England
March, 1936.
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was once asked to plan an adventure in a little country town where she knew nobody outside. the Guide people. However, there was a lady staying at the hotel a~d, taking cou~ age into both hands the GUIder asked thIS stranger to help, which ·she did, and lent hu room for the purpose (it was the sort cf adventure where the Guides have to imagine they are seeking for the job of being a secretary, and they had to notice things in the room which would be useful). And dlcr it was all over {.he ne,', friPld said, "Well, I always ~houg'~t th!J:t Gui~e~ did most awfully dull thIng'> like FIrst Ald. And the Guider said, "First Aid isn't dull, it's the way you look at it; if it had been your leg broken instead of the telephontl wire, and the Guides had to deal with the r,ituation, it would have been just as exciting.'· "More I should think," said the friend. And ~fterwards when the Guider had returned to Australia she received a letter from the Commissioner who had inveigled her into this activity, and she said, "You remember Miss - , who was so priceless in that adventure we, had ? Well, she was 5'0 thrilled that she is going to the be District Commissioner for the new part of the town." 4.-The mothers would not like their children {)ut on the streets at night. Of course not, that is if they had no idea what they were doing. But we can explain that the Guide will not be by herself, the Guiders will know exactly where she is, and what she is doing; which is more than any Guider knows after the Guides have been dismissed and are going home. If the parents really understood they would be thrilled and anxious to help. And we MUST ask parent.> and outside people to help. This is most important, because nothing else makes a situation so real; and outsiders can often test courtesy, and the ability to explain a direction quite as well as the most talented Guider. If we meet Lieutenant in the street looking for a pillar box, we fe.el doubts about the whole thing, but a stranger with an important letter to post--well, who is going to guess if it is a plot or not? We CAN have adventures, and we will all enjoy them it the Guiders start with something simple, something that the Guides cannot turn into anything complicated or dangerous The Guides want them, and it is Scouting as it was meant to be. The thrill of Guiding has not been lost--sometimes it is mislaid for a time-and adventures are a quick and sure method of finding it again.
International Signalling. Signalling is so often the last thing that the Guides do for their Second Class test, but if it had be.e n used at hikes and games the Guides should see its use andl want to learn to signal straight away. It is because they do not think it really is useful that they put off learning the Morse. no child ever put off a thing merely because it is hard-they work at anything if only they see a good and excit-
ing reason for it. It does not matter how the Guides learn the Morse code. There are many ways of doing it, but in the long run the Guides must teach themselves the arrangement of the dots and dashes. Games do help, but only a few games teach signalling. They . mostly te.st the Guides' knowledge of reading, and the Guider does all the signalling. The difficulty is that the Guides cannot signal without a flag-and what company has a complete set of Morse flags to hand out to recruits? The making of the Morse flag may be educational, but it is not to the mind IOf the Guides at all thrilling-there is, in fact, too little difference between making it and hemming a duster at school. But it is possible for all the Guides to signal, and yet have no Morse flags in the company at all. The International Signalling method has been used abroad for some years, not only in the Scouts and Guides, but in the army in Switzerland, and by the people who search for lost travellers in the snow-covered mountains of Austria. Guiders may not all be aware that in 1933 Imperial Headquarters approved that this method be used for the Second Class Test. Guides may learn land be tested on either method, but if Guiders will try the International way they win find that it is much easier, and the children will like it better because they can use it immediately. There is nothing to learn-one hand out makes a dot, and both a dash-that is all. No apparatus is needed. It does not matter which hand you use, or how you hold the flags, or if you have no flags at all. Hands can be seen for quite a long distance, handkerchiefs wrapped around them can be seen for a farther distace, and billy lids farther still. The. Morse Code has still to be learned, but the signalling does not. This way is much more useful for Guides in a case of emergency, as a Guide with very slight knowledge of Morse can signal by looking up the letters, or getting a friend to read them out. A small Guide who knew only a little Morse would probably not know enough about signalling and using the flag in the old method to send an intelligible message. Guiders who wish to learn about the International Signalling may obtain a pamphlet for 3d. at H .Q. or the will find the same information in that useful book "An A.B.C. of Guiding," which is well worth 113. The method has also been described in "The Guide," "The Guider," and the January edition of "The Council Fire." At the Round! Table of Trainers held at Adelboden last year all th€ countries represented said that the International method was used, and most popular in their countries, but some of the procedure signals were different. These have been re-arranged, and now all countries have adopted the sam€, all of which will be found! in the books mentioned abovtl. This is the first year that Guides will be signalling the same way all over the world. We are far away in Australia, but we are not so far that we cannot tryout this new method on the Guides and let them say which way they like oost,
March, 1936.
MATILDA
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A Yarn. Forty miles from London, one mile from a town, and a quarter of a mile from the main road, a lake that seems to have been transplanted whole and complete from some remote part of Canada. 1'he following is a true account of what took place during two consecutive mornings on the shores of this water, which is not half an hour's walk from-but never mind where, just yet! The lake is thickly weed-grown at the edges, and large tracks of reed and rush reach far across it, but there are big spaces of open water and many little creeks and flashets which make wonderful hiding places for duck. The other day on my way to the lake I met the keeper, and he told me, amongst other things, that grey squirrel were fewer , the foxes and the badger were still there, and lately a wild deer had been seen. I approached my favorite part of the shore quietly. One leaves the track, walks through tall bracken, then a belt of high overgrown rhododendrons, and reaches a little clearing at the water's edge. Rhododendrons all round, thick sphagnum moss underfoot, a little birch tree to the right drooping over the water, and a fringe of reed. Yellow loose-trife and marsh, St. John's wort in profusion. I had not very long settled down when I heard a splash close by. Almost at once anothey splash, and there was a kingfisher flying away over the lake. He turned in a wide curve and came straight towards me, perched a few feet away on a bough of the little birch, and began a busy preening of his feathers! So(,n he flew off, hover,ed over the water, fell with a splash to catch a fish, and flew off towards the end of the lake. I have never been so near a kingfisher before, and never expect to be again! A pair of carrion crows were making a noise and squirrels were chattering when I heard a peculiar whirring sound and something fell close bseide me. It rose with another whirr and settled on a leaf. It was a red dragonfly in the act of changing its skin! Its tail was just emerging from the old skin's head while the rest of the discarded skin was held be-
tween the legs of the dragonfly. The old skin'swings were still perfect, how do the new wings emerge? The dragonfly ,e xercised them slowly up and down; and presently flew off, still clinging to its discarded skin and looking like a dragonfly and its tangible reflection flying about together! On the way home I walked right round the lake past the foxes' earth and through bracken eight feet tall, keeping a look-out for deer tracks, but none were found. Next day I started down to the lake earlier than usual I approached the water quietly and immediately caught sight of a brown form on the far side of the lake, about 150 yards away. It raised its head and flicked its ears-a deer! When it resumed feeding, swiftly and quietly I went on to my usual observation post, cr.ept between the bushes, crouching low. There opposite me, feeding in the reeds, were two deer, the stag and doe! I watched them for half an hour. They occasionally raised their heads and looked round, then continued to feed, moving furt]1er out towards the middle of the lake as they went through the reeds. The stag decided it was time to go and turned towards the shore followed by the doe. They moved through the rhododendrons bordering the lake and vanished. I followed the trail with my eyes a little way, but all to be seen was faintly nodding bracken tips to say "Thus wa!'
" Then a heron rose (that must have been there all the time!) and flew away. The kingfisher sped up and down past me all the morning and fish jumped and the crows flew over, doing gymnastics in the ail' as they went along. But after that the lake seemed empty, big clouds and a changing light made patterns on the water and the quite was intense. Time to go home, and I walked slowly towards the head of the lake. Just where the path turns away and really leaves this en¡ chanted spot, I heard the kingfisher's whistle, close by. There he came calling as he flew, hovered, fell, caught a fish, and again flew to a bracnh quite near me. The fish swallowed, an elaborate toilet was gone through again before the next long flight. Is this particular kingfisher un shy or only unobservant, I wondered as I made my way homewards.
March, 1936. MAT I ~~~-~-----------------What a morning! And all this happened on two consecutive mornings in September, 1935, not half a mile a.way from-but 'can you guess'? ("The Guider")
PLEASE NOTE! , The new Editor of "Matilda" is - MISS M. ANDERSON, 382 St. Kilda Street, S.5.
GUIDE HOUSE FUND. Donations for January, 1936. Guiders' Camp Week £1/2/4; Kew District Camp 10/6; 31st Training Week 15/; 2/6; Combined Ranger Camp 4/-; Miss E. Moran 3/5; S.R.S. Akuna 1/3. Total £2/19/-. Progressive Total £3429/8/2. The total amount received for Thrift Week is £100/6/3. A perfectly splendid effort, Guides! S.H.I.
Rangers. The list of the new Ranger Tests is to be found in the Victorian Supplement to P.O.&R. 1935, price 3d. at Headquarters. We are hoping to publish each month in "Matilda" some helpful information about the new Tests and how Guiders are dealing with them in their Companies. I do hope that all Ranger Guiders will help to make the column really helpful, by sending in notes of what they are doing with their Rangers. We do n~t kno~ what will "work" until we tryout the various method's we and our Rangers invent, but a method you invent may work in another Company, so do tell us about it. I shall look forwa~d to having letter-s and sug~stions from many Ranger Captains in both town and country. J. U. BOYES. The World Flag. Hitherto we. have had to refer for the design and explanation of the ! W orId Flag to the Biennial Report of the W.A.A.G.G.S. This year' the Guide Diary includes a page giving both the design and the explanation of the symbols. We now have on order cards, in colour, giving all this information in a handy form. The December issue of "The Guider"
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11
gives a facsimile of this card, showing the slight alteration in the base of the trefoil as it appears on this Flag. . Several Ranger Companies have made their own W orId Flags, and Qthers will probably want to do so now. A good plan would be to make a small-sized World Flag which could be shown to and handled by the Recruits; every Ranger could do some of the sewing, and make it a real Company combined handcraft. Any material would do for this: for a large flag which is to be used on a pike or flown out of doors it is best to use bunting. This woollen material can be ordered throug h headquarters. "Knowing the World Flag" seems to involve knowing the ~ountries in which Guiding exists; this list can be found in the Biennial Report of the W.A.G.G.S. and at the beginning of the Imperial Headquarters Annual Report. These two books will be indispensable to Ranger Companies in view of the new tests. The W orId Flag has not been in existence for very long, but it has had an interesting career, as we find by reading these publications. Overseas correspondence also seems to be indicated in connection with' this "World" ideal; do all Rangers know about the possibilities of the Post Box? Miss Lyell Kelly, Moorakyne, Malvern, S.E.4, is in charge of t.his, and is very happy to put Guide folk into communication with {lverseas correspondents. The. quickest way is for a Ranger here to write a friendly letter to an Unknown Ranger elsewhere, and send it, with adequate postage, for Miss Kelly to forward direct. This starts the. correspondence much more quickly than waiting for an address to write to. F.V.B. Watch next month's "Matilda" for .a list of books helpful for the New Ranger Test.
TRAINING. Guiders who have not previously attended a \I'raining Course at Headquarters must bring t o the first cla~ s of any Cpurse a NOMINATION FORM signed by their Commissioner. Unless otherwise stated, all Training Courses are held at the Guide Office, 60 Mal\ket Street, Melbourne, at 7.45 p.m . Guide Training. The first Course of General Training will begin on FRIDAY, 6th March, 1936. Guider in Charge : Miss D. Hayman. A preliminary
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MATILDA
course of elementary training was held in Feoruary for new Guiders who had not been enrolled. M. E. BUSH, Commissioner for Training.
APPOINTMENTS. District Commissioners. Boenalla-Mrs. Eric Blair, Booroola, Baddaginnie. • Elwood-Mrs. Charlton, 64 Ruskin Street, , Elwoop, S,2. Digby-Dartmoor-Mrs. McKay Shaw, Rifle Downs, Digby.
WARRANTS. Brown Owl. 4th Canterbury Pack-Mrs. Dempster. 1st Eastern Hill Pack-Miss Doris Morton. 2nd South ¥Jlrra Pack-Mrs. Ashton. Tawny Owl. • 2nd Hamilton-Miss p, Taylor. Captains. 2nd Brighton Beach-Miss G. W. Rogerl!. 1st Bruthen-Miss J. Troake. 1st Euroa-Mrs, Mallalieu.
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8th Geelong-Miss E. L. Wright. 1st Mooroopna-Miss Lawson. Lieutenant. 1st Bena-Miss E. Yann. 2nd Hamilton-Miss N. Pedrina. 2nd Shepparton-Miss J. White. Ranger Captain. 3rd Kew-Miss E. Bunning. Acting Captain. 1st Port Melbourne-Miss F. M. Davies.
CANCELLATIONS. District Commissioners. Casterton, Mrs. McKay Shaw. Maryborough, Mrs. R. Laidlaw. Nhill, Mrs. Ivan Young. Brown Owl-1st Hamilton, Mrs. Cleator. Captains. 2nd Ballarat, Miss W. L. Mozley; 1st Preston, Miss F. Sears; 4th Preston, Miss E. Moran. "f.ieutenant. 1st Camperdown, Miss A.C. Errey. Ranger Captain. 1st Maryborough, Miss E. D. Wallace. Change of Name. Miss F. Marshall, of Hamilton, is now Mrs. Cleator. Miss A. Falkingham is now Mrs. W. D. McMillan.
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