There are many ways by which a Scout, or a Patrol working together, can make money, such as:
Repairing and re-covering old furniture is a very paying trade. Picture frames, bird boxes, toys, can easily be sold. Breeding canaries, chickens, or rabbits pay well. So does beekeeping.
Collect old packing-cases and boxes, and chop them into bundles of firewood. Keeping goats and selling their milk will pay in some places. Basket-making, pottery, book-binding, etc., all bring money.
A Patrol can make money by collecting old metal and waste paper.
Or a Patrol working together can form a corps of messenger boys in a country town, or start a garden and work it for selling vegetables and flowers, or make a minstrel troupe or perform Scouting displays or pageants.
These are only a few suggestions. There are loads of other ways of making money which you can think out for yourself, according to the place you are in.
But in order to get money you must expect to work.
The actor, Ted Payne, used to say in one of his plays, “I don’t know what is wrong with me. I eat well, I drink well, and I sleep well; but somehow whenever anybody mentions the word ‘work’ to me, I get a cold shudder all over me”. There are a good many other chicken-hearted fellows, who, when any work faces them, “get a cold shudder all over them”.
Start a money box, put any money you can make into that, and when you have got a fair amount in it, hand it over to a bank, and start an account for yourself.
HOW TO GET ON
A good man years ago the United States was at war on the island of Cuba.
The American President McKinley wanted to send a letter to Garcia, the Cuban leader, but did not know how to get it to him, as the rebels were fighting with the Americans in wild and difficult country.
When he was talking it over with his advisers, someone said: “There’s a young man called Rowan who seems to be able to get anything done that you ask him. Why not try him?”
So Rowan was sent for, and when he came in, the President explained why he had sent for him, putting the letter in his hand, said, “Now, I want that letter taken to Garcia.
Rowan simply smiled and accepted the letter. He walked out of the room and set out.
On this map of Central America and the Caribbean Sea you will find the
island of Cuba through which Rowan travelled to find Garcia.
Some weeks passed, and Rowan appeared again before the President and said, “I gave your letter to Garcia, sir”. Of course McKinley made him explain how he had done it.
It turned out that Rowan had taken a boat, had landed on the coast of Cuba, and had disappeared into the jungle. In three weeks’ time he reappeared on the other side of the island, having gone through the enemy, found Garcia, and given him the letter.
Rowan was a true scout. The way he acted is the way a Scout should carry out an order when he gets it. No matter how difficult it may seem, he should tackle it, with a smile. The more difficult it is, the more interesting it will be to carry out.
Rowan did his duty, kicking the IM out of the word IMPOSSIBLE.
Any fellow who acts like that is certain to get on.
Most fellows would have asked a lot of questions—how they were to set about it, how they could get to the place, where they were to get food from, and so on. But not so Rowan. He merely learned what duty was wanted of him, and then did the rest without a word, kicking the IM out of the word IM-POSSIBLE. Any fellow who acts like that is certain to get on.
A lot of Scouts do special messenger service. These lads, from having difficult jobs frequently given them and being expected to carry them out successfully, take them on with the greatest confidence, and, without asking a lot of silly questions, they start off in
a businesslike way, and do them.
That is the way to deal with any difficulty in life. If you get a job or have a trouble that seems to you to be too big for you, don’t shirk it. Smile, think out a way by which you might get successfully through with it, and then go at it.
Remember that “a difficulty is no longer a difficulty when once you laugh at it—and tackle it”.
A boy learning what he can as a Scout has a good chance in the world
Don’t be afraid of making a mistake. Napoleon said, “Nobody ever made anything who never made a mistake”.
Memory
Then practise remembering things. A fellow who has a good memory will get on because so many other people have poor memories from not practising them.
A great coral island is built up of tiny sea animals blocking themselves together. So also great knowledge in a man is built up by his noticing all sorts of little details and blocking them together in his mind by remembering them.
Luck
