Gl

Vol. 4 APRIL.19!7 No.4

Make ''Girl Scout'' Mean Health! Strength! Joy! By Sally Lucas Jean, Health Consultant HAIRS and tables were beinc cardully ar­ The table is set for the purpose of feeding the fam­ ranced by teVeral girls in Girl Scout uni­ Oy; what is to be placed in the dishes l The interest of form as a visitor entered the CIOIIIIDunity the occasion is one that should not be lost; stress the bOUle of a c:rowded district one eveninc riaht foods and the vital part played by diet in accom­ • not long ago. They retUmecl the ltranl­ pliabing our desired goals. Make the lesson a definite er"s peetiog cordillly and one girl stepped forward of­ one; mention the details of a good menu and be sure it ferittl to -call the --captain, no 'WIS -engqecl in an ad­ is a well balanced meal, including mOk in some form, joining room. The visitor, really wanting an oppor­ green vegetables or fruit, perhaps both. The imagina­ tunity to be with the girls, said she would wait. After tion of the girls will quickly fill the plates, cups and her coat had been taken and the moat comfortable chair gl..es with the foods indicated. Very little guidance sugested, the girls went on with their preparations for wm prepare them to present a good breakfast, lunch or the meeting. Girl Scout hoste~~eal dinner menu for a faau1y of two adults and three chO­ A aal1 bed was 10, 10 carefully lifted from a doeet, dren. The discussion can readOy be directed toward a1moat reverendy handled, and the girls explained, "This the foods they themselves require. It p moat important is our 'demonstration bed'. We are going to learn bow to stress a few definite foods u essential for normal to make it so we can p• our test.'" Dishes, knives, growth, for beauty, for strength: milk, butter, fruit, forb, napkins, and other table appointments were con­ leafy vegetables. The setting of the table can thus be­ Yeniendy placed. come the center of a fundamental health project. The capable captain arrived and the meeting began. Sleep, enough sleep for growing chOdren, is one of the Interest, and an earnest desire to follow directions, moat difticult accomplishments with which we are faced to participate properly, were evident, though securing here in America. proper equipment wu obviously somewhat of a problem. Dr. Thomas D. Wood gives the following u mini­ The captain knew the resoui'Ciel of her troop and plans mum requirements: far JNJrcbaaing this and that were auggated in practical Girls from 10-11 yean old should sleep 11 houn fasbibL •• •• 12-13 •• .. •• •• 10~ •• Then came the setting of the table. These potential •• •• 14-1S .. •• •• •• 10 •• women, learning bow to perform properly one of the com­ •• •• 16-17 .. •• •• .. 9 .. monplace functions of a homemaker, were • excited • The interest in bedmaking can be used as a medium tbouda preparing for a basketball game. for carryinr over 10111e definite instruction and enthu­ Then came the bed-baking. The interest wu in­ siasm for using a bed wisely and well. What sleep does creued, largely because the materials to be bandied were for us and bow much better we feel when we have as miniature-email sheets, blankets. pnlow alipe-we much sleep u we require, is the direction the dilcussion all love small reproductions of faau1iar objects and espe­ should take. Be very sure that each girl leaves the room cially is this true of chOdren. conlcious of the number of boun she requires for growth These performances are famniar to you all but I and accomplishment. want to stress h~"" thl"ir relation to our health Pl'Oiftlll Girl Scouting bas made it courageous to walk and for they offer all leaden an important basis for health exercise in the open air and what a splendid uhievement teacbinR. this is, a great step in advance for American woman- 2 THE GIRL SCOUT LEADER hood, but we still have to impress upon our Girl Scouts the out-of-doors, take long walkb, and keep a health rec­ the importance of rest and sleep. ord." These are all factors in a health program but are It requires real fortitude to lie down a full half hour not enough to insure a healthy body. hefore or after meals, as may be ordered by a physician, The all-round health program includes: yet we have not, up to the present, evolved an honor for An annual physical examination (see article by Dr. this really self-~acrificing and self-controlled act. It has Donald B. Armstrong in the January, 1926, number of been found that rest is one of the most important fac­ the LEADER) . tors in bringing children below weight for height and Correction· of physical defects. age up to average weight and it is most worth while for Personal health practices, such as eating green leafy the growing girl to maintain her average weight. vegetables, fruit and taking milk, in some form, every One of the simplest ways to sustain interest in sleep, day. well balanced meals and other personal health practices, Cleanliness within and without. is to have a pair of scales available in the meeting room. Clean, sound teeth. If this is not practicable you can have a record sheet on Exercise and rest in their proper relation. which the girls enter their individual weights month­ Sufficient sleep. ly, always comparing them to the weight for height and The new health questions and answers department in age standard. Friendly rivalry among the girls who The LEADER offer you an opportunity to secure assistance especially need to gain adds zest to the game. in developing the health program of your troop. This A group of Girl Scouts were asked if they thought has been planned to meet some of the problems leadel"i Girl Scouts wrre healthier than other girls and they im­ are facing and to help bring nearer the day when Girl mediately chorused yes. When questioned and stimu­ Scouts will be synonymous with health! strength I and lated into thought they said "because Girl Scouts love joy!

First of all, she can have a very definite idea about Yarns why she wants to yarn and what she hopes to give her We borrow the following from The Girl Guide Gar.ette Guides through her yarns. I can suggest three good because it applies to us all as captains. It points out the reasons for yarning:- captain's shining opportunity for keeping her touch with her (I) For the fun of it-sitting round the Camp Fire girls alive and meaningful and for opening and stimulating ( real or imaginary) , resting after a busy day (or meet­ their minds. In reading substitute Girl Scout for "Guide", ing) -a collection of cheerful, like-minded people sit­ ~nd J.LD.DP for "company". ting around in happy comrade:.hip. HEN we started Guidin11:, yarn-telling was (2) For trying to develop the artistic sense of your the method chiefly advocated. Its possibili­ company, trying to get them to recognize a good tale ties were put before us at every conference. when they hear it, and to cultivate a desire for well­ · It scared most of us stiff. It frightened told stories. Under this head comes also the desire to • some of us off. Some of us tried very hard widen their interests and make them notice nature and to use this method. 'Ve sat our long-suffering companies art and current events. down upon the ground and, with a thumping heart and (3) For teaching Guide Spirit and the Guide point a dry tongue, we told them the sort of tales we thought of view about life. ' they ought to like. And because they were very new Never try to tell a yarn from a sense of duty. You and rather shy and very conscious of having promised to must do it because there is something which you are so keep the Guide Laws (including the fifth), they heard keen about yourself that your most urgent desire is to us out politely but heaved a sigh of relief when it was pass your pleasure on to the children you love. Per­ over. So did we. Gradually we gave it up altogether. haps you will say that you have searched and searched There seemed to be plenty of other things to do. through the books which are recommended for Camp And yet ... and yet ... hasn't the passing of yarn­ Fire yarns and that you have not been able to find a ing perhaps got something to do with the coming of effi­ single story which inspires you in this way. Well, the ciency (in its least desirable sense) ? Perhaps your com­ real answer to the question, "What on earth shall I pany has grown up and become a collection of rather yarn about?" is, "Anything in the world which really sophisticated young ladies with gleaminf! rows of Ser­ interests you-birds or raffia-work or Angora rabbits or vice Stars. It is useless to trv on them the obvious sort Shakespeare or artificial respiration; it doesn't matter of Guide story. Can't you- imagine the chorus that what it i~. so long as you yourself are rrally keen about would greet you? "Oh, come off it, Captain, tell us it." ~omething lively I" Neither will the very delightful type Keep on pondering over the Guide Law with its ap­ of nature myth meet the case. Your little ones will en­ plication to yourself and to your company, keep on be­ joy hearing "Why the evergreen trees never lose their ing interested in all sorts of things outside Guiding, leaves." But your fifteen-year-olds will be frankly bored keep on reading widely, and, week after week, keep oo -unless, unlt-ss you are extra specially good at telling telling your Guides what you have been learning and such stories and can do it in a really delightful way. reading and doing and thinking, keep on telling them Here is the question for us: What can a very ordi­ in a natural friendly way, and if you are sufficiently keen nary Captain with no gift for story-telling do about on your subject, the vivid language will come of it& own yarning to her company? accord. THE GIRL SCOUT LEADER 3 April Evening Skies PRING has arrived with Leo, the Lion, and its familiar "Sickle" in the south­ S ern sky, while Onon is about to di:.­ appear below the western horizon until next fall, and Virgo, the Virgin, with its brilliant star Spica, and Bootes with the shimng Arc­ turus, are in the southe~t. The stars of the constellation Leo seem to bear little resemblance to the figure of the king of beasts, but in ancient times, in India and Egypt, it was represented by the same catch figures as today. The blade of the sickle represents the lion's head, as he is facing west, and the re:.t of the constellation the body. NORTH Even the medieval Christians, who endeav­ ored to remove the pagan star groups from the sky and replace them with biblical char­ acters, left the lion as one of those with which Uaniel was as:.ociated I One explanation of the origin of the sign is that in midsummer, when the sun is among the stars of the constellation, the lions in Egypt came down to the banks of the Nile to escape from the heat, for at that time the river overflows. As Egypt has from the t>arli­ est day~ been dependent on the annual inun­ dation of the l'\ile, the sign of Leo thus be­ came an object of worship among the Egyp­ tians. According to the Greek mythology, the lion represents the one slain by Hercules in the first labor, and was placed in the heavens by Jupiter to commemorate the historic conflict. The second of his labors is associated with the SOUTH WEST neighboring constellation of Hydra, the water serpent. According to this legend, the snake had many However, such slight optical aid a~ a pair of opera heads, vaf} ing in number from nine to a hundred, de­ glasses reveals it easily. pending upon which vcr ion of the story we accept. The From early times it wns thus known as a visual dou­ center head was immortal. As fast as Hercules de­ ble star, a star that could be seen as two with the un­ :.troyed one head two new ones appeared, and so the aided e} e. But in the year 1550 the Italian a:.tronomer encounter would have doubtless ended in di~aster for Riccioli, who is famous for having named the craters Hercule~, but for the fortunate suggestion of his nephew, of the moon, turned his telescope on it from his observ­ Iolau~, that he burn them off. This they did, burying atory in Bologna. ~ot only did he see the bright star the immortal head under a rock, ''here the mon ter was :.\fizar, and the fainter Alcor, but he saw that ~lizar unable to lind it. Thu , having completely lost his head, itself was double, consisting of two stars of nearly equal the serpent annoyed Hercules no more! brilliance. This was the first "double" star to be dis­ In the northern sky the Great Bear is very conspicu­ covered, but since then manr more have been found. ous, as it is nearly overhead in the early evening. In In fact we now know that on the average one star out this position it affords a good opportunity to see the in­ of every 18 in the sky is double. teresting pair of stars, :\fizar and Akor, which are shown ~fizar is more than an ordinary double star. It i:. on the accompanying map. :\li7.ar is the second star what is called a spectroscopic double, and, in fact, was from the end of the handle of the dipper, the one at the the lir~t star of this kind to be discovered. turn of the handle. Keen eyesight will ren•al near it The planets Venus and Mars can be seen in the west­ a much fainter star, Akor, the pair being sometimt~ called "the Horse and Rider.'' ~fany earl}• peoples, as well ern sky in the early evening, and late in the evening as the American Indians, are said to have used this as Saturn appears above the eastern horizon. Venus, which a test of keen eyesight. But in large citie• th,. smoke <:ets about two hours and 45 minute-; after the ~un, may .md ha;re in the atmosphere, as well a~ the glare of the be recognized because of its great brilliance as it shines lights, make it difficult to ~ee, even with keen sight. in the west. THE GIRL SCOUT LEADER THE GIRL SCOUT LEADER tain peak climbing and snowballing I Write for in formation to ~Iiss Mary \\'hite, Roswell, New :\lexico. Publish~ on the tint of every month by Our national camp equipment department is now of­ GIRL SCOUTS INC. fering for sale a set of 6 plans for $2.50 which include:. 870 Lexington Avenue, New York City the essential buildings for camps: log cabin, troop house, kitchen, stone stove and shelter, store-house, and recrea­ Sent free to all Girl Scout captains, commissioners, and tion building. \Vith these plans in hand any carpenter local directors. To others, 50c per year's subscription. can construct the buildings. If a 'et is broken the sepa· BIRDSALL OTIS EDEY Editors ------OLIVE C. RICHARDS rate plans sell at fifty cents. National President - MISS tARAH LOUISI: ARNOLD National Director Mas. JANE DE&:TER RIPPIN A lovely little musical program, "The :\Iessage of !\lay,'' prepared in collaboration by the American Child ---·------·------Health Association and the National :\1 usic \Veek Com­ Vol. IV April, 1927 No.4 mittee, offers us a delightful way of celebrating both Child Health Day, :\lay first, and annual l\lusic 'Week:, ~lay first to seventh. It contains music as well as words, HOULD Home Service, Community Ser­ and directions for presentation, and may be secured from vice and ~cholarship Badges be included the ~ational l\Iusic \Veelc: Committee, 45 \Vest 45th in the elective badge:. to be counted toward Street, i\ ew York, for five cents a copy and a 20 per the Golden Eaglet? Should these badges, cent discount in quantitie of 50 or more. May Day that is, be put on a par with the other this year is going to be more \\;dely and intensively cele­ badges~ This question has come up before the national brated than ever as children's health festival dav. Girl standards committee and we should like to have expres­ Scouts everywhere will rejoice to join in this · celebra- sions from the field on the sub- tion. Ask your local :\lay Day ject. and Child Health Committee or health authorities for sugges­ In order to encourage excep­ HIKING SONG tions as to activities in which tional and inspirational leader­ Girl Scouts may participate and ship among Girl Scouts, the Har­ Come out, a bundle needs which they may fill. Or mon Foundation of New Y orlc: and stick is all write to the American Child has donated $15,210 to be dis­ Health Association, 370 7th tnbu ed in :.daular:.hip:. fu. d.e Y ou'11 need to carry Avenue, :\ew York, for their special training of Girl Scout along, program. captains whose work: shows prom­ If your heart can carry ise. Under this grant a selec­ a kindly word, Publicity "mat" cuts of our tion of 70 young women a }·ear And your lips can carry a song. regional directors, suitable for use for a period of four years will by newspapers unable to use be made by local councils and glossy prints, may be obtained regional committees throughout Alfred Noyes. from our national news bureau. the country, these young women Please state the number you need to receive scholarships of $50 and give u one week's notice. each to be used at Camp Edith ~lacy, the national Girl Scout training camp, or at any one of the other eleven Though not quite ready as yet, the Garden Flower, Girl Scout training camps throughout the regions. A Insect, and Land Animal Finder requirements will be contingent fund of $1,000 from the amount appropri­ ready for summer use. Their actual publication will ated will be set aside to be used at the discretion of the be announced in the LEADER, for which will you please national standards committee for those leaders who, wait before sending for them. having received scholarships, are prohibited from using them because of other expenditures involved. Detailed arrangements for av.·arding these scholarships have yet The Minneapolis Girl Scout headquarters very kindly to be worked out by the national standards committee informs us that it has extra back copies of our national pub· and will be announced later. lications which it makes available to anv who ,,;sh them and the first who will send for them. So if you lack Cactus Region announces a leaders' training camp of and desire any of the following send to the Girl Scouts, its own to be conducted under the auspices of the Ros­ 89 South Tenth Street, ~tinneapolis, :\linnesota: "The well, New ::\texico, council, July 2nd to 16th. The Rally" {forerunner of Th~ Am~rican Girl), January camp site will be in the mountains west of Roswell, camp and March, 1920; Th~ Am~rican Girl: August and training will be under the direction of :\lis Pauline October, 1920; March to December inclusive, 1922; Wherry, regional director, and both leaders and regis­ every issue of 1923; January, February, April, June, tered Girl Scouts are eligible. Special attractions of­ July and August of 1924. "The Field News" (fore­ fered besides the training are a visit to the near-by Mes­ runner of THI! GIRL ScouT LEADER): June, July, Sep­ calero-Apache Indian Reservation to see the Indian tember and October of 1922; February, ~lay, June, July dances, a visit to the famous Carlsbad Cave, and moun- and October of 1923. THE GIRL SCOUT LEAPER Two Troop Meetings for Your Consideration

FIRST MEETING 2. Bump Signal. Court of Honor Meeting 6 :30 to 7 :00. All form a circle with the leader in the center. Each girl is assigned one of the letters that have been Roll Call of patrols. learned and when a letter is signalled those who were Minutes of last meeting. assigned that letter must run around the leader and Suggestions brought back from patrols. back into place. The one getting back first, scores. Discflssion period. 8:00 For the next fifteen minutes the older girls each Announcements for patrols. takes her "buddy" and helps her with her second Study the opposite letter of the Morse code. class test. TROOP MEETING 8:15 Good-night Circle. Form a circle. 7:00 All gather around the camp fire (made by using 1. Reading of a poem. an electric light, orange crepe paper and wood.) This 2. Taps. part of the program is in charge of the song leader. I. Songs. SECOND MEETING a. "Pinecone," the: troop song. 7:15 Court of Honor Meeting. b. "Sea Chanty." The minutes of the last meeting are read and approved. c. Round - "To ope their trunks the trees are never Treasurer's report is read. Patrol leaders check up on seen, How then do they put on their robes of points earned in last meeting. One patrol leader sug­ green? They leave them out." gests that troop did poorly in signalling games last week 2. a. Members of the Flamingo Patrol are given 5 and that further review would be profitable. Court of minutes to put on a sketch illustrating "First aid Honor agrees and decides to do this in patrol meeting as used in the home." Then members of Cardinal to follow. In previous Court of Honor meetings a party Patrol do a similar sketch. Troop votes as to has been planned for a group of children in a settlement which is better sketch. house and is to be given the next week. The details of 7:15 Opening Ceremony-In charge of the patrol the party are discussed and final arrangements made as leader of the Nightingale Patrol. to time and place of meeting, means of transportation, I. Hollow square formation. time of return, etc. The Court of Honor reviews the 2. Song-"0 Beautiful Banner." part that each patrol is to contribute to the program. It 3. Pledge of Allegiance. has been decided at an earlier Court of Honor meeting 4. Girl Scout Promise. to play games of other countries at this party and patrol 7 :25 Patrols in council. leaders are reminded that each patrol is to present such a 1. Roll call and collection of dues. game this evening. 2. Inspection. The program for the meeting after the next one is then 3. Discussions of community service badge. One patrol discussed. One patrol leader asks for country dancing. may pack a box for a poor family. Another reports that her patrol wishes relp on star study. 4. Announcements. This leads another to say that she thinks her science 5. Study the opposite letters in Morse Code. One teacher would be glad to come over a'nd help with this patrol may study second class nature instead. subject. She is requested by the Court of Honor to find 7:45 Games played using material learned by patrols in out if this teacher is available and if so to request her to council. come. The editor of the troop paper requests a special 1. Dot and Dash Relay. meeting of the editorial staff. A week-end camping trip a. Patrols lined up in "trail" formation, with one is asked for by one patrol. girl from each patrol standing about 10 feet or [Although the meeting does not begin officially until more from her patrol and facing it. They will 7 :30 the girls have been coming into the room during then be called the senders. They get together this time and proceeding to their respective patrol corners. and decide upon a word to send, then return to There greetings have been exchanged, patrol charts and their positions. At a given signal the first in each boxes have been brought out, and help has been given to patrol runs forward with outstretched palm. The the newer members under the supervision of the patrol sender gives one letter using a closed fist for the second.] dot and an open hand for the dash. The first girl 7 :30 Patrols in Council. then returns to her patrol and gives the letter to the next in line, she in turn gives it to the next, Inspection by patrol leader and payment of dues. Patrol and so on down the line until the last one gets it leader gives final details of party next week. The patrol's and she writes it down. As soon as the first girl responsibility as to program is again discussed and each has passed the letter along she immediately runs member is reminded of her part. The members of the back: for another and so on until the whole word patrol have brought in international games. These are has been receivsd. The girl who is writing the discussed and one is chosen to be presented to the troop. word at the signal that it is the last letter sent The patrol leader asks for and is given suggestions for runs to the sender with the word and the first succeeding troop meetings. Signalling is reviewed. to get it correct wins. (Continued on next pagt) 6 THE GIRL SCOUT LIADa

touch with it. One IUch lone troop invited another to a Better Homes for Girl Scouts tobo&gan party lut winter and they cooked their meal N celebration of an­ out of doors. Another troop invited a neighborin& troop nual Better Homes to a King Arthur Field Day. The hostess troop bor­ I Week, this year oc­ rowed the use of a lovely garden for the day, collected currin& April 24th to · every kind of dyed or reconstructed material for medieval May 1st, and because the gowns and veils, doublet, hose and armor, made Bags Better Homes or&aniza­ and pennons for decorations, carried out a big throne for tion has been and will Arthur and a queen's throne for Guinevere, set the scene continue to be of &reat for a day's tournament, chose an Arthur and his page, help to the Girl Scouts in and assembled their guests. Each patrol was divided into securing little homes of four knights and four ladies, named after the Arthurian their own. The American Round Table, and given a handful of materials and half Girl for April is full of an hour to usemble a costume. When "court" con­ pictures of Girl Scout Better Homes and accounts of vened, each lady was given a ribbon of her colon, each how they got them and what they do in them and how knight wu presented to the King by the page, and chose you can get one if you haven't one. It is full of thrilling a lady, after Guinevere had been chosen and enthroned plans and projects for Girl Scout home-makers. by the King. Then each knight took part in a tourna­ Each year sees more Girl Scout little houses bought ment of archery, of kite-flying, and with his lady in a or built or furnished--or all three. treasure hunt. Each event had its announcement and This month we are thinking especially of these many giving of prizes on a silk cushion. little houses because of Better Homes Week. This is the time when Girl Scouts plan some spe­ QUESTION Two Troop Meetings cial homemaking demonstration or (Continued from ,.,, S) celebration for their friends. It is AREN'T stara aky-cblldren? 7 :50 Colors. the time when those of us who 7:55 Games. have as yet no little house, borrow I have seen them coaating­ Each patrol teaches its interna­ one, whether a whole house or only Coaatinr in the winter­ tional game [See March numbers a single room, and plan furnishings Coasting down the snowbanks of of The Am"ican Girl.] for it or cook in it (if it happens heaven's tall cloud hills. Signalling game: Leader signals to be a kitchen) or have troop jumbled letters of names of coun­ bAmemaking competitions in it. Thq swim in the sky-pool in tries. Patrols respond with names More often than not our cele­ summer- of persons of that country who bration consists in cooperating with I've seen their white arms flashing. have been of service to the world ; the Better Homes Committee in for example, the leader may signal our own town. If the Committee Stars are sky-children. C-A-F-E-R-N (France). The pa­ bas a demonstration house of its trols would respond with Pasteur, own, there is much which the Girl Nan Belisle in The Bookma• Hugo, Curie, etc. This may be Scouts can do there in acting as played e1ther by scoring a point for hostesses, planning hours of home the first patrol tit respond correctly play or home music, or in actually keeping house. or each patrol may keep a list and after the names of sev­ The National Office of Better Homes in America eral countries have been signalled, the lists may be read will be pleased to send you suggestions for your Better aloud and discussed, the patrols scoring for each correct Homes Week celebration if you will write them, at name. 1653 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D. C., saying 8:10 Troop divides into groups for instruction in Tender· you are a Girl Scout leader. There are Better Homes foot, Second-Class, First-Class and bad~te work. Committees in so many communities in the United 8 :40 Songs from Girl Scout Son& Book. States that one of the best ways in which the Girl Scouts 8:50 Story. Perhaps Th~ Ha"y Prince, by Otc:ar may celebrate is to learn who this committee is in your Wilde, or A Handful of Cia)·, by Henry Van Dyke. own town and cooperate with it. 9:00 Closing circle and Taps. If you haven't a little house of your own u yet, ob­ serve Better Homes Week anyway. Write to the Wuh­ ington Office telling them your special situation, and Girl Scouts everywhere will enjoy the game, "Po­ they will have suggestions for you. And who knows laris," as one more delightful way of studyin~t the won­ but that your Better Homes demonstration in one room den of the sky. It is interesting as well u educational, may be the lint step toward your very own little house? saye Dr. Cady. You will find particulan about thi• game in the advertising pages of The American Girl.

A Suggestion "Children, The Magazine for Parents" it well worth PerhaJJI you are a "lone" captain and you sometimes an examination on the part of leaden of young people. feel uncertain and out of touch with the main currents It is published by The Parents' Publishing Ateociation, of Girl-Scouting. It there another troop in your county l Inc., 353 4th Avenue, New York and costs 2Sc a copy, Find out from national headquarten and &ft In $2.50 a year. THE GIRL SCOUT LEADER 7 Helping You to Health Attention, Please! A Department Conducted in Cooperation with the If you want to give a health play, and you will sooner Welfare Division of the Metropolitan Life Insur­ or later, you can desire no better aid and guide than ance Company. Send us your questions. "Plays and Pageantry, A List of Health Plays Recom­ mended by the National Health Council," obtainable 1. How often should one shampoo her hairf Is it by writing to the National Tuberculosis Association, tht same for different peoplef 370 7th Avenue, New York. It contains a detailed de­ No, it is not the same for different people. The hair scription of the twenty-five health plays which it lists, and scalp should be washed when they are dirty. A among which are to be found selections suitable for all girl who works or lives in a dusty atmosphere will need ages and occasions. Miss Agnes Wayman, our national to wash her hair oftener than a girl who does not. Oily health treasurer, recommends this list to our attention hair needs to be washed oftener than dry hair because and use. dirt and dust stick to it. Once a week: is not too often in such cases. Under favorable circumstances, dry hair "Tomorrow night it is our turn to entertain the en­ may go two or three weeks without a shampoo. tire camp in the Great Hall-now for some costume. I" 2. How can the hips be reduced'! Do walking and How many times in the Camp Edith Macy season does climbing helpf ~uch an announcement stir the creative and mimetic imagi­ Walking and climbing do help. There are various nations of a group, and how many times are those same body bending exercises that are also helpful. However, imaginations stretched until they are limp, making bricb any exercises must be taken regularly every day and without straw-for there are neither costumes nor mak­ not just spasmodically, to produce results. If regular ings. Begs the Camp Edith Macy costumer: "What the exercise does not take off the excess flesh, you will prob­ Camp needs at present is a box filled with dresses of every ably need to consult a physician about your diet and sys­ period, a chest of fabrics and a garret filled with proper­ tematically reduce your calories.• ties, so that the impromptu frolics and plays will be all the more fun for the students, who, although they come 3. Has your diet anything to do with your com­ plexionf for troop management, nature instruction, and local di­ Yes. Skin specialists tell us that disturbances of di­ rectors' training, do relish seeing or taking part in a stunt gestion are among the most important internal causes or play which they can carry back to their troops later. So please, one and all, whether you are coming to Camp of skin disorders. The kind of diet that is good for the complexion is the kind that is good for general health. Edith Macy or not, make a donation to the Garret, espe­ cially when you clean hause this spring. Everything can It is especially important for the sake of a clear skin to avoid constipation. Fruits and the coarser vegetables be utilized: old curtains-velvet, velour or linen ;-eld ~ are good for the complexion because they help to keep dresses, especially of silk and velvet of light colors; old the intestinal tract clear. Overeating; eating too large­ hats and bonnets, capes, cloaks and dressing gowns, and ly of the more concentrated foods--sweets, starches, etc.; scraps of chiffon and silk. These, with a bit of magic, eating between meals, and eating before going to bed can clothe a fairy kingdom or a majestic court scene. So are habits that may exact the price of a bad complexion. please send something. I will serve tea to the donor~ each Wednesday at five in the Garret I" 4. When is the proper time for eating candy a11d to what extentf Anything that Girl Scouts can do tb touch the heut, The best time for eating candy is at the end of lunch­ impress the mind and stay the hand of the thoughtless eon or dinner as dessert or part of the meal, not as an and ruthless marauder of field and wood at this Beason "extra" after a full meal has been eaten. One should and throughout the coming months, helping to induce remember that candy is a food of high calory people to mjoy, not destroy the wild flowers, will value. Three or four pieces of candy are equal to be doing a true and important patriotic and com­ a good-sized piece of steak in food value. To eat munity service. "Love the wood-rose but leave it three adequate meals and then eat candy between on its stalk," "Touch a hundred flowers hut not times is working the stomach overtime and over· pick one," it is no longer enough that we observe stocking the human engine. this ourselves, we must be crusaders persuading and • Practical IUjl'geotiono for reducior through diet and exerci•e compelling others to do the same. A few of the are contained tn a pamphlet called "O...erweigbt-Ite Cauoe a.ad Treatment" ieoued by the Metropolitan Life Insurance wild flowers may safely be picked, such as the vio­ Company. let and daisy, but even these should be picked care­ fully, sparingly, and never wantonly to waste and Watch for These wilt on the wav home. Most flowers have to be Two handbooks of Girl Scout cookery, one for conserved becau~e of past depredations. The Wild pioneer units in permanent camps, the other for Flower Preservation Society is back of us in thii. trips, are in process of preparation and expected to be ready for this year's summer camping season. To All Girl Scout Commissioners, Chair­ Miss Agathe Deming, the author, will welcome men of Community Committees and Chair­ your favorite successful recipes, planned, prefer­ men of Local Standing Committees: Dixie Re­ ably, either for nine or thirty-four persons. Send gion passes along the following suggestion for them at once to her at 924 West End Avenue, stimulating committee functioning, hoping it may New York• help other regions with their committee work u • 8 THE GIRL SCOUT LEADER it has helped theirs. ""'"'e have been trying the experiment among various GIRL SCOUT ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP councils of organizing stand­ As of February 28, 1927. ing committees, such as Edu­ Only those are counted as members of the organization whose registration or cation, Field and Standards, m~!Ubership feea for the year have been paid in adva!lce.: into patrols, calling the group -·------A. B. the education patrol instead Registration Total Fees Received in Active of committee, and develop­ REGISTERED AS February, IG21 Member.. bip ing the membership in units (new ~JY) of eight, that is, having eight 1. Chartered Councils ...... 4 276 or sixteen on the committee. -2. Community Committees .. :::: ·.-: .-::- 9 147 -· The education patrol, for in­ 3. Troop Committees ... .. _.--;_-:. ~-- .: ... ~ 23 271 ~tance, holds a meeting at which (new andre· the various badges are classi­ regiatered) fied and a classification under­ 4. Council ~!embers ...... 613 4,996 tahn as the patrol's chief ef­ 5 . 132 1,089- fort for the year. Thus na­ 6. 126 1,145- ture badges, health badges, cul­ 7. Total of 4--5--6 ...... 871 7,230 tural badges, home badges are Commissioned Officers each discus~ed as a project for 8. Captains ...... 634 5,262 the patrol. At the next coun­ 9. First Lieutenants ...... 395 2,993 cil meeting the education pa­ trol makes its report in the Girl 10. Second Lieutenants ...... 209 1,44S Scout way. In this manner 11. Total of 8-9-10 ...... 1~238 -~9,703 Dixie Region committees have 12. Girl Scouts ...... 14,402 116,355 come to a real understanding 13. Associate Scouts ...... 335 1;8~ of the fun and value in the pa­ ~Brownies ...... •...... 626 3,258- trol system in Girl Scouting." - If this plan appeals to you, 15. Total of 12-13-14 ...... 15 ~363 12(455 please try it out, and do let the ~rand Total of 7-11- 15 ..... 17,472 138,388 national field committee know whether or not you have found it workable. Fridays is as follows: April 1st, Dr. Bertha L.napman Cady on Nature by Observation; April 8th, ~~ rs. Fred­ Tune In On This l Our Girl Scout radio pro­ erick Edey on Homemaking; April 15th, !\!iss Helen gram over Station \VABC, which was announced in Ferris on The Girl's Point of View; April 22nd, Dr. the last LEADER, has since been changed from \Vednes­ Elizabeth Kemper Adams on Leadership; April 29th. days to Fridays at 7:30 P. M. The program for April ~Iiss Agnes \Vayman on Sports and Health.

The new troop wall chart, now ready, is bound to interest and stimulat~ troops and help the leaders. It measures 36 x 36 inches, is printed on buff linen-back paper and mounted on light-weight wooden rollers. It provides for the listing of the girls by patrola, recording of troop and patrol emblems and of all tests passed and badges acquired. The price is $1.25. Whether we are writing, speaking in public, or talking among our friends about Girl Scouts or Girl Scouting, let us not neglect to uae the name in full. We are GIRL SCOUTS doing GIRL SCOUTING. Shortening the term is incorrect.

No charge or C.O.D. orders can be filled at national headquarters. This ia a ruling of our national business committee and there can be no exception to it. The National Field Committee monthly meeting at national headquarters will be held on April 13th and May 11th. All commissioners are welcome at these meetings. The National Standards Committee monthly meeting at national headquarters will be held on April 14th and May 12th. All requests for special badges are considered at these meetings. The 1927 Annual Convention of the Girl Scouts will be held at Briarcliff Manor, New York, from Tuesday, September 27th, to and including Saturday, October lat. The Con­ vention Training Week will be Thursday, September 15th, to Saturday, September 24th, and the training will be conducted at Camp Edith Macy and Camp Andree.