Scoutcraft - Oxygen for Ox's Strength

Oxygen for Oxs Strength. — I saw some very smart physical drills by a Scout Troop quite recently in their club headquarters. 

It was very fresh and good, but, my wig, the air was not! It was, to say the least, "niffy." There was no ventilation. The boys were working like engines, but actually undoing their work all the time by sucking in poison instead of strengthening their blood. 

Fresh air is half the battle towards producing results in physical exercises, and it may advantageously be taken through the skin as well as through the nose when possible. 

Yes — that open air is the secret of success. It is what scouting is for, viz., to develop the out-of- doors habit as much as possible. 

I asked a Scoutmaster not long ago, in a great city, how he managed his Saturday hikes, whether in the park or in the country? 

He did not have them at all. Why not? Because his boys did not care about them. They preferred to come into the clubrooms on Saturday afternoons ! 

Of course they preferred it, poor little beggars; they are accustomed to being indoors. But that is what we are out to prevent in the Scouts — our object is to wean them from indoors and to make the outdoors attractive to them.