Around the World

BOY SCOUTS

Ferdinand Magellan went around the world in three years. Today, aviators are planning to do the deed in 15 days. But two Polish young men--Scoutmaster Jerzy Jelinski and Scout Henry Smosarski--are in no such hurry. They may take as long as the late Senor Magellan, for they are spreading good will among the Boy Scouts of the world. Fifteen months ago, they left Warsaw in a white-painted ("A Scout Is Clean") Ford, motored and lectured through Europe, were photographed with Benito Mussolini. Then they chugged across northern Africa, arrived in Manhattan on an export steamer a fortnight ago. Heading west, they were cheered by U. S. Boy Scouts as supreme symbols of the motto: "Be Prepared." Not only have they earned all expenses of the trip by lecturing and writing articles for Polish newspapers, but they expect to conquer frozen Siberian steppes in their Ford.

U. S. Boy Scouts, too, have been trekking through foreign lands. Sixteen Eagle Scouts from Wayne, Pa., were last fortnight welcomed by the acting Lord Mayor of London. Eight Sea Scouts from Chicago constitute part of the crew of the John Borden-Field Museum expedition, now collecting fauna in Arctic regions. Two Scouts from Excelsior, Minn., are officially carrying greetings to Denmark. Possibly one Scout will accompany Commander Richard E. Byrd's expedition to the South Pole in 1928.

In 17 years, some 3,500,000 U. S. lads over twelve years of age have been Boy Scouts. There are now 856,000 active members and officials. Particularly, do Scouts point with pride to honorary officers. Calvin Coolidge is Honorary President, William Howard Taft, Colin H. Livingstone, Daniel C. Beard* and William G. McAdoo are Honorary Vice Presidents.

Last May, a new type of Scout was created--to be chosen from "American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys. . . ." Eighteen men have been found worthy of this distinction which bears the title of Honorary Scout. They are:

Roy Chapman Andrews Robert Abram Bartlett Frederick R. Burnham Richard E. Byrd George K. Cherrie James L. Clark Merian C. Cooper Lincoln Ellsworth Louis Agassiz Fuertes /- George Bird Grinnell Charles A. Lindbergh Donald Baxter MacMillan Clifford H. Pope George Palmer Putnam Kermit Roosevelt Carl Rungius Stewart Edward White Orville Wright

* Founder of the U. S. Boy Scouts, National Scout Commissioner.

/- Killed last week (see p. 21).