THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAy. PORTXANP. MAY 19. 1912.
DOT STOUT
ERDEv
B r W
Juvenile
Oder of
KhRhthGod
Fctablished
mjAL. mam
Crosses of Honor Now . : V l4-'V-;-- ' " i ! ll
Conferred Upon Scouts ' . V- j 'U " H
WhoExhibitGreatCour- 1-.:. iV'IC. ll"--. Hi .
age This New Decora- p,, : . r"."" lr '.V. ''f 'YM llljl v 5
tfon Is in Threz Grades C V; - p $tM I I ' Sf '
Bronze, Silver and ; ': J? .TTrv. . ? U v ;
GoZc!-Tuenfy-sei;en ' . 'f ' " f , : J
Lads Hace Had Order V ' Y ' W " '
PinncdonTheir Breasts ; ' UUI-, V;t
hat They Have - j 11 i A ; jf
Done to Earn It 1 vj: . V -- fjk" ; '20'
WE -still llv In n s of hro
worslilp. But it 1 on of th
prorr.l.ilnr lltos cf our tlmo that
rlvillun hro who ava Ufa ara com
Inir In for a atiara of the it'.ory and rr
warit monopolize.! hitherto by itilUtary
hro who taka life. Mr. l'arnK!.
torouih hl "hero fund commission. "
) as lately ihocD tha way toward uch
a ronaummatlnn. and now atepa Into
Jlna that Taatly multlrlylnc Juvanlla
arm of ours, tna Hoy jouta of Amer
) 304.000 troric with a similar o
trrprlae for foterln thla higher and
tri;r plrll of heroism.
The National council of thta Jurenlle
avrmr of pears has authoriied an "honor
n.erfAl" to be conferred npon ea-h Boy
S.-out for whom It can be proel that
1 e r!ked his own Ufa to snatch the life
.f auotner from tha Jaws of the rl
fley troyer.
Hut before such a precious decora
tion ran be conferred tha evidence of
urH youthful heroism must be Investi
gated by the court of honor of the local
ouocil of Boy Scouts, which may In
vite experts to share In Its examine-
rMnmmni1itloni. If the re
port Is then favorable, the facts are
next presented to the court of honor of
the National council, which Is a tri
umvirate composed of Ernest Thomp
son Heton. "chief scout of America":
Daniel Carter Beard. "National scout
commissioner," and James K. West. "Na
tional scout executive." Thla supreme
tribunal, after carefully welhlna; the
evidence, awards or refuses the honor
medal, as It sees fit.
To the Boy tfcout this new decoration
Ii as precious as Is the famed Order of
the Garter or of the Golden Kleece to
the aristocrat of the Old Word. By
receiving the order upon his breast he
becomes one of our youthful knights,
and the Insignia la a token that he may
be depended upon to defend and succor
the weak and helpless and to exercise
the chivalry of the young; knlghta of
old who pledged themselves to the de
fense of women and devotion to their
honor and persons.
Tbe ""nree Grades.
"The honor medal ts a National
honor." states the new handbook of the
organization. Like foreign orders. It Is
awarded In different grades. There la
a bronze cross "awarded to a scout who
haa saved life." It Is worn suspended
from a bar by red ribbon. Next high
er is the silver cross awarded to a scout
"who saves life with considerable risk
to himself." A blue ribbon holds this
to Its bar. Ajid the highest and most
coveted grade of all Is the gold cross,
suspended from Its bar by a white rib
bon. v
This gold cross "Is the highest pos-
sihlo award for service and heroism. It
attests that Its wearer "haa saved life
at the greatest possible risk to his own
life."
Each of these orders is in the form
of a maltese cross, superimposed upon
which Is the American eaclo and shield
of the first-class scout's badge. The bar
from which the medal is suspended
bears the admonition "Be Prepared."
The decoration In whatever degree
awarded. Is worn upon the left breast.
To date it has been conferred upon
17 young heroes, and I am Indebted
to Chief Scout Executive West for de
scriptions of the deeds of valor which
have earned them. But before describ
ing some of the most Interesting of
these rescues it would be well to ex
plain that a considerable space in the
official handbook Issued to our Boy
6couta Is devoted to Instruction In first
aid to the Injured and endangered.
Scout masters throughout the country
are placing much Importance upon the
training of their armies In this work,
in which the scouts take much pride.
Consciousness that In case of emer
gency they are prepared to help either
strangers or those near and dear to
them soon thrills them with satisfac
tion. Remembered "First-Aid" Rules.
This training has enabled several
scouts to earn the coveted cross of
honor. One of these is Vincent Xe
vinny of tit. Paul. His heroic work
haa been investigated by a committee
of representative men of that city,
whose report went up to the National
court of honor.
It appears that while Scout Devtnny
waa swimming in gircn 0, Winn.. ,io
heard a companion, Scout Hillman. give
a cry for help. . Believing that the cry
was merely a hoax, Devinny did not re
spond at first. But. upon seeing that
the lad went down. Devinny struck out
for him. Taking care to protect him
self from being death-locked by the
desperate boy, and thus being pulled to
the bottom by him, Devinny. with pres
ence of mind, grasped Hillman by the
hair and after towing him for 60 feet,
got his footing in shoal water. Where
he brought up. however, the bottom was
filled with soft mud. from which at
each step he could lift his feet only
with great difficulty. And to make
matters worse, the rescued boy was
now limp and lifeless, so the brave
young scout had to drag him and final
ly lift him toward shore. Thus he
floundered until he reached the bank,
but upon laying his burden down It
appeared to be a corpse. It so hap
pened that Devinny had been studying
the "first aid" chapter of his -manual
the day before, and Instead of running.
In panic, for aid from a distance, he
set right to work, following his little
book of tactics as nearly as he could
remember. It was a long and trying
ordeal, fraught with awful suspense,
but the bravo young scout held on with
tenacity, and waa at length rewarded
by the sight of signs of life in Hillman.
who had his companion not studied
his little book on the previous day,
would have been brought home to his
mother a cold corpse.
Resuscitated I.lttle Girl.
This first aid training was equally
potent in placing the hero's cross upon
the breast of Scout Benjamin Barnes, of
Ridgewood, N. J. Young Benny was
having great Bport at Asbury Park
watching his toy sailboat speed, in a
stiff breeze, across the ripples of Deal
Lake. Presently a floating object,
. ka a nf his irflni-lnK craft.
C1UBO I" 1 " " " - " . "
caught Ben's eye, and while he kept
his gaze upon it, uw mwufinv '
a little hand move out of the water
near it-
Without another thought, he splashed
into the big lake, swam with an his
might to the grim object now sinking
below the surface, and taking hold of
the fold of a dress, pulled up what
proved to be the body of a little girl.
He towed the lifeless form to shore
... 3 j i i. vl.tin,, etelr-
wiin aue uiBpttix-i. " -
Ing assistance applied the rules for re
suscitation which his scout master had
taught him. And that no anew ...
lesson well was demonstrated by the
girl's revival from a condition mat
would have speecmy resun
Young Hero of Ice Tragedy.
One of these young heroes enjoys the
honor of having had his prized cross
jt hi. thrill hnsom by Lteu-
lUMIieu Uluu ua ....... - -
tenant General Sir Robert Baden-Powell,
chief scout of Great Britain, during
that notable's visit to America; The
recipient of this special honor was
Scout .Kaymona Isaac Am,..
Patrol Troy. N. T.. and I have from
1.1. -..A,,, master the following account
of his deed, thus rewarded:
"November is. Deiween o mu
a still cold day, several boys and young
men were playing on the Ice on Bur
den's Pond. The Ice was thin and gave
way, throwing three young men into
the water. These were Fred Bobbs.
Richard Willis and Roy Bruce. The
latter could swim and got out unaided.
When the young men went In Tifft
seized a shinny stick and crawled out
on the thin and broken ice. and telling
the men to be quiet he handed them
the end of the stick. The first man
was rescued In this way.
"Then Tiff t had to go back and get
out the second man. who by this time
was almost exhausted. Tifft had some
difficulty In pulling him up on the Ice,
and almost went In himself. He got
thoroughly soaked, caught a very heavy
cold and was confined to his house
for three weeks as a result of his
Cff"Itt was proved to the satisfaction of
the local court of honor that Tifft took
big chances in going on the Ice and
that he performed his duty and un
doubtedly saved the lives of both Bobbs
and Willi. The rescued men were both,
about 18 or 20. The scout la 15, a
good swimmer."
Rescued a Cripple.
Another remarkable Instance of cour
age, rewarded by this new order of
merit was that displayed lately by
Scout J. Fred Roming, of Baltimore.
On the 10th of April the members of
his troop while In swimming In the
Magothe River, were playing taggers,
and one of them, a cripple since birth,
who could not swim, got out of mi
depth. A swirt current mua
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Mil
1
M
IE1P!
BY JOHN T. M9 CUTCilEON.
: --r-
CfflIF,
TIZ GREAT -&LACKBEARD-2?ITD1TATJN3 JETIS CHIEF?
WXir.S Columbus first landed In
the Western Hemisphere It was
on one of tbe Bahama Is'.ands. At
that time many of the Islands of this
group were inhabited, but Columbua
continued hts cruise on to Cuba and
Haytl. where he estab'.lshed settlements
and began that great work of exploi
tation which In a few years nearly
wiped out the native population. When
the natives were so reduced in num
bers tiiat there were not enough to
work the mines, the Spaniards sent ex
peditions up to seize the natives of the
Bahama Islands. Thla work was so
thorough:y done that within or TO
years the Bahamas were totally depop
ulated. And It was not until a hun
dred years later. In 1CT. that an Eng
lish aJventurer. named Captain Sayle,
c-.ade the ftrst white settlement that
waa atarted In the Eiiiticu. He called
H New Providence. One hundred and
seventy-five years had passed since the
fTst white man had landed In the
g.-ouj. and la aU ttat Uc not one bad
discovered what a beautiful spot the
little laland of New Providence Is.
And yet. behold what a dog-tn-the-manger
policy the Fpanlarda exhibited
when they heard that Captain Sayle
had founded a settlement In the Ba
hamas. They pounced down upon the
infant settlement, roasted the govern
or over an open fire, destroyed every
thing they couldn't carry off, and then
departed for sunny Hispaniola.
The fact that all the settlers of New
Providence were wreckers and pirates
may nave given the Spaniards cause
for their rude behavior: but however
rude It was. it was not rude enough.
The pirates continued to make New
Providence (or Nassau, aa it Is today)
their headquarters, and they used the
numerous small keys of tbe Bahamas
and the hundreds of tortuous channels
and shallow waterways as their re
treats. Throughout the entire chain
of Islands the pirates and buccaneers
flourished and Increased, until tbe
Spaniard became much, exasperated.
Time after time they returned to wipe
out the pirates, but without success.
Finally the plratea scuttled some ships
of his British majesty and King
George sent Captain Wooda Rogers
with Instructions to wipe them out.
At that time Nassau was the rendes
tous of Edward Teach, alias "Black
beard." the leader of the most despe
rate band of plratea the world has ever
seen.
. Blackbeard waa a pirate who lived
up to all that one would expect of a
pirate. He had long, black, flowing
whiskers, which he wore twisted In
little tails, and tad lighted matches
under his hat. sticking out over each
of his ears. At such, times he looked
like the devil, and It la said that to be
the latter's mortal understudy waa his
chief embltlon In life. If one would
have called him a demon Incarnate.
Blackbeard would have considered It
a great compliment.
To Illustrate Just the aort of a pirate
Blackbeard mu, the folio wing, little
U.Man, -n.v he tl I MTT1 lnStln T. Oil! lift V
while hiB pirate ship waa lying under
the lee of Hog Island In Nassau har
bor, he decided that things were dull
and that he would get up a little
amusement to while the Idle hours
away. So he made himself look more
devilish than usual and took all his
crew down between decks, battened
down the batches, and set fire to a
ton of brimstone. The crew nearly
perished before they could burst open
the hatches and escape, but Blackboard
aat through It all, breathing fumea and
smoke and grinning with diabolical
glee.
When the pirates of Nassau heard
that Captain Woodea Rogers was com
ing over they held a congress to de
cide what their action should be. Some
wished to fortify the island and defy
the captain: others were In favor of
accepting the terms of His Majesty's
proclamation, which granted them par
don for past offensea If they behaved
in the future.
Captain Jennings, the commodore ex
the pirates and a man of good estate
and intelligence before he took to pi
rating, resolved to surrender and be
good, and, influenced by his action,
about 160 others also took the pledge,
although most of them never lived up
to It. For example, of those who took
the pledge, Benjamin Horingold. Will
lam Burgess and Oliver la Rouche, were
afterward engaged In pirating and
were cast away; Blackbeard and Major
Penner were killed and their crews
captured: Jamea Fife was killed by
his own men: John, Martel was ma
rooned on a desert Island; ' Thomaa
Cockelyn. R. Sample and Charles Vane
were banged; Christopher Winter and
Nicholas Brown were captured by
Spaniards, and Captain England fled
to Madagascar, where he became one
of the pirate kings who ruled In that
far-away Island. v
When Captain Roger arrived In Nas
sau most of the pirates who were then
ashore surrendered to him, but Charles
Vane sailed out. of one entrance to
the harbor while the British man-of-war
came In the other, and so escaped.
As stated above, the pirates, like many
political delegates, did not consider
their Instructions binding.
One day Captain Rogers sent out a
sloop to get pYovisions and gave the
command to a reformed pirate named
John Augur. It seems that John's re
formation was only 6kln deep, for
.when he got out to sea. he began pirat
ing with a vengeance, cauiuriug
couple of sloops, and decided that he
would leave the Bahamas. Unfortun
ately, a storm came up and wrecked his
vessels, so that he and his crew were
cast upon a lonely Island, where they
lived in the woods. In course of time
Captain Rogers heard of their plight
and sent an armed sloop out to capture
them. They were promptly captured
and brought to Nassau for trial. One
of them turned King's evidence and he
escaped, while the other ten were sen
tenced to be hanged.
Thus, upon, a beautiful day, the ten
backsliding pirates were brought out
In the open air to fulfill their part in
the ceremony. Grouped around them
were hundreds of reformed pirates,
who were addressed In scathing and
contemptuous terms by the condemned
men. The details are from Johnson's
"History of the Pyrates":
" 'I never thought to have seen the
time,' said one In his ante-mortem ad
dress, when ten such men as we should
be tied up and 'hanged like dogs, and
400 of our sworn friends and compan
ions quietly standing by to behold the
spectacle.'
"One Humphrey Morrice, In making
his last remarks, called his spectators
a lot of pusillanimous cowards. He
thought it was a breach of honor In
them not to rise and save their old
companions from an ignominious
death.
"When the officers in charge of the
hanging told them that the time for
speechmaking was getting short, and
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