Page:Boy Scouts and What They Do.djvu/52

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"The Daily Scout."

The Printer Scouts, by way of showing their practical knowledge, edited, printed, and sold a daily paper for the week. They had their staff of reporters, editor, sub-editors, compositors, machinists and sellers, who all worked hard and produced a most creditable little news-sheet. "The Daily Scout" was sold for a penny, and went like "hot cakes." The supply was often unequal to the demand, and so keen were people to obtain copies, that enterprising speculators are said to have resold copies at a profit of 1,100%. One of the "Daily Scout" reporters, by the way, was offered three good positions by different people who had watched him at work. Nor was this the only case of its sort, for various cute employers looked round, and picked up some very promising lads for their works and offices, giving them positions from which they had every prospect of rising rapidly.

Scout Clerks.

Coming from part of the hall was the incessant click of the typewriters. It was the clerks' section where Scouts were being put through their paces for the various qualifications necessary to win this badge.

To pass for it a Scout must pass a test in handwriting, handprinting, typewriting (or as an alternative to typewriting, shorthand), writing a letter from memory on a subject given verbally five minutes previously, and simple book-keeping.

There were many Scouts who had made themselves quite experts at shorthand and typewriting with a view to getting better positions later on, and several of these boys were given positions by people who visited the Exhibition, and were impressed by the smart way in which they worked.

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