Campfire Girls
From Encyclopediak
Camp Fire Girls, an organization of girls between ten and 20 years of age, founded in New York City in 1911 by a committee, of which Dr. Luther H. Gulick was chairman. The movement proposes to do for girls along their line of activities what the Boy Scout movement does for boys (See BOY SCOUTS 01-AMERICA). The organization includes three degrees: the wood-gatherers, the fire-makers and the torch-bearers. To become a wood-gatherer a girl must learn to repeat the law of the organization: "Seek beauty, give service, pursue knowledge, be trustworthy, hold on to health, glorify work, be happy." The requirements to become a wood-gatherer are very simple; but before a wood-gatherer can become a fire-maker, an extended preparation covering a somewhat wide range of activities is necessary. The fire-makers must: 1. Help prepare and serve, together with the other candidates, at least two meals for meetings of the Camp Fire. Two meals prepared in the home without advice or help may be substituted. 2. Mend a pair of stockings, a knitted undergarment and hem a dish towel. 3. Keep a written classified account of all money received and spent for at least one month. 4. Tie a square knot five times in succession correctly and without hesitation. 5. Sleep witli open windows or out of doors for at least one month. 6. Take an average of at least half an hour daily outdoor exercise for not less than a month. 7. Refrain from sodas and candy between meals for at least one month. 8. Name tlic cause of infant mortality in summer. Fell h.ow and to what extent it has been reduced in one American community. 9. Know what to do in the following emergencies : clothing on fire ; person in deep water who cannot swim, both in summer and through ice in winter; open cut; frosted foot; fainting. 10. Know the principles of elementary bandaging, and how to use surgeon's plaster. 11. Know what a girl of her age needs to know about herself. 12. Commit to memory any good poem or song not less than 25 lines in length. Know the words to America. 13. Know the career of some woman who has done much for the country or state. It is the ambition of every girl who joins the organization to reach the highest degree, and the plan for attaining this end stimulates the girls to persistent activity. When one becomes a fireworker, it is comparatively easy to become a torch-bearer, or leader. The torch-bearer's motto is "That light which has been given to me I desire to pass undimmed to others." The leader of each local organization has the title of Guardian of the Fire and must obtain a license from the national headquarters before she can found a camp. From its inception the organization has been very popular and it has grown rapidly.
