--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Kelley, A. L. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 32 number: 8 published: 1929-06 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "A. L. Kelley, “An Exciting Test of Scout Skill,” *Improvement Era* 32, no. 8 (June 1929): 649–651." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3208unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera3208unse start_page: 649 end_page: 651 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1929-06) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3208unse publication_year: 1929 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1929, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # An Exciting Test of Scout Skill An Exciting Test of Scout Skill By A. L. Kelley, Superintendent Moapa Stake Y. M. M. I. A. and Superintendent of Schools Educational District No. 1 Note: I have gone over the scene of the incident, and know intimately all the persons who participated. I have talked with each of the principals and verified by checking and re-checking every phase of the story. I therefore un- hesitatingly vouch for the accuracy of every statement made therein. (Overton, Nevada, April 13, 1929.) — The Author. COUTING has again proved its effectiveness in a highly unique and dramatic way. Time, May 17, 1928; place. Bunkerville, Nevada. Mrs. Cleone Pulsipher, helping her aged father with the repair of a mowing ma- chine, was called to the house by her mother. She complied but left her little two-year-old girl with the grandfather. When the immediate household duties were completed, she thought of her girl and called to her father and in- quired about the child. The child was not there and her father did not know where it had gone. Re- peated calls brought no response, and hurried search brought no result. Between the place of work and the house, ran an irrigation canal carrying about two feet of water, over which a wide plank was used for a bridge. The mother of the child ran to this bridge, but saw no trace of the child. Filled with fear she ran along the canal, searching as she went. About twenty rods below the bridge and a few yards ahead of her, she saw what she thought was a piece of cloth momentarily catch on a willow but immediately disappear. Brush and trees obstructed pass- age, so she jumped over the canal, ran around the brush, and sprang into the stream below, just in time to see the cloth come to the surface again. She grabbed it and pulled up the lifeless body of her little girl. Grief-stricken, she scrambled out of the canal and ran toward the house with the child in her arms, crying for help. RESCUERS AND RESCUED Left to right: Willie Eaton. Aschel Leavitt. Byrel Pulsipher (baby). 650 IMPROVEMENT ERA Jm*. 1929 Scout Aschel Leavitt and his father were working in a field about fifty rods away. Hearing the mother's cry for help, Aschel ran across the fields to see what had happened and to give aid. His father being slow on foot mounted a horse and rode through the field and around by the road, a distance of nearly half a mile. Willie Eaton, another scout and a cousin of the drowned child, heard the cry also and ran from another direction. Both scouts arrived on the scene about the same time. The women folk and the grandfather had secured a barrel and were rolling the body on it. Willie said, "Let us take the body, grandpa. We are trained in scouting to do that kind of work." There was some objection, but the scouts saw that the body was turning blue and that time was precious. It was evident that the older folk didn't know what to do. So Willie slipped under the women's arms and in front of them, took the child from the barrel, and began to work. However, Aschel, being the larger and older boy, assumed control. He called for a quilt, folded it, put it down in the middle of the street where they were, placed the child face downward on the quilt with a small folded blanket under the abdomen and the head slightly turned, and began artificial respira- tion, using the Schafer method of resuscitation. Very soon Aschel's father arrived on horse-back. There being no doctor in the town, the group thought of the scoutmaster, Mr. L. C. Schank. as the best available help. So Mr. Leavitt was sent to the home of the scoutmaster, but Mr. Schank was not there. He was directed elsewhere, and so went from place to place, hurriedly telling the story and asking for Mr. Schank. He finally learned that the latter had gone to Mesquite, so he returned to the scene of action. A large crowd had gathered — some said half of the people of Bunker- ville. The child had not yet shown any signs of reviving. In the meantime as the crowd gathered, Aschel kept faithfully at his task. The grandfather watched excitedly for a few minutes; and then, saying "That isn't doing any good, the child will die if we don't do something else," he reached down, took up the child and started to run. Aschel quickly caught him, by main strength took the little girl from him and hurried back to the quilt and the resuscitation. And so they continued their work. Aschel applying the artificial respiration and Willie kneeling at the head wiping away the water as it came from the body and keeping the mouth free so that breathing would be unobstructed. The crowd increased in size. Protests against continued effort, suggestions for other treatment, and attempts to interfere came from all sides; but cool-headed persons in the crowd insisted that the scouts were doing well and should be allowed to continue. The June. 1929 AN EXCITING TEST OF SCOUT SKILL 65 1 boys ignored them all, confident that their scout instruction is sound. They just put their heads down, paid no attention to the crowd, and worked on. Again the grandfather's patience was exhausted, again he slipped in and grabbed up the child to take it away, and again Aschel took it from him by force and continued resuscitation. After twenty-five or thirty minutes the child gave its first cry, and Aschel said, 'Ah, now it is beginning to come." As he worked on, signs of revival became more frequent. When he thought it had about recovered, he tested the heart, but decided the heart beat was still too weak. He permitted Willie to con- tinue artificial respiration. However, Willie's operation did not quite suit Aschel, so he again took over the work. When he de- cided the pulse was nearly normal, he called for strong warm coffee. Again the crowd protested. "Do not give that little child strong coffee." "If you are going to give it coffee, make it weak," etc. The grandmother, however, by this time had confidence in the boys, knowing the coffee was intended as a medicine for a definite purpose, and soon procured some and had a pot of it ready for them. Aschel's mother was present, so he asked her to take the child on her lap and give it the coffee. However, Aschel seemed to have a standard of workmanship which the others didn't reach, at least in his opinion. So he again took over the operation, telling his mother that he was afraid the child would swallow its tongue and choke if she continued in the way she was doing it. When he himself had ad- ministered the coffee, the little girl vomited up a large quantity of water. He again tested its pulse, and being satisfied, he handed her over to her mother saying. "Now I think she will be all right." He who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows out that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. The orderly arrangement of his time is like a ray of light which darts itself through all his occupations. But where no plan is laid, where the dis- posal of time is surrendred merely to the chance of incidents, all things lie huddled together in one chaos, which admits of neither distribution nor re- view.— Hugo.