  Girl Scouts should do everything in their power to make and keep their homes healthy as well as happy. Most of you cannot choose your own dwelling, but whether you live in a house, a cottage, a flat, in rooms, or even in one room of a house, you can do a very great deal to keep it healthy and pure. Fresh air is your great friend; it will help you to fight disease better than anything else. Open all your windows as often as you can, so that the air may get into every nook and corner. Never keep an unused room shut up. You know what a stagnant pool is like—no fresh water runs through it, it is green and slimy, and full of insects and dead things; you would not care to bathe in it. Well, still and stuffy air in a house is very much worse, only, unluckily, its dangers cannot be seen, but they are there lying in ambush for the ignorant person. Disease germs, poisonous gases, mildew, insects, dust, and dirt have it all their own way in stale, used-up air. You do not like to wash in water other people have used, but it is far worse to breathe air other people have breathed. Air does not flow in and flow out of the same opening at the same time any more than water does, so you want two openings in a room—an open window to let the good air in, and a fireplace and chimney to let the stale air out, or, where there is no fireplace, a window open both at top and bottom. The night air in large towns is purer than the day air, and both in town and country you should sleep with your window open if you want to be healthy. Draughts are not good, as they carry away the heat from your body too fast; so if your bed is too near the window, put up a shelter between it and the open window, and cover yourself more. At least one window on a staircase or landing should always be kept open, and also the larder and the closet windows. TidinessMotto: "Tidy as you go." Half your time will be saved if little things are kept tidy. Have a place for everything, and have everything in its place. If you are not sure which is the right place for a thing, think "Where, if I wanted it, should I go to look for it?" That place is the right one. Get into the habit of always making hanks of any string you get, and keep them. War must be waged against rats and mice, or they will multiply and loot everything. If you have no mouse-traps, put a newspaper over a pail of water, break a hole slightly in the center in the form of a star, and place a bit of herring or cheese on the center tips of star to entice the mouse. Let the paper reach to the floor, not too upright, for the mouse to climb up. Try putting broken camphor into their holes; they dislike the smell. Fly and wasp traps are made by tying paper over a tumbler half-filled with water and beer or treacle. Break a hole in the paper, and fit in a tube of rolled paper about one inch long and one inch across. Try to keep yourself neat, and see that the house you live in is clean, sweet, and pleasant. GOLDEN HEALTH HABITS FOR GIRL SCOUTSContributed by Dr. Thomas D. Wood.1. Remember Fresh Air and Sunlight Are The Best Medicines. Ventilate, therefore, every room you occupy. Germs cannot live more than a few minutes in sunlight. Breathe deeply, sleep out, if you can. Work and play as much as possible out-of-doors. 2. Be Not the Slave of Unhygienic Fashions. Be proud to have efficient feet. Wear light, loose and porous, but sufficient clothing. 3. Eat Slowly. Do not eat between meals. Chew food thoroughly. Do not overeat. Remember a Girl Scout is always cheerful and helpful. She eats what is provided and is thankful for it. (She does not complain about her food.) If there are any suggestions she can make, she reserves them until mother or the (camp) cook is preparing the menu or the meal. Eat some hard, some bulky and some raw foods. 4. Drink Pure Water at Frequent Intervals. Remember that not all water that looks pure is free from disease germs. Boil the water if the Scout leader (or older person) is doubtful about it. The few minutes spent in boiling and cooling water is time well spent. Do not drink water when there is food in the mouth. 5. Be Mistress of Your Time—Be Regular in Your Habits of Life. Go to bed early enough to get sufficient sleep. Be in bed 10-1/2 to 10 hours each night. Get up in the morning promptly. Do not doze after it is time to get up. If you have not had enough sleep go to bed earlier the next night. Be sure your bowels move regularly, at least once a day. If outside engagements are so pressing as to conflict with your personal health, remember you have an important "previous engagement" with yourself for sufficient time for meals, sleep, out-of-door exercise and, if necessary, rest. 6. Avoid Infection and Do Not Spread It. Wash your hands always before eating. Use your handkerchief to cover a sneeze or cough and try to avoid coughing, sneezing or blowing the nose in front of others, or at the table. Do not use a common towel or drinking cup, or other appliance which may contain disease germs. 7. Keep Clean. The smell of flowers has been said to be their soul. Try to keep your body as fresh as possible with the sweetness of cleanliness, not perfumery. Take a sponge bath, shower or quick tub bath daily. 8. Play Hard and Fair. Be loyal to your team mates and generous to your opponents. Study hard—and in work, study or play, do your best. 9. Remember Dentist's Bills are Largely Your Own Fault. Get the habit of cleaning your teeth and rinsing your mouth after each meal. It is more than worth the habit. 10. Remember Silence Is Golden. In solitudes poets and philosophers have touched the heights of life. It is valuable for everyone to take account of stock occasionally with oneself. |
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