THE JAMBOREE.
BOY SCOUT ACTIVITIES IN HONGKONG.

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"Scout Jamboree!" "What is it?" "What is it for?" "What Scouts are there in Hongkong?" "What are they doing?" are just a few of the questions that are being asked at present when the Jamboree is mentioned.
   The Jamboree, so called because it cannot very well be called anything else, will consist in this casc of an Exhibition and a Concert, both to take place on Friday and Saturday next. On Friday, proceedings will commence in the City Hall at 4 p.m., when His Excellency the Chief Scout of Hongkong will declare the Jamboree open. All the rooms in the first floor will be in use, in St. Andrew's Hall being the Exhibition proper, where specimens of Scout handicraft will be on view, and the Scouts themselves will be seen at work. St. George's Hall is to be used as an arena in which a succession of displays will be performed, the principal one of which being the construction of a 24 ft. trestle bridge by a squad of scouts drawn from the several troops and trained by Staff Sergeant Best of the R.E's. On Saturday the show will commence at 2.30 p.m., and on both nights this part of the Jamboree will close at 7 p.m. In addition to the displays in the arena on Saturday afternoon the 6th Hongkong Troop will perform a Scout Play in Chinese, which has been written by one of the Chinese Scoutmasters. The small room opening off St. George's Hall will be devoted to the Nature Study and Artist Section, where a very interesting collection of Hongkong Butterflies, Moths etc. made by the "Roving Fifth" will be on view. Admission to the Exhibition will be free, though a small charge will be made for the Chinese Play.
   Tea will be obtainable at moderate charges in the Chamber of Commerce Room.
   On both nights, the second part of the Jamboree, the Grand Concert, will be held in the Theatre Royal at 9.15 p.m. Several interesting and amusing items are on the programme, not least of which is a more modern version of Shakespeare's "Tempest" than that recently produced by the A.D.C. Tickets for the concert can be obtained from Messrs. Moutrie's or from any Boy Scout or Scouter.
   The purpose of the Jamboree is threefold,- to show that the Scouts in Hongkong are alive, to arouse interest and gain support, and to increase membership in all ranks.
   There are about 200 Scouts in the Colony on the books of the various troops, of which about 150 are really actively and regularly spending their spare time in Scouting. There are at present eight troops and one patrol of Sea Scouts, and shortly two other troops will be in process of formation.
   Something of what Scouts here are doing will be seen during the Jamboree, but far more goes on than can be shown in an Exhibition. For instance, there are about 350,000 Scouts of all ranks registered at Imperial Headquarters in London. During the year 1922, three Bronze Crosses were awarded for heroism, thirty-five Silver Crosses for gallantry with risk of life, and twenty-seven Gilt Crosses for plucky and meritorious action. Three out of these twenty-seven Gilt Crosses were won by Hongkong Scouts, all three being Chinese boys. In each case the boy's actions were entirely the result of Scout Training, added to the "heart" to put that training into use. Ten days ago a party of five Chinese scouts set out from Hongkong to visit some scouts not belonging to this Association who live on the mainland north of Macao. They left Macao at 6 a.m. and without a map reached their destination at 4 p.m., having walked the whole way. The same week end, a party from another troop started on a trek-camp in the New Territory, and pitched their tents where the Smugglers' Pass joins Pineapple Pass. The next morning several of them walked over very rough country along the Shing Mun Valley to Shatin in order to get back to Hongkong for a rehearsal in the afternoon, which they attended and at once returned to their camp that same evening. Boys who formerly never left the City Streets are now finding out the joys of explorations and benefits of the country in which they live, and it is in order that this pleasure may be afforded to other that your support of this splendidly sane and healthy movement is requested.