From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 29, 1913:

“Boy Scout activities will soon begin in good earnest, and the officials of the newly organized local council for Lawrence are hoping that all boys who are interested will get in touch with some group that is doing active work. As soon as the weather becomes favorable a ‘hike’ for all scouts and prospective scouts will be arranged, probably for Saturday, April 5. Further notices will be given next week. Scouts are organized in troupes, each with a registered Scout master, and consisting of one or more patrols. The plan is for each church in the city to form a troup, and each troup will be assigned a number from New York headquarters. The Congregational Troup has been enrolled nearly two years and is Lawrence No. 1. Boys from churches where no scout work is being carried on will be formed into a troup under the city Y.M.C.A., but none will be enrolled who are not members of some Sunday School. The lower age limit is twelve years. There is an official uniform handled by the Eisner Company of Redbank, N.J., whose Lawrence agent is Ober’s. This uniform can be bought only after a boy has become a scout…. Boys going on the ‘hikes’ may, however, buy regulation leggings and haversacks before becoming scouts…. A word might be said here regarding the aims and purposes of the scout movement. In the United States the aim is to develop honest and clean boys, prepared to meet the emergencies of daily life. The plan is to co-operate with the home and the church by leading the way to outdoor activities and training in woodcraft, in nature study, and in ways of helpfulness. In European countries there is a distinct military spirit in many instances which has influenced the methods there used, but here this spirit is entirely omitted in precept and practice of our working organization, the name of which is ‘Boy Scouts of America.’ A few years ago there was another organization in this country known as the ‘American Boy Scouts,’ under an entirely different leadership. It was copied from England, without being adapted to American ideals, used military methods and has died the natural death which would be expected of it.”