One of our reporters had been cut on the story of an affray between the police and a gang of armed robbers, which he described,—as all young reporters since date historic in the annals of jenine have felt in duty bound to as "a miniature Sidney Street." After writing his story he drifted in and asked:—"What was Sidney Street? Do you know?"
Well, it was like this, I made the very rare mistake one morning, when in London, of getting to the office a few minutes before time, and a harassed news editor, in a constant fever because it was the era of the Peter the Painter mysteries, and he was seared about some day getting scooped over a new sensation, gasped:—"Thank heaven for your insomnia! Get the quickest way to Sidney Street, which is some where off Whitechapel Road, There's shooting there." And there was! During three hours there were inass-4 round one narrow but tall house, several hundred policemen, a Com: pany of Guards from Wellington Barracks, a squad of sailors, three or four fire engines and Indders, with their crews, and a couple of light howitzers (though these were rot used), not to mention Mr. Winston. Churchill. Of and on, the majority of this force laced into the building with almost every brand of modern firearms—the Guards, with their rifles, the police with vistals, rifles, and sporting guns of infinite variety, hastily colleeted from police stations or gunsmiths in the neighbourhood, whilst sailors and firemen scaled the roofs and tried to do something from there. The place eventually took fire and that was the end of it, Such "Sidney Strect"—a phrase of employment though many have never heard the story, The First Boy Scout Another memory came up within a half-hour of the question, for I Toot a London paper and noted a preliminary story of the celebrations which are b arranged for the Autumn to_mark he coming-of-age of the Boy Scouts cement. I rather like the Boy Scouts, except for their broom handles. The Shanghi ramsay Ca. omits most things which might wake its sardine-tins a trifle less uncomfortable—notably special racks to hold Boy Scouts' staves, end appreciation of the movement suffers seriously when a pole is jabbed on to the funny bone not 0 nected with a strap, or when it slips from a casual hold and follo athwart one's head, However, that aside.
It is probable that no Boy Scout of to-day knows how suddenly the movement sprung into life, gripping the boys of the Empire from the beginning and growing at a tremen-Gaus rate. 'It had been a slack ay, and the quota of news was short, so the news editor said:—lytechnic for you to-night, Baden-Powelt's there, arg he may say something." Now, at that time, the glamour of the' defence of Mafeking had worn off and, a though 'Sir Robert Baden-Powell occasionally bobbed into temporary Prominence over one subject ther, he did not rank as a first class "news story," so it seemed like being a tame' affair, especially as there was no hint as to what 5 coming.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.