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GIRONDE 322 GIRTON COLLEGE National Council, composed of represen- tatives from local councils and other members elected by the National Coun- cil. National headquarters ai'e main- tained in New York to carry out the policies of the National Council, A lo- cal council may be organized in any community. This is a body of men and women, representing the schools, churches, social and civic organizations, playgrounds, newspapers, and such bodies as the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Clubs. This council is organized for the purpose of promoting and super- vising girl scout units in the district. The unit of organization is the patrol of eight members each. One or more patrols form a troop, and they ai'e grouped whenever possible according to age and congeniality. Each patrol has a leader and a corporal, and each troop a captain. The captain may choose lieutenants to assist her. It is advisable that a troop of two patrols have a lieutenant, and that for every additional two patrols an- other lieutenant be secured. Each troop selects for its name a flower, tree, shrub, or bird. The members wear the emblem over the left pocket of their uniforms. Troops may be formed in connection with any church, school, playgound, settlement, or other institution or organ- ization. Unattached troops are also suc- cessful. Troop meetings are held weekly, with the program fairly divided between recreation and education. Any girl from ten to eighteen years of age, who is will- ing to subscribe to the promise and laws required of candidates, to the effect that they will try to do their duty to God and country and make certain resolutions, may become a scout after passing a "tenderfoot" test. Captains are over 21 years of age and are commissioned by the National Headquarters on paying a fee of 60 cents. There is a fee of 25 cents for each scout, and a subscription to the "American Girl" magazine is also re- quired. Parallel organizations exist in Hawaii, Russia, Norway, Central Amer- ica, Alaska, Denmark, the Philippines, West Indies, Great Britain, Palestine, Canada, Australia, Poland, Serbia, Bel- gium, Italy, Portugal, New Zealand, and China. In France a similar organization is called "Les Eclaireuses," and in Eng- land there are Girl Guides. In 1920 a campaign was set going for funds to aid the organization. GIRONDE (zhe-rond'), a maritime de- partment in France; formed of part of the old province of Guienne; area, 3,761 square miles; capital, Bordeaux. It is watered mainly by the Garonne and the Dordogne, and by the Gironde, the es- tuary formed by the union of these two divers. The E. two-thirds of the sur- face consists of a fertile hill and dale region; the remainder, in the W. next the ocean, belongs to the Landes. In the E. and N. E. the soil is chiefly calca- reous. Wine is the staple product of the department. Grain, vegetables, pota- toes, pulse, and fruit are grown large- ly. On the downs or sandhills of the W. coast there are extensive plantations of pine, from which turpentine, pitch, and charcoal are obtained. The principal manufactures are salt, sugar, wax can- dles, porcelain, and glass, chemical prod- ucts, paper and tobacco. Pop. about 830,000. GIRONDIST ( ji-ron'dist) , or GIRON- DT'N (-ron'din) ; the name of a great political party in France ; one of the most powerful factors in the earlier part of the first French Revolution. When the Legislative Assembly met in 1791, it was found to contain representatives of the upper, the middle, and the lower classes. The Girondists were the party of the middle classes, and were republican in sentiment. They obtained their desig- nation from the fact that their most celebrated leaders, Vergniaud, Guadet, and Gen Sonne, were members for the de- partment of the Gironde, originally lawyers in the law court of Bordeaux. In 1791 they were the most powerful party in the Assembly, and for a time shaped the policy of their country. When conservative Europe threatened France with invasion, it was the Giron- dists who, in April, 1792, declared war, the Jacobins deprecating hostilities, as fearing the result. To overcome their monarchic rivals, the Girondists co- quetted with the last-named party, and found that they had gained, not a ser- vant, but a master. The quarrel be- tween the two arose after the massacres perpeti-ated in August and September, 1792, and the extreme revolutionists ul- timately prevailing, an armed mob on May 3i, 1793, assailed the Convention, and demanded the imprisonment of 29 Girondist deputies. These were arrested on June 2, and 21 of them were guillo- tined on Oct. 31. Others were subse- quently put to death ; a few escaping, re- appeared in the Convention after the fall of Robespierre. GIRTON CGLLEGE, a noted college for women in England, instituted at Hitchin in 1869, but removed to Girton, near Cambridge, in 1873. Instruction is given in divinity, modern languages, classics, mathematics, moral science, nat- ural science, including physiology and chemistry, history, and vocal music. De- gree certificates are granted to those who satisfy their examiners as to their pro-