262 
SCOUTING FOR GIRLS 
try to swing the arm free from the body, so as to use 
the upper arm and back muscles for the weight. 
Another important way to save strain is by pushing 
instead of pulling. It is almost impossible to push any- 
thing so hard as to injure your back or abdominal mus- 
cles. It is almost impossible, on the other hand, to pull 
even a relatively light weight without some strain. If 
you will think of how a horse in harness actually exerts 
his strength in drawing a wagon, you will see that what 
he does is to push against the straps, and it is the straps 
that pull the wagon. Even the strongest horse could 
not pull a wagon with his teeth very far, or pull some- 
thing tied only to the back leg muscles. Get behind and 
push is the rule to remember, and never resort to pulling 
until you have tried every device for pushing instead. 
If you must pull, try to use heavy muscles, such as leg 
muscles, to do it with. Often a weight may be lifted or 
pulled by getting the foot under or in back and using 
the arms only to steer with. This applies particularly to 
objects like trunks or bureaus. 
Always take advantage of any natural leverage that 
you can and if you must move something heavy, do not 
lift it at once and attempt to carry, it, but lift one end 
and swing or shove it and then lift the other end and 
shove it. If you will watch expressmen at work you will 
notice that they roll boxes and trunks, holding them 
almost on end and tipping them just enough to turn 
them along their shortest axis. In this way the boxes 
carry themselves, so far as their main weight is con- 
cerned. 
Carrying a weight on the head or shoulders is another 
way of converting a pull into a push, and this is taken 
advantage of by peasant women in Europe, who often 
are seen carrying heavy weights to market in baskets 
perched on their heads, while they stride along arm-free. 
