Three Things Wanted

"If you were all good Girl Scouts--and as tired as I am--" said the white-haired lady in the grey-green uniform, ''you would all sit on the floor."

So the bevy of female newsgatherers hovering around '"Buffalo" (Girl Honorary Scout President Lou Henry Hoover)--for it was she and not Mrs. Herbert Hoover, First Lady of the Land--all squatted down just as though they were beside a campfire in the woods instead of in a Manhattan art gallery whither ''Buffalo" had come for the opening of an Americana exhibition.

"You know," continued "Buffalo," 'I never give interviews. But this isn't an interview. It is just a few moments' quiet talk about the Girl Scouts."

She told them the three things the Girl Scouts need most:

1) "Girls. . . . More and more girls, for the joy they get out of the organization, because in scouting they may help themselves instead of having things thrust upon them. It is what they put into the organization that makes them happy. That is true of everything in life. . . ."

2 ) "Money. . . . They cannot pay for everything themselves because they are not all little rich girls, and it would not be right in this democracy for the rich to pay for the poor ones, so the dues must be the same for all, and that does not bring in enough money. . . ."

3) "Leaders. . . . Any nice lady can be friendly to a little girl, but she cannot be a Scout leader without training. So we have training classes in camps and universities and these are why we need money."

Earlier that day "Buffalo" had exclaimed: "I think it is so appropriate to have Girl Scouts associated with an exhibition of antique furniture." The antiques -- $2,000,000 worth of them including Gilbert Stuart paintings, Queen Anne chairs, a Chippendale clock, a Goddard block front desk -- had been lent by people like Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr., Mrs. Francis Patrick Garvan, Henry F. du Pont, Walter Jennings. Admissions were charged for the benefit of a $3,000,000 Girl Scout fund which is to be raised in the next five years. Mrs. Hoover brought news from Washington that the American Relief Administration was going to contribute $500,000. Corollary object of the drive: to increase Girl Scout membership from 200,000 to 500,000.

Next day, changing from Scout uniform to Alice-blue ensemble with black felt hat and silver fox fur, she visited the Girl Scouts' national headquarters, handshook 100 workers and said:

"Charter a car and come down to lunch one day. We will have a real rally on the White House lawn. We might even borrow some tents from the Marines and let you camp there all night!"