Railways a National Industry 423 



locking ; a set of standard block instruments~and bells ; 

 an electric train staff apparatus for single line working, and 

 various diagrams. The lectures, given in the shareholders' 

 meeting-room at Euston by the company's expert in signalling, 

 were attended by students representing nearly all the different 

 departments on the station, and the results of the examinations 

 subsequently held were so satisfactory that the company have 

 since established similar classes at various other centres, in 

 addition. 



To ensure the general efficiency of their clerical staff the 

 London and North- Western Company hold (i) an educational 

 examination which a boy must pass before he enters the 

 service ; (2) a further examination, at the end of two years, 

 to test the clerk's knowledge of shorthand, railway geography 

 and the railway work on which he has been engaged ; and (3) 

 an examination before the clerk's salary is advanced beyond 

 50 per annum, it being necessary for him to show a thorough 

 knowledge of shorthand, and to write a paper on such subjects 

 as block working, train working or development of traffic. 



The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company have also 

 established, at their head offices in Manchester, a School for 

 Signalling, the complete equipment with which it is furnished 

 including a full-sized lever frame. Instruction is given free 

 both to the head office staff and to the staff at the stations 

 within a radius of twelve miles. Special lectures, also, have 

 occasionally been given to the staff in the chief engineer's 

 department by that officer's assistants. Another feature 

 of the educational work of the Lancashire and Yorkshire is 

 the sending round to the various locomotive sheds of what is 

 known as an instruction van. A full description of this van 

 will be found in the " Railway Gazette " for January 22, 1909. 



The Great Central Railway Company, to meet their require- 

 ments more particularly at the head offices and in connection 

 with their Continental business, adopted in 1908 a scheme 

 designed to enable them to secure the services of a certain 

 number of young men with higher educational qualifications 

 than were usually possessed by those who previously pre- 

 sented themselves for junior clerkships. The company accord- 

 ingly offer six positions annually to members of the existing 

 staff, under twenty-five years of age, who display the highest 

 standard of knowledge and ability in a competitive examina- 



