182 
MAKING OR BREAKING. 
spell), in the hope that the presence of such expressions may soften 
the heart of the examiner and, in some measure, atone for the evident 
absence of their understanding. This, I take it, is no exaggerated 
description. Does it at all come up to our ideas of what may be 
gained by the solution of “ Attack Problems?” Under these circum¬ 
stances are not we most certainly making our young retrievers gun-shy ? 
In the Garrison Artillery every Lieut.-Colonel has a special section 
of a fortress under his command, and as Section C.B.A. lie is bound 
to know every detail connected with the armament and with the defen¬ 
sive features of his section. In small commands the one Lieut.-Colonel 
has charge of the whole of the defences, but the same intimate knowledge 
should be a common factor in both cases, and it is this familiarity with 
possibilities of his command that should enable the Lieut.-Colonel to 
give object lessons to his officers, which should be of more real value to 
them than shelves full of text-books. During “ personally conducted ” 
strolls round the works, he can instil into their minds the means at his 
disposal for repelling a land or sea attack, he can point out to them 
the windings of a channel in what appears, to the uninitiated, a broad 
expanse of navigable water ; by common sense teaching, he can 
convince them of the fact that Palliser shot may not be the best thing 
to fire at the steel-coated citadel of a modern ironclad, or time shrapnel 
at the funnel of a cruiser, when the rest of her is hull down. He can 
sbow them that the terrors of the penetration-table bogey may be 
considerably lessened by reducing them to a few obvious facts, and 
that, stripped of its awe-inspiring formulae and labyrinthine diagrams, 
the displacement puzzle is capable of simple solution and ready appli¬ 
cation. These and many other means of alleviating the labours of his 
flock are at the disposal of the Lieut.-Colonel, who should further (I 
say this with some diffidence) prepare a series of lectures clothed in 
absolutely homely language, for delivery during seasons when weather 
interferes with out-door drill and instruction. 
It will be noted that no suggestion is made that either the Majors 
or the Gunnery Instructor should take their share of this vicarious 
teaching. Both have their special fields of instruction, from which 
the “ familiar scientific,” may be usefully divorced. The Major’s 
energy will naturally be devoted to parade work and to the smart¬ 
ness and efficiency of the officers under him. Even now that the 
Armament Major has. relieved him of some of his responsibility, he 
still has a great deal of office work ; and, although the responsibility 
for the youngsters’ knowledge of interior economy, drill, &c., rests 
with him, he has not the amount of leisure which the Lieut.-Colonel 
has at his disposal, in which to prepare lectures and digest text-books. 
Where a Gunnery Instructor is kept, the time of that officer should be 
pretty well occupied in supervising the instruction of batteries taken 
off duty for their annual course, in examining layers and other specialists, 
and in assisting the younger officers to instruct the N.-C. officers and 
men of their sections. 
It will naturally occur to Lieut.-Colonels to suggest the desirability 
of the Gunnery Instructor giving the lectures which, in^myi humble 
opinion, should be given by themselves; but the object aimed at 
