GOLD MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1899. 
377 
within them until they join some course of instruction, men who shew¬ 
ed no mathematical ability at the academy have been known to de¬ 
velop mathematical talents of no mean order when obliged to take 
up the subject as part of a course, and what applies to mathematics 
applies equally well to other subjects. 
If the second method was adopted an officer in each district must 
be selected as an Instructor; supposing that the Instructor in Gunnery 
is retained as a specialist for this purpose, then the instruction which 
he at present receives in the “ Long Course ” would have to be sup¬ 
plemented very considerably as he would be expected to be an au¬ 
thority on many technical subjects, in fact he would have to pass 
through the senior class as well as the long course—then again there 
would be the danger of his considering the technical instruction as 
secondary to the gunnery or vice versa ; there would be great diffi¬ 
culty in forming a class of officers of any size in a district for any con¬ 
tinuous instruction as they would have at the same time to be doing 
regimental duty with their companies. Lecture rooms with plans, 
models, chemical and electrical apparatus etc. would be necessary, 
which would entail great expense, and then again it would be very 
difficult to ensure a similar training in each district, however good the 
superintendance of the whole might be. The armament varies so at 
different stations that unless guns and mountings were provided for 
instructional purposed, some officers, as far as modern appliances are 
corcerned would benefit little by the course. At a few stations only 
could instruction be provided in the care of engines, boilers, practice 
in stoking etc. The cost of carrying out this system is likely to be 
considerable, but there is one great advantage namely “ that officers 
would not be taken away from their stations and so in many ways lose 
touch with their companies.” 
Method 3.—There may be some advantage of combining different 
branches of educational work under one head, but there are many 
disadvantages, one branch is sure to be put forward at the expense of 
another and centralisation can be carried to too great an extent. 
The School of Gunnery is already a large institution and is now estab¬ 
lished in various parts of the country, if it takes up such a subject as 
technical training, it must if it wants to be thorough, keep the sub¬ 
ject distinct from ordinary drill, this means a separate staff and would 
be in fact a combination of the Ordnance College and the School of 
Gunnery; if only the regimental officer had to be considered this 
might be the proper thing to do, but as long as officers have to be 
trained for special work such as the Inspection Staff, Army Ordnance 
and manufacturing departments, a separate institution with every 
modern appliance is necessary. It might be claimed for teaching 
technical subjects at such stations as Shoeburyness, Golden Hill or 
Plymouth, that the practical application can be shewn in a battery, 
and that the imagination has to supply nothing, in combining the 
theoretical portion of the subject with its practical application, this 
may seem a good deal to some but to anyone who has taken an or¬ 
dinary interest in the armament in his station, the application of general 
principles should not be a source of difficulty. These latter remarks 
