608 
COMMENDED ESSAY, 1892. 
To Induce the N.-C.O.'s to Lecture. 
By sketching’ the outline of a few simple lectures and encouraging 
the senior N.-C.O.'s to deliver them, a subaltern will improve both 
teachers and pupils. He should himself generally be present at these 
lectures, and induce the latter to ask questions freely. Such teaching 
gives N.-C.O.'s a much greater interest in the proficiency of their 
men ; and men learn increased respect for, and confidence in their 
N.-C.O.'s. The more interesting such lectures are made, the more 
they will be regarded as a welcome change from the monotony of 
marching or standing gun drill. Little real progress is made in these 
drills in very cold or wet weather; but in this way any afternoon may 
be turned to profit. In the present state of the Regiment it is not too 
much to affirm that a series of short, well thought-out lectures on 
professional subjects, in addition to the regulation drills, is one of the 
best means of securing Fire Discipline in a battery. 
Recreation. 
In the artillery the work is so constant in the open air that bodily 
health is pretty well securer!. The work is often hard, and for this 
reason, if not required for parade, men prefer to rest in their barrack- 
rooms, unless recreation is made both popular and convenient. This 
is a point young officers are apt to forget, and they are too ready to be 
discouraged at the difficulty of getting up a match among the men. 
Anything, however, that assists the development of the physical 
powers and dexterity of soldiers is of value. This is the basis on 
which rest that individual nerve and self-reliance which result in love 
of enterprise, endurance in the field, and mobility in manoeuvre. If 
a good eleven can be got together in the battery, so much the better. 
Great fun may be obtained by getting up duffers' matches when work 
is slack. Occasional flat races, or games of rounders, give recreation 
both to the performers and lookers on. The development of foot¬ 
ball has been a distinct gain. Men in a battery often know very little 
of one another, and these outings do much to increase the feeling of 
camaraderie which should pervade all ranks. Such exercises develop 
habits of good order ; they require control of temper, and without 
truthfulness they could not be carried on. They also promote the love 
of fair play, and appreciation of pluck ; and they stimulate generosity 
of mind. 
N.-C.O/s. 
The non-commissioned ranks are the backbone of Fire Discipline in 
a battery. N.-C.O.'s have made such strides in technical knowledge 
of recent years that, after having been to Okehampton and Shoebury- 
ness they are apt to under-estimate the difficulty which some recruits 
find in understanding the simplest terms in gunnery. If not guarded 
against, this is a very real danger. Terms, such as percussion fuze, 
line of sight, recoil of carriage, &c., convey their meaning at once tO: 
the brain of most N.-C.O.'s. Many recruits, however, with the best' 
will in the world, never really understand them till they have seen a 
gun fired with a service charge. No system which ignores the weak- 
