COMMENDED ESSAY, 1892 . 
609 
nesses of human nature will answer. Much allowance must be made, 
aud patient explanations given. In these days of general education, 
a sergeant can only keep ahead of his men by reading up his profes¬ 
sion ; 1 2 he must prove to his sub-division that he is fib to be their 
leader in any emergency. His constant business is to give subtilty 
to the simple, to the young man knowledge.” He must study the 
individual characters of all his men, but more especially of his layers. 
On them, in a great measure, the Fire Discipline depends, as without 
uniform laying any attempt to fight a battery as a whole must fail. 
The sort of intelligence required to pick out a target quickly, set 
scales, &c., is not always combined with a quiet temper. Their 
demeanour must be closely watched on critical occasions, and a judg¬ 
ment formed of the probable accuracy of their actions. Men often fail 
absolutely at competitive practice who are first-class in the barrack- 
square. It has been proved over and over again that one man, by bad 
laying, can ruin a whole year’s practice under ordinary peace conditions. 
It is a great step in the right direction that the Commanding Officer is 
allowed to take such matters into consideration when awarding prizes 
to gun-layers . 3 He can trace the error to a particular sub-division 
by a careful comparison of each round with the relative range; mak¬ 
ing allowance for the “ gun rectangle” at that range. A sergeant 
who takes a proper pride in his sub-division should constantly impress 
these facts on his gun-layers, and the tremendous importance of cool¬ 
ness in all who may have to lay guns in the field. 
N.-C.O.’s should never forget that their example has the greatest 
influence on the young soldiers who compose the majority in a barrack- 
room ; this is a real responsibility. The career of many a man depends 
on the circumstances which surround him on first joining a battery. 
If he finds professional zeal and a good tone, he will soon conform 
himself to both. 
Many difficult and irksome duties have to be faced during a N.-C.O.’s 
service. In order to gain that respect from his men which is necessary 
to Fire Discipline he must never show a sign of wishing to shirk a 
duty however humble it may appear, and always bear in mind that 
“ He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly, aud a man of wicked devices 
is hated.” 
Signalling and Judging Distance. 
Anyone of the intelligence of a N.-C.O. can teach himself the morse 
alphabet in a very few days sufficiently to be able to read and send 
simple messages. It is always possible that, on service, the ability to 
do so might be of great importance to himself and others. Many of 
our stations give few opportunities of teaching N.-C.O.’s to judge 
distances. Route marching should be freely utilised for this purpose. 
One would be astonished at the wild guesses made by men before 
some education has been given on this point. Many of the rank 
and file cannot tell how many yards there are in a mile or a furlong. 
Before an artillery N.-C.O. can be of much use as an instructor he 
1 A manual for N.-C.O.’s ks just been publ ished .o fficially. 
2 Instructions, for Practice 1 1892, 
