THE "SPECTATOR" EXPERIMENTAL COMPANY.
[To TUB EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR." J Srn,—Your readers will be glad to hear that our progress continues to be most encouraging. I do not pretend that we are still advancing " by leaps and bounds," because, just like getting another knot out of a steamship, the advancement beyond each successive stage becomes more and more difficult. However, the fact that we have not remained stationary will, I think, be manifest from the following list of our accomplishments hitherto achieved :—
(1) The drill, extended order work, outposts, &c., are, in my opinion, up to the standard of anything I have ever seen arrived at in at least double the length of time.
(2) We have constructed a model bridge, and the majority of the men can answer any essential question in reference to the con- struction of a "single-lock trestle bridge," or make the necessary knots and lashings. I believe that each of the four sections could construct a trestle from given measurements without assistance from the instructors.
(3) About seventy out of the hundred and two men actually present can send or read a paragraph from a newspaper through the medium of semaphore signalling. We shall commence the Morse alphabet next week, and I hope by the end of our six months' course to have not less than a score of fairly useful signallers.
(4) The progress made in the gymnasium is very satisfactory, and, generally speaking, the physical development of some of the younger lads is quite wonderful,—one can almost " see them grow ' !
(5) On Thursday, the 12th inst., for the edification of two visitors —both ex-Adjutants of Regular battalions, and one of them also an ex-commanding officer—we carried out our first real attempt at a genuine tactical exercise with the entire Company. The per- formance was indeed, I admit, a " programme battle," and the value of certain selected "fire positions" was exaggerated for the purposes of the display ; yet the lesson for the men, and the resulting exhibition of their powers, did not, I think, suffer much in consequence of such elements of unreality. My visitors expected little, and were astonished; I expected a good deal, and certainly was not disappointed. But as I have already explained upon former occasions, the men are so keen to do their best, and are therefore so easy to teach, that to me satisfactory results no longer appear very remarkable. Indeed, my only trouble is that, seeing things as they are, I am too inclined to forget that the men are only recruits, and find fault with errors which in other circumstances I should accept as only natural, and for the time requiring little or no notice.
(6) The Easter holidays have involved the suspension of work from Thursday evening to Tuesday morning; but the time has not really been wasted, and on Tuesday afternoon, so far from observing any deterioration, I think that there was actually an improvement. A good many men had knocked themselves about in the gymnasium, and others had become a trifle stiff owing to the unaccustomed exertion. Thus in some ways the rest has been decidedly beneficial, and in none has it apparently proved detrimental.
(7) The conduct of the men continues to be exemplary. One "regrettable incident" has indeed occurred during holiday time, but the culprit, like the good fellow he is, made amends so nicely and straightforwardly that I have gladly decided to look over his offence. He had said in his haste, to a sergeant, things that had better been left unsaid. In the Army, in the case of an equally good recruit, no serious punishment would have been considered necessary ; but in the conditions under which our men are serving I was obliged to regard the matter very seriously. Fortunately, I had no need to inflict the one heavy penalty I have power to impose,—dismissal. The good feeling and esprit de corps of the men themselves is the foundation of our discipline, and it has proved itself far stronger than any influence ever exercised elsewhere by the guard-room or the cells.
(8) I have eleven candidates for the two remaining vacancies, all of them introduced by members of the Company. Of these I shall select at least three, and possibly four. We have here one man whose powers as a pedestrian do not satisfy me, and another—a very nice fellow whom I shall be sorry to lose—will, I fear, have to go for medical reasons.
Hounslow.
—I am, Sir, &c., A. W. A. PonnocK, Lieut.-Colonel.
P.S.—The following statistics, which I ought to have given earlier, will, I think, be of interest. The average age of our recruits on joining was nineteen years and ten months ; the height 5 ft. '71 in.; the chest measurement (gymnasium, with hands held above the head), 35i in.; and the weight, 9 st. 8 lb. Some of the younger lads are very light indeed, hence the comparatively low average weight. All were weighed and measured in the hospital during the first week, in order to ensure accuracy. We shall weigh and measure again on the expiration of the third month, and, of course, on the conclusion of the training.
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