146

whilst one has risen to the rank of Licut.- General,

As we walk up to the school, a little eroup of boys in front of us gives us an opportunity of examining and admiring their smart turn-out. In the summer the lads wear blue uniforms, whilst in winter with the same blue trousers piped with scarlet, they have scarlet tunics, faced with dark b]m Glengarry caps plpul with red, and stout well-shined Blucher shoes with straps.

We pass through the gate, and one of the two small sentries stationed there comes out ot his little box and asks us, with an air of immense 1mportance, what our business is. When I inform him we are concerned with the Commandant, he offers to cscort us, and performs this action with the utmost politeness. There 1s one feature that strikes and impresses the stranger the in- stant he enters the Asylum, and remains with him throughout—more especially if he has had experience of other institutions— the frecedom and absolute lack of repression that characterisec its mmates. There 15, of course, during work hours the severest military dis‘ciplin but the boys evince no tnmdlt\' in saying what they think ; and, even 1n the presence ot the (,ommandam there was none of that horrible mtanglbh

kind of terrorism which the authorities of

these institutions frequently contrive to inspire in the breasts of the youthful per- sons 1n their care.

Thanks to the kindness of Colonel Ifitz- gerald, the Commandant, and [.icutenant lh()mas the Adjutant, I had ample oppor- tunitics given me of seeing the whole working of the school, and also of putting questions to the lads, who, so far as I could gather, have no possible cause of complaint. Their day's work commences early. At ten to six the gymnasim master rouses three boys, who dress, and then go into the courtyard and souml the reved/lé at threc different points—north, south, and central —so that there is no fear of any sluggard tailing to be aroused.

All the boys have rank of some kind, with definite military duties. On hrst arriving, the little fellow is a ‘“private,” and 1 mev 'he s quite proud of this grade, until he lcarns how much better ofl cor- porals are, with pocket money for sweets and tarts. Privates are made up into com- panies of cighty boys, over which there arc four acting Tance-cor porals.

The '1dvcmt'10c of being an acting lance-

THE STRAND MMA

GAZINTI.

corporal consists in being cntitled to one penny a week pocket-money, which comes in conveniently for one of the most impor- tant institutions of the Asylum in the cyes of the boys, viz., the tuck-shop. The acting lance-corporals wear a gold stripe on the right arm. Above them are lance- COTrpor d]b who get twopence a week, and also wear a golcl stripe, and still higher are full corporals, or colour corporals, who oet threepence a week, and wear two stripes and a crown. Thercis only one corporal to cach company, so that it isahighly coveted

s i

I \ Mflrd UJL‘ I

Cons e,

Cornr TveK stop”

post. Above the corporals are monitors, of whom there are seven. ‘They are the boys who are kept on after fourteen to be trained as pupil teachers, and they ultimately go into the army, where they obtain excellent positions as schoolmasters, receiving, during a period of six months’ pmbahon, 2s. 0d. a day, and when duly qualified, 4s. 6d. a day. Finally, the whole company is under the command of a sergeant, who is a non- commissioned officer in the regular army.

Here a little chap in a blouse ran across the passage, and on his telling me that he was an orderly I followed him into the mess-room, where dinner operations were going on,