PUBLIC-SCHOOL CADET CORPS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.']
SIR,—In the Spectator of February 24th you were good enough to publish a letter of mine advocating the adoption of com- pulsory drill throughout the public schools. It will, at any rate, serve to show that my suggestion was not merely academical if you will allow me to explain what is now being done at one school. At St. Paul's, by an already existing arrangement, every boy has one afternoon in the week devoted to compulsory games, one-fifth of the boys being out of school on each afternoon, from Monday to Friday inclusive. One hour of this time has been "commandeered" for drill, which is compulsory for all boys over fifteen; the drill is taken partly by the gymnastic instructors, and partly by the officers of the Cadet Corps, and includes the ordinary marching work and manual drill, but for the latter we are, like other schools, hampered by being armed with two different kinds of weapon, the Martini-Henry carbine and the Lee-Metford. It would he premature to make any claim as to the value of this particular scheme, and I will only mention, as two of the immediate results which were not counted upon, that the number of recruits for the Cadet Corps has increased considerably since its adoption, and that a large number of boys under fifteen, who are allowed to join the drill if they choose, have availed themselves of the permission. The compulsory drill is quite independent of the work of the Cadet Corps, and no uniform is worn. Instruction in shooting is a more difficult matter to organise, but the Morris-tube goes some way towards solving the difficulty, and I should like to draw attention to a very suggestive article bearing on the subject in the Xi neteenth Cattail/ for February, entitled "Some Stray Shots, and a
Moral," which shows what can be done in this direction, even with no more important weapon than an air-gun.—I am, Sir, St. Paul's School. R. F. CHOLMELRY.
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