It is evident that this instruction attracts to the service of the navy many intelligent and industrious young mechanics who would not enter it, because, not possessing the special knowledge required, they would not run the chance of remaining for a long time in the lowest grade, viz.: that of working stoker, the only one to which their attainments would allow them to aspire. In following this instruction, however, attentively and passing their examination successfully, they obtain the rank of pupil mechanicians, and even of quartermasters. In continuing their studies, they can rise still higher; their schools furnish them with the means, if they wish to become second boatswains. To the knowledge already acquired are added: 1, arithmetical progression; 2, the whole of planimetry; 3, theoretical mechanics and physics; 4, theory, description, regulation, and construction of steam-engines and steam-boilers; 5, the working and repairing of machines. By further pursuing their studies and working diligently, they can rise from second to first boatswain, and may ultimately obtain the position of principal mechanician, with the rank of lieutenant on men-of-war, and even of captain on corvettes, if they became chief mechanicians. The following table, giving the statistics of the school at Toulon, will show the success with which these schools have been attended.
G Designation of the different grades.NA Number of pupils who have attended the school during the half-year.NE Number of pupils prepared at the school, who underwent an examination.NS Number of pupils who were successful at the examinations.M4 May 1864N4 Nov 1864M5 May 1865N5 Nov 1865M6 May 1866N6 Nov 1866
G Designation of the different grades.
NA Number of pupils who have attended the school during the half-year.
NE Number of pupils prepared at the school, who underwent an examination.
NS Number of pupils who were successful at the examinations.
M4 May 1864
N4 Nov 1864
M5 May 1865
N5 Nov 1865
M6 May 1866
N6 Nov 1866
Note.—Since the 1st January, 1865, the number of candidates being too great, the number of pupils has been reduced, but may again be increased, when occasion demands it.
NAVAL DRAWING SCHOOL.
An edict issued by Napoleon I, Sept. 27th, 1810, established at Brest and Toulon, on board theDuquesneand theTourville, drawing-schools for those who wished to enter the naval service, where theoretical and practical instruction was given. At the foundationof the naval school at Augoulême in 1816, these drawing-schools were transferred to the shore, became less exclusive, and admitted to their gratuitous course all young men from these two great naval stations who wished to adopt the naval profession. They have always been very largely attended.
SCHOOLS OF NAVIGATION AND HYDROGRAPHY.
Long before the navy had acquired any importance, maritime commerce had been immensely developed. The coasting and ocean trade required experienced and well-informed sailors. There were therefore in the principal seaports, gratuitous schools of navigation, whose aim was to disseminate theoretical knowledge. These schools were well conducted from the year 1584, when Henry III issued the first ordinance on the subject, by which boatswains and captains of merchant vessels had to undergo an examination of qualifications; but opportunities of instruction were wanting at that time, and it was reserved for Louis XIII to fill this void.
During the memorable siege of La Rochelle, Cardinal Richelieu became convinced that the knowledge of a captain, to whom the State intrusts a merchant-vessel, ought not to be confined to the most simple rules of the art of navigation. He consequently, in January, 1629, published a decree, ordering the establishment of schools of hydrography, open to all who intended to study navigation theoretically. The king himself engaged to maintain, at his own expense, a certain number of such schools, and encouragements were held out to all cities which would found such schools. The professors of hydrography were detained to assist at the examinations of captains, boatswains and coxswains.
Such was the origin of the first professional instruction in navigation. Here, as in all institutions of learning, the instruction of manhood succeeded that of youth. If the orders of Louis XIII were not as generally executed as they deserved, they were instrumental in producing a certain number of learned hydrographers, some of whom became the authors of the first treatises on navigation ever published in the French language.
A decree of Louis XIV, (August, 1681,) another by Louis XV, (September 14, 1764,) and third by Louis XVI, (January 1, 1786,) show that the ancient monarchy did not lose sight of this branch of instruction. In the last mentioned decree, the Marquis of Castries, Secretary of the Navy, united under one common law all these establishments, whose organization was far from uniform. The professors were in future chosen by competition. Two chairs of“hydrographic examiners” were created, charged with the superintendance of the instruction, to assist at the examinations.
A decree of the National Assembly, which became a law, August 16th, 1791, decided that gratuitous schools of hydrography should be established at the expense of the State, in thirty-four different places. This decree was supplanted by others published a few years later, further regulating the course of instruction.
During the wars of the first Empire, Napoleon I never forgot to extend the benefits of French institutions wherever his armies were victorious. To this circumstance several foreign seaports owe their excellent schools of navigation.
The hydrographic instruction was completely reorganized by a royal edict of August 7, 1825, under the ministry of Count de Chabrol. This is still in force with but few modifications. One professor is charged with giving instruction in each of the 42 schools of the Empire; two examiners have charge of the general supervision of these schools, and hold the annual examinations.
Instruction is gratuitous, and sailors can enter from the age of 13 upwards, but they rarely attend them before they are 22 or 23 years old. The professors, on five days of the week, impart instruction for four hours a day. There are two different courses; one superior and the other elementary; the first theoretical and practical, the other essentially practical. Wherever there is an observatory, the pupils are practiced in observations.
The programme of the theoretical instruction comprises: for ocean voyages, elements of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, elements of astronomy, navigation, use of instruments and nautical tables, elementary knowledge of steam-engines, as applied to navigation, French composition; for the coasting-trade, elements of practical arithmetic, geometry, practical navigation, elementary knowledge of steam-engines, nautical calculations. The examinations are annual, and no one is admitted to the practical examination, unless he has reached the age of 24, and has served five years on a French vessel. It comprises rigging, management of sails, a knowledge of coasts, currents, tides, and gunnery. After the practical examination has been successfully passed, the pupil must undergo the theoretical one.
For the results produced by these establishments, the average attendance of the schools of navigation, and the number of sailors, who have become captains or boatswains, we refer to the following tables.
Number of sailors who have attended the schools of hydrography from 1849 to 1866; of candidates who have obtained the rank of “captain” for sea voyages, or “boatswain” for the coasting trade.
AC (of the sea voyage.) Captains.AB (of the coasting trade.) Boatswains.
AC (of the sea voyage.) Captains.
AB (of the coasting trade.) Boatswains.
Ports where schools of hydrography are established, with the average number of pupils who annually attend every school, collected from official documents since the year 1849.
THE NAVAL SCHOOL AT BREST.
Napoleon, in 1810-11, established the first naval school-ships in France, theTourvillebeing chosen for that purpose at Brest, and theDuquesneat Toulon. These schools were placed under the orders of the maritime prefects of the two ports. In 1816, these two schools were abolished by decree, and a royal marine college was established at Angoulême. Several other changes took place, and in 1830 the college was replaced by a naval school on board theOrion, an old 74; this vessel was succeeded by several others, all of which have received the name of the second school-ship, theBorda, named after Captain Borda, a naval officer of great scientific and practical ability. The present ship is a noble three-decker, pierced for 120 guns, was launched in 1847, and took part in the Crimean war.
TheBordais stationed at Brest, and its rigging has been reduced to that of a frigate. The forepart of the second gun-deck of the vessel still retains something of its old character, and is provided with six guns on each side for practice. The other parts of the vessel have been completely altered; the decks have been cut away, so as to form two large lecture-rooms and two school-rooms. Not only the pupils but also their professors and most of the officers are lodged on board the vessel. On deck are specimens of various kinds of guns in use in the French navy, and a gymnasium. The quarter-deck, which is continued to the mainmast, is divided, the forepart being appropriated to the pupils, and the aft to officers.
Candidates are admitted to this school after a public examination, which occurs annually. For admission to the examination the applicant must prove his French birth—his being at least fourteen years of age and not over seventeen years, and his having no infirmity that disables him for marine duty.
The requirements for admission are aknowledgeof arithmetic, algebra, geometry, plane trigonometry, applied mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry, geography, the English language, drawing. The candidates must prepare a composition in French, a translation from Latin, an exercise in English, a numeral calculation in trigonometry, a geometrical drawing, and an off-hand sketch of a head. There are two oral examinations on the above studies, the second of which is not attempted if the first, which is elementary, is unsatisfactory.
The commander of theBordais a full captain, and the instruction, which is practical as well as theoretical, is confided to elevenprofessors, of whom five belong to the hydrographic department, eight are full lieutenants, and one a principal engineer. The duties of the five hydrographic professors are thus divided:—Two teach astronomy and navigation, two analytical and mechanical science, and the last natural philosophy and chemistry. The duties of the other professors are thus arranged:—Two for literature, history and geography; two for the English language; and two for drawing. The lieutenants direct four courses of instruction, namely, naval architecture, the theory and practice of managing a ship, gunnery and small arms, with practice, and nautical calculations. The engineer professor teaches the theory and management of steam-engines and mechanics. The other officers are a captain of a frigate, (second in command,) a chaplain, a financial and an administrative officer, and two medical men. Besides these, there is a captain of gunnery and several under-officers of the marine and artillery.
The school sessions commence on the first of October, and on that day promotions of the pupils are made in the various classes. Those who have passed two years of study in the ship are calledgrand ancients, rank with naval aspirants of the second class, and are eligible to make a voyage of circumnavigation in another vessel appropriated to that purpose; pupils who have been one full year in theBordaare called ancients, and the rest new boys, or in French naval language,fistots. The boys have each a number, and in all the ordinary routine of the school-ship, this takes the place of a name.
The elder pupils are employed as monitors over the younger, and each of the former has one or more allotted to him, not as a fag, but as a scholar, whom it is his duty to teach all he himself knows. It is said that the system succeeds admirably, and that for the first few months the instruction of the new comer is left almost entirely to hisancient; the new pupil thus escapes without difficulty many errors of discipline into which he would otherwise inevitably fall.
The discipline of the school is severe; the boys rise every morning, all the year round, at five o’clock, stow away the hammocks in which they sleep, attend prayers, and then commence their morning’s work.
They are well fed, having coffee or chocolate in the morning, dinner (old style) at 12 o’clock, a lunch of bread (goûter) at 4.30, and supper at 7.45, with breadà discrétion, and about four-tenths of a pint of wine at each of the two principal meals.
The morning studies are devoted to science; those of noon to practice with guns, or practical study, marine machinery, or drawing;and the evening to literature, the English language, or naval architecture. All the studies are pursued on board, with the exception of natural philosophy and chemistry, the professor of which has at his command in the town the collection of instruments and chemicals, as well as the lecture-room and laboratory of the central pharmaceutical establishment. At times, also, the pupils are taken to visit the vessels in process of construction, and the workshops in the arsenal, and to practice with small arms on shore.
There are eight boats attached to theBorda, and the pupils are practiced almost every day, and in all weathers, in rowing and sailing, under the eye of an officer, who watches the exercises from on board a small steam-gunboat attached to the school. The ordinary studies of the school end between six and seven in the evening, and the pupils turn in at nine o’clock for their eight hours’ rest.
Thursday and Sunday, as usual in France, are exceptional days, when, after nautical calculations, (which are never omitted,) the elder pupils or ancients practice with small arms on shore, and the juniors are drilled in the use of the sword, musket, and bayonet. After this they have six hours’ hard work in maneuvering two small corvettes, provided for the purpose, that belonging to the ancients being a screw-steamer.
The boys, as a rule, are at liberty on alternate Sundays, and the most advanced every Sunday afternoon. This is a recent innovation; the pupils used to be free scarcely more than once a month; but this gave rise to much discontent and some disturbance, and the rule has, therefore, been made less severe. In addition to this liberty, however, all the lads are allowed to see their friends for a short period during the exercises on shore on Sunday and Thursday mornings, and those who are not free on Sunday are taken on shore for a change in the afternoon. During the summer months the boys bathe in the sea.
A peculiar custom exists in the school—the boys are allowed to smoke during the hour of recreation after dinner, and at certain other times; and for this reason, that as it was found utterly impossible to stop the practice entirely, it was deemed better to recognize it in moderation, and thus stop its secret indulgence and the attendant danger of fire.
The punishments inflicted in the school are extra drill and confinement, either in a small cell or in a dark hole, with a regimen of bread and water; for very grave offences, boys are dismissed or expelled. On the other hand, the marks for good conduct are numerous; there are several examinations in the various classes duringthe nine months of the school year, and those pupils who gain the greatest number of marks are calledélèves d’élite, and wear a gold anchor on their collars, or, in the case of the first twelve, two anchors; the pupil who has gained the largest number of marks bears the high but merely nominal rank of first brigadier, and he who enters the school with the greatest success at the examination is called major. A general examination takes place at the end of the year, when the ancients who pass become aspirants in the navy, and the juniors are raised to the upper class in the school; those who fail in the examination are either sent back to their class, or rejected as unfit for the naval career. The first and second prizemen, on quitting the school, receive each a quadrant in the name of the Emperor, and the third a telescope.
The elder pupils have nearly three months’ holiday, but the junior pass a month on board another vessel, theBougainville, for what is called the summer campaign. This vessel, which was constructed specially for the school, is a screw dispatch-boat with engines of 120 horse power; the summer voyage is settled by the Minister of Marine, and includes a visit and examination of the ports of L’Orient and Cherbourg, touching at some remarkable points of the French coast, sometimes casting anchor off the English coast, and sometimes running as far as Ferrol in Galicia.
Thegrand ancients, when their holidays are over, that is to say on the first of October, join theJean Bart, which makes an annual voyage of several months’ duration. This boat was built in 1852 and made its first voyage of this kind in 1864-5. She is an 80-gun ship, of the mixed class, having engines of 450 nominal horse-power. In August of the present year she will have completed her fourth and last voyage of circumnavigation, another vessel, theDonawert, now being prepared to succeed her. The upper gun-deck of theJean Bartis disarmed, and converted for the use of a part of the officers and the pupils, who number about a hundred, and occupy eight cabins, each with two portholes; here the young men eat, and drink, and sleep, as well as pursue their studies.
The officers of theJean Bartconsist of a full captain in command, a second captain, a chaplain, ten lieutenants, one having charge of each pupil’s cabin, orposte, as it is called, and two giving instruction in sailing and gunnery; a surgeon-major, who gives instructions respecting the means of keeping a crew in health; two assistant-surgeons, an engineer, a drawing-master, and some others.
The Minister, as in the case of the summer cruise of junior pupils, settles the course to be taken by theJean Bart. Generallythe West India islands are visited in the months of March and April, when the pupils are principally exercised in hydrographical works off St. Pierre and Fort de France; in gunnery on board, and small-arms on shore; in the daily management of boats for embarkation and disembarkation; and in the management of sails in the intricate channels of the archipelago. They are shown, moreover, how to perform difficult operations, such as the unshipping of the rudder and bringing it on deck for examination, lifting a mast, &c. The pupils are required to keep written records of all such operations, and to illustrate the narrative when necessary with drawings. When they visit foreign yards and arsenals, they are expected to give minute accounts of what they have seen there, and besides a daily journal, to write critical notices of all the different machines, methods of rigging, and maneuvers, which they have witnessed.
The difficult channel of the Isle St. Sebastian, off the coast of Brazil, that of the Bermudas, the river Hudson, and the coast of Newfoundland, are among the places selected to initiate the pupils in the difficulties of navigation. At Annapolis, in the Chesapeake, a visit is paid to the National Naval School of the United States at the season when the general examinations take place in that establishment. The voyage usually terminates with a visit to Cape Breton and some points of Newfoundland; the fisheries and drying-houses of St. Pierre and Miquelon are generally visited, and theJean Bartreturns to Brest between the 1st and 5th of August, having been absent ten months. A sailing brig named theObligadohas lately been attached to theJean Bartas a supplementary vessel.
SCHOOL OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE AT PARIS.
The construction of ships and engines in the French naval service is intrusted to the Corps of Marine Engineering, (Corps du Génie Maritime,) consisting of 121 officers, viz., 1 inspector-general, 10 directors of naval construction, 40 marine engineers, and 70 assistant engineers.
This corps is recruited from the graduates of the Polytechnic, and having passed satisfactorily the required examination for the public service, are sent to the School of Application of Naval Engineering at Paris, and to the dockyards, to learn their special business. The usual number in attendance is 30, and the annual cost of the school is about 100,000 francs.
The course occupies two years and a-half—three winters in Parisand two summers in the dockyards. The pupils having a good general education and a complete special knowledge of mathematics and geometrical drawing, the courses are from the start eminently practical.
The instruction in Paris during the first session consists of: 1, a course on construction; 2, on displacement and stability; 3, on strength of materials; 4, English; 5, free-hand drawing; 6, plan-drawing of vessels. During the second session it consists of: 1, a practical course on steam-engines; 2, a theoretical course on steam; 3, applied mechanics, machines in general; 4, English; 5, accounts; 6, plan-drawing, ships and engines; 7, pictorial drawing. During the third session: 1, course on stability, (2d part;) 2, on naval architecture; 3, naval artillery; 4, technology of workshops, special to the navy; 5, accounts; 6, English; 7, plan-drawing, projects for ships; 8, free-hand drawing.
In the first year ship-building is taken up; in the second, the steam-engine, and in the third the two are combined and completed. When in the dockyards, the pupils are placed under the order of the engineer in charge of works in execution, who sees that they are attentive to their duty, and have proper instruction. He also examines and certifies the journals which the pupils have to keep. The director of the school gives each pupil detailed instruction to guide him in the choice of the practical work he shall attend to. The first summer is devoted to the construction of ships, the second to that of engines. The pupils select the ports to which they will go, according to their standing in their class.
At the end of two years and a half, the pupils are examined by a board, and if found qualified, they are appointed assistant engineers of the third class. If they fail to pass, they may be allowed another year—but failing in that, they are definitely rejected.
The private pupils, natives or foreigners, who to the number of eight are allowed to attend the course in Paris, may obtain permission to go through the whole practical course in one of the imperial dockyards, but are not subjected to the same discipline as the regular pupils. On leaving, they receive from the director a certificate of the course gone through, their talent and diligence.
The school is under the immediate orders of a Director of Naval Construction, who is also one of the professors, and is assisted in the several branches taught by other professors, who are marine engineers, and a special teacher of drawing, and another of the English language.
MARITIME CONSCRIPTION.
The French naval service is supplied by a system of conscription analogous to that for the army. All persons, who reside on the coast, whose labor is on the sea, or on navigable rivers reached by the tide, are enrolled on arriving at the age of eighteen, and are liable to be summoned to the naval service until they are fifty, for an aggregate period of seven years.
SCHOOLS OF MARINE ARTILLERY.
There is at Brest, Toulon, and L’Orient, schools of marine artillery, besides floating schools at Brest and Toulon, for practice at firing at a mark at sea.
BOARD OF HYDROGRAPHERS.
The Board of Hydrographers is located at Paris. Pupils who have completed the polytechnic course enter the corps with the rank ofélève hydrographe, with the same rank and advantages as naval architects. They are sent to the coast to make surveys, and after two years service in the field, and in office work under special instruction, become assistant hydrographers without further examination.
I. MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL MARINE.
The progress of the French Navy is represented in the following statistics taken from the Statesman’s Year Book for 1871: In 1780 the war fleet consisted of 60 first-class ships, 24 second class, and 182 smaller vessels,—total 266 ships, with 13,300 guns, and 78,000 sailors. In 1805, the number was reduced by casualties and neglect to 18 men-of-war, with 1,352 guns. In 1844 the whole force amounted to 226 sailing vessels, and 47 steamers, with 8,639 guns and 24,513 sailors. In 1855 the navy was reorganized, by the introduction of every new appliance of naval architecture, construction, and ordnance, with the following results, in 1869-70:
The iron-cladsMagenta, Solferino, Couronne, Normandie, Invincible, and the cupola shipTaureau, are plated, with rifle breech-loading guns, and are not surpassed in strength and destructive armament by the ships of any other navy.
Eleven of the smaller iron-clads, besides the ordinary floating batteries, are so constructed that when out of service they can be taken to pieces, packed up and stored away at the arsenal of Toulon.
The navy is manned by a marine conscription, which dates back to 1683. For this purpose the maritime population is divided into five grand divisions, the centres of which are the five great Naval stations, with 12 subdivisions, including all the great seaports. Within these divisions all men and youths from the 18th to 50th year of age, devoted to a sea-going life, are enrolled, to the number of about 170,000. Except in a national emergency the government dispenses with the services of all under 20, and over 40, as well as pilots, captains, fathers of large families, and seamen ready for long voyages in merchant ships.
The navy was officered in 1869 by two admirals, 16 vice admiralsin active service, and 10 on the reserve list; 30 rear admirals in active, and 19 on reserve list; 130 captains of first class; 286 captains of frigates; 825 lieutenants; 600 ensigns; and 300 midshipmen, or aspirants;—total, 2,218 officers, and 39,346 sailors, who, together with engineers, dockyard laborers, surgeons, chaplains, brought up the number in actual service in 1869 to 74,403, which did not include 28,623 marines.
The commercial marine of France embraced in 1867, 15,259 vessels, with a tonnage of 1,042,811, ranging from 30 tons to 800 tons each, and employing over 150,000 seamen, including 40,000 officers, whose duties required special professional training. Of these, 607 were steamers, with an aggregate of 129,777 tons and 55,160 horse power. The value of the commerce of France for 1867-8 was 7,500 millions of francs.
II. NAVAL AND NAVIGATION SCHOOLS.
The French government was among the earliest to provide special schools for the officers of its merchant service as well as for its war-vessels. Prior even to the establishment, under an ordinance issued by Cardinal Richelieu, of schools for the study of navigation in 1629, Henry III., in 1584, had instituted examinations for boatswains and captains of merchant vessels, for which preparation had to be made with private teachers. In 1791 free schools of hydrography were authorized in thirty-four sea-ports; out of 24,000 pupils of these schools, from 1850 to 1866, 3,731 qualified themselves as captains of vessels in the foreign trade, and 5,118 for service in the coasting trade. Prior to 1800, in fitness of design and skill in construction, French naval architecture was superior to that of other countries.
The system of education for the mercantile and military marine embraced in 1866 the following schools:
1. Nautical School for the Orphans of Sailors.2. The Inflexible and other School-ships.3. Naval Apprentice Schools at the government naval stations.4. School for Boatswains and Shipmasters.5. School for Naval Engineers and Stokers.6. Naval Drawing School.7. Schools of Navigation and Hydrography.8. Naval School at Brest.9. School of Naval Architecture at Paris10. School of Marine Artillery.11. School and Board of Hydrography.12. Naval School of Medicine and Pharmacy.
1. Nautical School for the Orphans of Sailors.
2. The Inflexible and other School-ships.
3. Naval Apprentice Schools at the government naval stations.
4. School for Boatswains and Shipmasters.
5. School for Naval Engineers and Stokers.
6. Naval Drawing School.
7. Schools of Navigation and Hydrography.
8. Naval School at Brest.
9. School of Naval Architecture at Paris
10. School of Marine Artillery.
11. School and Board of Hydrography.
12. Naval School of Medicine and Pharmacy.
INTRODUCTION.
Theorganization of the North German Confederation, and more recently of the German Empire, and the necessities of its position, have already led to the rapid development of a military marine, and the unity of the commercial interests of the different States will soon expand its navigation as well as its naval armament.
Long before Prussia was largely interested in either a military or commercial marine, the government had provided for the systematic training of all concerned in the construction, equipment, and running of ships, whether destined for the defense of the country or to its commercial interests. After enjoying opportunities of studying the theory of their business, as well as the practical application of its principles, they must pass an examination to test their knowledge both of the theory and practice—with a provision that no one shall assume the responsibility of the life and property of others without holding a certificate of proficiency.
NAVIGATION SCHOOLS.
There are six schools, situated at Memul, Dantzic, Pollan, Grabow (near Stettin), and Stralsund, devoted to the education of young men who propose to become mariners and masters of merchant vessels. A single director, residing at Dantzic, has the superintendence of all these schools, which have each two professors, each in charge of a division of the school, and an assistant who devotes himself to drawing in connection with the construction of vessels, and of charts. The principal has charge of the higher division, in which navigation and geography, both of the sea, and of the natural productions and commercial facilities of different countries are taught. The lower division deals with subjects which concern pilots—their professional and legal duties.
Candidates must have mastered the subjects of elementary instruction, and are examined as to their ability to read, write, and compose in their native language, and to go through ordinary arithmetical problems with facility and accuracy. An examination ofcandidates takes place every year at each school, which is conducted by the head professor, in the presence of the director of this class of schools.
To be admitted to the examination the candidate must bring a certificate of good character, that he is over 14 and under 40 years of age. The school fee is ten thalers per quarter for the highest or navigation class, and six thalers for the lower or pilot’s class. There are 32 lessons per week in both divisions.
The subjects taught in the lowest division are:—arithmetic, plane geometry, carpentry, plane and spherical trigonometry, navigation, territorial and astronomical observations, drawing of sea charts and astronomical maps, and the English language.
In the highest division, in addition to the studies of the lower, in which the pupils are carried further on, rigging and other points of practical seamanship, drawing the different parts of a vessel, the commercial requirements respecting a ship’s papers, and the course of exchange at the principal commercial ports, are taught.
A final examination is held in which diplomas are awarded to those who have completed the whole course, and of proficiency in certain studies, either of which are of practical service in obtaining situations, and without which certain positions can not be obtained.
NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.
In the Trade or Polytechnic School in Berlin, provision is made for instruction in naval construction:
First—In the mathematical foundation of the most important physical laws; in physics, drawing, modeling, and the general principles of construction; in practical hydraulics; the theory of machinery, and the steam-engine.
Second—In the application of these principles to the business of ship-designing and construction, and particularly to designs for vessels, and the different parts of a ship in detail; to the art of ship-building; the general displacement of water and stability; hydrostatic calculations; general principles with regard to the form of vessels, and the theory of sailing and steam-ships; details of construction of wooden and iron vessels; practice; and planning and calculating the cost and capacity of vessels.
There are reviews of the ground gone over at the close of each term, which is obligatory only on those who enjoy free places, and each student receives a certificate at the end of his course, setting forth all his lectures and practical exercises, with an opinion as to his practical judgment.
Under the new army organization of 1869, the military forces of the whole empire are divided into the Standing Army, under the control of the Imperial Minister of War; the Landwehr, whose duties are limited to the respective divisions from which it is drawn, under the control of the Austrian and Hungarian war ministers; and the Landstrum, or general levy, which is compulsory in the Tyrol and Military Frontier, and voluntary in the rest of the empire. The Emperor is supreme chief of the military and naval forces, and from him must emanate all concentrating movements of troops. In 1871 the Standing Army consisted of 278,470 men on the peace footing, and 838,700 on the war footing.
The naval forces of Austria consisted in 1871, of 46 steamers and 10 sailing vessels, viz.:
The navy is officered and manned by 2 vice-admirals, 4 rear-admirals, 24 captains of steamers and frigates, 14 captains of corvettes, 106 lieutenants, 343 ensigns and cadets, and 3,803 sailors, besides 875 officers and men in the marine corps. On the war footing the sailors number 3,743, and the marines 1,410. The men are recruited by conscription from the seafaring population, although the voluntary enlistments in the province of Dalmatia renders its enforcement unnecessary.
The total commerce of Austria, comprising imports and exports, exceeded $400,000,000. The commercial marine includes 7,830 vessels, of 324,415 tonnage, and 27,979 seamen. The Austrian Lloyd, a trading society established in Trieste in 1833, owns a fleet of 70 steamers, of 12,500 horse-power.
To provide officials, well instructed and trained in the administration of each department of the public service, military and civil—war by land and sea—both for military and commercial purposes, the government establishes schools, with studies and practical exercises adapted to each branch.