The following detail shows the regimental and survey rate of pay received by the sappers on the 14th June, 1849, at the time the committee was sitting on army and ordnance expenditure:—[[225]]
| Regimental Pay. | Survey Pay. | |||||||
| s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | |||
| 1 | sergeant-major | 4 | 7½ | 4 | 0 | |||
| 3 | colour-sergeants | 3 | 3½ | 2 | 9 | to | 4 | 0 |
| 20 | sergeants | 2 | 9½ | 2 | 1 | ” | 3 | 0 |
| 25 | corporals | 2 | 3½ | 1 | 4 | ” | 2 | 10 |
| 26 | second corporals | 1 | 11¾ | 1 | 4 | ” | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | privates | 1 | 3½ | 2 | 0 | ” | 2 | 6 |
| 170 | privates | 1 | 3½ | 1 | 0 | ” | 2 | 0 |
| 91 | privates | 1 | 3½ | under | 1 | 0 | ||
| 338 | Total. | |||||||
The majority of the lowest class were men who had but recently joined the survey, and whose attainments and usefulness had not been sufficiently known to warrant their being advanced to the higher classes. The working pay is fixed by the superintendent at a rate for each “according to his acquirements and industry; and for the satisfactory performance of duties requiring management and ingenuity, such, for instance, as reflecting with the heliostat, piling hills with judgment,” accuracy and expertness in taking astronomical observations, &c., “it is customary to allow special rewards.”[[226]]
A few of the non-commissioned officers and men not already mentioned in these records, who have been conspicuous on the duty, and have gained special attention for their abilities and advantageous services in very responsible situations, are here given as examples, to encourage others in the corps to seek and cultivate still higher attainments, and to emulate their usefulness and zeal.
Second-corporal William Lowrie. Enlisted in July, 1833. Application and industry soon made his services of value to the survey. His maps of the city of Limerick and town of Liverpool have ranked him among the first class of draughtsmen. In January, 1845, he purchased his discharge, and obtained profitable employment in the Assessionable Manors’ Commission. He is now surveyor and draughtsman at a high salary to the harbour department of the Admiralty.
Sergeant James Sinnett. A non-commissioned officer of indefatigable energy and intelligence; was one of the best draughtsmen in the corps, and excelled in landscape drawing; was also an efficient superintendent, and after a service of more than eighteen years, died at Liverpool in August, 1844.
Sergeant William Jenkins. Has been principally employed in the triangulation, and has observed with the 3-feet theodolite from some of the most important trigonometrical stations in the kingdom. Through a long catalogue of great instrument observers—from the eminent General Mudge to the non-commissioned officers of the corps who had completed the grand triangulation, sergeant Jenkins stands unrivalled. His reputation in this department of duty depends not on opinion but on a fact which has become a feature in the history of the operation; for his observations, computed comparatively with those of other observers, have, in their value, proved to be the best. During the London survey in 1848 he assisted sergeant Steel in taking observations from the station above the ball and cross of St. Paul’s. He also distinguished himself in the use of the zenith sector at Southampton, and subsequently was second in charge of the re-measurement of the base on Salisbury Plain. In 1855 he was selected to exhibit at the Paris Exposition the scientific contributions from the ordnance survey, during which, he had the rare distinction of offering explanations concerning the maps and instruments in his charge, to the Emperor; and also of being the bearer to Colonel James, as head of the national survey of the United Kingdom, a gold medal of honour and a first class silver medal, in testimony of the high appreciation with which the survey specimens of art, had been received in the French metropolis. At present he has charge under Captain Clarke of the persons employed at Southampton on the computations of the secondary and minor triangulations and of the correspondence with the parties engaged on that duty in the field.
Sergeant William Scott, after a service of twenty years, left the corps in November, 1845. He joined it a lad from the Hibernian School. His acquirements were varied and above the average of intelligent men. Whether as a surveyor, draughtsman, examiner, or superintendent, his work was always executed with quickness and accuracy, and he was frequently encouraged in his duty by preferment and eulogy. In 1839 he had the charge of the detail survey of the city of Limerick, and the preparation of the plans on the 5-feet scale. The survey was executed entirely by chain triangulation, in a manner so superior as to elicit the marked approbation of his officers. On retiring from the corps he commenced life anew as a civil engineer, and obtained good employment in the profession in England. His success, however, did not keep pace with his wishes and exertions, but sailing for the West, he was not long unknown in Canada. Under his superintendence the western division of the Great Western Railway was executed. On its completion in 1854, and when his connection with the undertaking had ceased, he was presented by the employés of the company at a public dinner, with a gold watch of the value of 500 dollars, as a token of high respect for his professional knowledge, and for his zeal and amiable firmness in directing the works. He now holds, through his own unassisted efforts, an honourable position in society, is esteemed for his attainments in science and engineering, and his prosperity has placed him in circumstances of moderate wealth.
Corporal William M‘Lintock was a very clever artizan. An ingenious machine was invented by him for ruling the lines of even shades on the copper, superseding its execution by hand engraving; and another for producing a finer, smoother, and more uniform impression of the characteristics of the maps. They are still in use at Southampton. The first, by a simple and beautiful process of mechanism is, when arranged, set in motion, and performs its delicate operations unaided, until the particular service assigned to it is accomplished. The other produces its advantages by an effective adaptation of the hydraulic principle and steam. Both inventions possess many excellences over the former modes of executing these fine and scrupulous details, and not only save much time and labour, but the chance of inaccuracy and irregularity in the performance.
Sergeant James Beaton has given much satisfaction as an observer. He is also well known for his successful daring in the building of structures for trigonometrical purposes. Since 1840 he has superintended the erection for these objects of at least fifty scaffoldings with stages, on the summits of towers or spires of churches, and in other prominent positions, in various parts of the British isles. Some of these structures have exhibited great skill, and the ingenious arrangement of the timbers, cordage, and fastenings, made the scaffolds with their platforms, objects alike of curiosity and architectural merit. The celebrated stages at Calaiswold near Bishopwilton, and Arbury Hill near Daventry, were massive and imposing structures. The former was 78 feet high, and 300 trees from the estate of Sir Tatton Sykes were used in its construction: the latter was 80 feet high, and the timber employed in it took a waggon and four horses for six days to collect it on the site. The scaffolds and stages on the steeples of Thaxted and Danbury churches in Essex were cleverly executed. The Thaxted one was a particularly difficult service, and accomplished at imminent personal risk. It was nevertheless a very artistic and beautiful work, and of sufficient interest to receive delineation in a London journal. It was built in April, 1844. The scaffold and stage were more than 102 feet in height, and rose from the crown of the tower, which had an elevation of 100 feet from the ground. His most distinguished work was superintending, in 1848, the erection of the scaffolding and stage around and above the ball and cross of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and which earned the reputation of being a “wonderful specimen of skill”[[227]] and workmanship. The design for it was made by sergeant James Steel; but sergeant Beaton effected some important improvements in its details, which gave solidity and stability to the delicate fabric. His coolness, scrupulous care, and unflinching zeal in carrying on the work were astonishing, and during its progress he was visited by many architects, engineers, and professional men, who treated him with great courtesy, and eulogised his talent and courage. In the metropolitan sanitary survey sergeant Beaton took the trigonometrical observations at nine points of the district, the chief stations being on the cupola of the Colosseum, St. Luke’s, Chelsea, the Pagoda Tower at Kew Gardens, and the Wimbledon and Highgate churches. The stage at the Pagoda was very difficult of erection. The tower is 140 feet high, and the pole from its apex rises to an elevation of 20 feet. Above this pole in a very skilful manner was the stage constructed, which rested upon four 30-feet spars based upon the cupola. While the work was in progress frost set in, and the roof, smooth as a sheet of glass, rendered the movements of the workmen very perilous; but the sergeant, equal to the occasion, by means of a circle of sheeting secured at the foot of the uprights, and the strewing of gravel on the planks, effected the service with his accustomed success. At Wimbledon spire the scaffolding from the base to the top was 85 feet, and from its neatness had so beautiful an appearance, that a drawing of it was transferred to the pages of the ‘Illustrated London News.’ It was built during the prevalence of a strong gale, and to insure security against an increased pressure of wind on the superstructure, 700 yards of chain and 500 yards of rope were fixed to the base of the main posts, and passed fourfold through the belfry windows, and made taut to the eight-bell frame by powerful tackling. The strength of the fabric was afterwards severely tested, for a violent storm came on, and whilst large trees were thrown down and others were snapped off above ground, the stage on the fragile spire of the church weathered the hurricane. At Highgate church he built a similar stage above a spire of 60 feet, rising from a tower of 70 feet: this spire was architecturally embellished with turrets, pinnacles, &c., and eight flying buttresses. A storm set in here also, which shook the houses in the vicinity of the church. At midnight the sergeant was awakened by the wind, and dressing himself hastened to the top of the steeple. Nothing daunted by the oscillations of the stage he secured the instrument, and reefing a part of the canvas of the observatory saved it from destruction. This incident is given to show the sergeant’s spirit and devotion to the service. At Gloucester Cathedral he erected on the tower a neat scaffolding and double stage, to receive his observatory, which was made to peer over the delicate pinnacles of the edifice. The pinnacles rose 52 feet above the roof, while the height of the building from the ground to the top of the spires measured 226 feet. This service was carried out with his usual ability and care, and the damage done to the cathedral in the fixing, and afterwards in the removal of the heavy timbers and stores, cost to repair it only the small sum of 1s. 4d. Similar scaffolds and double stages were constructed by him on the towers of Tewkesbury Abbey and Worcester Cathedral. From 1850 to 1855 he conducted the trigonometrical observations with the 2-feet theodolite from the top of Nelson’s Monument on Calton Hill, from the turret over the crown-room at Edinburgh Castle, and from many mountain stations in Scotland. At one period of his service he was employed in the triangulation of Lewis, and underwent incredible hardships in its prosecution. Indeed, throughout his survey career of more than twenty-three years, his adventures and vicissitudes on mountain duty, in observing, in scaffold building, in travels by land and sea, exposed in camp to frost and snow, to violent winds, storms, and deluging tempests, belong almost to the romance of science. This is true not only with respect to the arduous and trying services of sergeant Beaton, but to many others who, like him, have been allotted to the laborious duty of the great triangulation.