[ORGANIZATION, ETC.]
The Royal Engineering Establishment at Chatham was instituted in 1854, to furnish a sound course of practical instruction in Military and Civil Engineering to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and sappers of the corps of Royal Engineers, in addition and prior to which both officers and men pass through the ordinary drill and military duties common to the army generally.
The present organization and staff are composed of a director; an instructor and assistant in construction and estimating; an instructor and assistant in field works; an instructor and assistant in surveying; an instructor and assistant in telegraphy, photography, and an assistant in signalling; a brigade major; quartermaster in charge of stores, and field officer for military discipline.
| The number of officers under instruction, recently commissioned, captains and subalterns, | 81 |
| Non-commissioned officers and sappers, average, | 1,200 |
[NATURE AND LENGTH OF COURSE.]
There are six distinct courses:
1. Drill and military duties, which occupy 107 days. This includes, besides the interior economy of a company, proceedings of courts-martial, boards of survey, courts of inquiry.
2. Telegraphy, signalling, submarine mines, etc., which occupy thirty-five days. This includes the construction and maintenance of lines, a knowledge of instruments and batteries, application of electricity to explosions, management of torpedoes, etc.
3. Chemistry, which occupies fifteen days. This course comprises the analysis of limes, cements, and other building materials.