There is also the marine infantry (See-Bataillon), and there was until recently the marine artillery; but the last has lately been abolished, and its place is to be taken by the four companies of seamen-gunners.

The total force of petty officers and seamen make up the two seamen's divisions, the first division being stationed at Kiel and the second at Wilhelmshafen. There are also two dockyard divisions, in like manner stationed at Kiel and Wilhelmshafen.

The preliminary steps in the career of a line officer in the German Navy begin with the application of his parent or guardian for an appointment. These applications are made to the Admiralty in August and September of each year. In the following spring the applicants present themselves at Kiel for the entrance examination. The examination is not competitive, but the standard for admission is high, involving not only the attainments called for by the questions given, but the previous completion of a certain course in the public schools-schools which are unsurpassed by any of their kind in the world. The successful candidates are appointed cadets in the Navy, and embarked immediately on board the cadets' practice-ship. The cruise lasts six months, and the time on board is fully occupied by training in practical duties; no theoretical instruction being given, except such as is necessary by way of explanation.

At the end of the practice-cruise, the cadets return to Kiel and join the cadets' division at the Naval School. Here they have a course of theoretical instruction in professional and scientific subjects. The duration of the course is six months, from October 1 to March 31. It is followed by the second of the important examinations which all officers must pass. These are four in number. The first is the entrance examnation; the second, which follows the cadets' course at the Naval School, is called the midshipmen's examination, as it is followed by the promotion of proficient cadets to that grade; the third and fourth, known respectively as the first officers' examination, and the officers' professional examination, occur later in the career of officers.

After passing the examination, the newly-promoted midshipmen are sent for a month to the gunnery-ship at Wilhelmshafen. Early in May they are divided among the ships of the iron-clad squadron, where they remain on service during the greater part of the summer. In September or October they are ordered back to Kiel, and embarked on board the midshipmen's school-ship, of which there are two always in commission, one of them leaving Kiel every year. The cruise lasts two years.

The ship goes around the world, but most of the time is generally spent on the coasts of China and Japan. Instruction is given both in lessons or recitations and exercises, and comprehends a very full programme of theoretical and practical study. The regular officers of the ship are the instructors.

At the end of the cruise the ship returns to Kiel and the midshipmen undergo their third examination, called the first officers' examination, preparatory to promotion to the grade of sub-lieutenant. Upon passing this examination they are subjected to another and peculiar test of fitness. Their names are proposed, one by one, for approval, to the officers attached at the time to the naval station at Kiel. These officers, whose number is always considerable, vote as at any other election; and an unfavorable result puts an end to the candidate's career.

After passing this test officers are promoted to sub-lieutenants as vacancies occur. They return to the Naval School (without waiting for their promotion) and go through the officers' course. This begins in November and lasts a year. It includes professional and scientific subjects, among them steam-engineering and fortification, besides all the others which were taught in the cadets' course. In these last, the course is far more advanced, having progressed by regular and systematic steps. The officers' course at the Naval School is closed by the officers' professional examination, with which the compulsory education of officers. comes to an end.

A still higher course of an extensive and elaborate character, and lasting three years, is open to voluntary students at the Naval Academy. This institution, though united with the Naval School and under the same direction, has its specific object distinct from the other, and its students, being officers of higher rank and attending the academy voluntarily, are subject to separate regulations.

The steps in a naval officer's education may therefore be summarized as follows:

August, September: Application of parent or guardian.

First year:

April.-Examination for admission.

April to September.-Cadets' practice-cruise.

October to March.-Naval School: Cadets' course.

Second year:

April.-Midshipmen's examination: Promotion to midshipman.

April to May.-Gunnery-ship.

May to September.-Iron-clad squadron.

Third year, fourth year:

September to September (two years).—Midshipmen's practice-cruise.
October. First officers' examination.

Fifth year:
November.--Officers' professional examination.
Total period of education, five and a half years.
Subsequent education:

Voluntary three-years course: Naval Academy.

PROMOTION OF SEAMEN TO THE CORPS OF OFFICERS.

Seamen of the German Navy who desire to qualify themselves for advancement to the corps of officers may, if they have shown special fitness, be recommended for promotion by the commandant of the seamen's division to which they belong. They are then required to send in the papers presented by applicants for admission as cadets, and, in addition, a certificate from a commanding officer (or merchant captain) with whom they have served, as to their conduct, acquirements, and capacity, and a statement that they have served twelve months at sea in a man-of-war or merchant vessel. The examination for admission must be held before the candidate is twenty years of age, and it is governed by the same regulations as in the case of cadets. After the examination the career of seamen advanced to the corps of officers is the same as that of the of ficers themselves.

CHAPTER XXI.

ADMISSION.

Application for permission to enter the Navy as cadet is made at the Imperia! Admiralty in Berlin, in the months of August and September of the year preceding the entrance examination. The application must be accompanied by a number of papers, such as certificates of birth, religious creed, confirmation, &c.; a full narrative of the life of the applicant, written by himself and duly attested, stating the schools he has attended, his course of study, changes of residence, illnesses, German and foreign works read by him, and other minute facts; school diplomas; and the health certificate of a military or naval surgeon. The parent is also required to give a bond to make the deposit necessary to procure the first outfit of his son, to pay for his subsequent outfits, and also to make him an allowance up to the time of his promotion to the grade of lieutenant. The allowance is fixed at 30 marks (about $7.50) per month. It is paid for the first six months in advance, and afterwards in quarterly payments. It is not paid directly to the cadet or midshipman, but to the treasurer of the Naval School; and it is disbursed by the paymaster who h for the time being, the accounts of the cadet. In certain exceptional cases, as in that of midshipmen who contract debts on the prac tice-cruise, it may be paid, like the regular salary, to an officer designated by the captain, and the midshipman has no control over it for the time being, except according to the discretion of the officer who has it in trust. Candidates must be under seventeen years of age at the date of admission. Exception is made, however, in the case of graduates (Abiturienten) of the Gymnasia, Realschulen of the first-class, and similar institutions (that is, institutions of an equally high standard), who may be admitted up to the completion of their nineteenth year. No minimum age of admission is prescribed, but a limit is practically fixed by the regulation which requires candidates to present a certificate from a gymnasium of fitness for the upper second class, or to show in the examination their qualification for it. To do this, the candidate must have passed through the lower classes of the schools, which he could hardly accomplish before his fourteenth or fifteenth year.

The examination for admission, like the later examinations to which officers are subjected, is conducted by a special board of examiners (SeeOffizier und Cadetten Prüfungs-Commission). The board is appointed by the Minister of Marine (Chef der Admiralität), and its proceedings are governed by minute regulations. Besides the entrance examination, it has charge of the midshipmen's examination, and the first and the final examination for officers. It has no duties of instruction. The latter are S. Ex. 51-11

performed entirely by the regular officers and professors of the schools, and it is the object of the system to make the examiners a distinct body. The board of examiners holds therefore a very important place in the German system of naval education. As it is governed by similar regulations in the conduct of all the examinations, it may be well to give here a general outline of the system.

The board is composed of a president, examiners, secretaries, and of ficers to do proctor's duty in written examinations. The president conducts the meetings of the board, gives special directions in regard to examinations, and is present at the oral examinations. The examiners conduct the oral examinations, and set the written papers. Three times the number of papers required are made out in each subject by the examiners, from which the president of the board chooses the allotted number. The examiners mark the work-papers. Candidates obtaining, or seeking to obtain, improper assistance, are rejected without further formality.

In addition to the prescribed subjects, candidates, at all the examinations, are allowed to offer one modern language, as an extra subject. In this case they receive an examination in the language. If they receive a mark of above 55 per cent. in the extra, it goes to increase their final mark, unless this final mark is below the passing standard; in which case the extra does not count at all. In no case does it count so as to diminish a final mark.

The oral examination is intended to complete and supplement the written, in order that the examiners may determine, with greater accuracy, the merits of a candidate. At least ten minutes must be allowed to each candidate.

The system of marking at the examinations is that employed in all the educational establishments of the Navy, and has some peculiarities that are worthy of notice. The scale of marks ranges from 1 to 9, and a general average of 5 is required in order to pass. A mark of 5 is also required in certain designated subjects. The time occupied in writing a paper is considered in marking. The marks for the oral and written examinations are combined with equal weight. To fix the relative weight of subjects in the final calculation, they are divided into three classes, according to their importance. Each class has its coefficient; that of subjects of the first class being always 3, of the second 2, and of the third 1.

In computing the final mark of a candidate, the marks for separate subjects are not taken directly as the basis of the computation, but the difference by which each mark exceeds or is less than 5, the passing mark. All marks greater than 5 give plus quantities, and all marks less than 5 give minus quantities. These differences, plus or minus as the case may be, are then multiplied by their respective coefficients, and the algebraic sum of the plus and minus products constitutes the final mark. The result may be a plus quantity, a minus quantity, or zero.