The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-29 00:00:00

NO. 1.-ESTABLISHMENT OF YARDS.

My Lords are pleased to direct that the number of
shipwrights now employed in her Majesty's dockyards
be reduced to 3,500; and that corresponding reductions
be made in the other branches of skilled Ltbour, accord-
ing to the :.calo now in use for regulating the rropor-
tions between the shipwrights and other classes of
artificers.

A printed sheet, containing the future establishment
of each yard, which my Lords have fixed with due re-
ference to the programme of building, and repairs, pro..
pose.l by the surveyor for the next five years, will be
transmitted with this minute; and my Lords, having al.
lowed all vacancies from superannuations or deaths to
remain unfilled since August last, in the anticipation of
those reductions, which are not to take place until the
commencement of the next financial year (Ist April,
1849), they are willing to hope that the pressure upon
the working classes will be greatly alleviated by these
preciutions.

- The superintendents will take care to hold a general
survey of the yard in the month of March, and to re-
commend for superannuatioa those who are unfit for ac•
tive service, retaining the younger and m')re vigorous
men, who must otherwise be discharged.
H. G. WARD.

NO . IL-APPRENTICES.
My Lords have taken into consideration the number
of apprentices admitted of late years into dockyards, as
compared with the number of shipwrights.
They find a perfect unanimity of opinion as to the ad-
vantages of filling all vacancies in the yards by young
men brought up in them, not only because of the habits
of subordination which they acquire there, but also on
account of the excellent education that they are now
receiving.

But, on the other hand, my Lords are satisfied that
the entries of the last seven years greatly exceed the an-
nual vacancies by death, or superannuation ; and they
are, therefore, pleased to reduce the establishment of
apprentices in each yard by one sixth of the number of
shipwrights, in lieu of one fourth ; and the entries in
the present, 'and each subsequent year, to one-seventh
of this reduced estab:ishment, which they believe to be
amply sufficient to provide for the wants of the service.
This will give to—

Established Apprentices. Annual Entry,
Deptford 6
Woolwich ... 75 ... ... 11
Chatham ... 76 ... ... 11
Sheerness ... 63 ... ... 9
Portsmouth ... 135
... ... 19
Devonport ... 125 ... ... 18
Pembroke ... 66 ... ... 9

581 83
My Lords conceiving that it would be at once unjust
and uneconomical for the public to take charge of boys
up to the age of 21, and then discard them, propose to
provide for the apprentices coming out of their time
during the next five years, by a hired list, under Order
in Council, to be composed entirely of those apprentices,
and to cease when they are placed upon the establish-
ment. This privilege, however, may be forfeited by
misconduct of any kind; and the selection of apprentices
for establishment will be decided by the board, not by
seniority, but with due reference to the recommenda-
tions of the superintendent and the master shipwright.
H W
NO. 111.-WORKING HOURS. H. G. ARP.
My Lords are pleased to direct that from and after the
Ist of March next the working hours in all the dock and
victualling yards shall be regulated by one unform scale,
which is to be as follows:
NEW SCALE OF WORKING HOURS IN ALL HER MAJESTY'S
DOCKYARDS AND VICTUALLING YARDS.

Bell rings
Gates close. Bell rings. Gates close. 5 m. before.
Dec. Ito Jan 30 7,15 11•50 1.10 4.15

February
7'25 11'50 1.10 5•15

Mar. 1 to Oct. 30 7.10 IPSO 110 6.00

November 7.25 11054 1.10 5.15
IL G. WARD.

NO. IV.-MUSTER BY TICKETS.

My Lords are pleased to direct that the Chatham sys-
tem of muster by tickets be adopted in all the dockyards,
from the Ist of April next; and they have desired pro-
vision to be made in the estimates for erecting the ne•
cessary buildings for the ticket tables, the mustor gal.
leries being so pla,ced as to admit of the men P46sing

through them in one continuous line, when entering or
leaving the yard.
The tickets, when taken up by the men, are to be de-
posited in b eees kept by the leading men, and the heads
of the different trades to which the men belong, at their
respective working places; and these boxes are not to
be re-opened unt►l the ten minutes' bell, for dining, or
quitting the yard, has actually begun to ring. The super-
intendent is to take care that the muster galleries are
opened at the same time, and not sooner; so that the
men, having to take up their tickets at the ship's side,
and then to deposit them in the muster galleries, will
not leave the yard before the time intended by the re-
gulations. H. G. WARD.
NO. Y.—SRPERINTENDENCE AND WORKING STRENGTH.
Having fixed the working strength of the yards, my
Lords have also considered the amount of superinten-
dence, and they see reason to believe that it consider-
ably exceeds the legitimate wants of the service.
The whole of the evidence collected by the committee
of revision proves that a leading man may take charge
of 20 men as easily as 15. which was the number fixed
by the " Dockyard Cirular" of February 27, 1847; and
my Lords are consequently pleased to direct that the
yards shall be new shoaled in March next, and the size
of the gangs increased from 15 to 20, including appren-
tices, 19 men and boys being placed under each leading
man, and three leading men under each inspector.
This will make a redie.tion of 51 leading men out of
219 now employed in the dockyards; but as men who
have earned their present situation by passing the ex-
anainatien rrquired cannot be deprived of it without in-
justice, my Lords desire that, after superannuating such of
the leading men as are no longer fit fur active duty, the
intended reduction in the number of the remainder shall
be made by filling one vacancy in two, leaving the extra
leading men, for the time, at the disposal of the master
shipwrights.
At Deptford, where no promotions have been made
under the new system, the reduction will take place im-
mediately, the extra leading men being reduced to their
tools after the yard is re-shoaled, with the promise that
they shall be noted for the first vacancies.
My Lords also consider that the present number of
inspectors is larger than the new distribution of labour
will warrant; and they are, consequently, pleased to re-
duce eleven inspectors—seven of shipwrights, and four
of joiners, as will be shown by the printed forms of the
new establishments.
My Lords are also pleased to reduce eight foremen :
—One at Woolwich, one at Chatham, one at Sheerness,
two at Portsmouth, two at Devonport, and one at Pem-
broke.

The master shipwrights and master shipwrights' as-
sistants remain unaltered. H. G. WARD.
NO. VI.—MORNING MEETING OF OFFICERS.
My Lords, desiring to secure a prompter co-operation
between the different departments of the dockyards, and
to afford to the officers in charge of them more frequent
means of communicating immediately with the superin-
tendent, are pleased to direct that a morning meeting of
all the principal officers be held at 9 A. 31. precisely in
each dockyard, where the orders for the day are to be
read in the presence of the superintendent, or of the
officer next to him in rank.
My Lords desire it to be understood that at this meet-
ing any principal officer may make personally, and pub-
licly, such suggestions to the superintendent as he may
think necessary for the better conducting of his depart-
ment, or for the more prompt execution of the particu-
lar duty assigned to him, which under the present sys-
tem he can only do by a written communication, passing
through the superintendent's clerk; and where two de-
partments are concerned in the same order, the superin-
tendent will have the means of:--satisfying himself that it
is properly understood by both.
My Lords see reason to believe that many misunder-
standinge And delays will be put an end to by this ar-
rangement; but, in carrying it out, the superintendents
will r(collect that their first duty is punctuality, not
merely because the officers should not be kept from their
duties unnecessarily, but because the regularity of their
own attendance will serve as the measure of that of the
dockyard. H. G. WARD.
NO. VII.—QUARTERLY MEETING FOR THE DEMAND OF
STORES.

The progressive increase of the vote for stores, which
eu
ther
Board years,
has risen from 426,9.581. in 1835, to 1,694,1521 in 1846 7,
oha
Admiralty.f
n s c
dha
led s aveo rr
a tgheed mOt r
1 55245, eo3io s c
21 d
uor nthe t asnt
ot
fh e e
s dr a
My Lords are aware that a large proportion of this
increase may be ascribed to the purchase of machinery
for the steam navy, which amounted, in 1846 7, to no
less a sum titan 450,0001., and to the growing consump-
tion of coals, which reached 108,180/. in 1847-8. But
they are also convinced that there is room for much
greater economy in the use of stores, and that this will
be best enforced by making the superintendents respon•
sible both for the demand and the expenditure, over
which Re present they exercise no direct or personal
control.
The storekeeper of each yard now receives, at the
commencement of every quarter, from the professional
officers, the '• demands" fir their respective department,,
and calculates his own by the quantities remaining iii
store of the principal articles required. But these calcu-
lations are very loosely made. The " demands" are not
formally brought under the notice of the superintendent,
nor does he consider it a part of his duty to ascertain, be-
fore transmitting them to Samerset [louse, whether there
may not be on hand, " repairable" articles fit to supply
their place.
,t- My Lords are, therefo-e, pleased to direct that the
professional officers shall make their "demands" upon
the storekeeper on the sth day of the first month of each
quarter, and that on the iih, or on the following day, if
the 7th be a Sunday, the superintcnd.'nt shall hold an
estimate board, to be attended by all the principal offi-
cers, at which the demands of each department shall be
discussed aid settled. The result is to be communicated
at the usual time, and in the ordinary form, to the Store-
keeper-General, who now receives on the 14th, and 21st,
of the first month of each quarter, a return of the quan-
tities of each article in store, and of the probable wants
of each dockyard (Forms No. 162 and No. 163); but
the superintendent is to communicate directly with the
Board of Admiralty, and to state that the demands for
the quarter have Lean duly considered at the estimate
board, and do not, in his opinion, exceed the legitimate
requirements of the yard.
In those dockyards where there are factories or metal
mills a separate statement of their " demands " is to be
made at the estimate board by the chief engineer, and
not departed from, when sanctioned by the superinten-
dent, with due reference to the work in hand, and to the
probable wants of the ensuing quarter, without the
special sanction of the board. For my Lords ascribe to
the novel, and unforeseen, demands of the factories the
growing excess, under vote No. 10, upon the standing
contracts, which has risen from 6,335/. in 1846, to
74,996/. in 1847, and to 54,0001. in the first six months
of the present financial year.
My Lords are also pleased to direct that, in the super-
intendent's quarterly return, the storekeeper of the yard
shall insert the money value of the stores demanded, as
well as the quantities, so that it may at once appear
whether the demand for the quarter exceed its fair pro-
portion of the Parliamentary vote.
An account of the works in progress, and of the pro-
bable expenditure upon them, should also be laid before
the superintendent, at the estimate board, by the officer
in charge of works ; and the certificate of the audit of
the wages for the preceding quarter is to be made out,
and transmitted, at the same time; so that each of these
quarterly meetings will present a complete epitome of
the progress and requirements of the yard.
A record, or register of the proceedings of the esti-
mate boards is to be kept by the superintendent's clerk,
and to be submitted to the Board of Admiralty upon its
annual inspecdau of the duck) arils, it being their Lord•
ships' intention to examine closely into the manner in
which these instructions have been carried our.

H. G. WARD.
NO. VIII.—MONTHLY RETURNS OF EXPENDITURE OF
STORES.
My Lords having provided for a more regular "de-
mand" of stores, are desirous to introduce some addi-
tional check upon tht it expenditure.
At present, this is by no means a satisfactory state,
for, although the check upon " issues " is complete, no
stores being issued, however small the quantity wanted,
except upon an " issue note," signed by a foreman, or
by the head of the branch, or trade, for which the stores
are required—which " issue notes" are sent daily to
the superintendent's office, and checked by his clerk into
what is termed the " abstract sheet," and from the
" abstract sheet " into the ledger—still these minute
precautions aro not turned to proper account, the total
monthly expenditure of stores not being officially shown,
or its progreis so traced that at the close of the year,
when an excess has occurred, my Lords may at once
acertain where and with whom the responsibility rests.
My Lords are, therefore, pleased to direct that a
monthly return shall be prepared in the superintend-
ent's office, embracing all the principal articles of ex•
penditure, with a view of ascertaining to what extent
they exceed or fall short of the parliamentary vote.
All the materials fur this return exist already, for the
issue notes, when entered in the ledger, are " totalled"
monthly, after being converted into money by the rate-
book now in use; and a balance is struck quarterly in
the receipt ledger, the difference between " issues" and
" receipts" constituting the " charge" for the ensuing
quarter; and the results thus obtained are entered in

two " Expense Books" (No. 316 A, and No. 316 B),
the one for the " Cost of Ships," and the other for
" Yard Services," from which again the annual returns
$8 and 89 are compiled.
My Lords can foresee no difficulty, therefore, in fill-
ing up, monthly, the forma return herewith transmitted;
and they conceive that it will have the double effect of

bringing; the whole expenditure of each yard under the
eye of the superintendent, at short and stated intervals,
and of enabling the Board of Admiralty, whenever an
excess appears, to check it by demanding timely expla.
nations. 11. G. WARD.

NO. Ix.-W.IGES.
My Lords find that the exclusive resp3nsibility of the
wages paid in the dockyards, amounting to near
800.000 L a year, now rests with the storekeepers of the
dockyards, whose clerks attend the musters, check the
absentees, and prepare the weekly pay list, without any
inquiry being made, either locally or at Somerset house,
into the manner in which these accounts are kept, and
without even the semblance of a subsequent audit.
My Lords can only regard this system as an anomaly
unprecedented ibnedsirtheepeubbileicteerg
service.ie In considering the
remedy that might be best applied to it, they feel that
while it would
the dockyard wages,
like every other item of naval expenditumunder thedirect
control of the Accountant General, the inconvenience of
transmitting such a mass of vouchers, weekly, to Somerset
check,tlou se, the inquiries that they would give rise to, and the
icioi
surmountablerre correspondence to
obstacles.
thaieclhe
st 1. u3sTe
h inquiries
prefer,
therefore,u l would
ca
local
the inquiry being
detected, the remedy alwaysin the hands of the proper
authorities; and they immediate, and, where error is
are
consequentlypleased to direct
that in each dockyard an experienced clerk shall be
trtins6l:l:?d lOW the
stcsirekeeper'6 dlattolont to On

office of the superintendent, where he will assist in
checking the accounts of each week as soon as sent in,
and preparing them for a weekly audit by the sups-rim.
tendent, who will pass no account without satisfying
himself that the sums paid are those really due, and that
no error or irregu:arity has been committed.
At the end of each quarter the superintendent will
transmit a certificate to the board, stating that the ac-
counts fur the precoding twelve weeks have been exa-
mined and passed; and the accountant oo deputy Ac-
ce,nntant-Gencral of the Navy is to visit the dockyards
once a. year, and to exsmine the manner in which the
wages account is kept, directing such changes to be made
as may appear to hire to be desirable, either in the form
of the account or in the vouchers.
My Lords believe that the uniformity of practice, and
a proper check upon the expenditure in wages, will be
more speedily produced by this mode of proceeding than
by any regulations that they could lay down at present;
and they are, consequently, pleased to direct that a let-
ter be written to the Treasury, requesting its sanction to
the increase of establishment proposed, and recapitu-
lating their reasons for considering it indispensable.
H. G. WARD.

NO. X.—RETURNED STORES.
My Lard; are pletved to direct that the receipt of all
" returned stores" shall be placed henceforward under
the responsibility of the store receiver, assi Lted, as in
other cases of receipt, by proper profes•ional officers, to
b:r selected, upon his application, by the master ship•
wright. An article charging him with this duty is to be
add• d to the dockyard instructions ; and in this, the
store receiver is to be directed to call the attent:on of
the Board of Admiralty, through the superintendent, to
those ships, from which the largest proportion of stores
is landed in the best state, as well as to those in which
neglect and wastefulness are apparent.

H. G. WARD.

O. XI -REVISION OF ESTABLISHMENT OF STORES.
My Lords are pleased to direct that the " establish-
ment," of stores in the dockyards shall be revised, and a
list made out of all such stores as have become obso-
lete, and may in future be dispensed with.

H. G. WARD,

NO. XII. -STANDING CONTRACTS.

My Lords a's'i desire that all standing contracts be
opened to public competition, upon due notice, at stated
intervals, not exceeding three or four years. Whenever
this is done, the fullest information is to be given to the
contractors as to the average quantities of each article
required annually during the previous contract, my
Lords considering that the uncertainty of the liability
tends, at present, to enhance the prices.
A new rate book of the value of stores is to be pre-
pared for the use of the yards, or the present rate book
is to be revised, and to be corrected annually, by the aid
of the most recent contracts and of the price current,
which is to be supplied weekly to all the storekeepers.
11. G. WARD.

NO. XIII.-TRIENNIAL SURVEY.
My Lords having considered the present practice in
the dockyards, with regard to the charge of stores, con-
cur with the committee of revision in thinking that the
ar2ounts given by the storekeeper's ledger should be
checked, periodically, by actual survey.
My Lords aro aware that the heavy expense with
which surveys have hitherto been attended has in
duced successive J3oards of Admiralty to limit them to a
charge of storekeepers by death, or removal. But, on
the other hand, they see that no private establishment
could go on for eighteen or twenty years without taking
stock, and they ascribe to the want of a similar regula-
tion in her Majesty's dockyards both the discrepancies
that have universally arisen between the results of the
survey, when held, and those given by the ledger, and
the want of proper economical arrangements for the
stowaw.eand preservation for timber.

A periodical survey will force upon each superin-
tendent the necessity of seeing that the whole of the
timber, thickstuff, and plank under his charge is pro-
perly class.'d and stacked, and the quantities duly re-
corded, or he will be held justly responsible for the delay
caused by his neglect of these precautions. There will
then be no difficulty in making the survey by the help of
the timber-inspector's register, in which the marks cut upon
the butts of each piece, of timber, when received, are to
be entered, and the surveying officers will only have to
ascertain that the quantities in each stack correspond
with those registered, or when timber has been drawn
from the stack or shed, to note the differences between
he remaind..r and the original entry.
My Lords are therefore pleased to direct that a general
survey be held in all the dockyards, of timber, and every
other article in store, to commence on the lst of April
ni,xt; that its duration be limited to three months—pro-
vision being made in the estimates for this purpose.
That the superintendents in each yard be directed to
make the most strenuous exertions during the ensuing
quarter, and bef‘ re the establishini nts are alteied,
prepare the yards for this purpose, by bringing the
stores, and particularly the timber, into better order ;
and that the storekeepers be instructed to begin the sur-
vey in their own depirtmeiLs, when their stocks are
lowest, by calling in the aid of the store receiver, and be
informed that the results, when certified by him to the
superintendent, will be considered as the datum line,
from which the general survey aid begin.
Anotfe r general survey will take place on the Ist of
April, 1832, and once in three years from that time
forwards, and my Lords expect that the superintendents
will give every facility to the introduction of the new
s} stem, which my Lords believe to be essential to good
order, to sound economy, and, consequently, to the best
interests of the naval service, by so shaping the arraege-
ments of their yards as to make them correspond with
the change now ordered.

IL G. WARD.
MODE OF CONDUCTING SURTEY.
The storekeeper general is to prepare, and submit to
the board, a plain for conducting the survey, which is to
comu ence cn the Ist of April next, in the most effec-
tive, expeditious, and economical manner.

11. G. WARD.
O. XIV.-STOREKEEPER- GENERAL TO VISIT YARDS

ANNUALLY.

My Lords are pleased to direct that the storekeeper-
gi-neral shall resume his annual visit t the dockyards,
where he is to take cognizance, personally, of all matters
connected with his department, reporting to the board,
upon those points, which he may deem deserving of
special attention.

H. G. WARD.
NO. RV.-MODE OP PAYMENT.

My Lords are pleased to direct that the mode of pa,

went in all the dockyards shall be assimilated, the pay
inent by distributors being discontinued, and the factory
system of individual payments adopted.

H. G. WARD.
NO. XVI.-MANUFACTURING ESTABLISIIMENTS-FACTO
nus METAL MILLS, ROPERIES, &C

My Lords have alreaiy sanctioned and circulated in.
structions for the factories at Woolwich and Portsmouth

which will place them, in all essential particulars, as re-
gards book-keeping, accounts, and the periodical taking
of stock, upon the same footing as tho best•conductEd
private establishments.

The same principles were also applied by their Lord-
ships' minute of the 20th of October last, to the metal
mill at Chatham, where the whole of the copper used in
her Majesty's navy is now " received," refined,and rolled
into sheets; and were ordered to be extended, on the Ist
of January, 1849, to the other manufacturing establish-
ments in that yard, which comprise a ropery, a lead mill,
a pant mill, a metal and iron foundry, and a sheathing-
nail shop. At Deptford Victualling-yard, where raw
materials to the amount of 87,0001. a year are worked
up, the accounts are kept with an accuracy that admits of
no improvement, with the single exception of the
cooperage, which is now to be brought under the same
system; and my Lords are ploased to direct that the
books and forms used at Chatham and D2ptford be
adopted, on the IA of April next, in all the other dock-
yards and victualling yards where any manufactures are
carried on, stock being taken, and books kept, after the
custom of private establishments, so as to show a per.
fact debtor and creditor account at the close of the finan-
cial year.
With this view, all raw materials issued by the store.
keeper are to be charged by him at the contract price,
which is to be stated in writing, to the establishments to
which they are supplied, and the heads of those esta-
blishments are to debit themselves with chat amount, and
to add to it the whole cost of manufacture, with ten per
cent. for the wear and tear of machinery, and with in-
terest upon the plant and buildings, when these have been

constructed within the last ten years.
The manufactured articles are to be received hack by
the store• keeper at the increased value, and so charged
by him when re-issued for use.

My Lords desire to impress upon the minds of all
connected with these great national establishments th.,
necessity of the most scrupulous economy in their ma-
nagement. Public attention has Wen fixed upon them
by the inquiries of last year, and the country is keenly
alive to the disadvantages under which all manufacturing
establishments must labour which are not c•mducte4
under the eye of a master, and checked in their expendi-
ture by the necessity of drawing upon funds at his sole
disposal.

My Lords are aware that it is difficult to combine a
rigid economy with that unlimited command of capital
which Government establishments are supposed to pos-
sess, or to impress those who administer them, by any
written rules, with the same frugal ideas which feelings
of self, interest naturally and necessarily inculcate. But
they have selected as the chief engineers of the three
principal dockyards men favourably distinguished in
private trade; and, having placed at their disposal the
means of commanding success, and secured to the
country, by the publicity of their annual accounts, the
fullest knowledge of the issue, my Lords must leave it
to time and their exertions to show that an adequate re-
turn is made in new work and repairs, for th© vast
outlay which Parliament has already sanctioned in
connexion with the steam navy. IL G. WARD.

NO. X VLl.—smanEßlEs.
My Lords having taken into consideration the heavy
expense incurred by the introduction of Nasmyth's
steam hammer into the dockyards, and the impossi-
bility of producing the same amount of work from them
that is produced in private trade, unless the work-
ing hours are assimilated, the want of con-
tinuous labour in the dockyards causing a greater
consumption both of fuel and material, are pleased
to direct that, from the Ist day of April next, the ten
hour' system, recently introduced at Devonport, shall
be adopted in the smitheries of all the dockyards, the
wages of the men being increased in the proportion of
2,719 to 3,130, that being the difference of the number
of hours worked under the dockyard systi.m, and under
that now in force at Devonport. IL G. WARD.

are earning their money. The value of this instrument
will depend upon the discretion with which it is used—the
firmness with which the power of mulcting gangs found
in default is exercised by the master-shipwright —the
attention paid by the superintendent to the working of
the system generally—and the impression thus diffused
amongst the inspectors and men, that the means which
the superintendent has of estimating accurately 1113 ex-
ertions of all under him, will materially guide him in
his recommendations for promotion.
My Lords desire that a frequent inspection of the
measurer's books be considered as one of the principal
duties of the superintendents ; and it is their intention,
at their own annual inspections, to require, in each yard,
a report of the working of the system, and a precis of
the results which it has presented quarterly.
My Lords are aware that the value of those results
depends upon the accuracy of the schemes of prices,
upon which they are foundel; and that, in some res-
pects, the schemes now in use are defective. But many
omissions and defects will be corrected by the returns
already received from the yards, at the close of the first
six months; and my Lords have no doubt that, with the
experience of another haleyear, when similar returns
will be callei fur, a committee of master-shipwrights,
and measurers will be enabled to supply all that is want-
ing, especially as regards shipwright's work, the szet!e
for which is now founded upon the old scheme of 1825,
corrected in 1829, which makes no provision for the
new wants and new works connected with the steam
navy.

My Lords, expect that particular attention will be paid
to the points here enumerated, feeling confident that,
with proper care, the system of measurement may be
made to work. with satisfaction to all concerned, and with
decided benefit to the public. IL G. WARD.
NO. XIX.-3IEASURER.
My Lords are pleased to direct that one measurer
shall be reduced at Sheerness, the scale of work in that
yard not requiring three. IL G. WARD.
NO. XX.—LNSPECTOR'S DAY 1100 KS, AND RETURNS BY
LEADING MEN.
My Lords see much r,ason ttt be dissatisfied with th.:
manner in which the inspectors' day-book is kept in most
of the dockyards, and &sire that it may be much
more strictly looked to than it has been of late, both by
the foremen and the master shipwrights.
The day-book, when first introduced, was intended to
be the basis of the weekly " Expense. Sheet," and this
again is the basis of Form 89, in which the annual cost
of labour employed in ship-building is abstracted by the
storekeepers for the surveyor. It is, therefore, of the
highest importance that the day -books should contain
such an account of work done as will tally with the
" Expense Sheet," in ell essential particulars, and my
Lords desire that the foremen will acertain this carefully
before they submit the " Expense Sheet," which is pre-
pared by the inspectors, under their superintendence, for
the signature of the matter shipwright.
The r.-turns made out, one.• a week, by the leading
men, under the Dockyard Circular, as to the conduct of
the gangs under them, are to be reduced to once a fort-
night. H. G. WARD.

NO. XXI.-BURNETTIZING PROCESS.

My Lords cunsideriug the fact, that the Burnettizing
process, although attended with a considerable expense,
must still be regarded in the light of an experiment,
sufficient time not having yet elapsed to test its results
practically, aro pleased to direct that the process shall
be confined to the three yards wbere it is already in use;
namely, Portsmouth, Chatham, and Woolwich; res,-ry
ing to themselves the power of extending it to the other
dockyards, when experience shall have established its
value. IL G. WARD.

NO. XXIL-SUPERANNUATION.

My Lords not being satisfied with the present mode
of recommending ior superannuation in the dockyards,
are pleased to direct that a superannuation board shall
be formed in each dockyard, which is to consist of the
following members:—
The superintendent;
The captain or the ordinary, or flag-ship;
The master shipwright; assisted by the medical officers
of the dockyard.
Ml's board is to be held on the first Monday of each
month, and superannuation cases may be brought before
it, by the superintendent, the master shipwright, the
surgeon of the yard, or the officers generally, in their
n spective dip art uents; and, atter such a preliminary
investigation, my Lords feel confident that many of the
defects, which they have noted hitherto, will be put an
end to. H. G. WARD.
NO. XXIII.—RE •SORTING lIEMP.

My Lords having taken into consideration that por-
tion of the report of the committee of revision which re-
presents the nconveniences that result from the practice
of re sorting hemp aftf,r survey, which prevails at Chat-
ham, and is sometimes resorted to at Purtsmou:h and
Devonpot t, are ple.sel to direct that this practice by
d scontinurd, and that the first test, in all cases, he made
final.
H. G. WARD.
NO. XXIV.-IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE RE-

CEIPT AND STOWAGE OF TIMBER.