![place in its numbers since the return of the army of occupation
from France in 1818, should not be suppressed:—“The
reductions in the sappers and miners since the war are much to
be regretted; and it would be more wise to organize them
equivalently to two battalions of eight companies. They are a
description of troops invaluable in every respect,—being as
soldierlike, and well trained in the duties of infantry, as the best
regiments of that arm, and therefore equally available for all
military services in garrisons and quarters; while their qualities
as artificers are by no means confined to admirable proficiency in
their proper business as engineer-soldiers, in the management of
the pontoon-train and the conduct of siege operations. Their
exemplary conduct offers an illustration of a principle too much
neglected in the discipline of modern armies—that to find
constant and wholesome occupation for troops, as indeed for
mankind in every situation, is the best security both for
happiness and good order.... But in the case of this engineer
corps, apart from the important object of keeping up an efficient
body for those peculiar duties of their arm in the field, which
require a regular course of practical education, we are convinced
it would be found true economy to increase its force for the
repair and maintenance of the numerous fortifications in every
quarter of our colonial empire.”[402]
This perhaps is the fittest place to introduce a glowing
testimony to the corps, penned by one well acquainted with its
merits and defects, and too impartial to append his name to any
but a faithful record. “Indeed,” writes Sir John Jones, “justice
requires it to be said, that these men, whether employed on
brilliant martial services, or engaged in the more humble duties
of their calling, either under the vertical sun of the tropics, or in
the frozen regions of the north, invariably conduct themselves as
good soldiers; and by their bravery, their industry, or their
acquirements, amply repay the trouble and expense of their
formation and instruction.”[403]
Nor should the testimony of the chaplain-general, the Rev. G.
R. Gleig, be omitted. Unconnected as he is with the royal](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-31-320.jpg)
![sappers and miners, his opinion has been formed without the
prejudice of interested feelings. In taking a bird’s-eye retrospect
of the formation and growth of some of our military institutions,
he thus speaks of the corps: “Besides the infantry, cavalry and
artillery, of which the regular army was composed, and the corps
of engineers, coeval with the latter, there sprang up during the
war of the French Revolution other descriptions of force, which
proved eminently useful each in its own department, and of the
composition of which a few words will suffice to give an account.
First, the artificers as they were called, that is to say, the body of
men trained to the exercise of mechanical arts, such as
carpentry, bricklaying, bridgemaking, and so forth, which in all
ages seem to have attended on a British army in the field,
became the royal sappers and miners, whose services, on many
trying occasions, proved eminently useful, and who still do their
duty cheerfully and satisfactorily in every quarter of the globe.
During the late war, they were commanded under the officers of
engineers, by a body of officers who took no higher rank than
that of lieutenant, and consisted entirely of good men, to whom
their merits had earned commissions. Their education, carried on
at Woolwich and Chatham, trained them to act in the field as
guides and directors to all working parties, whether the business
in hand might be the construction of a bridge, the throwing up
of field works, or the conduct of a siege. Whatever the engineer
officers required the troops to do was explained to a party of
sappers, who, taking each his separate charge, showed the
soldiers of the line both the sort of work that was required of
them, and the best and readiest method of performing it. The
regiment of sappers was the growth of the latter years of the
contest, after the British army had fairly thrown itself into the
great arena of continental warfare, and proved so useful, that
while men wondered how an army ever could have been
accounted complete without this appendage, the idea of
dispensing with it in any time to come, seems never to have
arisen in the minds of the most economical.”[404]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-32-320.jpg)
![necessary to strengthen the defences, and carried out the
directions of his officer.
On the night of the 8th June, sergeant Young and three
sappers carrying their arms and intrenching tools, accompanied
the sortie to the Boers' trenches under Lieutenant Irwin, 27th
regiment. The enemy retreated and the trenches were
destroyed. On the 18th following three sappers were present in a
second sortie under Lieutenant Molesworth of the 27th, and led
the column to the points of attack. The conflict was short but
fierce, and the troops returned to the camp with the loss of one
officer and three men killed, and four wounded. Among the
latter was private Richard Tibbs of the sappers.
During the siege, private John Howatson had made some
wooden cradles for surgical purposes, and on finishing one,
begged the doctor to look at it. Both stooped to do so, when a
6-pound shot passed within a few inches of their heads and
whizzed by the rest of the party in the trench. When Lieutenant
Gibb’s servant was killed, corporal Deary and private Burridge
buried him outside the waggons, and the melancholy service was
not accomplished without much daring and danger.
As the siege progressed provisions became scarce and the
troops were put on the smallest possible allowance. Horses were
killed and their flesh made into biltong. This, with a little beef,
formed the daily repast of the camp; and in lieu of meal and
biscuit, ground oats were issued. Upon this fare it was
impossible to hold out more than fourteen days, but a strong
reinforcement arrived on the 26th June, and effecting a landing,
the Boers retreated with loss and haste from the beach and the
trenches, and the siege terminated. With the relief were three
men of the sappers, who increased the strength of the Natal
party to eleven of all ranks.[405]
Lieutenant Gibb in his report to head-quarters praised
sergeant Young, corporal Deary, and the detachment for their
usefulness, alacrity, and cheerfulness; and Captain Smith in
command, eulogized them for their uniform activity and
readiness of resource in the presence of the enemy. When](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-36-320.jpg)
![quitting Natal, the latter officer favoured sergeant Young with a
testimonial in the following terms: “As I am about to relinquish
the command, I am desirous to bear testimony to the high and
irreproachable character of sergeant Young of the royal sappers
and miners. Having accompanied the expedition from the
Umgazi to Natal early in 1842, and shared in all its subsequent
dangers and privations, I cannot speak too highly of his courage
and self-possession, and his unwearied zeal in the performance
of his various and arduous duties. He was always at his post and
never found wanting; and I therefore beg to recommend him to
notice as one of the best and most trustworthy non-
commissioned officers I have met with during my long course of
service.”
After the siege the detachment built a sod wall round the
camp and loopholed it, within which they constructed a
temporary barracks of wood, working from daylight to dark even
on Sundays. A wattle barracks for 300 men was next erected by
them, and afterwards a block-house at Port Natal. They also
extended their services to the requirements of Fort Napier, Van
Vooren, Bushman’s River, and the neighbouring posts in the
district, during which time their head-quarters was established at
Pietermauritzburg, where a party of ten or twelve men have ever
since been employed.[406]
Sergeant Robert Hearnden and eleven rank and file, detached
in the brig ‘Hebe’ in October, 1841, to the Falkland Islands, under
Lieutenant R. C. Moody, R.E., the Lieutenant-Governor of the
colony, arrived there on the 15th January, 1842. Three women
and seven children accompanied the party. The men were
volunteers and of trades suitable to the experiment of improving
an old but neglected settlement. They were armed with
percussion carbines, carrying a sword with a serrated back,
which was affixed to the piece when necessary as a bayonet.[407]
After bearing up Berkeley Sound the party landed at Port Louis
on the 23rd January, and were present as a guard of honour to
his Excellency on taking over the government of the Falkland](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-37-320.jpg)
![duties, served as the police of the settlement, and sergeant
Hearnden was appointed chief constable.
Much of the time of the men was spent in boat service to Long
Island and other places to get tussack, oxen, horses, peat, &c.
The last was obtained in large quantities and stacked for winter
fuel. Occasionally a few were out on reconnoitring excursions
examining portions of the country, and surveying the islands and
patches of land of colonial interest. In this service corporal
William Richardson, who was a surveyor and mathematician, was
the most conspicuous. When opportunity permitted, some were
employed quarrying stone, repairing landing-places, making
roads, and improving the paths and approaches to the
settlement. To add to the diversity of their duties, a few were
sometimes occupied in marking out allotments and indicating the
passes or routes across bogs and lagoons by means of poles.
The first pole was placed on the loftiest hill between Port Louis
and Saint Salvador, which his Excellency, in honour of his
sergeant, named Hearnden Hill. In short the men were
compelled to turn their hands to anything, for an abandoned and
desolate settlement rendered numerous services essential for the
convenience and comfort of the settlers. Sergeant Hearnden was
clerk of the works, and also filled with energy and ability a
number of other offices of colonial necessity.[408]
Frequently he
was detached to considerable distances, and his reports upon
the aspects and capabilities of particular sites and places were
invariably received with approbation and his suggestions carried
out.
Sections of the detachment were often sent on duty to Long
Island, Green Island, Salvador Bay, Johnson’s Harbour, Port
William, &c. Two or three times the men sent to Long Island
could not return to the location, as the boats on each occasion
were, by a driving gale, dashed back on the beach, and the men
exposed through the weary night to the pelting storm. Once
under such circumstances the party was without food for twenty-
three hours. Two men detached to Jackson’s Harbour, when
returning home, were caught in a snow-storm and with great](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-39-320.jpg)
![difficulty reached the untenable hut at Fishhouse Creek. There,
benumbed and fatigued, they sought shelter for the night, being
unable to proceed further or to assist themselves.
To relieve the monotony of their public duties, the men were
permitted to follow any sport which their inclination suggested.
Boating, hunting,[409]
shooting, fishing, and angling, were among
the varieties of their diversions. Game was plentiful, and the men
usually returned from their excursions laden with rabbits, geese,
and birds of different form and plumage. In fishing, the party at
one time in a single haul, caught at Fishhouse Creek thirteen
hundred weight of mullet. The Governor, too, was ever ready to
devise means to promote their amusement and comfort, and on
one occasion so pleased was he with their general good conduct
and exertions, that he honoured them with an excellent dinner
from his own purse and shared himself in the festivities.
With the view of verifying the reported peculiarity of the tides
at Southampton, Professor Airy, in February, proceeded thither to
examine the rise and fall of the water. Some non-commissioned
officers and privates were placed by Colonel Colby at his disposal
for this purpose, who prepared and fixed the vertical scale of
feet and inches, and kept a watch upon the general accuracy of
the observed tides. “I was,” says the Professor, “extremely glad
to avail myself of this offer, for I believe that a more intelligent
and faithful body of men does not exist than the sappers
employed on the trigonometrical survey; and I know well the
advantage of employing upon a tedious business like this, a set
of regular service men stationed on the spot.”[410]
On the 19th March about 150 non-commissioned officers and
men of the corps at Woolwich under Lieutenant F. A. Yorke, R.E.,
were present in the night at a fire, which burnt the ‘Bull’ tavern
to the ground.[411]
The sappers were the first to render
assistance and to secure from destruction much of the property.
[412]
By the falling of the principal wall of the building eighteen
persons were severely crushed and wounded, six of whom were
privates of the corps. Private Malcolm Campbell, one of the
injured, rescued the landlord, Mr. Boyd, from being burnt to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-40-320.jpg)
![death. The latter in a state of great bewilderment rushed back
into the burning tavern, and Campbell dashing after him dragged
him through the flames and falling timbers, from a back room of
the building, into the street again.[413]
During the summer a corporal and twenty-three rank and file
of the royal sappers and miners, and nine men of the East India
Company’s sappers were employed at Spithead under Major-
General Pasley, in the removal of the wreck of the ‘Royal George.’
The operations were carried on from the 7th May to the end of
October under the executive orders of Lieutenant G. R.
Hutchinson, R.E. In all respects the duties, labours, and
responsibilities of the sappers were the same as on previous
occasions, except that the diving was carried out by the party,
and a few of the East India Company’s sappers and miners,
without in any one instance needing the help of professional civil
divers. On the 2nd November the detachment rejoined the corps
at Chatham.
Four divers were at first employed. On the 13th May the
number was increased to five, and on the 3rd June to six, which
force continued at the duty throughout the season. Several other
men during the summer had been so employed when casualty or
other cause prevented the regular divers descending, and the
whole who had distinguished themselves in this work by their
activity and success, were classified as follows:—
First-class divers:—corporal David Harris: lance-corporals Richard P. Jones,
and John Rae: privates Roderick Cameron, James Jago, John Williams,
and William Crowdy.
Second-class divers:—privates Alexander Cleghorn and John Girvan.
Third-class divers:—lance-corporal W. Thompson: privates William
Browning, William Penman, and Edward Barnicoat.[414]
Corporal Harris almost entirely by his own diligence removed,
in little more than two months, the wreck of the ‘Perdita’
mooring lighter, which was sunk in 1783 in the course of Mr.
Tracy’s unsuccessful efforts to weigh the ‘Royal George.’ It was
about sixty feet in length, and embedded in mud fifty fathoms](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-41-320.jpg)
![pain in the ears, was again hors-de-combat until the 11th July;
when, on re-descending, he was grievously injured by the
bursting of his air-pipe a few inches above the water. This
casualty was indicated by a loud hissing noise on deck. A few
seconds elapsed before the rupture could be traced and the
opening temporarily stopped. With great alertness he was drawn
up; and on being relieved of his helmet presented a frightful
appearance. His face and neck were much swollen and very livid,
blood was flowing profusely from his mouth and ears, his eyes
were closed and protruding, and on being laid on deck, he
retched a quantity of clotted gore. Though partially suffocated he
possessed sufficient sensibility to speak of the mishap. A sudden
shock, it seems, struck him motionless, and then followed a
tremendous pressure as if he were being crushed to death. A
month in Haslar hospital restored him to health, and on
returning to the wreck, he at once re-commenced the laborious
occupation of diving. He was quite as venturesome and zealous
as before, but was again soon obliged to leave off, having
resumed the duty at too early a period of his convalescence.
A dangerous but curious incident occurred this summer
between corporal Jones and private Girvan—two rival divers,
who in a moment of irritation engaged in a conflict at the bottom
of the sea, having both got hold of the same floor timber of the
wreck which neither would yield to the other.[415]
Jones at length
fearful of a collision with Girvan, he being a powerful man, made
his bull-rope fast and attempted to escape by it; but before he
could do so, Girvan seized him by the legs and tried to draw him
down. A scuffle ensued, and Jones succeeding in extricating his
legs from the grasp of his antagonist, took a firmer hold of the
bull-rope and kicked at Girvan several times with all the strength
his suspended position permitted. One of the kicks broke an eye
or lens of Girvan’s helmet, and as water instantly rushed into his
dress, he was likely to have been drowned, had he not at once
been hauled on board. Two or three days in Haslar hospital,
however, completely cured him of the injuries he thus sustained,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-46-320.jpg)
![and these two submarine combatants ever afterwards carried on
their duties with the greatest cordiality.
As artificers, lance-corporal Thompson and private Penman
were skilful and diligent. Lance-corporal Rae and private Thomas
Smith were in charge of the gunpowder and voltaic battery, and
made all the mining preparations for explosion. Nearly four tons
and a quarter of powder were fired in numerous small charges
from 18 to 170 lbs., which will afford some idea of the
importance of the duty.[416]
General Pasley in his official report, besides highly
commending the men above named, wrote in praise of the
general good conduct of the entire detachment and of its useful
and active services. Corporal Blaik, who assisted in the
superintendence of the whole of the workmen in one of the two
mooring lighters, the General alluded to as a non-commissioned
officer of much merit and strict integrity. His courteous
behaviour, too, elicited the respect of every man employed, and
attracted the favourable notice of many officers and gentlemen
who visited the operations.[417]
Early in September, at the request of the Trinity corporation,
Colonel Sir Frederick Smith, director of the royal engineer
establishment, undertook to demolish two barges formerly used
as the foundations of beacons at Blyth Sand, Sheerness. For this
purpose he sent Lieutenant Bourchier, R.E., sergeant-major
Jenkin Jones and seven men of the corps to the spot in the
‘Beaconry,’ one of the Trinity steamers. A number of small
charges deposited in tin cases were fixed at low water, and fired
to shake the wrecks. By the explosion of a large charge on the
3rd September, one barge was completely destroyed and
dispersed; and on the 5th, by the firing of a still greater charge,
the other barge shared the fate of its consort. Masses of the
wreck on the first explosion were projected to a height of about
200 feet, and about 400 feet from the scene of operations, while
at the same time a column of water, eighty feet high, was forced
into the air. On the second occasion, Sir Thomas Willshire, the
commandant of Chatham garrison, and Captain Welbank,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-47-320.jpg)
![chairman of the Trinity corporation, were present, but the effect
was less striking, although a much greater quantity of powder
was used, in consequence of there being at the moment twenty
feet of superincumbent water pressing on the barge. Captain
Welbank personally complimented the “indefatigable” sergeant-
major for his success, and the corporation of Trinity House
afterwards, with the permission of the Master-General, presented
him with a silver-gilt snuff-box to commemorate the assistance
he rendered in the dispersion of the wrecks.[418]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-48-320.jpg)
![of great advantage. At the other stations they were no less
usefully occupied in barrack repairs and other contingent
services.
From Amherstburgh the detachment rejoined the company in
1840. Whilst the latter was at St. Helen’s and afterwards at St.
John’s, the men were exercised during the summer months in
pontooning with bridges of Colonel Blanshard’s construction,
which had been stored at Chambly until 1840. The pontoons
were found to travel well on bad roads, but the breadth of the
rivers in Canada did not permit of their being often used as
bridges.
After the removal of the company, Colonel Oldfield, the
commanding royal engineer, thus wrote of it: “The discipline of
the company was not relaxed by its four summers in Canada. It
had suffered the inconvenience of several times changing its
captain, but it was nevertheless maintained in good order and
regular conduct. Lieutenant W. C. Roberts, R.E., however, was
constantly with it, to whom and colour-sergeant Lanyon[419]
and
the non-commissioned officers, much credit is due. The
desertions only amounted to six, although the company was on
the frontier in daily communication with the United States. Of
these six, one returned the following morning; a second would
have done so but he feared the jeers of his comrades; and the
other four found when too late the falsity of the inducements
which had attracted them to the States, and would gladly have
come back could they have done so.” And the Colonel then
concludes, “The advantages enjoyed by well-behaved men, and
the esprit de corps which has always existed in the sappers have
been found to render desertion rare, even when exposed to
greater temptation than usually falls to the lot of other soldiers.”
In the meantime a second company had been removed to
Gibraltar in the ‘Alban’ steamer under Lieutenant Theodosius
Webb, R.E., and landed on the 6th July, 1842. This augmentation
to the corps at that fortress was occasioned by the difficulty felt
in procuring a sufficient number of mechanics for the works; and
to meet the emergency, the company in Canada was recalled, as](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-50-320.jpg)
![not be obtained in sufficient numbers to form any material
proportion of the force. Hence the survey of Ireland became
essentially military in its organization and control, the officers of
engineers being the directors of large parties, and the non-
commissioned officers the subordinate directors of small parties.
In the later years of the Irish survey, however, the
superintendence by the sappers became of much consequence
and its advantages very appreciable in the reduction of expense.
For the year 1827, the outlay for the survey was above 37,000l.,
at which period the sum paid to the officers was more than one-
third of the whole amount; but in 1841, when the expenditure
was more than doubled, the amount for superintendence had
been reduced to a twelfth part of the total expenditure.[420]
The general employment of the sappers and miners in this
great national work embraced the whole range of the scheme for
its accomplishment, and many non-commissioned officers and
men trained in this school became superior observers, surveyors,
draughtsmen, levellers, contourers, and examiners. Among so
many who distinguished themselves it would be almost invidious
to name any; but there were a few so conspicuous for energy of
character, efficiency of service, and attainments, that to omit
them would be a dereliction no scruples could justify. Their
names are subjoined:—
Colour-sergeant John West celebrated as an engraver. In
1833, the Master-General, Sir James Kempt, pointed out his
name on the engraving of the index map of Londonderry to His
Majesty William IV. in terms of commendation; and the Master-
General, while West was yet a second-corporal, promoted him to
be supernumerary-sergeant, with the pay of the rank. Most of
the index maps of the counties of Ireland were executed by him,
and a writer in the United Service Journal[421]
complimented him
by saying that the maps already completed by him were as
superior to the famous Carte des Chasses as the latter was to
the recondite productions of Kitchen, the geographer. His also
was the master hand that executed the city sheet of Dublin, and
his name is associated with many other maps of great national](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-52-320.jpg)
![importance. The geological map of Ireland, 1839, engraved for
the Railway Commissioners, was executed by him; and in all his
works, which are many, he has displayed consummate skill,
neatness, rigid accuracy, and beauty both of outline and
topography. In October, 1846, he was pensioned at 1s. 10d. a-
day, and received the gratuity and medal for his meritorious
services. He is now employed at the ordnance survey office,
Dublin, and continues to gain admiration for the excellency of his
maps.
Sergeant Alexander Doull was enlisted in 1813. After serving a
station in the West Indies, he was removed to Chatham. There
on the plan of ‘Cobbett’s Grammar,’ he commenced publishing
letters to his son on “Geometry,” but after the second number
appeared, he relinquished the undertaking. In 1825 he joined
the survey companies, and was the chief non-commissioned
officer at the base of Magilligan. He was a superior mathematical
surveyor and draughtsman, and his advice in difficult survey
questions was frequently followed and never without success.
Between 1828 and 1833 he had charge of a 12-inch theodolite,
observing for the secondary and minor triangulation of one of
the districts, and was the first non-commissioned officer of
sappers, it is believed, who used the instrument bearing that
designation. In July, 1834, while employed in the revision of the
work in the neighbourhood of Rathmelton, he introduced a
system of surveying similar to traverse-sailing in navigation,
which effected a considerable saving of time in the progress of
the work, and elicited the approbation of Colonel Colby. While on
the duty he invented a plotting-scale,[422]
and subsequently a
reflecting instrument,[423]
both simple and ingenious in
construction. After a service of twenty-three years, he was
discharged in January, 1838. When the tithe commutation survey
was thrown into the hands of contractors, Doull got portions of
the work to perform, and his maps were referred to in terms of
high commendation by Edwin Chadwick, Esq.[424]
Among several
towns that he surveyed, one was Woolwich, the map of which,
dedicated to Lord Bloomfield, was published by him in 1843. In](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-53-320.jpg)
![the proposed North Kent Railway, Mr. Doull was assistant-
engineer to Mr. Vignoles, and he planned a bridge of three
arches, having a roadway at one side and a double line of rails at
the other, with an ornamental screened passage between, to
span the Medway where the new bridge recently constructed,
connects Strood and Rochester; which plan, had the proposed
railway not been superseded by a rival line, would have secured
an enduring fame for the designer. This was the opinion of Mr.
Vignoles and Sir Charles Pasley. Afterwards when the competing
companies were preparing their respective projects, Mr. Doull
represented the engineering difficulties of the opposing scheme
in a pamphlet under the signature of “Calculus.” In this his
military knowledge and experience were well exhibited,
inasmuch as he showed how the fortifications at Chatham would
be injured by the adoption of that line; and the railway
consequently, on account of this and other influences, has never
been prolonged so as to interfere with the defences. A few years
afterwards he published a small work entitled, “Railway Hints
and Railway Legislation,” which obtained for him, from the
South-Eastern Railway Company—the one he so perseveringly
opposed—the situation of assistant-engineer to the line. More
recently he issued a pamphlet on the subject of a railway in
America,[425]
which for its boldness and lucidity gained for him
the praise of a rising literary genius in the royal engineers.[426]
His last pamphlet on the subject of opening a north-west
passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a distance of
2,500 miles, is more daring, and evinces more pretension and
merit than any of his previous literary efforts. Mr. Doull is also
known as the inventor of several improvements of the
permanent way of railways,[427]
and is a member both of the
Society of Civil Engineers and the Society of Arts.
Serjeant Robert Spalding was for many years employed on the
survey of Ireland, from which, on account of his acquirements,
he was removed to Chatham to be instructor of surveying to the
young sappers. To assist him in the duty he published a small
manual for the use of the students. It was not an elaborate](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-54-320.jpg)
![the rock. A lad named Conway, his labourer, was borne away by
the same wave. The devoted private had been immersed in a
previous wave by which his note-book was lost, and while
stooping with anxiety, to see if he could recover it, another
furious wave dashed up the point and carried him into the sea.
[428]
Hardship and toil were the common incidents of their everyday
routine, for on mountain duty theirs was a career of trial and
vicissitude. Comforts they had none, and what with the want of
accommodation and amusement in a wild country, on a dizzy
height, theirs was not an enviable situation. Covered only by a
canvas tent or marquee they were barely closed in from the
biting cold and the raging storm; and repeatedly tents, stores,
and all, have been swept away by the wind or consumed by fire,
while the hardy tenants, left on the bleak hill top, or the open
heath, have remained for days together half naked and
unsheltered. Such was their discipline and such their spirit, they
continued to labour protected only by their great coats—if haply
they escaped destruction—till, renewed with tents or huts, they
pitched again their solitary dwellings far away on the height or
the moor.
Even on the less exposed employments of the survey, the men
were subjected to many discomforts and fatigues. The marching
was harassing; miles to and from work were daily tramped,
frequently in a drenching rain; and in this kind of weather
soaked to the skin, they barely permitted their work to be
interrupted. Night after night for two or three weeks together,
have these men returned to their quarters dripping wet; and
when, in frosty weather, their clothes have frozen on their backs,
the removal of boots and trousers have only been accomplished
by immersing the legs in warm water.
The average strength of the three companies set apart for the
survey, for each year from 1825 to 1842, is subjoined:—
Least Greatest Average for each
Strength. Strength. 12 Months.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/16278-250404023334-a883b0c3/85/Introduction-to-Six-Sigma-and-Process-Improvement-2nd-Edition-Evans-Solutions-Manual-57-320.jpg)
Introduction to Six Sigma and Process Improvement 2nd Edition Evans Solutions Manual
- 1. Introduction to Six Sigma and Process Improvement 2nd Edition Evans Solutions Manual pdf download https://testbankfan.com/product/introduction-to-six-sigma-and- process-improvement-2nd-edition-evans-solutions-manual/
- 2. We believe these products will be a great fit for you. Click the link to download now, or visit testbankfan.com to discover even more! Six Sigma Basic Tools and Techniques NetEffect 1st Edition Summers Test Bank https://testbankfan.com/product/six-sigma-basic-tools-and- techniques-neteffect-1st-edition-summers-test-bank/ Introduction to Criminal Justice Practice and Process 2nd Edition Peak Solutions Manual https://testbankfan.com/product/introduction-to-criminal-justice- practice-and-process-2nd-edition-peak-solutions-manual/ Introduction to Criminal Justice Practice and Process 2nd Edition Peak Test Bank https://testbankfan.com/product/introduction-to-criminal-justice- practice-and-process-2nd-edition-peak-test-bank/ Principles of Management V3.0 3rd Edition Erdogan Test Bank https://testbankfan.com/product/principles-of- management-v3-0-3rd-edition-erdogan-test-bank/
- 3. Conformity and Conflict 15th Edition McCurdy Test Bank https://testbankfan.com/product/conformity-and-conflict-15th- edition-mccurdy-test-bank/ Exploring Management 5th Edition Schermerhorn Test Bank https://testbankfan.com/product/exploring-management-5th-edition- schermerhorn-test-bank/ International Financial Management 9th Edition Jeff Madura Test Bank https://testbankfan.com/product/international-financial- management-9th-edition-jeff-madura-test-bank/ Chemistry 10th Edition Whitten Solutions Manual https://testbankfan.com/product/chemistry-10th-edition-whitten- solutions-manual/ Essentials Australia 1st Edition Robbins Test Bank https://testbankfan.com/product/essentials-australia-1st-edition- robbins-test-bank/
- 4. Principles of Cost Accounting 16th Edition Vanderbeck Test Bank https://testbankfan.com/product/principles-of-cost- accounting-16th-edition-vanderbeck-test-bank/
- 5. 1 CHAPTER 6 Process Improvement Teaching Notes This chapter extends the concepts of process measurement and principles of process improvement, it expands on the concepts of continuous and breakthrough improvement, and it introduces the tools used for kaizen -- continuous improvement and creative problem-solving. Also examined are the uses of the improvement models of Deming and Shewhart in the implementation cycle. Key objectives for this chapter should be to assist students: • To learn more about and to practice problem solving -- correcting deviations between what is happening and what should be happening. • To explore the principles of process improvement – flexibility, cycle time reduction, and agility. • To understand how discontinuous change, called breakthrough improvement, can be used, along with stretch goals, breakthrough objectives, and reengineering to make encourage major and incremental improvements. • To learn the value of systematic improvement methodologies, such as redefinition of problems, brainstorming, etc. • To learn how the Deming cycle of plan, do, study, act, can be used to structure improvement projects and how it is being applied to problems around the world. • To become familiar with the tools for process improvement. • To appreciate the power of process mapping as a way to stimulate process improvement. • To explore the concept of kaizen and learn how kaizen events are used as a framework for breakthrough improvement.
- 6. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 2 • To understand how poka-yoke -- mistake-proofing-- can be applied to manufacturing and services to reduce inadvertent errors. • To introduce the concept of creative thinking and explore how tools, such as brainstorming can help to generate innovative solutions to problems. • To study how companies have realized incredible bottom-line results from applying Six Sigma problem-solving methodology when joined with lean manufacturing and service concepts, and using statistical and analytical techniques, to attain breakthrough quality improvement. ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What is flexibility and why is it important to a modern organization? Ans. Flexibility refers to the ability to adapt quickly and effectively to changing requirements. This might mean rapid changeover from one product to another, rapid response to changing demands, or the ability to produce a wide range of customized services. Flexibility might demand special strategies such as modular designs, sharing components, sharing manufacturing lines, and specialized training for employees. It also involves outsourcing decisions, agreements with key suppliers, and innovative partnering arrangements. Of course, it is also a requirement for a TQ culture in an organization. 2. What are the key impacts of cycle time reduction? Ans. Cycle time refers to the time it takes to accomplish one cycle of a process-- for instance, the time a customer orders a product to the time that it is delivered, or the time to introduce a new product. Reductions in cycle time serve two purposes. First, they speed up work processes so that customer response is improved. Second, reductions in cycle time can only be accomplished by streamlining processes to eliminate non-value-added steps such as rework. This forces improvements in quality by reducing the potential for mistakes and errors as well as reducing costs. Thus, cycle time reductions often drive simultaneous improvements in organization, quality, cost, and productivity. 3. What is a stretch goal? How can stretch goals help an organization? Ans. Stretch goals, also called breakthrough objectives, are urgent, short-term goals for improving products or services which force a company to think radically, different, to encourage major improvements and well as incremental ones. Such goals apply to all areas of a company. 4. What is reengineering? How does it relate to Six Sigma practices?
- 7. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 3 Ans. Reengineering has been defined as “the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed.” Reengineering's incremental improvement and breakthrough improvement are not incompatible, but rather are complementary to approaches that fall under the Six Sigma umbrella; both are approaches to remaining competitive. Six Sigma can provide strong support for the process of reengineering. Reengineering alone is often driven by upper management without the full support or understanding of the rest of the organization, and radical innovations may end up as failures. The Six Sigma philosophy provides for strong upper management support, and encourages participation, systematic study, measurement and verification of results that can help reengineering efforts succeed. 5. What is the Deming cycle? Explain the four steps. Ans. The Deming cycle is a simple methodology for improvement. The Deming cycle is composed of four stages: plan, do, study, and act (PDSA). The plan stage consists of studying the current situation and describing the process: its inputs, outputs, customers, and suppliers; understanding customer expectations; gathering data; identifying problems; testing theories of causes; and developing solutions and action plans. In the do stage, the plan is implemented on a trial basis, for example, in a laboratory, pilot production process, or with a small group of customers, to evaluate a proposed solution and provide objective data. Data from the experiment are collected and documented. The study stage determines whether the trial plan is working correctly by evaluating the results, recording the learning, and determining if any further issues or opportunities need be addressed. Often, the first solution must be modified or scrapped. New solutions are proposed and evaluated by returning to the do stage. In the last stage, act, the improvements become standardized and the final plan is implemented as a “current best practice” and communicated throughout the organization. This process then leads back to the plan stage for identification of other improvement opportunities. 6. What are the fundamental questions that should be asked when analyzing a process using a process map? Ans. Once a process map is constructed, several fundamental questions can be asked to analyze the process: • Are the steps in the process arranged in logical sequence? • Do all steps add value? Can some steps be eliminated and should others be added in order to improve quality or operational performance? Can some be combined? Should some be reordered?
- 8. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 4 • Are capacities of each step in balance; that is, do bottlenecks exist for which customers will incur excessive waiting time? • What skills, equipment, and tools are required at each step of the process? Should some steps be automated? • At which points in the system might errors occur that would result in customer dissatisfaction, and how might these errors be corrected? • At which point or points should quality be measured? • Where interaction with the customer occurs, what procedures and guidelines should employees follow to present a positive image? 7. Explain the Japanese concept of kaizen. How does it differ from traditional Western approaches to improvement? Ans. Prior to the development of the TQ approach, most U.S. managers simply maintained processes until replaced by new technology. Japanese managers generally focused on continually improving products and processes through a process called kaizen. Often in the West, quality improvement (sometimes mistakenly called kaizen by those who don’t really understand its philosophy) is viewed as simply making improvements in product quality. In the kaizen philosophy, improvement should take place in all areas of business--cost, meeting delivery schedules, employee safety and skill development, supplier relations, new product development, or productivity-- in order to enhance the quality of the firm. Thus, any activity directed toward improvement falls under the kaizen umbrella. Activities to establish traditional quality control systems, install robotics and advanced technology, institute employee suggestion systems, maintain equipment, and implement just-in-time production systems all lead to improvement. In contrast to seeking improvement through radical technological change, kaizen focuses on small, gradual, and frequent improvements over the long term. Financial investment is minimal. Everyone participates in the process; many improvements result from the know-how and experience of workers. Actually, continuous improvement approaches were developed decades earlier in the U.S. under a number of labels. Work simplification, a program developed by Allan Mogensen, was designed to train workers in the simple steps necessary to analyze and challenge the work they are doing, and thus make improvements when necessary. It has been used for a number of years in such organizations as Texas Instruments and Maytag. Planned methods change, created by Proctor & Gamble, seeks not only to improve processes, but also to replace or eliminate unnecessary operations. This approach relies on forming teams of employees to study the operations, establish dollar goals as to how much of their cost they would try to eliminate through planned change, and provide positive recognition for success. 8. What is a kaizen event (or kaizen blitz)? How does it differ from traditional kaizen applications? Ans. A kaizen event (sometimes called a kaizen blitz) is an intense and rapid improvement process in which a team or a department throws all its resources into an
- 9. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 5 improvement project over a short time period, as opposed to traditional kaizen applications, which are performed on a part-time basis. Kaizen event teams are generally comprised of employees from all areas involved in the process who understand it and can implement changes on the spot. Improvement is immediate, exciting, and satisfying for all those involved in the process. 9. Why do people make inadvertent mistakes? How does poka-yoke help prevent such mistakes? Ans. Human beings tend to make mistakes inadvertently. Errors can arise from a) forgetfulness due to lack of concentration, b) misunderstanding because of the lack of familiarity with a process or procedures, c) poor identification associated with lack of proper attention, d) lack of experience, e) absentmindedness, f) delays in judgment when a process is automated, or g) equipment malfunctions. Typical mistakes in production are omitted processing, processing errors, setup errors, missing parts, wrong parts, and adjustment errors. These can result from forgetfulness, misunderstanding, errors in identification, lack of skills, absentmindedness, lack of standards, or equipment malfunctions. Blaming workers not only discourages them and lowers morale, but also does not solve the problem. Poka-yoke is an approach for mistake- proofing processes using automatic devices or methods to avoid simple human error. Poka- yoke is focused on two aspects: prediction, or recognizing that a defect is about to occur and providing a warning, and detection, or recognizing that a defect has occurred and stopping the process. Many applications of poka-yoke are deceptively simple, yet creative. Usually, they are inexpensive to implement. 10. List and explain the three levels of mistake-proofing. Ans. Mistake-proofing requires: 1. Designing potential errors out of the product or process. Clearly, this approach is the most powerful form of mistake-proofing because it eliminates any possibility that the error or defect might occur and has no direct cost in terms of time or rework and scrap. 2. Identifying potential defects and stopping a process before the defect is produced. Although this approach eliminates any cost associated with producing a defect, it does require the time associated with stopping a process and taking corrective action. 3. Finding defects that enter or leave a process. This approach eliminates wasted resources that would add value to nonconforming work, but clearly results in scrap or rework.
- 10. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 6 11. Describe the types of errors that service poka-yokes are designed to prevent. Ans. Service poka-yokes are designed to prevent a number of different types of errors, defined as follows. Task errors include doing work incorrectly, work not requested, work in the wrong order, or working too slowly. Treatment errors arise in the contact between the server and the customer, such as lack of courteous behavior, and failure to acknowledge, listen, or react appropriately to the customer. Tangible errors are those in physical elements of the service, such as unclean facilities, dirty uniforms, inappropriate temperature, and document errors. Customer errors in preparation include the failure to bring necessary materials to the encounter, to understand their role in the service transaction, and to engage the correct service. Customer errors during an encounter can be due to inattention, misunderstanding, or simply a memory lapse, and include failure to remember steps in the process or to follow instructions. Customer errors at the resolution stage of a service encounter include failure to signal service inadequacies, to learn from experience, to adjust expectations, and to execute appropriate post-encounter actions. 12. Why is brainstorming an important tool in the Improvement phase of DMAIC? Ans. Brainstorming is a useful group problem-solving procedure for generating ideas,“for the sole purpose of producing checklists of ideas” that can be used in developing a solution to a problem. With brainstorming, no criticism is permitted, and people are encouraged to generate a large number of ideas through combination and enhancement of existing ideas. Wild ideas are encouraged and frequently trigger other good ideas from somewhere else. ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. A good improvement philosophy seeks to encourage suggestions, not to find excuses for failing to improve. Typical excuses are “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” “I’m too busy to work on it,” and “It’s not in the budget.” Think of at least five other excuses people use to avoid improvement. Ans. Other excuses for not wanting to engage in improvement include: “We’ve tried that before and it didn’t work;” “I’m not paid to improve the process – it’s not my job;” “We never do it that way twice, so it can’t be improved;” “The boss won’t let us change it;” “Government regulations prohibit that from being changed (maybe they do, but no one has ever looked up the regulation!)” 2. Maintaining accuracy of books on the shelves in a college library is an important task. Consider the following problems that are often observed. a) Books are not placed in the correct shelf position. This process includes those books that have been checked out and returned, as well as those taken off the shelves for use within the library by patrons. b) New or returned books are not checked in and consequently, the on-line catalog does not show their availability.
- 11. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 7 What procedures or poka-yokes might you suggest for mitigating these problems? You might wish to talk to some librarians or administrators at your college library to see how they address such problems. Ans. These are not easy problems for libraries to solve. The following are only “top of the head suggestions.” They have not been reviewed by librarians. a. Some “low tech” approaches might include sorting books on carts according to the sections where they must be returned to, providing a checklist to shelvers to remind them of steps needed to ensure proper placement, and/or providing marking on shelves (numbers or color codes) to match similar codes on the books. Of course, a more “high tech” solution might be to barcode the books and have matching barcodes on the shelves. b. Check in’s should be easier to mistake proof than shelving accuracy. Some solutions would be to have a check in bin located close to the checkout station, have library clerks check in the books, “just in time,” as they are submitted, and place the books on carts to be reshelved as soon as possible. Again, automation through barcodes would help to ensure process speed and accuracy. 3. Referring to the Corwill case study, how were the teams trained by combining Kaizen and Six Sigma concepts? Ans. Experts from Manex (NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Program affiliate) combined the Six Sigma problem solving methodology with an elongated version of the Kaizen event to train the three project teams. Two improvement areas were in the office and one was on the production floor, and the teams focused on improving quality and cycle-time in sales order processing, inventory control and manufacturing. First, Manex trained the three groups together in a classroom environment on the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. Next, each team applied the DMAIC process to specific problems during weekly coaching meetings. Manex’s customized training and coaching approach helped CORWIL employees apply the DMAIC theory according to their particular cultural, business, and process needs. The meetings ended with a short list of homework items, promoting steady, incremental learning throughout the project. 4. In the Six Sigma in Practice case, what results were attained in specific areas of targeted improvements? Ans. The results included a 57% reduction in monthly financial closing cycle, 99.5% reduction in inventory variance errors, 75% reduction in order processing time, starting with a pilot program, 93% reduction in traveler related quality errors, and a 41% reduction in max yield loss for a specific product family.
- 12. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 8 COMMENTS ON THINGS TO DO 1. Design a process for the following activities: a) Preparing for an exam b) Writing a term paper c) Planning a vacation d) Making breakfast for your family e) Washing your car Draw a flowchart for each process and discuss how ways in which both quality and cycle time might be improved. Comment: Results will vary. This exercise is meant to expand on the flowcharting introduction given in Chapter 4. A flowchart for exams, term papers, vacations, etc., will depend on the steps that each student takes in preparation or performing each activity. Cycle times can often be reduced by eliminating unnecessary steps (e.g. not wasting time reviewing brochures or websites that can’t be considered for a vacation), dividing the tasks according to specialized skills (breakfast preparation: spouse with the most experience prepares the omelets, young daughter sets the table, other spouse and older son clear table and wash dishes), and using systematic processes (writing term paper based on well-written research notes together with an outline for the paper, rather than an “ad hoc,” disorganized process). 2. Research several companies to identify the type of problem solving and improvement approaches (such as Six Sigma or lean principles) they use. Compare and contrast their approaches. Which, if any, of the approaches described in the chapter are they most similar to? Comment: This project is designed to help the student to find which techniques are used in businesses to improve their processes. Results will vary, but often related to the quality focus in the firm. Most companies now chart some output measures. Thus, histograms and checksheets are fairly common. Pareto charts and control charts are used by many firms. Don’t expect to see cause-an-effect diagrams, scatter diagrams, or correlation and regression except in the most sophisticated quality-minded organizations (for example, those with a Six Sigma program. 3. Work with your school administrators to identify an important quality-related problem they face. Outline a plan for improvement. If time permits, apply some of the problem solving tools to collect data, identify the root cause, and generate ideas for solving the problem or improving the situation. Comment: This project will take significant time to develop, but can pay tremendous dividends in learning how to use quality tools for problem solving and improvement. It would also help to get school administrators involved in data-driven quality improvement processes. This would be a good term project for a student.
- 13. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 9 4. Describe a personal problem you face and how you might use the Deming cycle and QC tools to address it. Comment: Results will vary, depending on the problem addressed. 5. Work with teachers at a local high school or elementary school to identify some students who are having difficulties. Apply quality tools to help find the source of the problems and create an improvement plan. Comment: Similar to project 3, above, this project will take significant time to develop, but can pay tremendous dividends in learning how to use quality tools for problem solving and improvement. It would also help to get K-12 students involved in data-driven quality improvement processes. This would be a good term project for a student. 6. Identify several sources of errors as a student or in your personal life. Develop some poka- yokes that might prevent them. Comment: This project is designed to help the student to find out if poke yoke can help to improve their personal processes. Results will vary, but are often related to the student’s persistence and quality focus. 7. Interview a plant manager or quality professional at one or more local companies to see if they have used any poka-yoke approaches to mistake-proof their operations. Comment: This project is designed to help the student to find which error reduction approaches are used in businesses to improve their processes. Results will vary, but often related to the overall quality focus in the firm. 8. Check out the website http://www.isixsigma.com/tools-templates/. This contains descriptions and examples of the use of quality improvement tools. Find some that have not been discussed in this chapter and develop a short tutorial for using them. Comment: This project is designed to help the student to broaden their knowledge of quality improvement tools used in businesses to improve their processes. Results will vary. 9. Search the Internet for John Grout’s poka-yoke website. Read several of the interesting articles available there and write a report on the information you discovered. Comment: This project is designed to help the student to broaden their knowledge of poka- yoke and its uses in businesses to improve processes. Results will vary.
- 14. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 10 SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS NOTE: Solutions for many of these problems require use of tools discussed in earlier chapters, particularly Chapters 3 and 5. 1. A flowchart for a fast-food drive-through window is shown in Figure 6.3. Determine the important quality characteristics inherent in this process and suggest possible improvements, using the Deming cycle. Figure 6.2 Flowchart for Problem 1 Answer The important quality characteristics for this drive-through window are: the machinery, materials, methods, and people (manpower). The machinery must work well, e.g. most important is the speaker system by which the order is transmitted and received, the bell and its operating system must work well, the menu sign must be readable and conveniently placed, the order computer/cash register must be working properly to give the total bill, and all the necessary equipment in the food preparation area must also be working properly. The “materials” used in order taking are few, however, the sign must be kept up-to-date with the latest prices and selection of menu items. The method currently being used is shown on the flowchart above, and possible improvements are discussed in the next
- 15. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 11 paragraph. The people who take the order must be trained to be courteous, friendly, accurate, and knowledgeable, or the system’s quality will suffer. Possible improvements to the system might include installation of a second window, so that the order is taken at the first window, money is collected there, and the pickup is made at the second window. A radio transmit/receive unit linking the customer at the sign to the employee wearing a headset could increase the ability of the employee to hear the order and to move around to assemble the order while the customer is driving through. Automatic order entry of standard selections might be built into the menu board with push buttons (similar to an automated teller machine in a drive-through banking operation). This would probably need to be coupled with personal assistance from employees for special orders via a speaker system. 2. A catalog order-filling process for personalized printed products can be described as follows: Telephone orders are taken over a 12-hour period each day. Orders are collected from each person at the end of the day and checked for errors by the supervisor of the phone department, usually the following morning. The supervisor does not send each one- day batch of orders to the data processing department until after 1:00 p.m. In the next step-- data processing--orders are invoiced in the one-day batches. Then they are printed and matched back to the original orders. At this point, if the order is from a new customer, it is sent to the person who did the customer verification and setup of new customer accounts. This process must to be completed before the order can be invoiced. The next step--order verification and proofreading--occurs after invoicing is completed. The orders, with invoices attached, are given to a person who verifies that all required information is present and correct to permit typesetting. If the verifier has any questions, they are checked by computer or by calling the customer. Finally, the completed orders are sent to the typesetting department of the print shop. a. Develop a flowchart for this process. b. Identify opportunities for improving the quality of service in this situation, using the Deming cycle. Answer See flowchart, below, for the summary of the process. The most serious problem from the standpoint of customer service is the potential for a 12-hour delay before an order reaches the supervisor for error checking, and another 3-4 hours may be required before entry into the computer. Obviously too much checking and handling of the order occurred, and much of it was many hours after the customer and order information had originally been taken. Suggestions for improvement include: a) processing small batches of orders (perhaps within 1-2 hours, or less); b) building in error checking, perhaps through direct entry of telephone orders into the computer; c) processing information needed for customer verification and setup of new accounts at the time the order is taken; d) having the phone department supervisor simply audit or sample orders for errors; e) developing a computerized method of matching orders and invoices, so that manual verification is not
- 16. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 12 required; generating an exceptions report after step (e), with proofreading required for printing information that cannot be computerized, if order verification and proofreading is a vital step. 3. The current process for fulfilling a room service request at the Luxmark hotel can be described as follows: After the tray is prepared at the room service station, the server proceeds to the room, knocks on the door, sets up the meal, has the customer sign the check, asks if anything else is needed, and then returns to the room service station.
- 17. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 13 a. Draw a flowchart that describes this process. b. From the perspective of creating a high level of customer satisfaction from this experience, what improvements might you suggest to enhance this process? Think creatively! Answer: 3 a. Flowchart 3.b. A number of things could be done to enhance the service experience and make it more memorable for the guest.1 Broadly, these could be categorized as preparation, performance, and leave-taking. • Preparation steps o Tray layout – liner, flower, salt/pepper, silverware, tray card o Food preparation – salad, entree, condiments • Performance o Knock (exactly 3 times) and announce “Room service.” o Warm greeting and self-introduction (use names) o Permission to enter, enter, place tray, give a “tour” of the meal o Provide weather report and forecast o Request guest to sign check (use name) • Leave-taking o Offer a wake-up call 1 Appreciation is expressed for several of these ideas to Scott Flasch, one of Professor Evans’ students who provided an extremely detailed flowchart for an “In-Room Dining” process. Prepare tray Take tray to room Knock, saying “Room service” Enter Set up meal Request signature on check Return to service area Ask if anything else is needed
- 18. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 14 o Ask if anything else is needed; if yes, radio for it o Warm thanks (use name) o Exit room, return to service area 4 Placewrite, Inc., an independent outplacement service, helps unemployed executives find jobs. One of the major activities of the service is preparing resumes. Three word processors work at the service typing resumes and cover letters. Together they handle about 120 individual clients. Turnaround time for typing is expected to be 24 hours. The word- processing operation begins with clients placing work in the assigned word processor’s bin. When the word processor picks up the work (in batches), it is logged in using a time clock stamp, and the work is typed and printed. After the batch is completed, the word processor returns the documents to the clients’ bins, logs in the time delivered, and picks up new work. A supervisor tries to balance the workload for the three word processors. Lately, many of the clients have been complaining about errors in their documents—misspellings, missing lines, wrong formatting, and so on. The supervisor has told the word processors to be more careful, but the errors still persist. a. Develop a cause-and-effect diagram that might clarify the source of errors. b. What tools might the supervisor use to study ways to reduce the number of errors? Answer: a. The C-E diagram, shown below, for this process analysis can be found in cleaner format in spreadsheet Prob06-05.xlsx on the Instructor’s Resource website for this chapter.
- 19. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 15 b. The supervisor might use flowcharts, checksheets and Pareto analysis to classify the types of defects and their frequencies. Then, training, crosschecking for errors, and work redesign might be done in order to remove those error causes. Once the process is under control, control charts might be used to ”hold the gains.” 5. The maintenance of products such as aircraft engines is part of a complex supply chain. Distribution centers fulfill orders for spare parts to customers around the world and typically run on a 24/7 basis. Each day, as many as 4,000 different SKUs are shipped out and more than 1,000 SKUs are received in inventory. It is critical that each order be 100% accurate. For example, orders that don’t match the shipping list are returned to the distribution center because of customs regulations. a. If the distribution center has identified inaccurate shipments as a significant problem, explain how the DMAIC process might be applied. b. Develop a logical cause-and-effect diagram for the problem “inaccurate shipment.” c. Think about how a process for fulfilling orders might work and create a process map (You may want to refer to process measurement concepts in Chapter 4). Answer: 5. a. To address the problem of inaccurate shipments, the DMAIC process may be used to plan and carry out a Six Sigma improvement project: 1. Define – the problem is x%, which is equivalent to a certain number of dpmo, of inaccurate shipments per month, having certain characteristics. Develop a project charter. 2. Measure – determine the CTQ characteristics and how they are to be measured. Construct a SIPOC description. Gather data on the CTQ’s preparatory to analysis. 3. Analyze – analyze the data and determine potential improvements which might be adopted. 4. Improve – choose the best alternative and implement it on a pilot basis. Determine if results reduce the dpmo and costs. 5. Control – set up a process and train workers. Include a control system to measure defects and take corrective action, in order to “hold the gains.” b. Cause-effect diagram for inaccurate shipments (see spreadsheet Prob06-05.xlsx for details of this and the flowchart in part c, below.):
- 20. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 16 c. Process flowchart for aircraft parts orders.
- 21. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 17 6. “Let’s plan a graduation party for our seniors,” suggested Jim Teacher, president of the Delta Mu Zeta fraternity at State U. Everyone on the fraternity council thought that it was a good idea, so they agreed to brainstorm ideas for the party. “First, we have to pick a date,” suggested Joe. “It’ll have to be after final exams are over, but before graduation.” “That narrows it down pretty quickly to June 8, 9, or 10. The 11th is a Sunday and the 12th is graduation day,” said Jim. “I propose that we try for Thursday the 8th, with the alternate date of Friday, the 9th. We’ll have to take a vote at the fraternity meeting tomorrow.” “Now, let’s list things that have to be done in order to get ready for the party, “ suggested Amber. They quickly produced the following list (not in any order). Pick date Plan menu Get food delivered Estimate costs Locate and book a hall Determine budget Select music Hire a DJ Plan decorations Setup, decorate hall Determine how much can be paid from treasury and what the cost of the special assessment will be for each member Design and print invitations Set up mailing list Dress rehearsal (day before party) “dummy activity” Mail invitations Plan ceremony for seniors Rehearse ceremony Plan after-party cleanup and bill paying Have the party Cleanup and pay bills Next, they selected Joe as the “project manager” because he had fraternity party planning experience and was taking a quality management course where he was studying the Seven Management and Planning tools (refer to Chapter 3). a. Put yourself in Joe’s position. Develop an interrelationship digraph for the party planners. Draw arrows from one activity to the next one that must occur. Note that the activities that have the most arrows going into them will tend to be the long-range
- 22. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 18 results. Activities having the most arrows originating from them will tend to be the initial activities. b. What can you conclude from the digraph? How would this digraph help make the job of organizing the party easier for the project team? Answer 6. a) Activities must first be labeled, and precedence relationships must be established. Activity Precedent(s) A. Pick date - B. Estimate costs A C. Determine budget B D. Locate and “book” a hall C E. Hire a DJ C F. Select music E G. Plan menu C H. Plan decorations D I. Set up mailing list A J. Plan ceremony for seniors C K. Design and print invitations C, D, E L. Mail invitations I, K M. Determine how much will be paid from treasury vs. special assessment C N. Dress rehearsal (dummy) * F, H, J, L O. Rehearse ceremony N P. Setup, decorate hall N Q. Get food delivered G, P R. Have the party Q S. Cleanup and pay bills R See the interrelationship digraph below. b) Activity C (Determine budget) is obviously a critical activity on which a number of others depend. Designing and printing (Activity K) and the Dress rehearsal (dummy activity N) are ones in which the long-range results terminate. * The dummy activity (N) was actually included as a “milestone” to remind the project team that they needed to check final arrangements at that point, in order to ensure that no major problems still existed.
- 23. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 19 7. Creative Design Group (CDG) designs brochures for companies, trade groups and associations. Their emphasis on customer service is based on speed, quality, creativity, and value. They want each brochure to “wow” the customer in its design, meet or exceed the preparation deadline, and be of superior quality at a reasonable price. Value is emphasized over price, because the president, Trendy Art, believes that CDG’s experienced staff should emphasize high quality and creativity instead of price. They accomplish their primary objectives 97 percent of the time. To carry out their objectives, the small company has four designers, a customer service/estimator (CSE), and Trendy, who is the creative director and strategic visionary. The work environment, in a converted garage behind Trendy’s house, features modern (though not always state-of-the-art) computer hardware and software, excellent lighting, and modern communications for sending design documents to clients and printers. Designers generally work independently of each other, consulting with the CSE when there are requests for status updates or client-initiated changes. They also consult with Trendy, who signs off on the creative design, after consultation with each client. A casual dress code and work policies, and a number of perks for workers, such as health insurance, flextime, generous vacation and sick leave benefits, a 401(k) retirement plan, competitive wages, etc. have, in the past, made it easy to attract and retain talented people. However, with fewer talented people graduating from design schools in the area, and more competitive firms bidding up salaries, turnover has become an issue. A B I C K L N R E D M S F G J O P Q INTERRELATIONSHIP DIAGRAPH DMZ PARTY PLAN
- 24. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 20 The CSE, Green Ishied, is the contact point for all projects, of which there may be 10 to 20 active at any one time. He must ensure that projects are carefully estimated and prepare proposals, track the progress of each project, and communicate with clients on status and change requests. He is also responsible for advertising and promotion of the firm. Trendy’s husband, Hy, is a CPA and part-time accountant for the company. He has noticed recently that costs are increasing, the percentage of bids accepted is decreasing, and the ROI is slipping. Develop an affinity diagram that captures the major organizational features and issues. How could this diagram help Trendy develop a 3-5 year strategic plan for CDG? Answer 7. See the Affinity Diagram for the Creative Design Group, below. The diagram shows categories that include customer service, team environment, facilities/technology, design goals, worker amenities, project/financial controls, competitive personnel issues, and business/financial issues. From this analysis, Trendy began to see that human resources and technology had some issues that needed to be addressed in her long-range plans. In addition, she suspected that the competitive business/financial issues had impacts on, but were also impacted by, the competitive personnel and technology issues.
- 25. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 21 AFFINITY DIAGRAM FOR CREATIVE DESIGN GROUP Customer Service Speed Quality Creativity Value Design Goals “Wow” customer Meet/exceed deadline Superior quality Reasonable price Value over price Team Environment Independent design Creative direction CSE project costing Worker Amenities Casual dress code Casual policies Health insurance Flextime Vacation policy Leave policy 401K retirement Competitive wages Competitive Personnel Issues Fewer design graduates Difficulty in recruiting talent Difficulty in retaining designers Salaries being bid up Technology trails “state of the art” Facilities/Technology Modern computers Modern software Excellent lighting Modern communications Project/Financial Control CSE- project contact point Project estimating Project proposal Project tracking Client communications Status updates and changes Advertising and promotion Regular financial reports Competition (Business/Financial Issues) Decreasing % of bids accepted Declining ROI 8. Given the situation in problem 7, Trendy has identified several long-range objectives, among which are outdistancing the competition so as to grow the business by 10 percent per year for each of the next 5 years (a 61 percent compound growth rate), and adding a new designer every two years. These should be the key ingredients for her goal of increasing her profitability by 10 percent per year. To accomplish her objectives, she must deal with the two major issues of increasing competition and improving employee recruitment and retention in order to develop effective action plans to support her long- range plan. Develop a tree diagram, starting with “Develop action plans” as the main theme. At the next level, include the two main issues. One, for example is, “Develop a plan to meet competition.” Then break out each of the issues into two or three feasible proposals, such as “Make advertising more effective,” under the previous item of “Develop a plan to meet competition.” Finally, add another level of specificity with 2 to 4
- 26. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 22 Make advertising more effective Place “spot” ads on radio Redesign website Place ads in business newspapers Improve retention Develop stock option plan Add child care allowance Increase recognition/incentives Improve estimating Keep and use job cost/time data Use QFD approach Take course in graphics estimating Improve recruiting Develop co-op position Pay a sign-on bonus Determine interest in job sharing Develop plan to meet competition Develop action plans Develop plan to attract/retain employees TREE DIAGRAM FOR CDG ACTION PLANNING
- 27. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 23 items, such as: “Place ads in business newspaper,” “Redesign web page,” etc. under the “Make advertising more effective” item. Answer 8. See the tree diagram, for CDG, above. It can be seen how plans are “cascaded” going from left to right. They become more specific, resulting in action plans to deal with competitive business issues of advertising and estimating by taking action to improve advertising and visibility. In order to deal with competitive personnel issues, recruiting and retention of talented designers are addressed. 9. Jim Teacher (see problem 6) was able to get some estimating information from the president of another fraternity that had planned and carried out a similar party for graduating seniors last year. They had not kept financial information, but they did have the actual hours that it took to complete each activity. From these data, Jim obtained the following time estimates for Delta Mu Zeta. Activity (days) Time Estimate Pick date 1 Plan menu 2 Get food delivered 1 Estimate costs 3 Locate and book a hall 5 Determine budget 3 Select music 2 Select and hire a DJ 3 Plan decorations 2 Setup, decorate hall 1 Dress rehearsal (day before party) “dummy activity” 0 Determine how much can be paid from treasury and what the cost of the special assessment will be for each member 1 Design and print invitations 3 Set up mailing list 5 Mail invitations 1 Plan ceremony for seniors 2 Rehearse ceremony 1 Plan after-party cleanup and bill-paying 2 Have the party 1 Cleanup and pay bills 1 a. You are Joe, the project manager. Use the interrelationship digraph developed in problem 5 to draw an arrow diagram, making sure that activities are sequenced in the correct order.
- 28. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 24 b. If you are familiar with PERT/CPM through other courses, use the data above to calculate the minimum time that the project will take; that is, compute the critical path. Answer 9. a) and b) Using data from the interrelationship digraph (see problem 1), an arrow diagram can be established. The arrow diagram, shown above, shows precedent relationships for each activity. The technique has been extended a little further by the use of the PERT/CPM technique in order to calculate the critical path and the estimated project completion time, which are shown on the diagram. The arrow diagram indicates that Joe and his team have a minimum of 21 days to complete the project, if their single time estimates for each activity are accurate. If a PERT-type analysis were to be used, then the probability of completion within a specified time frame could also be established. However, this method requires that three time estimates be made for each activity, which is a little more difficult and time consuming.
- 29. Chapter 6 – Process Improvement 25 A B I C K L N R E D M S F G J O P Q ARROW DIAGRAM FOR DMZ PARTY PLAN t = 5 t = 1 t = 2 t = 3 t = 1 t = 3 t = 5 t = 3 t = 3 t = 2 t = 1 t = 2 t = 0 t = 1 t = 1 t = 1 t = 1 t = 2 The critical path is A-B-C-D-K-L-N-P-Q-R-S (bold lines on Arrow Diagram). Project completion time is 21 days 10. Given Creative Design Group’s (CDG) situation in problem 7 and Trendy’s development of strategic objectives in problem 8, she decided that, along with improving her recruiting processes for new and replacement hiring, it was time to replace the computer system with state-of-the-art hardware and software. Knowing that she and her staff did not have the expertise to design the type of system that they needed, Trendy looked around, analyzed three competing firms’ proposals, and finally settled on Creative Computer Group (CCG) to act as consultants and system integrators. Before signing the contract, Trendy decided to ask Hy and Green Ishied (the CSE) to meet with her and the CEO of CCG to clarify the system design requirements and the wording of the contract. Trendy, Hy, and Green all agreed that the system needed to be completely integrated, with the capability to gather cost and scheduling data directly from the designers, and to produce all necessary business reports, as well as having graphics capability. Both cost and design information would have to be available to everyone in the firm. Therefore, the network should be capable of interfacing Macintosh and PC desktops via USB connections, with common printers. It should also provide for high bandwidth Internet access and capability to send and receive graphic and text data files. Charlie Nerd, the president of CCG, said that all of those requirements could be met by the system that he would design. This was
- 30. Random documents with unrelated content Scribd suggests to you:
- 31. place in its numbers since the return of the army of occupation from France in 1818, should not be suppressed:—“The reductions in the sappers and miners since the war are much to be regretted; and it would be more wise to organize them equivalently to two battalions of eight companies. They are a description of troops invaluable in every respect,—being as soldierlike, and well trained in the duties of infantry, as the best regiments of that arm, and therefore equally available for all military services in garrisons and quarters; while their qualities as artificers are by no means confined to admirable proficiency in their proper business as engineer-soldiers, in the management of the pontoon-train and the conduct of siege operations. Their exemplary conduct offers an illustration of a principle too much neglected in the discipline of modern armies—that to find constant and wholesome occupation for troops, as indeed for mankind in every situation, is the best security both for happiness and good order.... But in the case of this engineer corps, apart from the important object of keeping up an efficient body for those peculiar duties of their arm in the field, which require a regular course of practical education, we are convinced it would be found true economy to increase its force for the repair and maintenance of the numerous fortifications in every quarter of our colonial empire.”[402] This perhaps is the fittest place to introduce a glowing testimony to the corps, penned by one well acquainted with its merits and defects, and too impartial to append his name to any but a faithful record. “Indeed,” writes Sir John Jones, “justice requires it to be said, that these men, whether employed on brilliant martial services, or engaged in the more humble duties of their calling, either under the vertical sun of the tropics, or in the frozen regions of the north, invariably conduct themselves as good soldiers; and by their bravery, their industry, or their acquirements, amply repay the trouble and expense of their formation and instruction.”[403] Nor should the testimony of the chaplain-general, the Rev. G. R. Gleig, be omitted. Unconnected as he is with the royal
- 32. sappers and miners, his opinion has been formed without the prejudice of interested feelings. In taking a bird’s-eye retrospect of the formation and growth of some of our military institutions, he thus speaks of the corps: “Besides the infantry, cavalry and artillery, of which the regular army was composed, and the corps of engineers, coeval with the latter, there sprang up during the war of the French Revolution other descriptions of force, which proved eminently useful each in its own department, and of the composition of which a few words will suffice to give an account. First, the artificers as they were called, that is to say, the body of men trained to the exercise of mechanical arts, such as carpentry, bricklaying, bridgemaking, and so forth, which in all ages seem to have attended on a British army in the field, became the royal sappers and miners, whose services, on many trying occasions, proved eminently useful, and who still do their duty cheerfully and satisfactorily in every quarter of the globe. During the late war, they were commanded under the officers of engineers, by a body of officers who took no higher rank than that of lieutenant, and consisted entirely of good men, to whom their merits had earned commissions. Their education, carried on at Woolwich and Chatham, trained them to act in the field as guides and directors to all working parties, whether the business in hand might be the construction of a bridge, the throwing up of field works, or the conduct of a siege. Whatever the engineer officers required the troops to do was explained to a party of sappers, who, taking each his separate charge, showed the soldiers of the line both the sort of work that was required of them, and the best and readiest method of performing it. The regiment of sappers was the growth of the latter years of the contest, after the British army had fairly thrown itself into the great arena of continental warfare, and proved so useful, that while men wondered how an army ever could have been accounted complete without this appendage, the idea of dispensing with it in any time to come, seems never to have arisen in the minds of the most economical.”[404]
- 33. 1842. Party to Natal—The march—Action at Congella—Boers attack the camp—Then besiege it—Sortie on the Boers' trenches—Incidents—Privations—Conduct of the detachment; courageous bearing of sergeant Young—Services of the party after hostilities had ceased—Detachment to the Falkland Islands— Landing—Character of the country—Services of the party—Its movements; and amusements—Professor Airy’s opinion of the corps—Fire at Woolwich; its consequences—Wreck of the ‘Royal George’—Classification of the divers —Corporal Harris’s exertions in removing the wreck of the ‘Perdita’ mooring lighter—Assists an unsuccessful comrade—Difficulties in recovering the pig- iron ballast—Adventure with Mr. Cussell’s lighter—Isolation of Jones at the bottom—Annoyed by the presence of a human body; Harris, less sensitive, captures it—The keel—Accidents—Conflict between two rival divers— Conduct of the sappers employed in the operations—Demolition of beacons at Blythe Sand, Sheerness—Testimonial to sergeant-major Jones for his services in connection with it. In January, 1842, a small force under the command of Captain Smith, 27th regiment, was sent to the Umgazi, about ten miles south of the Umzimvooboo, to watch the movements of the Boers, who had attacked a native chief in alliance with the colonial government. With this force was detached a party of eight royal sappers and miners under Lieutenant C. R. Gibb of the engineers. There the expedition was encamped for a season, when a portion of it, on the 31st March, quitted the Umgazi for Natal, taking with them seventy wheeled carriages and numerous oxen. The sappers took the lead of the column to remove obstructions on the route. The force comprised about 250 men, chiefly of the 27th regiment, and a few artillerymen.
- 34. In the journey to Natal, a distance of more than 600 miles, the greatest difficulties were encountered. Much of the ground traversed was very marshy. Rivulets and larger streams were so much increased by the rains that the broken drifts across them had frequently to be renewed or repaired after one or two waggons had crossed. Several very steep hills had to be surmounted, one of which was the Umterda, over which the hunter and trader had never attempted to take his waggon without first dismantling it, and then carrying it up or down. Up this rugged hill, formed of huge boulders of granite imbedded in a swamp, a rough road was constructed; and by putting three spans of oxen—thirty-six bullocks—to each waggon, all, after three days' heavy labour and fatigue, were got to the summit. Constantly in their progress, they had to improve the roads, to cut through wood and bush, to toil along the sand on the shore, and occasionally, harnessing themselves with ropes, drag the unwieldy train along wild passes and almost impenetrable tracts of fastness. At length, after a most harassing march of six weeks, of straining energy and arduous exertion, having crossed one hundred and seventy-two rivers and streams, much of the journey under violent rain, and often sleeping at night on the swampy ground, the troops reached Natal on the 3rd May, and encamped at the head of the bay; from whence they afterwards removed to the Itafa Amalinde, where they intrenched themselves, and placed beyond the parapet, for additional protection, the waggons which accompanied the force. The Boers were opposed to the presence of the troops, and desired them to quit the country. This was unheeded by the English commandant, and hostilities at once commenced. On the night of the 23rd May, Captain Smith, in command of a portion of his force, left the camp and attacked the Boers at Congella, taking with him seven sappers and miners, armed and carrying tools. When the enemy opened fire, the troops were in file up to their knees in water. Private Burridge fired the first shot in the engagement. More than an hour the contest continued without any one being able to take a direct aim; and, when the troops
- 35. commenced the retreat, they were up to their armpits in water. Here a sergeant of the 27th was shot, who would have been carried away in the receding tide, had not sergeant Young with two of the sappers, brought him across the bay to the camp, where his remains were interred. Private William Burridge was wounded in the knee. On regaining the camp all were served out with fresh ammunition, and, when about to lie down, the Boers attacked the position and only retired at daylight in the morning. During the action half of the pole of the sappers' tent was carried away by a shot, and the waggon in their front was pierced by eleven balls. Private Richard Tibbs on this occasion received three balls in his clothes and was wounded. Soon afterwards (31st May) the Boers, comprising a force of about 1200 men and nine guns, commenced to besiege the camp. This they continued with vigour till the 26th June, when a reinforcement having reached the cantonment from the frontier, hostilities ceased. Throughout the operations the eight sappers were employed superintending the execution of such works as the circumstances of the siege rendered indispensable. These included a redoubt, to preserve the communication with the port and village, and a magazine. They also assisted in constructing a large kraal of stakes and abattis, for the safety of the cattle. The waggons were likewise drawn closer in, to make the defence more compact; and from a trench, dug on the inside, the earth was thrown under the body of the waggons, which were thus imbedded in the parapet. By this means the troops were enabled to fire over the parapet and underneath the bed of the waggons; and by leaving traverses in the line of trench, the camp was protected from enfilade. Daily the sappers were occupied in repairing the earth-works, and almost unassisted, built a battery for an 18-pounder gun in the south angle of the intrenchment. Sergeant Young, under Lieutenant Gibb, was the executive non- commissioned officer in conducting the field-works, and twice every day he went round the trenches, reported what was
- 36. necessary to strengthen the defences, and carried out the directions of his officer. On the night of the 8th June, sergeant Young and three sappers carrying their arms and intrenching tools, accompanied the sortie to the Boers' trenches under Lieutenant Irwin, 27th regiment. The enemy retreated and the trenches were destroyed. On the 18th following three sappers were present in a second sortie under Lieutenant Molesworth of the 27th, and led the column to the points of attack. The conflict was short but fierce, and the troops returned to the camp with the loss of one officer and three men killed, and four wounded. Among the latter was private Richard Tibbs of the sappers. During the siege, private John Howatson had made some wooden cradles for surgical purposes, and on finishing one, begged the doctor to look at it. Both stooped to do so, when a 6-pound shot passed within a few inches of their heads and whizzed by the rest of the party in the trench. When Lieutenant Gibb’s servant was killed, corporal Deary and private Burridge buried him outside the waggons, and the melancholy service was not accomplished without much daring and danger. As the siege progressed provisions became scarce and the troops were put on the smallest possible allowance. Horses were killed and their flesh made into biltong. This, with a little beef, formed the daily repast of the camp; and in lieu of meal and biscuit, ground oats were issued. Upon this fare it was impossible to hold out more than fourteen days, but a strong reinforcement arrived on the 26th June, and effecting a landing, the Boers retreated with loss and haste from the beach and the trenches, and the siege terminated. With the relief were three men of the sappers, who increased the strength of the Natal party to eleven of all ranks.[405] Lieutenant Gibb in his report to head-quarters praised sergeant Young, corporal Deary, and the detachment for their usefulness, alacrity, and cheerfulness; and Captain Smith in command, eulogized them for their uniform activity and readiness of resource in the presence of the enemy. When
- 37. quitting Natal, the latter officer favoured sergeant Young with a testimonial in the following terms: “As I am about to relinquish the command, I am desirous to bear testimony to the high and irreproachable character of sergeant Young of the royal sappers and miners. Having accompanied the expedition from the Umgazi to Natal early in 1842, and shared in all its subsequent dangers and privations, I cannot speak too highly of his courage and self-possession, and his unwearied zeal in the performance of his various and arduous duties. He was always at his post and never found wanting; and I therefore beg to recommend him to notice as one of the best and most trustworthy non- commissioned officers I have met with during my long course of service.” After the siege the detachment built a sod wall round the camp and loopholed it, within which they constructed a temporary barracks of wood, working from daylight to dark even on Sundays. A wattle barracks for 300 men was next erected by them, and afterwards a block-house at Port Natal. They also extended their services to the requirements of Fort Napier, Van Vooren, Bushman’s River, and the neighbouring posts in the district, during which time their head-quarters was established at Pietermauritzburg, where a party of ten or twelve men have ever since been employed.[406] Sergeant Robert Hearnden and eleven rank and file, detached in the brig ‘Hebe’ in October, 1841, to the Falkland Islands, under Lieutenant R. C. Moody, R.E., the Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, arrived there on the 15th January, 1842. Three women and seven children accompanied the party. The men were volunteers and of trades suitable to the experiment of improving an old but neglected settlement. They were armed with percussion carbines, carrying a sword with a serrated back, which was affixed to the piece when necessary as a bayonet.[407] After bearing up Berkeley Sound the party landed at Port Louis on the 23rd January, and were present as a guard of honour to his Excellency on taking over the government of the Falkland
- 38. Islands. The inhabitants were assembled to receive him and the Lieutenant-Governor made them a gracious speech. Soon the men became acquainted with the nature of the country they had been sent to improve. Its land was unfruitful and its character inhospitable. Vegetation was so scant and the soil so poor, that nowhere could a tree be seen. Large barren tracts of country, softened into mud by perpetual rains, everywhere met the eye; and the luxuries of living embraced but few varieties beyond fish, flesh, and fowl. Houses there were none, nor was there any society or amusement. What with rain, snow, fogs, gales, and tempests, the Falkland Islands have well been called the region of storms. The population, not more than 200 in all, consisted of a dissipated set of ruffians, the depraved renegades of different countries. After landing the stores and provisions from the ‘Hebe,’ the detachment was put to work. Two portable houses were in course of time erected; one for his Excellency, and the other for the sappers. For durability they were built on stone foundations, and the roofs, to keep out the rain, were covered with tarred canvas and thatched with tussack. A number of outhouses and sheds to suit every convenience and want were rapidly run up, and the old dreary settlement gave unmistakable signs of vigorous industry and improvement. One of the houses, with six apartments, was erected as an addition to the old government- house, which was a long, narrow, crazy structure of one story, with thick stone walls, a canvas roof, and five ill-contrived rooms. The other for the sappers, was constructed a little distance in the rear of the Governor’s dwelling. Two ruinous cottages at Pig Brook were also fitted up, and two cottages at German’s Point rebuilt. To make the habitations of the location more homely and English, enclosures were fenced in for gardens and pasturage. A well likewise was built of dry stone with an oval dome and approached by stone steps. For purposes of correction, an oven built by the French settlers under Bougainville, about 1760, the oldest building in the group, was used for the confinement of refractory characters. The detachment, in addition to its other
- 39. duties, served as the police of the settlement, and sergeant Hearnden was appointed chief constable. Much of the time of the men was spent in boat service to Long Island and other places to get tussack, oxen, horses, peat, &c. The last was obtained in large quantities and stacked for winter fuel. Occasionally a few were out on reconnoitring excursions examining portions of the country, and surveying the islands and patches of land of colonial interest. In this service corporal William Richardson, who was a surveyor and mathematician, was the most conspicuous. When opportunity permitted, some were employed quarrying stone, repairing landing-places, making roads, and improving the paths and approaches to the settlement. To add to the diversity of their duties, a few were sometimes occupied in marking out allotments and indicating the passes or routes across bogs and lagoons by means of poles. The first pole was placed on the loftiest hill between Port Louis and Saint Salvador, which his Excellency, in honour of his sergeant, named Hearnden Hill. In short the men were compelled to turn their hands to anything, for an abandoned and desolate settlement rendered numerous services essential for the convenience and comfort of the settlers. Sergeant Hearnden was clerk of the works, and also filled with energy and ability a number of other offices of colonial necessity.[408] Frequently he was detached to considerable distances, and his reports upon the aspects and capabilities of particular sites and places were invariably received with approbation and his suggestions carried out. Sections of the detachment were often sent on duty to Long Island, Green Island, Salvador Bay, Johnson’s Harbour, Port William, &c. Two or three times the men sent to Long Island could not return to the location, as the boats on each occasion were, by a driving gale, dashed back on the beach, and the men exposed through the weary night to the pelting storm. Once under such circumstances the party was without food for twenty- three hours. Two men detached to Jackson’s Harbour, when returning home, were caught in a snow-storm and with great
- 40. difficulty reached the untenable hut at Fishhouse Creek. There, benumbed and fatigued, they sought shelter for the night, being unable to proceed further or to assist themselves. To relieve the monotony of their public duties, the men were permitted to follow any sport which their inclination suggested. Boating, hunting,[409] shooting, fishing, and angling, were among the varieties of their diversions. Game was plentiful, and the men usually returned from their excursions laden with rabbits, geese, and birds of different form and plumage. In fishing, the party at one time in a single haul, caught at Fishhouse Creek thirteen hundred weight of mullet. The Governor, too, was ever ready to devise means to promote their amusement and comfort, and on one occasion so pleased was he with their general good conduct and exertions, that he honoured them with an excellent dinner from his own purse and shared himself in the festivities. With the view of verifying the reported peculiarity of the tides at Southampton, Professor Airy, in February, proceeded thither to examine the rise and fall of the water. Some non-commissioned officers and privates were placed by Colonel Colby at his disposal for this purpose, who prepared and fixed the vertical scale of feet and inches, and kept a watch upon the general accuracy of the observed tides. “I was,” says the Professor, “extremely glad to avail myself of this offer, for I believe that a more intelligent and faithful body of men does not exist than the sappers employed on the trigonometrical survey; and I know well the advantage of employing upon a tedious business like this, a set of regular service men stationed on the spot.”[410] On the 19th March about 150 non-commissioned officers and men of the corps at Woolwich under Lieutenant F. A. Yorke, R.E., were present in the night at a fire, which burnt the ‘Bull’ tavern to the ground.[411] The sappers were the first to render assistance and to secure from destruction much of the property. [412] By the falling of the principal wall of the building eighteen persons were severely crushed and wounded, six of whom were privates of the corps. Private Malcolm Campbell, one of the injured, rescued the landlord, Mr. Boyd, from being burnt to
- 41. death. The latter in a state of great bewilderment rushed back into the burning tavern, and Campbell dashing after him dragged him through the flames and falling timbers, from a back room of the building, into the street again.[413] During the summer a corporal and twenty-three rank and file of the royal sappers and miners, and nine men of the East India Company’s sappers were employed at Spithead under Major- General Pasley, in the removal of the wreck of the ‘Royal George.’ The operations were carried on from the 7th May to the end of October under the executive orders of Lieutenant G. R. Hutchinson, R.E. In all respects the duties, labours, and responsibilities of the sappers were the same as on previous occasions, except that the diving was carried out by the party, and a few of the East India Company’s sappers and miners, without in any one instance needing the help of professional civil divers. On the 2nd November the detachment rejoined the corps at Chatham. Four divers were at first employed. On the 13th May the number was increased to five, and on the 3rd June to six, which force continued at the duty throughout the season. Several other men during the summer had been so employed when casualty or other cause prevented the regular divers descending, and the whole who had distinguished themselves in this work by their activity and success, were classified as follows:— First-class divers:—corporal David Harris: lance-corporals Richard P. Jones, and John Rae: privates Roderick Cameron, James Jago, John Williams, and William Crowdy. Second-class divers:—privates Alexander Cleghorn and John Girvan. Third-class divers:—lance-corporal W. Thompson: privates William Browning, William Penman, and Edward Barnicoat.[414] Corporal Harris almost entirely by his own diligence removed, in little more than two months, the wreck of the ‘Perdita’ mooring lighter, which was sunk in 1783 in the course of Mr. Tracy’s unsuccessful efforts to weigh the ‘Royal George.’ It was about sixty feet in length, and embedded in mud fifty fathoms
- 42. south of that vessel. The exposed timbers stood only two feet six inches above the level of the bottom, so that the exertions of Harris in removing the wreck were herculean. Completely overpowered by fatigue, he claimed a respite for a day or two to recruit his energies, and then resumed work with his accustomed assiduity and cheerfulness. There was a sort of abnegation—an absence of jealousy—in the character of Harris which, as the rivalry among the divers made them somewhat selfish, gave prominency to his kindness. He met Cameron at the bottom, who led him to the spot where he was working. For a considerable time Cameron had fruitlessly laboured in slinging an awkward timber of some magnitude, when Harris readily stood in his place; and in a few minutes, using Cameron’s breast-line to make the necessary signals, sent the mass on deck. It was thus recorded to Cameron’s credit, but the circumstance, on becoming known, was regarded with so much satisfaction, that honourable mention was made of it in the official journal. Lance-corporal Jones, a sagacious and indefatigable diver, was the most conspicuous for his success at the ‘Royal George.’ In one day besides slinging innumerable fragments, he sent up nearly three tons of pig-iron ballast. The duty of recovering it, which was excessively trying, was confined to him. So painful and enlarged had his hands become in discharging it, he was at last fairly beaten, and for a few days, took an easier area at the bottom. Meanwhile private Hewitt of the East India Company’s sappers, one of the most spirited divers of his party, succeeded him, and led by mark-lines to the spot, commenced his arduous task. Hard indeed did he labour to follow his predecessor even at a remote distance; but on coming up, he declared it was impossible for any one to work there. It appeared for some time, that Jones in his dogged perseverance, had run his adventurous chances in gaps and gullies over his head in mud, and could only feel the ballast by forcing his hands down among the shingle as far as his strength permitted him to reach.
- 43. On another day Jones lodged on deck from his slings a crate containing eighty 12-pounder shot. With singular success he laid the remainder of the kelson open for recovery, and then, sinking deeper, drew from the mud in two hauls nearly 35 feet of the keel. He also weighed a small vessel of six tons burden belonging to a Mr. Cussell, which drove, under a strong current, upon one of the lighters. Becoming entangled, the craft soon filled and foundered, grappling in her descent with the ladder of one of the divers. Grounding at a short distance from the interval between the lighters, Jones was selected to try his skill in rescuing her. At once descending he fixed the chains under her stern, and while attempting to hold them in position by passing them round the mast, the tide turned, the vessel swung about, and the mast fell over the side, burying Jones under her sails and rigging. Perilous as was his situation, his fearlessness and presence of mind never for a moment forsook him. Working from under the canvas and carefully extricating himself from the crowd of ropes that ensnared him, he at last found himself free. A thunderstorm now set in, and obedient to a call from above, he repaired to the deck; but as soon as the squall had subsided he again disappeared and cleverly jamming the slings, the boat was hove up; but she had become a complete wreck and was taken on shore. Nothing was too venturesome for him to undertake, and the trial of enterprising expedients only whetted his wish to be the chief in their execution. It was desired to ascertain how long a diver could exist in his dress without communication with the external air. Jones offering himself for the experiment, remained ten minutes on the deck of the lighter, cased up as if hermetically sealed, without experiencing any inconvenience. A more dangerous trial followed. A clever man had expressed his conviction, that if the air-pipe were to burst on deck and the diver not instantly drawn up, he would be suffocated. Notwithstanding this scientific speculation, Jones descended, and the pump, by signal, ceased. Five minutes he continued unsupplied from above, but a feeling of pressure having then
- 44. commenced on his chest, he signalled for air. The knowledge thus acquired, proved that a diver had ample time to be hauled up before the air in his dress should become too vitiated to sustain life. On going down to examine the progress made in the removal of the ‘Perdita,’ Jones encountered a human body which had been drowned about six weeks. It felt round and hard; was nude to the waist but clothed in trowsers to the ankles. Jones was a long time before he could discover what it was that annoyed him. On tracing with his fingers the course of the spinal column, it felt as if the vertebræ were as distinct as the bars of an iron grating. The thought suddenly possessed him that he was handling the remains of a fellow creature. Horror-stricken at the idea, he rushed up the ladder, and it was a few hours before he could sufficiently master his feelings to redescend. When he did so he went to the spot where the body visited him, and removed the timber he had previously secured. He was, however, no more troubled with this submarine apparition nor with a return of his melancholy emotions. Two days after, Corporal Harris had an interview with a strange substance at the foot of his ladder; but not over-nice in his sensations, he struck his pricker into it. When pulled up to the surface, it turned out to be the mutilated remains that molested the sensitive Jones. These two non-commissioned officers were now equal to the best divers in Europe, and their daring exploits at the bottom of the sea under a great depth of water, with a strong tide, and traversing a space covered with thick mud, embarrassed by iron and shingle ballast, huge timbers, guns, and a thousand other obstacles, were constantly recorded in the newspapers of the day, and filled the public with wonder. A sort of fixed intention possessed the minds of the divers this season to bring up the leviathan keel at all hazards. Several therefore shared in the honour of recovering a portion of it. Cameron was the first to burrow under it, and he slung a short piece, which was scarfed, connected with six pairs of copper bolts, measuring one foot six inches long, and also the clamps
- 45. for securing the false keel. Private James Hewitt of the East India Company’s sappers also recovered a short length. Jago, more successful, sent up six feet; Harris sixteen feet; and Jones came in for the lion’s portion, having slung no less than thirty-four feet six inches. Crowdy also added to the registry of his achievements, the recovery of a guinea; and Cleghorn had the good fortune to send up an 18-pounder iron gun, the only one disembowelled from the deep this summer. A few accidents occurred during the season, only one of which was serious. Corporal Jones, as usual, fell in for his share of them. Slinging, on one occasion, five pigs of ballast, he jumped upon the chains to tighten the load and secure it from slipping. In so doing the weight whirled round and imparted a rotating motion to the bull rope to which the chains were attached. The rope coming in contact with his air-pipe and life-line twined several times round them, and interrupted, in a measure, the channels of communication. To avert the danger which threatened, Jones threw himself on his back, declining the slow process of climbing his ladder; and permitting the air in proper quantity to take vent through the escape valve, passed motionless through the water, except the simple action of his hand occasionally to rectify his balance. His upward flight was something like the downward pitch of a bird, which, laying its wings on the air, descends with scarcely a flutter to the ground. Quickly hauled on board, it was not without much difficulty he was extricated from the entanglement in which his zeal had unwittingly involved him. At another time, being very wet, he was compelled to re-ascend to ascertain the cause of the inconvenience. On examining his helmet, the escape valve was found to be open owing to the presence of a small stone in the aperture, which opposed the true action of the valve and admitted water into his dress in a small but unchecked stream. Private John Williams early in the season tore his hands very severely in attempting to sling a mass of the wreck with jagged surfaces and broken bolts. After a few days' rest, he re-appeared in his submarine habit and dived as before; but, from excessive
- 46. pain in the ears, was again hors-de-combat until the 11th July; when, on re-descending, he was grievously injured by the bursting of his air-pipe a few inches above the water. This casualty was indicated by a loud hissing noise on deck. A few seconds elapsed before the rupture could be traced and the opening temporarily stopped. With great alertness he was drawn up; and on being relieved of his helmet presented a frightful appearance. His face and neck were much swollen and very livid, blood was flowing profusely from his mouth and ears, his eyes were closed and protruding, and on being laid on deck, he retched a quantity of clotted gore. Though partially suffocated he possessed sufficient sensibility to speak of the mishap. A sudden shock, it seems, struck him motionless, and then followed a tremendous pressure as if he were being crushed to death. A month in Haslar hospital restored him to health, and on returning to the wreck, he at once re-commenced the laborious occupation of diving. He was quite as venturesome and zealous as before, but was again soon obliged to leave off, having resumed the duty at too early a period of his convalescence. A dangerous but curious incident occurred this summer between corporal Jones and private Girvan—two rival divers, who in a moment of irritation engaged in a conflict at the bottom of the sea, having both got hold of the same floor timber of the wreck which neither would yield to the other.[415] Jones at length fearful of a collision with Girvan, he being a powerful man, made his bull-rope fast and attempted to escape by it; but before he could do so, Girvan seized him by the legs and tried to draw him down. A scuffle ensued, and Jones succeeding in extricating his legs from the grasp of his antagonist, took a firmer hold of the bull-rope and kicked at Girvan several times with all the strength his suspended position permitted. One of the kicks broke an eye or lens of Girvan’s helmet, and as water instantly rushed into his dress, he was likely to have been drowned, had he not at once been hauled on board. Two or three days in Haslar hospital, however, completely cured him of the injuries he thus sustained,
- 47. and these two submarine combatants ever afterwards carried on their duties with the greatest cordiality. As artificers, lance-corporal Thompson and private Penman were skilful and diligent. Lance-corporal Rae and private Thomas Smith were in charge of the gunpowder and voltaic battery, and made all the mining preparations for explosion. Nearly four tons and a quarter of powder were fired in numerous small charges from 18 to 170 lbs., which will afford some idea of the importance of the duty.[416] General Pasley in his official report, besides highly commending the men above named, wrote in praise of the general good conduct of the entire detachment and of its useful and active services. Corporal Blaik, who assisted in the superintendence of the whole of the workmen in one of the two mooring lighters, the General alluded to as a non-commissioned officer of much merit and strict integrity. His courteous behaviour, too, elicited the respect of every man employed, and attracted the favourable notice of many officers and gentlemen who visited the operations.[417] Early in September, at the request of the Trinity corporation, Colonel Sir Frederick Smith, director of the royal engineer establishment, undertook to demolish two barges formerly used as the foundations of beacons at Blyth Sand, Sheerness. For this purpose he sent Lieutenant Bourchier, R.E., sergeant-major Jenkin Jones and seven men of the corps to the spot in the ‘Beaconry,’ one of the Trinity steamers. A number of small charges deposited in tin cases were fixed at low water, and fired to shake the wrecks. By the explosion of a large charge on the 3rd September, one barge was completely destroyed and dispersed; and on the 5th, by the firing of a still greater charge, the other barge shared the fate of its consort. Masses of the wreck on the first explosion were projected to a height of about 200 feet, and about 400 feet from the scene of operations, while at the same time a column of water, eighty feet high, was forced into the air. On the second occasion, Sir Thomas Willshire, the commandant of Chatham garrison, and Captain Welbank,
- 48. chairman of the Trinity corporation, were present, but the effect was less striking, although a much greater quantity of powder was used, in consequence of there being at the moment twenty feet of superincumbent water pressing on the barge. Captain Welbank personally complimented the “indefatigable” sergeant- major for his success, and the corporation of Trinity House afterwards, with the permission of the Master-General, presented him with a silver-gilt snuff-box to commemorate the assistance he rendered in the dispersion of the wrecks.[418]
- 49. 1842. Draft to Canada—Company recalled from thence—Its services and movements—Its character—Labours of colour-sergeant Lanyon—Increase to Gibraltar—Reduction in the corps—Irish survey completed; force employed in its prosecution—Reasons for conducting it under military rule— Economy of superintendence by sappers—Their employments—Sergeants West, Doull, Spalding, Keville—Corporals George Newman, Andrew Duncan —Staff appointments to the survey companies—Dangers—Hardships— Average strength of sapper force employed—Casualties—Kindness of the Irish—Gradual transfer of sappers for the English survey—Distribution; Southampton. The company in Canada which accompanied the troops to that province on the occasion of the unsettled state of affairs on the American frontier, was increased to a full company by the arrival of thirteen men on the 8th July, 1842. Scarcely had the party landed before the company itself was recalled, and rejoined the corps at Woolwich on the 31st October, 1842. During its four years' service on the frontier, the total of the company, with its reinforcement, counted ninety-nine of all ranks, and its casualties only amounted to eight men invalided, three discharged, and five deserted. Not a death was reported. From time to time it was stationed at Quebec, Fort Mississaqua near the Falls of Niagara, St. Helen’s Island, St. John’s, and Fort Lennox, Isle aux Noix. These were its several head-quarters, and as the company was removed from one to the other, parties were detached for service to each of the other stations, and also to Amherstburgh. In repairing and improving the defences at Mississaqua and Isle aux Noix they were found
- 50. of great advantage. At the other stations they were no less usefully occupied in barrack repairs and other contingent services. From Amherstburgh the detachment rejoined the company in 1840. Whilst the latter was at St. Helen’s and afterwards at St. John’s, the men were exercised during the summer months in pontooning with bridges of Colonel Blanshard’s construction, which had been stored at Chambly until 1840. The pontoons were found to travel well on bad roads, but the breadth of the rivers in Canada did not permit of their being often used as bridges. After the removal of the company, Colonel Oldfield, the commanding royal engineer, thus wrote of it: “The discipline of the company was not relaxed by its four summers in Canada. It had suffered the inconvenience of several times changing its captain, but it was nevertheless maintained in good order and regular conduct. Lieutenant W. C. Roberts, R.E., however, was constantly with it, to whom and colour-sergeant Lanyon[419] and the non-commissioned officers, much credit is due. The desertions only amounted to six, although the company was on the frontier in daily communication with the United States. Of these six, one returned the following morning; a second would have done so but he feared the jeers of his comrades; and the other four found when too late the falsity of the inducements which had attracted them to the States, and would gladly have come back could they have done so.” And the Colonel then concludes, “The advantages enjoyed by well-behaved men, and the esprit de corps which has always existed in the sappers have been found to render desertion rare, even when exposed to greater temptation than usually falls to the lot of other soldiers.” In the meantime a second company had been removed to Gibraltar in the ‘Alban’ steamer under Lieutenant Theodosius Webb, R.E., and landed on the 6th July, 1842. This augmentation to the corps at that fortress was occasioned by the difficulty felt in procuring a sufficient number of mechanics for the works; and to meet the emergency, the company in Canada was recalled, as
- 51. in both provinces works of considerable magnitude had been carried on by civil workmen, who could at all times be more easily engaged in a country receiving continual influxes by immigration, than in a confined fortress like Gibraltar with a limited population. On the return of the Niger expedition in November, to which eight rank and file had been attached, the establishment of the corps was reduced from 1,298 to 1,290 of all ranks. The survey of Ireland upon the 6-inch scale was virtually completed in December of this year, terminating with Bantry and the neighbourhood of Skibbereen. The directing force in that great national work was divided into three districts in charge of three captains of royal engineers in the country; and there was also a head-quarter office for the combination and examination of the work, correspondence, engraving, printing, &c., in charge of a fourth captain. To each of these districts the survey companies were attached in relative proportion to the varied requirements and contingencies of the service, and adapted to the many modifications which particular local circumstances frequently rendered imperative. A staff of non-commissioned officers and men was also stationed at the head-quarter office, and discharged duties of trust and importance. In framing his instructions for the execution of the Irish survey, Colonel Colby had to reject his old opinions formed from circumscribed examples of small surveys, and to encounter all the prejudices which had been fixed in the minds of practical men. The experience of these parties did not extend beyond the surveys of estates of limited space, performed without hurry and with few assistants. Colonel Colby, on the other hand, was to survey rapidly a large country, with much more accuracy. The two modes were therefore so entirely different, that it took less time to train for its performance those who had no prejudice, and who had been brought up by military discipline to obey, than to endeavour to combine a heterogeneous mass of local surveyors fettered by preconceived notions and conceits, deficient in habits of accuracy and subordination, and who could
- 52. not be obtained in sufficient numbers to form any material proportion of the force. Hence the survey of Ireland became essentially military in its organization and control, the officers of engineers being the directors of large parties, and the non- commissioned officers the subordinate directors of small parties. In the later years of the Irish survey, however, the superintendence by the sappers became of much consequence and its advantages very appreciable in the reduction of expense. For the year 1827, the outlay for the survey was above 37,000l., at which period the sum paid to the officers was more than one- third of the whole amount; but in 1841, when the expenditure was more than doubled, the amount for superintendence had been reduced to a twelfth part of the total expenditure.[420] The general employment of the sappers and miners in this great national work embraced the whole range of the scheme for its accomplishment, and many non-commissioned officers and men trained in this school became superior observers, surveyors, draughtsmen, levellers, contourers, and examiners. Among so many who distinguished themselves it would be almost invidious to name any; but there were a few so conspicuous for energy of character, efficiency of service, and attainments, that to omit them would be a dereliction no scruples could justify. Their names are subjoined:— Colour-sergeant John West celebrated as an engraver. In 1833, the Master-General, Sir James Kempt, pointed out his name on the engraving of the index map of Londonderry to His Majesty William IV. in terms of commendation; and the Master- General, while West was yet a second-corporal, promoted him to be supernumerary-sergeant, with the pay of the rank. Most of the index maps of the counties of Ireland were executed by him, and a writer in the United Service Journal[421] complimented him by saying that the maps already completed by him were as superior to the famous Carte des Chasses as the latter was to the recondite productions of Kitchen, the geographer. His also was the master hand that executed the city sheet of Dublin, and his name is associated with many other maps of great national
- 53. importance. The geological map of Ireland, 1839, engraved for the Railway Commissioners, was executed by him; and in all his works, which are many, he has displayed consummate skill, neatness, rigid accuracy, and beauty both of outline and topography. In October, 1846, he was pensioned at 1s. 10d. a- day, and received the gratuity and medal for his meritorious services. He is now employed at the ordnance survey office, Dublin, and continues to gain admiration for the excellency of his maps. Sergeant Alexander Doull was enlisted in 1813. After serving a station in the West Indies, he was removed to Chatham. There on the plan of ‘Cobbett’s Grammar,’ he commenced publishing letters to his son on “Geometry,” but after the second number appeared, he relinquished the undertaking. In 1825 he joined the survey companies, and was the chief non-commissioned officer at the base of Magilligan. He was a superior mathematical surveyor and draughtsman, and his advice in difficult survey questions was frequently followed and never without success. Between 1828 and 1833 he had charge of a 12-inch theodolite, observing for the secondary and minor triangulation of one of the districts, and was the first non-commissioned officer of sappers, it is believed, who used the instrument bearing that designation. In July, 1834, while employed in the revision of the work in the neighbourhood of Rathmelton, he introduced a system of surveying similar to traverse-sailing in navigation, which effected a considerable saving of time in the progress of the work, and elicited the approbation of Colonel Colby. While on the duty he invented a plotting-scale,[422] and subsequently a reflecting instrument,[423] both simple and ingenious in construction. After a service of twenty-three years, he was discharged in January, 1838. When the tithe commutation survey was thrown into the hands of contractors, Doull got portions of the work to perform, and his maps were referred to in terms of high commendation by Edwin Chadwick, Esq.[424] Among several towns that he surveyed, one was Woolwich, the map of which, dedicated to Lord Bloomfield, was published by him in 1843. In
- 54. the proposed North Kent Railway, Mr. Doull was assistant- engineer to Mr. Vignoles, and he planned a bridge of three arches, having a roadway at one side and a double line of rails at the other, with an ornamental screened passage between, to span the Medway where the new bridge recently constructed, connects Strood and Rochester; which plan, had the proposed railway not been superseded by a rival line, would have secured an enduring fame for the designer. This was the opinion of Mr. Vignoles and Sir Charles Pasley. Afterwards when the competing companies were preparing their respective projects, Mr. Doull represented the engineering difficulties of the opposing scheme in a pamphlet under the signature of “Calculus.” In this his military knowledge and experience were well exhibited, inasmuch as he showed how the fortifications at Chatham would be injured by the adoption of that line; and the railway consequently, on account of this and other influences, has never been prolonged so as to interfere with the defences. A few years afterwards he published a small work entitled, “Railway Hints and Railway Legislation,” which obtained for him, from the South-Eastern Railway Company—the one he so perseveringly opposed—the situation of assistant-engineer to the line. More recently he issued a pamphlet on the subject of a railway in America,[425] which for its boldness and lucidity gained for him the praise of a rising literary genius in the royal engineers.[426] His last pamphlet on the subject of opening a north-west passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a distance of 2,500 miles, is more daring, and evinces more pretension and merit than any of his previous literary efforts. Mr. Doull is also known as the inventor of several improvements of the permanent way of railways,[427] and is a member both of the Society of Civil Engineers and the Society of Arts. Serjeant Robert Spalding was for many years employed on the survey of Ireland, from which, on account of his acquirements, he was removed to Chatham to be instructor of surveying to the young sappers. To assist him in the duty he published a small manual for the use of the students. It was not an elaborate
- 55. effort, but one which detailed with freedom and simplicity the principles of the science. In 1834 he was appointed clerk of works at the Gambia, where his vigorous intellect and robust health singled him out for varied colonial employment, and his merits and exertions frequently made him the subject of official encomium. Five years he spent in that baneful and exhausting climate, and in 1840, just as he was about to sail for England, the fever seized him, and in a few days he died. In his early career as a bugler he was present in much active service, and was engaged at Vittoria, San Sebastian, Bidassoa, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, and Toulouse. Sergeant Edward Keville was a very fair and diligent artist. He engraved the index map of the county of Louth, and assisted in the general engraving work at the ordnance survey office in Dublin. In January, 1846, he was pensioned at 1s. 10½d. a day, and obtained re-employment in the same office in which he had spent the greatest part of his military career. Second-corporal George Newman was eminent as a draughtsman, and the unerring fineness and truthfulness of his lines and points were the more remarkable, as he was an unusually large man of great bodily weight. He died at Killarney in 1841. Lance-corporal Andrew Duncan was a skilful and ingenious artificer. His simple contrivance for making the chains, known by the name of “Gunter’s chains,” is one proof of his success as an inventor. Those delicate measures, in which the greatest accuracy is required, have by Duncan’s process been made for the last twelve years by a labourer unused to any mechanical occupation, with an exactitude that admits of no question. The apparatus is in daily use in the survey department at Southampton, and the chains required for the service can be made by its application with great facility and rapidity. He was discharged at Dublin in September, 1843, and is now working as a superior artizan in the proof department of the royal arsenal. Equally distinguished were sergeants William Young, William Campbell, and Andrew Bay, and privates Charles Holland and
- 56. Patrick Hogan, but as their names and qualifications will be found connected with particular duties in the following pages, further allusion to them in this place is unnecessary. Colonel Colby in his closing official report, spoke of the valuable aid which he had received from the royal sappers and miners in carrying on the survey, and as a mark of consideration for their merits, and with the view of retaining in confidential situations the non-commissioned officers who by their integrity and talents had rendered themselves so useful and essential, he recommended the permanent appointment of quartermaster- sergeant to be awarded to the survey companies; but this honour so ably urged was, from economical reasons, not conceded. Seventeen years had the sappers and miners been employed on the general survey and had travelled all over Ireland. They were alike in cities and in wastes, on mountain heights and in wild ravines, had traversed arid land and marshy soil, wading through streams and tracts of quagmire in the prosecution of their duties. To every vicissitude of weather they were exposed, and in storms at high altitudes subjected to personal disaster and peril. Frequently they were placed in positions of imminent danger in surveying bogs and moors, precipitous mountain faces, and craggy rocks and coasts. Boating excursions too were not without their difficulties and hazards in gaining islands almost unapproachable, and bluff isolated rocks and islets, often through quicksand and the low channels of broad sandy bays and inlets of the sea, where the tide from its strength and rapidity precluded escape unless by the exercise of extreme caution and vigilance, or by the aid of boats. Two melancholy instances of drowning occurred in these services: both were privates,—William Bennie and Joseph Maxwell; the former by the upsetting of a boat while he was employed in surveying the islands of Loch Strangford, and the latter at Valentia Island. This island consisted of projecting rocks very difficult of access, and when private Maxwell was engaged in the very last act of finishing the survey a surf swept him off
- 57. the rock. A lad named Conway, his labourer, was borne away by the same wave. The devoted private had been immersed in a previous wave by which his note-book was lost, and while stooping with anxiety, to see if he could recover it, another furious wave dashed up the point and carried him into the sea. [428] Hardship and toil were the common incidents of their everyday routine, for on mountain duty theirs was a career of trial and vicissitude. Comforts they had none, and what with the want of accommodation and amusement in a wild country, on a dizzy height, theirs was not an enviable situation. Covered only by a canvas tent or marquee they were barely closed in from the biting cold and the raging storm; and repeatedly tents, stores, and all, have been swept away by the wind or consumed by fire, while the hardy tenants, left on the bleak hill top, or the open heath, have remained for days together half naked and unsheltered. Such was their discipline and such their spirit, they continued to labour protected only by their great coats—if haply they escaped destruction—till, renewed with tents or huts, they pitched again their solitary dwellings far away on the height or the moor. Even on the less exposed employments of the survey, the men were subjected to many discomforts and fatigues. The marching was harassing; miles to and from work were daily tramped, frequently in a drenching rain; and in this kind of weather soaked to the skin, they barely permitted their work to be interrupted. Night after night for two or three weeks together, have these men returned to their quarters dripping wet; and when, in frosty weather, their clothes have frozen on their backs, the removal of boots and trousers have only been accomplished by immersing the legs in warm water. The average strength of the three companies set apart for the survey, for each year from 1825 to 1842, is subjoined:— Least Greatest Average for each Strength. Strength. 12 Months.
- 58. 1825 61 109 86 1826 106 134 115 1827 129 220 177 1828 232 259 248 1829 234 257 242 1830 233 258 247 1831 248 268 255 1832 230 256 242 1833 211 231 220 1834 204 215 209 1835 199 204 201 1836 195 198 196 1837 191 213 199 1838 208 217 213 1839 199 220 208 1840 183 213 197 1841 87 179 142 1842 31 74 50 During the above period the casualties by death in Ireland only amounted to twenty-nine of all ranks, proving the general healthiness of their occupation. Of these, three were untimely: two by drowning as shown in a preceding paragraph, and one killed—private John Crockett—by falling from a car while proceeding on duty from Leixlip to Chapelizod. Here it should be noted that the sappers, in the prosecution of their duty, necessarily mixed with all descriptions of society, and were invariably treated with respect, civility, and hospitality. The spirit of agrarianism, the bigotry of religion, or the natural irritable temperament of the people, were seldom evinced against the companies in abuse or conflict. As the work was drawing to a close the sappers by rapid removals augmented the force employed in the survey of Great Britain, so that at the termination of 1841 there were no less
- 59. than 143 men chiefly in the northern counties of England, and thirty-four carrying on the triangulation of Scotland, leaving for the residual work of the Irish survey only eighty-seven men of all ranks. In June, 1842, the payment of the companies in England commenced on a system of consolidating the detachments into a series of vouchers prepared for their respective companies. At that time the force in Ireland, left for the revisionary survey of Dublin and the northern counties and for the engraving office at Mountjoy, reached a total of six sergeants and forty-one rank and file; while the absorbing work of the survey of Great Britain had on its rolls a strength of 217 of all ranks. Southampton, in consequence of the destruction of the map office at the Tower of London by fire, was established as the head-quarters of the survey companies; and in the institution formerly known as the royal military asylum for the orphan daughters of soldiers, are now carried on those scientific and extensive duties which regulate with such beautiful accuracy and order, the whole system of the national survey.
- 60. 1843. Falkland Islands; services of the detachment there—Exploration trips—Seat of government changed—Turner’s stream—Bull fight—Round Down Cliff, near Dover—Boundary line in North America—Sergeant-major Forbes— Operations for removing the wreck of the ‘Royal George’—Exertions of the party—Private Girvan—Sagacity of corporal Jones—Success of the divers— Exertions to recover the missing guns—Harris’s nest—His district pardonably invaded—Wreck of the ‘Edgar,’ and corporal Jones—Power of water to convey sound—Girvan at the ‘Edgar’—An accident—Cessation of the work— Conduct of the detachment employed in it—Sir George Murray’s commendation—Longitude of Valentia—Rebellion in Ireland—Colour- sergeant Lanyon explores the passages under Dublin Castle—Fever at Bermuda—Burning of the ‘Missouri’ steamer at Gibraltar—Hong-Kong— Inspection at Woolwich by the Grand Duke Michael of Russia—Percussion carbine and accoutrements. The settlement at Port Louis, in the Falkland Islands, was daily growing into importance, and works applicable to every conceivable emergency were executed. This year the old government-house was thoroughly repaired, and a new substantial barrack for the detachment erected. Unlike the other buildings of the colony, the foundation-stone was laid by the Governor with the usual ceremony, and in a chamber was placed a bottle of English coins of the reign of Queen Victoria. There were also built houses for baking, cooking, and to hold boats. A butcher’s shop was likewise run up, and cottages erected for the guachos and their major-domo, as well as a small calf house on Long Island and a large wooden peat-house at Town Moss. To add to the variety of their employment the sappers repaired the pass-house, put the pinnace in fine sailing condition, and
- 61. constructed a jetty of rough stones for boats. Other services of less note but equally necessary were performed, such as quarrying stone, building a sod-wall to enclose a space for garden purposes, stacking peat for the winter, and removing stores and provisions from the newly-arrived ships, &c. Parties were detached on exploring services to North Camp and Mare Harbour. In both places wild cattle abounded and troops of horses made no attempt to scamper away. On one excursion sergeant Hearnden and corporal Watts accompanied Mr. Robinson to Port St. Salvador in the face of a snow-storm, opposed by a cutting wind. Several wild horses and a herd of savage bulls were met in the trip; and geese, too, crossed their track in vast numbers, merely waddling out of the way to prevent the horsemen crushing them. Night at length spread over them. To return in such weather was impossible; and looking about they discovered a heap of stones, which turned out to be a sealer’s hut. The ribs of a whale were its rafters and turf and stones served the purpose of tiles. Leashing their horses and fastening them in a grassy district some four miles from the hut, Hearnden at once repaired the roof of the desolate hermitage, and Mr. Robinson with his companions crept into it through a small aperture on their hands and knees. Here they passed a bitter night; and so intense was the cold that four of the five dogs taken with them perished. Next day they returned to the settlement with less appearance of suffering than cheerfulness, and with a heavy supply of brent and upland geese and some wild rabbits. Notwithstanding the inclement weather, the health of the detachment continued to be robust. Fourteen months they had been at the Falkland Islands without a doctor; but in March one was added to the settlement from the ‘Philomel.’ After having erected comfortable residences for nearly the whole of the official establishment, the seat of government, by orders from the Colonial Office, was removed to Port William. The proclamation for this purpose was read to the inhabitants of Port Louis by sergeant Hearnden on the 18th August, 1843.
- 62. Jackson’s Harbour was selected by the Lieutenant-Governor for the future settlement. Soon after, the detachment marched overland to the spot, and continued there during the remainder of the year—except when temporary service required their presence at Port Louis—preparing the location for the Governor and the official officers. A sod-hut was soon run up for one of the married families, and the rest were tented on boggy ground about twenty yards from the river. In stormy weather the ground, as if moving on a quicksand, would heave with the fury of the wind; and what with the whistling of the gale through the cordage, the flapping of the tents, and the roaring of the waves, the men at night were scarcely free from the hallucination of fancying themselves at sea. Their early operations at Jackson’s Harbour were very harassing, much of the material required for building having to be brought from a distance; but before the close of the year a two-roomed wooden cottage was erected with some convenient outhouses for domestic purposes. A portable house for the surveyor was also constructed, and one built in Mare Harbour. A rough jetty of planks, piles, and casks was likewise made, and the high grass for miles about the settlement was burnt down. This service was not accomplished without difficulty, for the continual rains having saturated both grass and ground, prevented the spreading of the flames, and required unceasing efforts for more than a month to insure eventual success. While out on this duty sergeant Hearnden discovered a good ford for horses about 150 yards from Turner’s Stream, and marked the spot by a pile of stones, the summit of which was on a level with high-water mark. Turner’s Stream was named in compliment to a private of that name, who carried the Governor in his journeys over the shallow waters and lagoons that intersected his track. Much discomfort and some privation were experienced by the men in the first months of their encampment at Jackson’s Harbour. To get meat they usually travelled to Port Harriet, or some eight or nine miles from the location. The bulls they shot
- 63. were always cut up on the spot and their several parts deposited under stones till required for use at the camp. In these expeditions the bulls were frequently seen in herds and wild horses in troops, sometimes as many as fifteen in a group. Once the camp was attacked by a number of wild horses and four savage bulls. The party, about four in number, were at breakfast at the time they approached, and, at once seizing their loaded rifles, ran out of the tent to meet them. Two of the bulls only, stood their ground; and though struck by two bullets, rushed on furiously, and forced the party to beat a hasty retreat. A position was rapidly taken up among some barrels and timber, under cover of which the men were reloading; but the onslaught of the bulls was so impetuous that the operation was interrupted and the party driven into the tents. One of the animals now trotted off; but the other, still pursuing, bolted after the men into the marquee. A ball from private Biggs’s rifle fortunately stopped his career, and, turning round, the infuriated animal tore up the tent, committed great havoc through the camp, and made a plunge at private Yates, who dexterously stepped aside, and, firing, shot the bull in the head, and the combat ceased. Lance-corporal John Rae and private Thomas Smith were employed in January under Lieutenant G. R. Hutchinson, R.E., in the demolition and removal by blasting of a portion of the Round Down Cliff, near Dover, for the purpose of continuing the South Eastern Railway in an open line, supported by a sea-wall, up to the mouth of Shakspeare Tunnel. The summit of the cliff was about 380 feet above high-water mark, and 70 feet above that of Shakspeare Cliff. The two sappers had the executive superintendence of the mines, the placement of the charges, and various duties connected with the management of the voltaic apparatus and wires. No less than 180 barrels of gunpowder were expended in the operation; and the explosion by electric galvanism brought down, in one stupendous fall, a mass of chalk—about 400,000 cubic yards—which covered a space of 15½ acres, varying in depth from 15 to 25 feet, and saved the South Eastern Railway Company the sum of 7,000l.