A North Sea Trawler

O.P. has sent careers information. There must be many O.P.s who are in a position to supply such information, and I should always be glad to hear from them. I can assure them that the Careers Room is well patronised and that their trouble in sending literature would therefore not be wasted.

It is now well known that many of the larger industrial organisa- tions are realising the need to attract boys who have followed classical, modern, or English courses of study at school, in order to broaden the outlook of their managerial staffs. This attitude is now spreading to smaller companies and this term we were visited by representatives of Arthur Balfour & Co., Ltd., of Sheffield. This company manu- factures industrial tools and special steels for many purposes, including cutlery. It is a small company in which a good deal of individual attention would be given to any boys being trained by them. They require a number of boys, who do not propose to go up to university, over the next five years to train for managerial positions in either the production or commercial sides of their business. The latter would give prospects of some overseas work. They are prepared to interview any boy who is interested and do not prescribe that any particular course of study should have been followed at school, maintaining that any boy of reasonable intelligence should master the necessary technical knowledge without great difficulty. Four boys were interviewed this term; two of them are quite likely to join the company, and we look forward to their impressions with great interest. In addition a small party of senior boys will be visiting the factory next term, and we shall be able to see at first-hand the opportunities offered by a small specialised branch of the iron and steel industry.

K.G.C.

The fishing industry is rather taken for granted, probably because it does not appear to be disturbed by strikes, and so gains little publicity. A living won from the North Sea is hard earned, and I found it most impressive to spend eight days in the summer on board the Grimsby steam trawler "Returno".

She is a vessel of about 240 tons, 120 feet long, and 22 feet wide; she has a crew of ten, consisting of a skipper, mate, and third hand, two engineers, a cook, two trimmers, and two deck hands. A description of the voyage can be taken as typical of the North Sea routine.

After about six hours' steaming the trawl was put down. For the rest of the voyage it was hauled up every three hours, day and night. Since every man was required at every hauling time, it will be seen that no man had unbroken sleep during the trip. When the trawl had been hauled up, mended, and put down again, every man helped with gutting, washing, and storing the fish. If it was not a meal time, those who were free could then sleep until the next hauling time; I

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