Careers

From Durban the ship proceeded to Lourengo Marques and thence to Beira, where discharge was completed. She then sailed for Port Pine in ballast, the passage lasting from 17th February to 5th March. After loading zinc concentrates there, she went on for more cargo to Sydney and Brisbane. Capt. Graham was expecting to leave Brisbane for British and Continental ports on 26th March, and the homeward passage was to be via Panama. Thus the "Clan Stewart" will have circumnavigated the world.

The following account of Port Pirie, S. Australia, may be of interest : "We arrived here last Sunday morning after a fine weather passage from Beira. The notorious Bight was in good temper and we made excellent time all the way. Being an empty ship we could not go at full speed owing to the vibration, but despite that we made 16.6 knots for the passage. "We have been in this port for six days now, and it seems we will have another three days before loading is completed. This time we are loading concentrates, and what mucky stuff it is. The loading takes longer as it has to be trimmed level so that the cargo can be loaded on it. "It started raining last night, the first rain for about three months in Port Pirie. You will realise how pleased the locals are as everything was dry and dusty and the ground like a piece of iron. I went out for a car trip last Wednesday, about 70 miles. All the country was parched and it was like going through a dust-storm. At times we had to stop to allow the dust to settle when another car passed. There is still a slight drizzle this morning, so I am hoping that loading will not be held up. To add to our troubles, the large chimneys of the smelting works belch forth sulphur fumes for most of the day. It is not too bad when the wind is blowing away from the ship."

A considerable volume of careers information has reached the School this term, and there follow details of the most interesting schemes. Fuller details can, of course, be found in the Careers Room.

The Government of Northern Rhodesia has announced a new appointment to the post of Learner District Assistant in the Provincial Administration. Candidates must normally be between the ages of 18 and 21 years, be physically fit, and are required to have obtained one or two "A" level subjects. Entrants would be required to assist District Officers in their administration of town and country districts, dealing with social, economic and political development. At the end of a three-year tour of service the Assistant is considered for appointment as a District Assistant, a permanent and pensionable post. This grade forms the normal level of entry for graduates of British 35

Universities so that the Assistant would reach the grade in the same time, though, of course, without the advantage of gaining a University degree. However, it is an unusual opportunity for a boy of University calibre, who, for some reason or another, is not going up to a University, to enter a career which up to now has been open only to graduates.

The Vickers Group has been giving considerable publicity to its educational activities in the National Press just recently, and there is no doubt that there are exceptional opportunities for intelligent boys who are considering engineering as a career within this organisation. The Group claims that its educational scheme is among the most comprehensive in British industry, including apprentice schools, management training schemes, scholarships at universtities and sandwich course awards to apprentices. They award some twenty named scholarships, the latest three being at three Cambridge colleges in rotation. The first of these scholarships, at Christ's College, is being awarded this year and the next two will be tenable at Downing College and Trinity Hall. Applicants must possess the necessary entrance qualifications for the University, the Faculty and the College, and selection will be based on the G.C.E. at "S" level and a personal interview before a Selection Board at the College. The value of these scholarships is £400 per annum, tenable for three years, and the award is not subject to a means test.

The Shell Petroleum Company has for the first time announced a Student Apprenticeship scheme for boys with appropriate qualifications who will not be going up to a University. Hitherto it has not been possible to enter the petroleum industry without a University degree, especially with any hope of achieving some position of responsibility. The scheme has arisen as a result of the concern felt at the increasing shortage of technologists to fill the growing number of responsible posts in the industry, and it will enable boys leaving school to start paid work immediately and, at the same time, to work for qualifications as professional engineers. Candidates selected will be trained either in Mechanical or Chemical Engineering and will study for the new Diploma in Technology to be established by the Hives Committee. On qualification they will become fully eligible for appointment as qualified engineers on the same terms as University graduates to positions in oilfields, refineries and chemical plants. The minimum standard of entry to the course is a G.C.E. with passes in at least five subjects, of which at least two must be at "A" level. For Mechanical Engineering passes are essential in Pure Mathematics and either Applied Mathematics or Physics at "A" level, though the course in all three subjects must have been taken. For Chemical Engineering, passes in Chemistry and either Pure Mathematics or Physics at "A" level are essential, though the course in all three subjects must have been taken. One of the attractions of the scheme is that, if the Company feel that the candidate will benefit from a University course 36

after one year's practical work, they will assist him to gain a place at a University and will release him to read for a degree, while paying him the same rate of salary and paying tuition fees.

Short Works Courses are becoming increasingly popular and, almost without exception, the courses during the Easter holidays were heavily over-subscribed. This is shown by the fact that 15 out of 16 applicants from this School a year ago were accepted for courses, while only nine out of the same number of applicants were successful this year. The most popular of the courses are those in research with the engineering courses a very close second. The least popular are generally those offered by the smaller and less well-known companies, though these often provide the most interesting courses. Details of the courses to be held during the Summer holidays are now available and it may be worth noting that, generally speaking, there are fewer applications per place for the Summer courses.

As a follow-up to his talk on Central Banking Mr. A. C. Sandison very kindly arranged for a party to visit the Stock Exchange and the Bank of England in March. A short account follows : "In what seemed the small hours of Tuesday, 19th March, a party of 21 left for London. On arrival we were taken to the Stock Exchange where, after a short explanatory talk, we were taken into the public gallery where the chief attraction seemed to be either distinguishing between "brokers" and "jobbers" or trying to spot any of the hundreds of men on the floor who were actually working.

From the Stock Exchange we were taken across the road to the Bank where our first engagement was an enormous meal which made the lack of a refreshment car on the journey down a blessing in disguise. After lunch there was a talk, a very good idea as none of us could have walked far straight after that meal, and then we split up into two parties for a tour of the Bank. First we were taken down into the basement where we saw the generators, pumps and boilers which supply all the Bank's light, power, heat and most of its water from artesian wells. The magnitude of the heating and air-conditioning plant can best be grasped when it is realised that the whole Bank is kept at a constant temperature of 65°F. and that the air is completely changed every 3-5 hours.

From the basement we went to the ground floor staterooms which are almost exact replicas of the original 18th century rooms, although the present building is only about twenty years old. Even the Court Room still has the garden doors even though it is now on the first floor. Fortunately these are dummy doors. Perhaps the most interesting exhibit was the Bank's "petty cash", consisting of 2,400 bars of gold worth £,13,000,000. Those sorely tempted by this sight were dissuaded from lining their pockets by the size and great weight of 37