BEST OFFICERS

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 42, 18 August 1916, Page 8

BEST OFFICERS

ACTORS AND JOURNALISTS.

Which profession supplies the best officers for the Army? This question, put by the Daily Mail to a drill sergeant who has had experience in an officers' training corps, produced a swift and emphatic answer. "Actors raako the best officers," he declared positively. "First of all, they know how to give the word of command, a very important consideration. They aro never shy or 6elf-oonscious, and they impress the men with their personality. Give "me an educated actor and I will promise you a good officer. "Schoolmasters make the best noncommissioned officers. Business men I have found rather difficult. They are intelligent enough, but they are not what you may call adaptable."

A staff officer endorsed the sergeant's views, with qualifications. "Professions calling for the exorcise of imagination and observation do, generally speaking, provide Qrst-class officers," ho said. "Two officers on trench service constantly distinguished -themselves by keen observation. They were invariably the first to notice any change in the enemy's dispositions, and both wore Fleet-street journalists. .

"Natural resource rather than trained intelligence counts on active service, and ■while this faculty may be possessed by men in all professions, it is more often found among journalists, barristers, and, of course, engineers, who I place in a class apart."