Opportunities for Advancement.

When a lad is accepted he serves a probationary period of three years, during which he must pass certain prescribed examinations and show himself well fitted generally for the profession; he then receives his cadetship, and from this rank graduates-according to his merits-to the various positions in his particular department. A cadet in the traffic branch graduates to clerk, station master, and to the higher administrative positions in district offices, those more fortunate and able rising to district manager, superintendent, and the higher controlling authoritative positions immediately subordinate to the central authority, the Railway Board.

Clerical cadets in the other branches have similar opportunities, whilst cadets joining the technical branches, engineering, etc., quickly rise to the position of draughtsmen, and, provided they possess the necessary qualifications, graduate as engineers. The essential entrance qualification to the technical branches is the matriculation examination.