stations such as Aldershot, it
may be necessary to undertake special water supply schemes, works for
disposal of sewage, and for the supply of electricity or gas for lighting
the barracks. The system of roads, pipes and mains within the barracks are
in all cases maintained by the Royal Engineers, as well as the buildings
themselves. District and brigade offices are necessary for the
administration of large units, and quarters for the general officer
commanding and the headquarters staff may sometimes be required.

_Location of Barracks_.--The selection of a healthy site for a barrack
building or new military station is a matter of great importance. In the
earlier days of barrack construction, barracks were, for political reasons,
usually built in large towns, where troops would be at hand for putting
down disturbances, and cramped and inconvenient buildings of many storeys,
were erected on a small piece of ground often surrounded by the worst slums
of the city; such, for example, were the Ship Street barracks in Dublin,
and the cavalry barracks at Hulme, Manchester. Worse still were cases where
an existing building, such as the Linen Hall in Dublin, was purchased, and
converted into barracks with little regard for the convenience of the
occupants, and a total disregard for the need of a free circulation of pure
air in and about the buildings, which is the first condition of health. In
the present day, except in a few cases where strong local influence is
allowed to prevail to retain troops in towns, where their presence, and
perhaps the money they spend, are appreciated for patriotic or other
motives, every opportunity is taken to move troops from the vicinity of
crowded towns, and quarter them in barracks or hutments built in the open
country. Due regard can then be given to sanitary location, and military
training can more effectively be carried out. With improvements in
communication by rail, road and telegraph, support to the civil power in
case of disturbance can always be afforded in good time, without
permanently stationing troops in the actual locality where their assistance
may be needed. It has been recognized ever since the Crimean War, that the
leading principle of barrack policy must, in the future, be to facilitate
in peace time the training of the army for war, and that this can only be
done by quartering troops in large bodies, including all branches of the
service, in positions where they have space for t