PUSH AND GO.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 173, 12 May 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

PUSH AND GO.

HOW TO PASS EXAMINATIONS

The adventures of two young Americans who set out to work their way round tho world are told in the "Wide World Magazine." One amusing experience is given her©: — Hearing that the United States Navy Department needed inspectors for its operations in conection with the construction of the naval base at Pearl Harbour, about twelve miles |rom Honolulu, 1 wandered into ti<e javy headquarters one morning and ..luflty addressed the first man I saw.

"My name is Fletcher," I sai.i, "and I am looking for a jojb." The lieutenant in charge, who was dressed very correctly in tlu white uniform of the tropics, apparently resented my abrupt manner, for he replied by asking, sarcastically : "Have you been to high school?'' "Yes," I said. "Are you a university graduate?" the officer continued, beginning to realise that he had somewhat misjudged the applicant. " I was graduated from the University of California in 1907." "Well, then," said the lieutenant, assuming a dignified attitude, "an examination is to be held on Wednesday of next week for several positions as sub-inspectors of dredging, and if you will fill out an application you can sit for it."

I duly filled out the document, which contained the usual useless and characteristic red-tape questions that are always asked when one is after a Government position. "What does the examination cover?" I inquired.

"It is contrary to the rules to answer such a question," was the navy man's reply. "But a man ought to have some idea what he is going to be up against," 1 said. "For all I know the questions may be on theology. Can you give me a general idea what the. test will cover?"

The officer, relenting, informed mo that the examination would include several questions on dredges, blasting and explosives, the use of ti sextant and protractor, and would test the applicant's knowledge of geometry and arithmetic. After expressing my grattudo for the information I wandered out into the street, with my hopes somewhat shattered. As I sauntered aimlessly along the water-front leadi.nj from the Naval Station, I begin to ponder over the various items included in the examination. The more I :e----fleeted the lower my hopes descended. I didn't know a sextant from a iihlUc'hurn, a protractor was as strange a device to me as a doctor's forceps, and 1 knew no more about a stick of dynamite than a turtle does about music.

In spite of this apparently insurmountable wall of ignorance, however, Richardson and I decided to take a chance at the examination, audi undertook to gather the necessary information. 1 borrowed a sextant from the skipper of a ship lying in the harbour, and practised with the instrument in the vacant lots of the city. Then 1 modo several trips to Pearl Harbour and studied the different types of dredges at work in the channel, drawing diagrams and taking notes of each. 1 also obtained a book on explosives, and among other volumes come across a publication entitled "Inspector's Handbook,' which contained most of the information we desired in concise form.

While I was busy gathering data for the approaching examination, Richardson was earning two dollars a day at a job he had picked up from the Honolulu Telephone Company. His tedioun duties consisted of installing a switchboard in the company's new building, and he spent ten long hours a day in the monotonous task of connecting an endless number of small metallic fibres. At the close of his second day on the jjob he asked his chief for a "lay-off." "You have only worked two days, and now you ask for time off! What do you want it for?" asked the fore"l am scheduled to take a Civil Service examination to-morrow," was Richardson's reply. "A Civil Service examination! Going to quit me, eh ? Not if 1 know anything about it ! You're fired. Come and get your money right now," cried the enraged telephone boss. "That suits me all right," replied Richardson, in an indifferent tone. He received his four dollars and walked unconcernedly out of the place. That evening Richardson, four dollars richer, spent several hours under my instruction, and I made an effort to prime him with the information I had collected for ihe examina;in. Promptly at nine o'clock the next morning we were both on hand at the Naval S ation, equipped witsh a banana each for lunch, to take the six' hour test. There were seven other aspir vius representing seven types of the human species, from a shabbily-dressed stevedore to a foppishly-attired bank clerk, and all of us, I am conviccd, had little or no knowledge of the nature of the test which was about to beg.n. After the examination had been in progress an hour, Richardson and I were the only candidates left the other poor beggars had given up in despair. With our coats off, we answered the nine questions in the required time, and afterwards retired to the lawn, where wc were asked to demonstrate our practical knowledge of a sextant. We were instructed to measure off four flags, which were so arranged that they formed a circle, with the point at which we stood as a pivot. We were given ten minutes to perform this feat. Richardson handled the instrument like a veteran. I was unable to locate the final flag through the lens of the sextant on account of a multitude of flags flying from a man-of-war alongside a dock near by. After fumbling about in a vain effort to find the right flag in the maze of the ship's signals, and realising that my ten minutes were fast fading away, I decided to take a long shot and do a little guess-work. Accordingly, I took my vernier reading from the biggest flag I could see. It turned out to be a good guess, for I learned afterwards that my entire circle read three hundred and sixty degrees one second. The next day we were both notified that we had passed the examinationRichardson, the student, receiving t-ightv-six per cent, of marks, and myself, 'the instructor, eighty-five pe r cent. We were now eligible for appointments as sub-inspectors of dredging at the Pearl Harbour Naval Base, in the emplov of the United States Naw Department, at three dollars sixtv cents a da.' and board, and doubl • pav for Sundav. This made an average of one hundred and ten dollars clear money a month. We were rising in the world!