TABLE 25.—Regarding certifications, appointments, and separations in the classified customs service for the year ended June 30, 1890.

TABLE 26.-Regarding certifications, appointments, and separations in the classified postal service, year ended June 30, 1890.

TABLE 27.-Showing, for all branches of the classified service, the number examined, the number who failed, and the per cent. of failures; the number who passed, the number appointed, and the per cent. of those that passed who were appointed during the several periods covered by the reports of the commission.

*NOTE-The figures for the year ended June 30, 1888, except the number appointed, have been corrected from the figures given in the fifth report, which were based upon estimates.

SPECIMEN EXAMINATION QUESTIONS.

NOTE.-There are five branches of the classified Civil Service, as follows:

1. The classified departmental service.

2. The classified customs service.

3. The classified postal service.

4. The clasified railway mail service.

5. The classified Indian service.

"No person who is an applicant for examination, or who is an eligible in one branch of the classi fied service, shall, at the same time, be an applicant for examination in any other branch of said service."

Any person may, however, be an applicant for examination, or an eligible for the position of clerk (or copyist), classified departmental service, and also an applicant for any one of the special examr inations for departmental service, provided for by the Commission.

The specimen questions in this appendix are substituted for the questions printed in previous reports, and no other specimen questions can be furnished to applicants. It will be understood that the questions are different at each examination, but the following have been used, and in subject and grade are fair specimens of the whole.

The different subjects are weighted according to their relative importance in the examination. In determining the general average of a competitor the average on each subject is multiplied by the number indicating the relative weight of the subject, and the sum of these products, divided by the sum of the relative weights, gives the general average. The following is a form on the first sheet of the clerk examination giving the subjects in that examination and their relative weights, and illustrating the method of obtaining the general average after the average in each subject has been determined: FIRST BRANCH OF CLASSIFIED SERVICE DEPARTMENTAL

The figures above in the column headed "averages" are assumed averages, inserted to illustrate the method of obtaining the general average.

The time allowed for this examination is limited to seven consecutive hours. 190

FIRST SUBJECT.-Orthography.

Spelling is dictated by the Examiner. The words are written by the competitor in the blank spaces indicated on the first sheet of the examination.

The following is a list of twenty words used as a spelling exercise for the clerk and also for the copyist examination, Series 20.

The Examiner pronounces each word and gives its definition as printed below. The competitor is required to write ONLY THE WORD and NOT its definition.

1. Speech. An address; an oration.

12. Comical. Droll; odd; ridiculous.

2. Impeach. To accuse; to bring into 13. Memorize. To commit to memory. question.

3. Conceited. Vain; opinionated.

14. Disguise. To mask; to muffle; to conceal the appearance of.

4. Seate d. Placed on a seat; fixed; set-15. tled.

5. Dyeing. The act of staining or color ing cloth.

6. Dying. Losing life; expiring.

Agreed. Settled by consent.

16. Impede. To hinder; to delay; to re

tard.

17. Perseverance. Persistance in an undertaking; constancy.

7. Mutable. Changeable; capable of 18. Interference. A clashing; interposition;

change.

opposition.

8. Diffidence. The state of being diffident. 19. Consciously. Knowingly.

9. Felicitate. To make happy; to delight. 20. Guidance. The act of guiding; direc10. Hesitate. To pause; to delay.

tion.

SECOND SUBJECT.-Penmanship.

[N. B.—The mark on penmanship is determined by legibility, neatness, and general appearance, and by correctness and uniformity in the formation of words, letters, and punctuation marks in the 2nd Exercise of the Third Subject-Writing from plain copy-and in the Exercise of the Fourth Subject-Letter-writing.]

THIRD SUBJECT.-Copying.

1st Exercise.-Writing from Dictation.

[N. B.-Spelling, use of capitals, punctuation, and all omissions and mistakes are taken into consideration in marking the Exercises of this subject.]

One of the Examiners dictates an exercise of not less than ten lines so distinctly that all the persons being examined can hear him. The passage is first read for information, and then dictated in phrases of five or six words, at the rate of from fifteen to twentyfive words per minute. If from any cause the competitor misses a word, he is cautioned not to pause, but to leave a blank space and go on with the next word he hears. Three minutes are allowed after the dictation for punctuation and correction.

2nd Exercise.- Writing from plain copy.

Copy the following precisely, indicating SMALL CAPITALS by proper marks: SEC. 8. That no person habitually using intoxicating beverages to excess shall be appointed to, or retained in, any office, appointment, or employment to which the provisions of this act are applicable.

SEC. 9. That, whenever there are already two or more members of a family in the public service in the grades covered by this act, no other member of such family shall be eligible to appointment to any of said grades.