Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-26

a woman's word was not taken on this
point, either. Further, the medical exam
%ination was more careful. Candidates were
required to 90 through an unexpected
course in athletics. including swinging
.thirty-pound dumbbells, lifting weights and
running, jumping and STOPPING 20 show
suppleness and agility. No woman under
five. feet in her stocking feet was admitted
at all.
As a result 1850 OF the 4ss failed to pass
the medical and physical test. Fourteen
more backed out when the time approached
for the mental examination. leaving 296 to
AXE the final test
Judging from the looks Of the women
who entered this year It is more than
likely tina 70 per cent will pass the men
tai test, said a member Of the examining
board.
This test also was made more difficult
this year. As usual. It included the ten
questions which candidates must answe in
writing in a given time, most of which are
almost posers to women unaccustomed to
coping with situations such as they sug-
gest. For example, at one of the tables
at the last examination sat a young mar
ried woman who barely squeezed In on the
age limit, being a few days under 20 when
her application was mailed. She has two
small children and a husband incapable
Of adequately supporting his family, and
although her energy. strength and ambi-
ton are equal to attempting almost any
task, so far her experience has been limited
to home life and good social surroundings.
Az the same table sat a school teacher
Of chubby rather than athletic proportions,
nearer 20 than 30 years old, who, almost
anyone would be willing to wager, had
never seen the inside OF q prisoners cell
in her life. But, as the examiner said,
appearances are not always to be trusted,
for here were these two writing down
answers to such questions as these:
Explain clearly what means you would
TAX to maintain discipline and quiet among
women under the influence of liquor,
How would you proceed to search a wo-
man accused Of thieving7
A girl Of is, a drunken woman and an
injured or helpless woman are brought in
and turned over to your care. What will
you do with each7
A woman Of apparent refinement arrested
charged with shoplifting. refuses to answer
any question put to her and seems on the
verge of nervous breakdown. Placed under
your charge, how would you proceed to get
from her all necessary information? Would
you, in the treatment Of this woman, make
any exception to the treatment accorded
the ordinary prisoner, and If so, give
reasons In full.
Questions relating to threatened personal
violence from prisoners, to prisoners under
the influence of drugs and prisoners at
tempting suicide; to lost children, to reme-
dies for emergency treatment, and so on,
were also attacked with little or no hesita-
ton. So far as the ten questions weren't
this years test was not much harder than
former tests.
The examination also tested the appli-
cants knowledge Of other languages than
English. After these matters had been dis
posed Of candidates turned over sheet No.
1 and found on sheet No. 2 this surprise,
introduced for the first time to the police
matron examinations:
Write a complaint of not less than $50
words to the captain of your precinct con-
corning a patrolman who persists in COM
ing to your office on various pretexts, al
though you have warned him repeatedly
that his action is a violation of the rules
of the department and exceedingly annoy
ing to you. Sign this report Jane Doe.
Strange to say, this piece Of work, for
which extra time was allowed, caused more
trouble to at least 80 per cent of the can
didRtes than all the ten questions put to-
gether; whether because letter writing is a
more difficult feat than simply answering
a set Of questions or because the POSSIBLE
ity Of being ever called upon to make such
a complaint had been quite unforeseen. the
examiners were not willing to say. They
noticed that the younger and prettier
women looked at one another out of the
corners OF their eyes to see how each was
taking 1t before setting to work.
After an applicant had passed both the
physical and mental tests she was re-
quired to submit certificates of good char
acter from twenty women of good social