The Prescott daily news., 1913-05-09
CIVIL SERVICE TESTS FOR FOURTH CLASS PosrMAsTERs
 ARE ORDERED.
MOORE IS WILLING TO QUIT
weather Chief Win Return to Farns Ife-Thousands of Applicants for Thirteen Places Under Secretary of Labor Wilson.
By GEORGE CLINTON.

office department have had soma iron. oie Ill nndlng a basis for tests in the CIVIL service examinations which have been ordered for the thousands upon thousands of fourth class postmasters Who were placed in the classified ser vice by President Taft. President VII son did not want to set aside the or oer, and Postmaster General Burle- son liked upon the civil service test in oroer to insure, as it is said, that men now holding the position shall, if they are capable. continue to hold them. or that they shall give place to other men who shall prove more competent.
 Little by little the civil service Is being extended through all the depart ments and 1t Is now intrenched in places where 1t was not known before. It has just developed that the office of chief forester of the government, once held by Clifford Pinchot, Is under the rule of the civil service, therefore 1t seems likely that the present chief for ester, MT. Graves, will continue to hold his position, although 1t Is pos sible that, fearing he was to be trans | ferred to some other position In the department, he might feel it incus- bent upon him to resign and to leave his present place open for some other man.
 Secretary of Agriculture Houston is perhaps the cabinet officer today who has the least worries over officeseek- CTS. He found when he came Into of | flee that there were only three or four places In his department which he had the right under the law to fill, and he intimated plainly that he was rather glad of it, for with his outer office free from seekers after preference he would have so much more time to give to the duties of his office.
 Moore Going Back to Farm.
 Mir. Houston appointed Dr. B. T. Gal loway, who was the head of the plant bureau, as assistant secretary of agri- culture. The other chief place which was at his disposal was that of chief of the weather burea6, position which has been held for many years and which will be held for month or two longer by pr. Willis L. Moore. It is said that Doctor Moore Is not troubled much because he is to retire from the service. As he expressed 1t to friend, he is going back to the farm life," a life which the weather forecaster holds is the best life pos sible.
 The lot of the weather bureau chief is not altogether a happy one. It is perfectly true that at least seventy-five per cent. of the predictions which the weather forecasters have made through the years have turned out to be right, but they know from eXperi- ence that the people look at the one fourth failures and seem to forget the three-fourths of successes.
 Doctor Moore's most painful eXperi- ence was at the time of the Taft fn- auguration four years ago, when, on the night before, the conditions to the west. north. east and south of Wash ington showed as plainly as anything could show that fair weather was to be expected in the capital on the day of days" The so-called "tiareback" which disturbed the proceedings on in- auguration day was purely local dis turbance and came seemingly out or nowhere. It was hardly worth while for the forecaster to make this expla- nation because people would only laugh and say that 1t was a lame, after-the-time excuse.
 Secretary Wilson's Task.
 Secretary Wilson of the department of kabor, the new department of gov ernment established by the last con gress. has a bakers dozen of positions to fill For these places there have been upward of 5000 applicants, and so if can be seen that if every case Is 10 be considered on it's merits, Secre- tary Wilson will have some job to s,ft the wheat from the chan.
 It was figured some days ago that 1s2 900 persons had applied for the 10 ss4 jobs which are within direct gift of the present administration. This number of applicants since has been swelled to 150.000, and. in the very nature of the case, not all of these applications either in person or bv letter can be given consideration. Of course politics will cut some figure in making these appointments. All things being equal, it follows natural ly that a Democratic administration would prefer to appoint Democrat to a member of any other party.
 Postmaster General Burleson will have nearly 10000 presidential post masterships to give away, or at least