Semi-weekly herald., 1913-08-14
DOES NOT APPROVE OF
QUESTIONS ASKED APPLICANTS

WASHINGTON, d. c., Aug. 12.-|
The Hon. William s. Howard, rep
resentativ from Georgia, doesn't like
the questions which the examining
boards asks Of all candidates for the
United States naval academy, and
he recently delivered himself Of his
opinions on the subject and the rea-
sons why, before the house.
Representative Howard left abso-
lutely no doubt in the minds Of his
fellow congressman as to his exact
ind innermost thoughts about some
Of the entrance examination questions
asked would-be future naval officers.
One of the questions upon which the
representative who came from the
state made famous by Ty Cobb, lit
with both hands and feet was, "Trace
the growth of democracy in Rome,
previous to the Punic war"
why shouldn't the candidate in
stead be asked to trace the growth
of Bull Moosism in Pennsylvania pre-
vious to the last presidential cleo
tion demanded the fiery southerner.
knowledge of democracy's growth in
Rome previous to the Punic war;"
said Howard, "is just about as help
ful to a future sea-fghter as would
be the knowledge of what's inside Of
lima BEANS"
"In a recent entrance examination
the candidates were asked to locate.
among other places, Aganta, Punta
Arenas, Pechili, Finisterre, Kattegat,
and Brahmaputra. They might as
well have been asked to locate Dogs
Tooth, Buzzards Roost or Sundance,
for which $4,000 public building
was provided by the senate last year.
"And why should it be expected
that candidate have crammed into
his brain, all the reasons why the Ro-
man legion was tactically superior to
the Macedonian phalanx? Old Gen. j..
Caesar himself, probably didn't know
why. He probably merely knew that
his legions had better batting av-
erage than the Macedonian phalanxes.
Still another silly question asked in
entrance papers was regarding the
spread of Christianity in Rome.
But perhaps the worst of all was
the question asking for complete de-
tails Of Washington's campaign in
New Jersey during the winter of 1775-
76. The bright young man who called
this question to my attention, wrote
for twenty minutes before he sud-
denly realized that Washington wasn't
in New Jersey during that time. 1t
was merely catch question: of the
kind they use to trip up the small boy
in grade school.
at isn't at all surprising" con-
tihued Representative Howard, that
one boy became facetious in answer
ing the question as to why science
couldn't utilize the waters of Niagara
Falls with the time honored answer,
Dammit they can't And my heart
goes out to the young man from Texas
who, after struggling with score of
foolish, senseless questions, wrote on
his paper, You can all go to hell; Pm
on my way back to Texas"
j Howard quoted a number Of rea-
sons given for not accepting candi-
dates who have passed the mental ex-
animation. They were unscietniic
dentition-mean poor dentistry; in
growing toenails; ozena-which means
sore nose; and exacerbation of patho-
gonomic symptoms-which sounds bad
but means very little.
Il IF these ailments were made lions
in the paths of political honors," ask
ed Howard, how many of our lead
ing congressman and statesmen would
he mere in Washington
The Georgia representatives re-
marks were made partly facetiously
but they have made an impression.
Senator and representatives who did
not know about these matters, are
talking about some means of chang
ing the system of entrance examina-
tions for Annapolis. 1t is the conten-
tion that under present systems, it
Il absolutely necessary for student
to Cram like sixty" at special pre-
fpsratory school before he can pass
such an examination. This CRAM
hine" it is conceded never means OBJ
tanning real information that lasts,
but onlyl enough to get through the
exam with.
| In discussing the case recentlyl,
Howard told Of Brooklyn boy, whose
father a warrant officer, could not
afford to send his boy to prepars-
tory school. The boy was the best Of
his class at school. Four boys, who
had stood lower in the first boys
class attended the preparatory school
and passed the Annapolis entrance ex-
animation while the first boy, the
son Of q gunner" As Howard put it,
failed.
"The son Of = gunner failed; those
sona of wuna refacted him." said How