Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-03-09

TN the business world and in industry the
great cause of failure is what Is called
round pegs in square holes"-meu
who are misfts in their occupations
This well-known economic fact was rec
ognized when we started to raise an army
of five million men. Every army division,
to be efficient, must include In its person
mel men Of no fewer than lightweight diff
ferent trades.
Out OF the great undigested mass Of re-
cruited men these specialists must be Sc
lected. Nor was 1t safe rule to assign a
man to electrical work. for instance, SIM
ply because that was his trade He might
be round peg In a square hole'-a very
poor workman at his trade.
1t was necessary, therefore, to find out
with some degree Of accuracy what men
were fitted to do no matter what they said
or thought they could do. For this pur-
pose very interesting series of tests were
devised TO ind out the mental and techni
cal rating OF every recruit. A few of the
simpler tests are shown on this page to-
dav.
Incidentally. in addition to sorting the
men into the trades they were more or
less proficient in. number Of interesting
general facts were discovered. The tests
showed startling divergence between
men who work with their hands or with
tools. and men who do even routine work
with their brains. The lowest were
laborers. miners, teamsters and farm
ers, scoring less than so. In the next
group scoring 30 to 80 were found tailors.
BARRIERS, painters, carpenters, bakers,
cooks.
Between GO and 60 we're railway en-
gineers. toolroom experts. shipbuilders,
tool and gauge makers and auto assem-
blerS. The examining officers were sur
prised 10 find general clerks, mailing
clerks. bookkeepers. far above mechanical
experts. The locomotive engineer
averaged 60 TO SO, tut the railway clerk
eraged 90 to %. But most surprising yet
was the discovery that stenographers and
typists as a class rated ll5 to 1l9-away
above the best experts with skilled tools
More than half Of the men in an up-to-
date army must be skilled in special trades
in order 10 perform their military duties
satisfactorily.
Take the infantry. the fundamental arm
of the fighting service. For every 100000
men in its ranks 40.000fou in every
ten-must he occupational specialists.
Where the engineers. the Signal Corps
and other specialized military bodies are
concerned the number of men trained and
experienced in definite lines must be far
greater pTOpOrtlOnately.
Fifty-fve distinct varieties OF chemists
have been employed in this war all OF
them derived from civil life and assigned
TO this kind Of duty or that according to
their special aptitudes and experience.
An aero repair squadron in the field IL
required to build an average of two flying
machines day. How many arplane me-
chan!c, engine REPAYMENT and other ex-
per's must it have TO fulfil this function?
And how shall they be obtained quickly?
Whatever the line of specialized military
activity, the problem is TO spot" and as.
semble the requisite men determining in
each case their abilities by what are called
Trade tests i G. examinations that posi-
lively fix their capacity and probable use.
fitness
This business OF trade testing has been
developed in a remarkable degree during
the war. The examination quickly tells
how good a man is at his trade. and NAV
be conducted by any intelligent officer.
In few minutes il Classics soldiers into
four grades OF skill-D novice (2) an.
prentice, CD journeyman, a. expert.
The examination takes three forms
oral. picture (he soldier being called mon
for descriptive commenD and perform.
ance Jhus. for example, the oral test
for man who claims to understand tai.
lorng occupies ten minutes. during which
he must answer seventeen questions.
Each correct answer counts 4. each fail.
ure o. The total score tells whether he il
to be rated as a novice, an apprentice, a
1ourneyman, or an expert
The picture test for man who claims
to be horseshoer occupies twenty min.
utes, with twenty-nine questions. The
score Is made IN the same way For a