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

should remember that artillery work has
been far more highly differentiated IN this
war than ever before Nowadays ,bara
must be railroad artillery (with guns
mounted on specially-constructcd cars,
motorized artillery, and anti-arcraft
artillery
In former DAYS recruit underwent no
examination that extended beyond his
physique To-day his mental equipment is
deemed Of even greater importance.
though, of course. he cannot gain accept
ance as a soldier unless bodily fit.
The tests TO which he is subjected A..
most elaborate. and determine 10 n r.z-s
~" dno~oc ,,f his irtaliir~,rc am, r,.,,,,t
alertness. Some OF them are extremely
simp'e-as, Tor example, when i've wooden
cubes OF equal size are placed before IN.
man They look exactly alike. but differ
IN weight. containing more or less lead.
me man Is REQUIRED 10 arrange them IN
the order Of their weights from ligbtest 10
hc"vioSt
There arc also iipeaw puzzles. which Tho
recruit must ~ together They are s;nnle
ones. but Il is the iirnn lie tokes that
counts 'Mn2cs" printed on cardboard arc
put before him. The starting roir, is
marked and he mus, follow With a pencil
MiXedrn sentences are referred 10 him
such rs The following:
Arctic monkeys III live regions
Fingers many toes as have men as
Pig legs six has
Water in ice Il makes warmer
Now. the recruit Is instructed not 10 re.
write these sentences making sense ont
of them. but merely TO underline the word
true or the word false" printed oppo-
site each
Thus he would rcarrangc the first one
in his mind. 50 as 10 make IL read Mon.
Keys live in Arctic regions" and would
underline the word false" opposite. or
course. men have ms many toes as fingers.
and so for that sentence he would under
line the word true"
Even simpler is 4 test given with a sheet
OF picturc-dra wings Each drawing lacks
something essential. and the problem is 10
determine what that something is
child eating porridge ont of q bowl has no
spoon. rabbit has but ono ear 4 violin
has no strings. pistol lacks trigger A
crab IS Shy one leg. The chimney on
cottage does not come through the roof
The knave OF diamonds has no figure OF
diamond az one end Of the card A woman
is powdernC her nose before looking
glass, but the arm and hand that hold the
powder puff do not appear in the refec-
ton. Two cats lighting on roo.toD in
the moonlight look all right at first glance,
bnt presently one notices that only one OF
them throws shadow.
II is not any single test (Which might
give false impression) that determines
the recruits degree of intelligence 1t is
the sum OF many, differing in kind. and
the result is Of sure and absolute &C
curacy Mentally the man is "sized up
For every officer las for every private
soldier) there is on file a card 1t tells
his occupation as a civilian his degree Of
1ry
ficicncy. his schooling. his acquaintance
with languages and various other things
In our service during the war there have
been 1928 officers. every one OF whom
has been freshly "rated" four times a
year by n superior in rank. This rating
(Which appears as special item on the
card) is based upon sort of measuring
scale IT covers five primary qualihca-
tfonS-physique. intelligence leadership,
personal attributes and general value as a
fighter or worker.
The standards by which these oualifca-
tons are measured arc individual officers
OF corresponding rank, recognized as repre-
senting different degrees OF usefulness and
value. These officers are picked out by q
superior, and match" determines the
rating. For each qualification there is
set of five officers accepted as, standards,
from highest to lowest.
But, obviously enough, the officer chosen
as representing the highest standard of
Intelligence may be lowest in respect of
physique or in some other quality Hence
the arrangement in sets of five. When n
match" is obtained, numerical rating
is given accordingly, and the sum of the
numbers for the five ratings is the total
rating.
Officers as well as enlisted recruits are
subjected to certain psychologist tests to
determine their intelligence and mental
aertness. The results, as recorded, rate
high intelligence as a." Superior intelli
gence is put down as "B." Average intelli.
gence Is quoted as &c" and inferior .rtel
ligence as 3D."