PLAN No. 192. AN EXCHANGE MART

How a man with original ideas established an “exchange mart”—something he had never heard of before—and built up a good business along a novel line, is told by himself as follows:

“Knowing the tendency of people to sell what they have and buy or trade for something they haven’t, it occurred to me that I could supply the wants of both classes, and make some money for myself at the same time.

“I rented a store room and bought two blank books, one of which I marked “buyers” and the other one “sellers,” and then inserted an ad. in the local paper, asking those who had anything they wanted to sell to come and see me. I ran another ad., to the effect that it would pay those who wanted to buy anything, no matter what, to call upon me.

“Before long I had on hand a large assortment of articles of every kind that were for sale—books, furniture, tools, musical instruments—almost everything—and each of these I carefully listed in my sellers’ book, with the name and address of the owner, and the very lowest price at which it could be sold. A number of people also called to ask for certain articles, and if I did not have them I made a note of what was wanted, in my buyers’ book, with the name, address and phone number of the person wishing it, together with the highest price he would pay. Then I advertised for those things to be brought in, and when they came I bought them as cheaply as possible. Next I notified the prospective buyer, who would generally respond promptly and pay the price he had named, or a little more if the article particularly pleased him, and the difference between the seller’s lowest price and the buyer’s highest price was my profit. And this profit amounted to over $2,000 at the end of the first year.”

PLAN No. 193. AUTO AND CARRIAGE POLISH

Of the many thousands of automobiles in use a great many of them have the varnish worn off or scratched, through carelessness and hard usage, and this fact gave an enterprising young Portland man an idea.

He made up a considerable quantity of a fine polish from the following formula: Orange shellac, 30 ounces; Venice turpentine, one ounce; castor oil, one ounce; gum sandarac, one ounce; nigrosine, one ounce; wood alcohol, 9 pints and 6 ounces. These he mixed, and shook them until thoroughly dissolved.

This mixture he put up in pint tin cans, with tight-fitting tops, the same as paint cans, pasted an attractive label on each can, gave it a fancy name, and was ready for business.

The directions for using were: Remove all dust and dirt with a clean cloth, and apply the dressing to the body of the auto or carriage with a soft camel hair brush, letting it dry thoroughly.

At first he took orders for applying the polish to autos himself, but he later decided he could make more money by employing agents to sell it for him. Each can cost but a trifle, and sold readily for $1, so that, after paying the agents liberal commission, he still had a net profit of over 50 cents per can. Later he began to advertise it throughout the country, and in a few months he had built up a mail order business, that netted him a good living.

PLAN No. 194. SINGING SONGS THROUGH A MEGAPHONE

With a strong, melodious voice, a megaphone, a hand organ in a covered wagon, and a few hundred copies of a popular song, a young man in New York City earned a good living.

This young man, standing up in the front part of the wagon, would stop the horse at a crowded corner, place the megaphone to his mouth and, giving a sign to the man manipulating the hand organ in the covered wagon, would commence to sing one of the latest songs of the day.

When the crowd became interested, as it always did, he would stop singing, offer the copies of the song, words and music, for 10 cents each.

The song sold rapidly, and when the ten minute limit for stopping in one place expired he would start up the horse, move on to another location, probably in the same block, and repeat the performance.

PLAN No. 195. A SUBSCRIPTION AGENCY

Most magazines, as well as daily and weekly newspapers, are always glad to pay a liberal commission for subscriptions, and some of them offer bonuses besides for good lists of subscribers.

A young man in an inland city of the Pacific Northwest, who had a few hundred dollars, fitted up a neat little down-town office—after securing a subscription agency for a number of leading periodicals, made a list of the same in alphabetical order, with columns for the regular price and the price at which he could supply them. If his commission was $1 on a year’s subscriptions, he advertised to send a $4 magazine for $3.60. Where his commission was 80 cents, he deducted 25 cents to his subscribers; if his discount was 40 cents, he would deduct 15 cents from the rate and so on.

He issued an attractive circular showing the various discounts he would allow on each subscription to any of the magazines or other publications listed, and sent these circulars to those answering his ads. in a number of papers covering his territory, and was surprised at the number of subscriptions he received through this system of discounts. While each subscription thus saved 10 per cent or more from regular subscription prices, it still left him a neat profit on each, and as the lists he was thus able to send in were quite large, he received enough in bonuses besides the discounts to himself as agent, to make a very comfortable income.

PLAN No. 196. PUBLISHING PROGRAMS

There is always more or less money to be made in a good advertising plan, and here is one way an elderly newspaper man turned his knowledge of printers ink to good account.

Whenever a church or social organization in his town proposed to give an affair or other form of entertainment he would offer to get out a good program for it free of cost to the parties planning the affair, and this offer was always gladly accepted. Sometimes he even offered a percentage of the proceeds for the privilege, and this too, was acceptable.

He would get the best figures possible from a number of printers, and let the contract to the one who could do good work for the lowest price.

Then he divided the program into small spaces for advertising, which he could easily fill at fair rates, and usually came out with at least 50 per cent profit on the undertaking.

There were so many of these programs to be obtained in his town, that he continued this as a regular business, and made an excellent living out of it.

PLAN No. 197. CHURCH POST CARDS

Any plan that will help to raise money for a church is always gladly welcomed, but a plan that will do this, and at the same time make a fair profit for the originator, must be a “good one.”

A young printer in an eastern city inserted the following ad. in a number of religious papers all over the country:

“To raise money for your church, send us a photograph of your church or your pastor, and we will send you 500 high-grade post cards, with photo on each card. Sell these at 10 cents each, send us $20, and keep the balance. This is easy, and can be done in a week or less.”

The answers came in, the cuts were made from the photos, and the printed cards sent out. The post cards, printed, cost $7, the electro of the photo $3, and the other $10 for each set was net profit.

As from two to ten of these were received each day, one may judge as to the profits of the plan, while hundreds of churches were better off to the extent of $25 to $30 for each 500 cards sold.

PLAN No. 198. MAKING SACHET POWDERS PAYS WOMAN’S COLLEGE EXPENSES

A young lady, who wanted to make some money to help pay for a college course, proceeded to make the money by making sachet powder, her first “batch” amounting to fifty pounds. As a basis for the formula, she used, at various times, powdered starch, fine sawdust, oatmeal, and corn meal, and colored the completed preparation with a small quantity of analine. The powder itself she made as follows:

Wheat starch, 6 parts; orris root, 2 parts. Reduce starch to a very fine powder, and mix well with the orris root, then perfume with attar of lemon, attar of bergamot and attar of cloves, using twice as much of the lemon as of the others. This is really a violet sachet powder, but she gave it a fancy, high-sounding name, which added greatly to its selling qualities.

By advertising it in a small way, she created a demand for it that required help in making up the powder and filling the orders, and by placing it in a number of drug stores, she succeeded in providing herself with an income far in excess of the cost of a thorough course in the college of her choice.

After her graduation, she continued to make these sachet powders, which were mostly profit, and as they were of unquestioned quality, she received a revenue from their sales that paid all her expenses and gave her a nice bank account besides.

PLAN No. 199. MAKING CARPET CLEANER

A married man, who had endured the horrors of house-cleaning time so often that he knew how that ordeal was dreaded by housewives and husbands alike, felt that he could bring a feeling of peace to thousands of homes, and also bring himself a good income as well, by removing the most formidable of the house-cleaning nightmare, the taking up and cleaning of carpets.

Therefore, having a very fair idea of what would be a good thing to use for the purpose, he proceeded to make a carpet cleaning compound, as follows: Powdered Fullers earth, 4 pounds; common salt, 3 pounds; turpentine, ¹⁄₂ pint. These he mixed well, passed through a sieve, and packed in half-pound packages. The entire cost was but a few cents, and the paper boxes and labels added but little to the expense of making it.

He used this preparation by sprinkling over a square yard of the carpet at a time, rubbing it with a stiff, dry scrubbing brush, and going over it a second time with a softer brush, after the dirt was removed. The same powder can be used for several squares, until it is too dirty to use.

He placed an ad. in the local papers, offering to send a free sample of the cleaner to anyone desiring it, and received many requests asking for samples. The assurance that carpets would not have to be taken up to be cleaned, clinched the argument, and as there was enough of the sample to show what it could do, he received calls for more.

Then he employed agents, on a good commission basis, to sell it from house to house, and soon had a demand for it that extended over several states.

PLAN No. 200. THEY PICKED BERRIES

Owing to the failing health of the husband, a man and his wife went camping in the mountains, just about the time berries were ripe and plentiful, and seeing an opportunity for healthful exercise as well as considerable financial profit, they began an extensive berry-picking campaign.

They had taken their bedding, some canvas cots, a stove, and a small tent to use in case of bad weather. They camped near several cool springs, and a mountain stream, from which they caught a great many trout.

Impressed with the immense quantities of berries all around them, they went to the nearest town and bought a supply of jars, cans, and glasses, 200 pounds of sugar and had 1,000 labels printed. Then they began their berry picking, canning, preserving and making jams and jellies of the berries at the same time, and sending them to the city hotels. Their products were carefully packed in apple boxes, and went through in fine shape.

When they figured up their receipts they amounted to $132, while their total expenses were $40, leaving them a net profit of $92, besides an enjoyable vacation. This proved the possibilities to this work, and this couple continued to put up more berries and received in return for their work a good living.

PLAN No. 201. WROTE A CHURCH HISTORY

A former newspaper man, living in a western town of 10,000 people, became impressed with the importance of a well written church history, and suggested the idea to the pastors of several of the local churches. They approved the plan and promised him their support and co-operation.

Selecting one of the leading churches he interviewed the members, and from them obtained information concerning the history of the organization, past and present, with a complete list of the membership, as well as the names of those who had died since the church’s organization. Many interesting personal sketches of the older members were obtained and a review of the early struggles through which the society had passed in its infancy.

Usually a photograph of the church itself, as well as those of the pastor and a number of the more prominent members, were included in the book, while all the auxiliary organizations of the church were given considerable prominence. The book was well printed, and sold readily to the members and friends of the church, at a price which netted the author a good profit.

Having succeeded so well with this church, he proceeded to write histories of other churches in the town, and later extended his work to other communities. It paid him so well that he has made it his business.

PLAN No. 202. A LIQUID GLYCERINE SOAP

He was a $10-a-week drug clerk, in a small Nebraska town, but he had ideas and formulas of much merit, and one of the latter was that for making a superior liquid glycerine soap, as follows:

Best soft soap, 7¹⁄₂ ounces; tincture of soap bark, 3¹⁄₂ ounces; glycerine, 1 ounce. Put into a vessel and warm gently until dissolved, then add a dash of some selected perfume. Then strain and make up to 12 fluid ounces by adding the necessary amount of warm distilled water. The soap used in compounding this should be the best transparent kind.

A trip to the nearest city revealed the fact that the agents of office buildings, large factories, department stores, etc., were greatly in need of this product, to be used in their sanitary toilet equipment, and would pay good prices for it.

In the course of a week, he took orders for several hundred dollars worth and then placed it on sale in the drug stores, at the same time notifying his patrons and the public in general to that effect.

That was ten years ago, and today that former cheap drug clerk is the owner of one of the best pharmacies in the city.

PLAN No. 203. MAKING AIR PENCILS

Air-pencils used in writing show cards and for other purposes can be made at home very cheaply, and sold at considerably less than the kind one buys at paint stores, and elsewhere, at the same time yielding a good profit, and a young man, who did card-writing for a Minneapolis department store, figured out a way to make them.

At a drug store he bought a white rubber syringe bulb, No. 3 size, open at one end only, and cut off the neck down to the bulb part. Then he got a small oil can, of the size used for sewing machines, etc., and cut off the screw or thread part of this. He inserted this in the bulb of the syringe, and secured it with a fine wire twisted about the neck of the bulb. He then screwed the nozzle of the oil can into the neck, and the air-pencil was complete.

To fill the air-pencil, he unscrewed the nozzle from the neck of the bulb, pressed the bulb partly together, placed the neck or mouth of the bulb in the lettering mixture, and released his hold on the bulb, thus filling it by suction. Then he inserted the nozzle in the bulb, and was ready to begin lettering.

Whenever he was through using the air-pencil, he rinsed the bulb out thoroughly, with water, as the lettering mixture, if left in, would soon harden and render the pencil useless.

This home-made pencil worked so perfectly that he decided to make a number of them for sale, and did so, getting good price concessions on both bulbs and cans when buying a good many at a time. Having made up about 200 of the air-pencils, he advertised them in a journal devoted to department stores, and sold the entire lot from the first ad. Receiving calls for more, he made them up in larger quantities, and, offering them at about three-fourths the regular prices, sold several thousand of them at a very good profit.

PLAN No. 204. PROFIT FROM AN AIR-PENCIL

A young card writer in Los Angeles, who had bought an air-pencil for doing his work, after becoming thoroughly familiar with its use, concluded to take orders for various kinds of work from the city merchants, and follow this as a special line.

Aside from lettering show cards and the like, he also did considerable work in objects, done in relief with leaves, flowers, scrolls and other designs. He also did considerable work in home decorations, such as vases, flower pots, panels, picture frames, and other made designs, such as “Merry Christmas,” “Home, Sweet Home,” “Happy New Year,” and other placards, for which he found a ready sale.

The materials used were alabastine, bronze, flitters, diamond dust and analine coloring powders; white and colored cardboard of all sizes; white wood, glass, and metal ware, used to some extent for expensive pieces of work. He utilized many new and original ideas in his work, and showed remarkable taste and talent in execution.

An idea of his profits may be gained from the statement that plain lettered card signs that cost him from 1 to 8 cents to produce, he sold for 15 to 20 cents, while those more elaborately made with diamond dust, flitters, gold and silver lettering, costing 2 to 6 cents each, brought him from 20 to 50 cents each. Mottoes, finely executed, sold for 75 cents to $1 each. In many cases he gave instructions in lettering and sold outfits for doing the work at $2 to $3 each, and made considerable from that source.

For making his lettering waterproof, he used two parts alabastine, 1 part flour, 1 part linseed oil, stirring them well, then quickly adding cold water. For the work thus treated he made an additional charge that paid its cost many times over.

PLAN No. 205. A HOME-MADE WATER FILTER

An old gentleman living in a western town of 5,000 people, unable to do hard work, but obliged to earn his own living, hit upon a plan that brought him a small income upon which he could live with comfort. His plan was to make a simple water filter; and, as the local water supply was not of the best, he sold all he could make.

Taking a small wooden pail, not painted on the inside, he bored a hole in the bottom and covered the bottom of the pail with flannel. Then he put in a layer of coarsely powdered charcoal to a depth of 2 inches, then a 8-inch layer of coarse sand, and on top of this a 8-inch layer of coarse powdered limestone. Setting the pail over a jar, he allowed the water from the faucet to drip slowly into the pail, where it was thoroughly filtered before going into the jar, and was therefore perfectly safe for drinking.

This first filter he sold for 75 cents, and with the profits on this sale he bought several more of the pails and a quantity of the charcoal, with a few yards of flannel, and made these up as before. The people of his town were glad to get so good a filter for that price and he supplied several hundred families, and his net profits were sufficient to maintain him. He is now making filters for other towns.

PLAN No. 206. CONDENSED MILK

A poor widow, living in a small southern city, was practically dependent upon a splendid cow, which gave more milk than she and her few customers could use.

She therefore conceived the idea of converting this surplus into condensed milk that would keep for an indefinite period, and bring good prices when shipped to city customers by parcel post.

Taking 10,000 parts of fresh milk, 50 parts of white sugar, and 2 parts of carbonate of soda, she placed all in a porcelain vessel, and with constant stirring evaporated by heat of vapor bath at 140 to 160 degrees to the consistence of a thick paste.

Placing this paste in small glass jars, she sold it readily at fair prices, and realized a good profit from its sale. One pint of this paste is equal to ten pints of fresh milk, and being a distinctively country product of assured purity and cleanliness brought a good living to this woman.

PLAN No. 207. A NEWSPAPER MAN’S PLAN

He published a weekly newspaper in a field that was covered by one of the papers of a large city about thirty miles away, and he was very desirous of showing a special service to the people in his community. He made it a point to find out the people who came into the city, and to ascertain this early. So each morning he went to the Water Department of his city and obtained the names and addresses of parties who had water turned on, and from this information, made a statement in his paper concerning each person’s arrival. When the paper was published, he sent a boy around to get the newcomer’s subscription. When there was a refusal, the boy was instructed to say: “Well, the editor desired you to have a copy anyway, so I will leave this copy.” The new arrival, upon reading over the paper, found his name mentioned, and on his next call the boy easily secured a subscriber.

This is an excellent way for a person running a small paper close to a large city to build up his subscription list. This man succeeded to the extent of seven or eight hundred dollars a year.

PLAN No. 208. PERFUMED BAGS FOR THE BATH

The delights of the bath are increased 100 per cent by the use of a perfumed bath bag, which a druggist friend made up as follows:

Fine oatmeal, 4 pounds; bran, 1 pound; powdered castile soap, 1 pound; powdered orris, ¹⁄₂ pound. Mix well together and tie up in muslin bags, of any desired tint, and fasten with ribbon or silk. Each bag contained about one pound of the mixture, and sold readily at 25 cents each. Anyone can make considerable money by making and selling these.

PLAN No. 209. VINEGAR MADE PROM STRAWBERRIES

Thoroughly mash a quantity of ripe strawberries into a paste, and let stand for 24 hours. Then press out the juice and let it stand for a few days, to ferment and to allow the slimy contents to separate. Then filter the juice and put into clean, well-closed bottles, and put in a cool place, where it will keep a long time. Added to good cider vinegar, when ready to use, it makes an excellent flavoring.

It was cheap and easy to make, and profitable to sell.

PLAN No. 210. CANNED FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

While Mr. Farmer devoted his time and attention to the larger operations of general farming, his wife made a profitable side issue of such subsidiary lines as the orchard, the garden and the poultry yard, in all of which the products were of the highest order.

Buying Mason jars in large quantities, at a practically wholesale price, she utilized these in the canning of fruits, berries and vegetables, as they keep longer and look better when put up in this way, and bring much higher prices.

While her specialty was tomatoes, she also canned peas, beans, carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkins, sweet corn, shredded cabbage, brussels sprouts, and many other products of that kind, and they retained their original flavor and appearance throughout the entire year, if kept beyond the winter season. Of fruits, she canned peaches, pears, apples, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries, put up in their syrup for making pies and puddings as well as for general table uses.

Hundreds of city people gladly purchased these canned fruits and vegetables, and though she sold them at prices lower those asked for inferior grades in the market, she still netted a good profit from all her products.

PLAN No. 211. PICKLES AND RELISHES PRESERVED

She made immense quantities of the most delicious pickles and relishes. She made these from the very best recipes she could procure anywhere, and the product was so excellent that she was proud to have it known that it was due to her own skill in making everything just right.

The pickles and relishes she made of green tomatoes, and the profit on them even at her reasonable prices were great. Pickled cucumbers, cabbage, celery, onions, cauliflower, beets, beans, and a score of other garden growths, took up a large portion of her time and brought large returns, while chow-chow, pickalillie, and other appetizing relishes were in demand.

Like the famous “Pin-Money Pickles” of a southern woman who started on nothing, Snider’s Catsup, which was launched in a small way by a wife, and Heinz’s fifty-seven varieties, this farm lady’s articles were popular because she turned out only good products.

PLAN No. 212. HER POULTRY PLAN

An Ohio farm woman had learned, through experience, that there is no profit in scrubby poultry; that these birds eat as much as the high grade, and bring only the lowest prices in the market. She therefore weeded out the mongrels and substituted pure-breds. Instead of selling common eggs at the corner grocery for 20 cents a dozen, she was soon selling settings at $2.50 to $6, and had a fine lot of high-grade cockerels which not only matured early but showed greater size and bulk, and brought more per pound than the common ones. She also dealt in the best strains of ducks, geese, turkeys, etc., and these were very productive of cash returns, also.

A few ads. in farm and poultry journals brought many orders for pure-bred poultry and eggs.

PLAN No. 213. SELLS FLOWERS AND GARDEN SEEDS

This enterprising woman would never plant a seed of any kind except the very choicest variety, and the result was seen in the superior products of her orchard and garden. Not content with even this showing, she was continually experimenting in the cross-breeding of the most select specimens of plants, flowers, vegetables and fruits. For instance, through these methods she developed a climbing tomato vine. This vine was a thing of beauty and a wonderful producer, and she received big prices for a few seeds, as everyone who saw it was anxious to have some of the same kind in their own garden. Her sales from garden seeds alone often brought her as high as $500 in a single year.

PLAN No. 214. BEE-KEEPING

One would think this farmer’s wife would be busy enough without adding to her long list of home industries, but she realized that real honey is a luxury, for which people will pay good prices, so she installed a few colonies of bees and, with her usual thoroughness in all matters pertaining to the productiveness of the farm, she gave them that degree of care which is necessary in order to secure the best results. That orchard and garden proved a veritable paradise for the bees, and they well repaid their favorable surroundings with a yield of choice honey that not only supplied all the family needs but furnished several hundred pounds for sale at high prices every fall. As the colonies increased, so did the revenue they brought, and as but little labor or expense was involved in their keep, they returned very large profits.

PLAN No. 215. PICKLED PLUMS

Having a number of plum trees in the orchard that were loaded with fruit, she sold 800 or 1,000 pounds of them at good prices, and still having more of them than she could use, she pickled them, as follows: To every 7 pounds of plums, add 4 pounds of sugar and 2 ounces each of cinnamon stick and cloves, 1 quart vinegar and a little mace. Scald the vinegar and sugar together and pour over the plums. When the jar is full, scald all together, and they are then ready for use. One taste of these always made people want more.

PLAN No. 216. HOME-MADE FIRELESS COOKERS

Only those who have used fireless cookers can have any adequate conception of their practical value, or realize the manifold advantages their use affords. But fireless cookers, as they are made and sold today, are prohibitive in price to many people, costing, as they do, from $12 to $30 each, according to the number of “burners,” and thousands who would be glad to have them are obliged to go without.

It was an intimate knowledge of this condition that prompted an enterprising citizen in California to supply these people with fireless cookers which he could make in his own woodshed, and supply them at less than one-third the prices asked for the “boughten” ones. Anyway, he decided to make a few and see what could be done in the matter of sales.

He purchased a quantity of lumber one inch thick, and this he cut up into sufficient lengths to make wooden boxes 18 inches wide, 16 inches deep, and 18, 30 and 40 inches in length, with a hinged cover of the same materials as the sides, ends and bottoms of the boxes. The 18-inch boxes were for one burner, the 30-inch for two burners, and the 40-inch for 3-burner cookers.

He placed a thick layer of excelsior all around the inside of the box, holding this in place with burlap, long, slender nails being driven through the burlap and excelsior into the wood of the sides and ends, while a thick cushion of burlap and excelsior was made to fit over the tops of the kettles, and cushions of the same kind, made in circular form, to fit closely around each kettle as it set in the box. The bottom of the box was also fitted with a thick cushion of the same material. On this bottom cushion was laid a thick piece of soapstone, upon which the kettles rested, and this, when heated on top of the stove or range upon which the food in the kettles had been partially cooked, completed the cooking and retained the heat for an indefinite period. The air spaces left in the corners next to the circular cushions, he filled with excelsior.

He made arrangements with a wholesale hardware house for a special price on granite kettles of the proper size, in lots of 100 or more, so as to avoid the misfits that would result when housewives attempted to fit their own kettles into the circular spaces made to hold them, and he was thus able to make them uniform in size.

In order to first test the merits of his product, he made one of the 3-burner cookers and gave it a thorough trial in his own home. The demonstration was most convincing, and proved that the fireless cooker which he could turn out at a cost of not to exceed $3, was just as practical and effective as those made by the large manufacturers.

The 1-burner cookers, which cost him $2 to make, he decided to sell for $5; the 2-burner kind, costing him $2.50, at $7, and the 3-burner ones, that cost him $3, including the kettles, at $8.

He began by thoroughly canvassing his own town, and was surprised at the large number of orders received. The income from this work afforded him a very good living.

PLAN No. 217. CIVIL SERVICE AS A CAREER

Scope of the Civil Service Law

The adoption of a career is always a matter of great importance. To the discharged soldier, sailor, or marine who, through force of circumstances, must “begin again,” the particular place he will fill in the great army of the world’s workers is probably his chief concern. The purpose of this little pamphlet is to inform, in a general way, the men who made sacrifices in order that the world might remain a decent place to live in, as to what the United States Government has to offer in the civil branch in the way of employment for those who seek it, and the conditions under which it may be obtained.

The Government a Large Employer

Our government is the largest employer in the world. The limits of its activities are those of the field of human endeavor. Before the United States entered the war nearly 500,000 persons were employed in the Federal civil service, about 300,000 of whom occupied positions classified under the civil-service law and rules. Of course the service was greatly expanded to meet the demands of war conditions. In a normal year about 40,000 appointments are made in the classified civil service. About one-tenth of the positions in the Federal civil service are in Washington, D. C., the balance being distributed throughout the country.

On January 16, 1883, Congress passed what is known as the civil service law. This act created the United States Civil Service Commission. The fundamental purpose of the law is to establish in the parts of the service covered by its provisions a merit system whereby selection for appointment shall be made upon the basis of demonstrated relative fitness without regard to political, religious, or other such considerations. To carry out this purpose a plan of competitive examinations is prescribed.

The term “classified service” indicates the parts of the service within the provisions of the civil service law and rules requiring appointments therein to be made upon examination and certification by the Civil Service Commission unless especially excepted from competition; the term “unclassified service” indicates the parts of the service which are not within those provisions and therefore in which appointments may be made without examination and certification by the commission. Under the law, positions of mere unskilled laborer and positions to which appointment is made by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate, are in the unclassified service. Unskilled laborers in all branches of the service in some localities and in certain branches of the service in all localities are filled through competitive examination under regulations promulgated by the President.

Included in the classified service are positions in or under the departments and offices at Washington, D. C., the Custodian Service, the Customs Service, the Engineer Department at large, the Freedman’s Hospital, the Forest Service, the Government Printing Office, the Immigration Service, the Indian Irrigation and Allotment Service, the Indian Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Land Office Service, the Lighthouse Service, the Mint and Assay Service, the National Military Park Service, the Navy Yard Service, the Ordnance Department at large, the Panama Canal Service, the Post Office Service, the Public Health Service, the Quartermaster Corps, the Reclamation Service, the Rural Delivery Service, the Railway Mail Service, St. Elizabeths Hospital, the Steamboat Inspection Service, the Subtreasury Service, the United States Penitentiary Service; and the position of fourth-class postmaster, except in Alaska, Canal Zone, Guam, Hawaii, Philippine Islands, Porto Rico and Samoa.

Character of Examinations

Where, in the opinion of the Civil Service Commission, such an examination is practicable and desirable, applicants are assembled in examination rooms in certain specified places, conveniently located throughout the country, for written scholastic tests. In many cases, however, the competitors are not required to assemble for a written examination, but are graded upon their training and experience and, where necessary, upon their physical condition. These so-called nonassembled examinations are given for two general classes of positions, viz: (1) Mechanical trades and similar positions, and (2) high-grade technical, professional, and scientific positions, and administrative positions which can not adequately be filled by promotion and for which the Government requires men whose fitness is demonstrated in a record of successful experience. In such examinations, competitors are rated upon the sworn statements in their applications and upon corroborative evidence gathered by the Civil Service Commission. In some examinations of this character, these, published writings of the applicant, and the like are considered. Applicants for positions of mere unskilled laborer are given a physical examination only.

In all cases the examinations are practical and are designed to test the qualifications of the applicant for the particular kind of work for which he applies. The commission’s system of rating insures a fair and impartial judgment of the relative merits of applicants.

Number and Diversity of Examinations Held

The vast range of the activities of the Government requires employees in many parts of the country and with widely differing qualifications. Examinations are held by the Civil Service Commission for all kinds and classes of positions, from mere unskilled laborer to the highest grades of technical, professional, and scientific positions. It is not practicable to name in this publication all of the hundreds of occupations which exist in the Federal civil service, but the list of positions for which examinations have recently been held by the Civil Service Commission will convey a fair idea of the broad scope of the opportunities offered by the civil service.

Definite Information Concerning Pending Examinations

There is seldom a time when examinations of less than 100 different kinds are open. Definite information as to the kinds, dates, and places of current examinations may be obtained from any representative of the Civil Service Commission or by writing to “The United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C.” In any request for information made by mail the inquirer should state in general terms his desire and qualifications in order that his inquiry may be answered intelligently.

The organization of the Civil Service Commission consists of approximately 3,000 local boards of examiners in every part of the country, reporting to district secretaries in 12 civil-service districts, all under the supervision and direction of the commission at Washington.

The local boards of examiners have their offices in the post office or customhouse in each city in the country that has house-to-house delivery of mail and in some smaller cities that do not have such delivery.

The district secretaries are located as follows:

Secretary first United States civil service district, customhouse, Boston, Mass.

Secretary second United States civil service district, customhouse, New York, N. Y.

Secretary third United States civil service district, post office, Philadelphia, Pa.

Secretary fourth United States civil service district, Sixth and G Streets NW., Washington, D. C.

Secretary fifth United States civil service district, post office, Atlanta, Ga.

Secretary sixth United States civil service district, post office, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Secretary seventh United States civil service district, post office, Chicago, Ill.

Secretary eighth United States civil service district, post office, St. Paul, Minn.

Secretary ninth United States civil service district, old customhouse, St. Louis, Mo.

Secretary tenth United States civil service district, customhouse, New Orleans, La.

Secretary eleventh United States civil service district, post office, Seattle, Wash.

Secretary twelfth United States civil service district, post office, San Francisco, Calif.

All district and local boards of examiners are supplied currently with announcements of examinations and are fully informed concerning civil service matters generally. Discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines, as well as all other citizens, are advised to keep in touch with the boards of examiners in their respective communities in order that they may be informed as to opportunities for employment. Those who live in communities in which the Civil Service Commission is not represented may obtain information at any time by writing to the nearest district secretary or to the commission at Washington.

Mechanical Trades Positions

Local boards of examiners for certain branches of the service receive applications for some positions, principally mechanical trades and similar positions and positions of unskilled laborer. Local boards of this class are located at navy yards and naval stations, at ordnance plants, at district headquarters of the Engineer Department of the Army, at headquarters of lighthouse districts, at projects of the Indian Irrigation and Allotment Service, and at projects of the Reclamation Service. Information relative to position which are open in any particular establishment may be obtained by communicating with the secretary of the local board of civil service examiners at the establishment. The locations of the various establishments of the services named will be furnished upon request by any district secretary or by the commission at Washington.

Physical Requirements

The civil service regulations specify certain physical defects which will debar from all examinations and other defects which will debar from certain examinations. These regulations are based upon the requirements of the service as established by the several departmental heads.

The general regulations provide that the following defects will debar persons from any examination: Insanity, tuberculosis; paralysis; epilepsy; seriously defective sight of both eyes which can not be corrected by glasses; loss of both arms or both legs; loss of arm and leg; badly crippled or deformed hands, arms, feet or legs; uncompensated valvular disease of the heart; locomotor ataxia; cancer; Bright’s disease; diabetes. Defective hearing will also debar from examination if the duties of the position are such that the defective hearing of the employee would be likely to result in injury to himself or his fellow workers or would otherwise impair his efficiency. Other physical defects may debar persons from certain examinations. Announcements of examinations specify the additional physical requirements if any are provided.

On April 16, 1919, the President authorized, on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commission, an amendment to the civil-service rules which permits the Commission to exempt from physical requirements established for any position a disabled and honorably discharged soldier, sailor, or marine upon the certification of the Federal Board for Vocational Education that he has been specially trained for and has passed a practical test demonstrating his physical ability to perform the duties of the class of positions in which employment is sought.

Preference in Appointment

An act of Congress, approved March 3, 1919, provides as follows:

“That hereafter in making appointments to clerical and other positions in the executive departments and independent governmental establishments preference shall be given to honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines, and widows of such, if they are qualified to hold such positions.”

The foregoing provision applies only to appointments in the departmental service at Washington, D. C.

Section 1754 of the Revised Statutes provides that persons honorably discharged from the military or naval service by reason of disability resulting from wounds or sickness incurred in the line of duty shall be preferred for appointments to the civil offices, provided they are found to possess the business capacity necessary for the proper discharge of the duties of such offices.

Section 1754 applies to all branches of the service, in Washington, D. C., and in the country at large. It does not authorize the waiving of physical requirements.

Persons who are entitled to preference under the statutes must qualify for appointment by passing the usual entrance examinations.

Restoration to Eligible Registers

An act of Congress, approved March 1, 1919, provides as follows:

“That the period of time during which soldiers, sailors, and marines, both enlisted and drafted men, who, prior to entering the service of their country, had a civil service status, and whose names appear upon the eligible list of the Civil Service Commission, shall not be counted against them in the determination of their eligibility for appointment under the law, rules and regulations of the Civil Service Commission now in effect, and at the time of demobilization their civil service status shall be the same as when they entered the service.”

Reinstatement in Civil Service of Men Who Left to Bear Arms

An Executive order of July 18, 1918, provides as follows:

“A person leaving the classified civil service to engage in the military or naval service of the Government during the present war with Germany and who has been honorably discharged, may be reinstated in the civil service at any time within five years after his discharge, provided that at the time of reinstatement he has the required fitness to perform the duties of the position to which reinstatement is sought.”

An act of Congress, approved February 25, 1919, provides as follows:

“That all former Government employees who have been drafted or enlisted in the military service of the United States in the war with Germany shall be reinstated on application to their former positions, if they have received an honorable discharge and are qualified to perform the duties of the position.”

Some Men Who Have Made Good

In the Government service, as in private employ, unusual ability is rewarded by more rapid promotion. As indicating that opportunity is not lacking in Government offices for those who possess brains and ambition, a few examples, selected from a large number of similar cases, may be mentioned:

In the Department of Labor an employee now receiving a salary of $3,000 a year entered the Government service as a compositor in the Government Printing Office at $3.20 a day. Another, in the same department and receiving the same salary, started as a clerk at $1,000. An assistant to the Secretary of Labor, who is paid $5,000 a year, entered the service in 1906 as a stenographer at $900. This employee, as well as one who was appointed at $1,000 and who now receives $4,000, studied law while in the service, attending the evening classes held by one of the several universities in Washington. A former Chinese inspector, appointed at $1,440 in 1903, also studied law and by successive promotions has attained a salary of $4,500 a year.

The present Solicitor for the Department of State entered that department as a law clerk at $1,600 a year in 1909. His present salary is $5,000 a year.

The Department of the Interior pays $4,000 a year to one of its employees who entered the service as a copyist at $900.

A messenger boy in the Post Office Department, appointed in 1903, now holds a position in another department which pays $5,000 a year.

An employee of the Department of Agriculture now receiving $4,000 a year started in 1904 as a clerk-stenographer-typist at $1,000. In the same department there is an instance of a rise from assistant messenger at $480 a year in 1906 to assistant to the Secretary at $3,300 a year at the present time.

In the Treasury Department are two employees who rose, one from $720 and the other from $1,800 a year, to positions in that department paying $6,000 a year.

The Interstate Commerce Commission has afforded the opportunity to a number of civil-service employees to secure advancement to positions paying $5,000 a year.

These instances could be multiplied many times. No attempt has been made to cover all the departments and bureaus; the selections have been made from large numbers of equally interesting cases. Aside from the excellent opportunities for advancement in the Government service, many men have received training in Government establishments which has qualified them to hold positions paying as high as $12,000 a year, and even more, in private employ.

It is human to measure success by standards of money, but, of course, pecuniary reward represents only a certain kind of success. Achievement, work well done, whatever it may be, is success. The civil service of the United States offers a wide field of opportunity where individual tastes may be developed and where real constructive work may be done. Its offices, laboratories, and workshops are equipped with modern appliances. Its libraries receive currently the books and periodicals needed by the worker in his effort to keep abreast of his fellows. Its working hours and vacation periods permit the worker to live while he works, and he works better in consequence. The civil service has much to commend it to the discharged soldier, sailor, or marine, or any other citizen who seeks work.

Partial List of Examinations Held for the Federal Civil Service

The following list of positions for which examinations have recently been held by the Civil Service Commission will serve to illustrate the great number and variety of the occupations existing in the Federal civil service. No attempt has been made to give a complete list, for it would not be feasible to do so in this publication. Practically every occupation is represented in the offices, laboratories, and workshops of the Government.

It should not be understood that examinations are now open for all of the positions included in the list. Definite information relative to current examinations may be obtained from the secretary of the local board of civil-service examiners at the post office or customhouse in any of 3,000 cities or from the United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C.

The entrance salaries named are those which were offered when the examinations were announced. Higher or lower salaries may be offered when the examinations are announced again.