fourth. The subjects upon which the applicants were examined, together with their standing and the other details of those examinations, are contained in the following table:

Examiners, Regents of the University, April eighth, and November twenty-fourth.

College assistants, Office of the Regents of the University. The position of college assistant in the regents office was recently created for the purpose of securing the services of persons of broad culture and high intellectual attainments, to assist in the work of university extension, and in the examination of the higher grade regents papers, and to perform such other services in that department as require general scholarly proficiency. Applicants are required by the civil service rules to be college graduates. The examination for this position necessarily differs from that of examiners, being less specific and giving fuller opportunities to the candidate to show general educational equipment as well as aptitude for any special line of work in that department. An examination for this position was held at the rooms of the commission on November twenty-fourth, at which there were six applicants, two of whom were found qualified and four not qualified. For valuable assistance rendered in the examinations for positions in the regents office, I desire to acknowledge my obligation to Professor Melvil Dewey, Professor James Russell Parsons, Jr., and Miss May Seymour of that department.

Junior clerks in the Department of the Regents of the University.

Junior clerks are employed in the regents office to perform general clerical labor, and to assist in marking lower grade papers of applicants for regents certificates. The examination for this position is of a higher grade than that for general clerkships, and includes in addition to the subjects given in the latter examination, the subjects of algebra and physiology. The apparent anomaly of requiring applicants for the position of junior clerk to pass a higher examination than applicants for

general clerkships are required to pass, the salary being less, is explained by the nature of their work, and by the fact that they are required to be between the ages of 17 and 21 years, thus making eligible only those who are fresh from their studies and who are generally graduates of high schools and academies. An examination for junior clerks was held in the Assembly chamber on May twelfth. The details of the examination are contained in the following table:

An examination for stenographers and typewriters was held at the Assembly chamber on May tenth. Subsequent to that examination there was a demand for stenographers and typewriters who were also telegraphers, and as there were two who passed the examination of May tenth, whose application papers showed them to be telegraphers, they were notified to appear at Albany, July fifteenth, at which time and place they both appeared and were given an examination in telegraphy, and both were found qualified.

As the eligible list obtained from the examination of May tenth, contained but two males, one of whom was subsequently employed, another examination for stenographers and typewriters was held at the Assembly chamber on November twenty-third. The details of both examinations are set forth in the following table:

Engineering positions, Department of the State Engineer. Examinations were held during the year for the positions of assistant engineer, leveler and rodman in the department of the State Engineer and Surveyor, at Albany, on May eighteenth and December fifteenth. These examinations were under the supervision of Professor T. W. Wright of Union college, the Honorable Elnathan Sweet, Mr. Chapman L. Johnson, Mr. Horace Andrews and Mr. John J. O'Hara of Albany, whose efficient work has been of estimable value to the commission.

Teachers, State Institution for Feeble-Minded Children, Syracuse, N. Y.

The position of teacher in this institution is one requiring such peculiar talents as to make very difficult the selection of a proper and sufficient standard in the examination. The inmates are young persons of dormant intellects, yet, capable of considerable development by judicious training and instruction. They are instructed in various industrial arts and useful vocations as well as in music, gymnastics and the elementary branches of education.

It follows that proficiency in book lore is a very small part of the requisite qualifications of a teacher at that place. After visiting the institution and examining the system of instruction employed there it was made apparent to the examiner that the question of method and tact entered so largely into the essential qualifications of the instructor as to make a practical test of the teacher's abilities desirable, which could only be done by giving to the applicant actual work with a class. This I reported to your honorable body and was directed by you to place the examination in the hands of the superintendent and board of examiners of the institution, asking them, to make such practical test in addition to the regular examination for such positions.

Two examinations were held during the year at that place, one on July seventeenth and the other on September twenty-third, at which this method was adopted. The applicants at these examinations had nearly all been employed as teachers at that institution, and the experience thus gained enabled them to successfully meet the required test. There were seven applicants at both examinations, all of whom were found qualified.

Teachers, Industrial School, Rochester.

An examination for teachers at this institution was held on August eighteenth, at Rochester. The applicants were divided into four groups as follows: Teachers of reading, teachers of history and

literature, teachers of commercial branches, and teachers of drawing. There were thirty applicants in the four divisions, only nine of whom were found qualified.

Qualified, reading, five; not qualified, ten.

Qualified, history and literature, three: not qualified, three.

Qualified, commercial branches, one; not qualified, drawing, seven.

Music teachers, Institution for the Blind, Batavia.

On the twenty-eighth day of October an examination for music teachers at the Institution for the Blind at Batavia was held at that place. The examination was under the charge of Prof. G. M. Chadwick of Ithaca. There were nine applicants seven of whom were found qualified. The examination was prepared and conducted with a great deal of care and with very satisfactory results.

Music teachers, Institution for the Blind, Batavia.

Bookkeepers, State Hospital, Buffalo.

An examination for bookkeepers at this institution was held at Buffalo on October third, at which there were six applicants, three of whom were found qualified.

Steam Engineers.

An examination for steam engineers in the State service was held at Albany on September twenty-second. Nine persons tried the examnation, six of whom were found qualified.

General Clerkships.

The examination for general clerkships is perhaps of greater interest to the general public than any other held under the rules and regulations of this commission, inasmuch as the places filled from this list are more numerous and desirable than in most other cases, and come more directly within the range of the qualifications and ambitions of those who desire to enter the public service through the avenues opened by the civil service law. For the purpose of giving as far as practicable an equal opportunity to residents of every part of the State to enter this examination, it was held pursuant to the direction of your honorable board, simultaneously at New York city, Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, Binghamton and Watertown, on December thirteenth. There were 152 applicants for examination at these different places on that day, ninety-nine of whom were qualified. The subjects covered by the examination and the relative weights given will be found in the following table. The result of the examination justified the assertion that it was practical and fair, and sufficiently comprehensive to ascertain the qualifications of applicants for the positions eligible to that class.

Entered

General Clerkships.

Weights. Passed. Failed.

SUBJECTS.

In accordance with the rules, applicants are entitled to an optional examination, in addition to the obligatory subjects, in any subject calculated to test their qualifications for any special work in the State departments. The optional subjects upon which candidates for general clerkships were examined are as follows: Book-keeping, expert penmanship, law, expert actuary, certificate clerks, engrossing, medical

nomenclature.

NON-COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION, SCHEDULE C.

The examinations in this schedule are so varied in their nature as to make it impossible to do more than to refer to them generally. In some of the State institutions examinations in this schedule were held during