quires to be let alone, and in a very short time it will lose its bright polish and the pale yellow color which it will have immediately after it is cleaned. But if you wish it always to shine, you must either be always polishing it or else it must be "lacquered."

"Lacquering" brass is nothing more than varnishing it with a transparent varnish, which protects it from the action of the air and enables the lustre to be seen

through it. The varnish used for this purpose is "shellac " varnish, and is made by dissolving shellac in spirits of wine. As you will only require a small quantity, it will be better to buy it than to try to make it yourself.

Before applying it see that the brass is perfectly clean, then warm it, and lay on the varnish with a small brush. It will dry rapidly, and be hard and transparent if the work has been properly carried out. If the varnish becomes too thick, as it will do if the cork is ever left out, it may be thinned by adding some methylated spirits, and the brush can be cleaned in the same liquid, which may also be used for cleaning old lacquer off, or for removing an unsatisfactory coat before applying & fresh one.

The work is now ready for fixing wherever you intend, and this leads us to consider to what purposes such work is applicable. It may be generally stated that wherever a decorative panel of moderate size is required, this metal work will be found suitable. Perhaps the simplest thing to begin on, after your first attempt, will be a door-plate. We do not mean the brass plate on the outside of the front door, which conveys to passers-by the name and profession of the occupier, but the plates used on room doors to prevent the door from being soiled by the fingers. Such a plate should be attached to the door by very small brass-headed screws, and holes to receive them should be drilled in the corners. If it is not lacquered and requires to be cleaned, it is as well to cut out of a piece of pasteboard a hole the exact shape of the plate. This pasteboard should be held over the plate while it is being cleaned, and will protect the door from being injured by whatever composition is used.

Brass work may be advantageously substituted for mirrors in the ebonized furniture so fashionable at present, and it may also be used for the panels in the lid and sides of a wooden coal-box. A small shield, with a crest or coat of arms worked on it, is an effective ornament in wall decoration. Panels should have a slight margin left outside the worked part, this will be found useful in fixing.

You may also try to make circular, card-tray, or an oblong pen-tray. A margin must be left to form the sides of these articles, and the punching should begin from the inside of this margin.

This will cause the sides to rise somewhat, and will

be sufficient, unless a very deep tray is desired. In this case more slope may be given by denting lines with your chisel shaped tool on the margin at right angles to the edge. This will give a crimped look to the margin and make it rise. The blows should be harder at the outside.

It may be well to say a few words about the time and labor required for this work. The time taken in drawing the pattern will of course be less if the worker is gifted with sufficient artistic power to enable her to rapidly sketch the outline from the subject, whatever it may be, but a very short time will suffice even for those who have to trace their outlines. Leaves, &c., may be put on the paper, and the outline traced directly from them.

Anybody can draw geometrical patterns with rule and compasses, though we think they are as a rule unsuited to brass work.

The actual labor of working the punch is very slight, though it may be found that the hand which holds it is apt to get rather cramped at first. The time required will, of course, depend greatly on the intricacy of the pattern, more care being required where there is much outline, but at the same time there will be less ground to do if the pattern covers much space. About twenty minutes should be ample for a square panel of five inches in the side, that is to say, with an average pattern, but this is not meant to include tracing or fixing the paper design.

With regard to the sort of designs which can appropriately be represented, it is really so much a matter of taste that no absolute rule can be laid down. Speaking generally, any subject which can be expressed chiefly by means of outline is suitable. Leaves, either singly or in the form of sprays, will do very well. Girls should go to the right source for their model-nature herself. Of course, any kind of motto or saying may `be worked on a band of brass, if you have a suitable place to put it in when finished.

Insects produce an effective and quaint appearance. Butterflies and moths, with their wings extended, or butterflies, with the wings closed about the back, are easy and striking, while beetles have quite a "cunning" look. Some large beetle should be chosen, either the Egyptian, scarabæus, or the large water-beetles of the ponds.

You can attempt to imitate, if you will, the old repoussé work, of which Cellini was such a master, though you will perhaps be unable to try it on the same precious metals which were placed at his command by his wealthy and influential patrons. Learn, however, to command your temper better than he did; you may be sure that your work will be none the worse for that.

In these days, a greater respect for life prevails than

in his age, and when we want to defeat a rival, we do so by trying to make our work better than his, and not by an appeal to arms.

A little care and pains will enable you to turn out very fair work, and you will be surprised and pleased to find what a wonderful effect may be produced by such simple means. You will have to exercise your forethought in the selection of a subject within the range of the process and the reach of your own powers, and your manual dexterity will be called out in the execution of the work. It is an old saying, but a very true

one, that what is worth doing at all is worth doing well. Work done badly bears on it the stamp of its own worthlessness, the confession that the workman had not thought it worth doing. A beginner's work cannot be as good as that of an old hand, but let it be the beginner's best, and nobody should complain. And whatever you do, fit yourself up a workshop of your own, where you can carry out your brass work or wood carving and other such employment conveniently, without fear of interruption, or of being told you make a "horrible mess."

IN the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, and by virtue of the 1753d section of the Revised Statutes, and of the civil service act approved January 16, 1883, the following rules for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service

are hereby amended and promulgated:

RULE I.

No person in said service shall use his official authority or influence either to coerce the political action of any person or body or to interfere with any election.

RULE II.

No person in the public service shall for that reason be under any obligation to contribute to any political fund, or to render any political service, and he will not be removed or otherwise prejudiced for refusing to do so.

RULE III.

It shall be the duty of collectors, postmasters, assistant treasurers, naval officers, surveyors, appraisers, and custodians of public buildings, at places where examinations are to be held, to allow and arrange for the reasonable use of suitable rooms in the public buildings in their charge, and for heating, lighting, and furnishing the same, for the purposes of such examinations; and all other executive officers shall in all legal and proper ways facilitate such examinations and the execution of these rules

RULE IV.

1. All officials connected with any office where, or for which, any examination is to take place, will give the Civil Service Commission, and the chief examiner, such information as may be reasonably required to enable the Commission to select competent and trustworthy examiners; and the examinations by those selected as examiners, and the work incident thereto, will be regarded as a part of the public business to be performed at such office.

2. It shall be the duty of every executive officer promptly to inform the Commission, in writing, of the removal or discharge from the public service of any examiner in his office, or of the inability or refusal of any such examiner to act in that capacity.

4. The Classified Customs Service shall embrace the several customs districts where the officials are as many as fifty, now the following: New York City, N. Y.; Boston, Mass.; Philadelphia, Pa.: San Fran cisco, Cal.; Baltimore, Md.; New Or eans, La.; Chicago, Ill.; Burling ton, Vt.; Portland, Me.; Detroit, Mich.; Port Huron, Mich.

5. The Classified Postal Service shall embrace the several post offices where the officials are as many as fifty, now the following: Albany, N. Y.; Baltimore, Md.: Bostor, Mass.; Brooklyn, N. Y.; Buffalo, N. Y.; Chicago, Ill.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Mich.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Kansas City, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Newark, N. J.: New Orleans, La.; New York City, N. Y.; Philadel phia, Pa.; Pittsburg, Pa; Providence, R. I.; Rochester, N. Y.; St. Louis, Mo.; San Francisco, Cal.; Washington, D. C.

RULE VI.

1. There shall be open, competitive examinations for testing the fit ness of applicants for admission to the service. Such examinations shall be practical in their character, and, so far as may be, shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the branch of the service which they seek to enter.

2. There shall, so far as they may be deemed useful, be competitive examinations of a suitable character to test the fitness of persons for promotion in the service.

RULE VII.

1. The general examinations under the first clause of Rule VI for a mission to the service shall be limited to the following subjects: 1st. Orthography, penmanship, and copying. 2d. Arithmetic-fundamental rules, fractions, and percentage. 3d. Interest, discounts, and elements of book-keeping and of accounts. 4th. Elements of the English language, letter-writing, and the proper construction of sentences. 5th. Elements of the geography, history, and government of the United States.

2. Proficiency in each of these subjects shall be credited in grading the standing of the persons examined in proportion to the value of a knowledge of such subjects in the branch or part of the service which the applicant seeks to enter.

3. No one shall be entitled to be certified for appointment, whose standing upon a just grading in the general examination shall be less than sixty-five per centum of complete proficiency in the first three subjects mentioned in this rule, and the measure of proficiency shall be deemed adequate.

4. For places in which a lower degree of education will suffice, the Commission may limit the examinations to less than the five subjects above mentioned; but no person shall be certified for appointment, under this clause, whose grading shall be less than an average of sixtyfive per centum on such of the first three subjects or parts thereof as the examination may embrace.

5. The Commission may also order examinations upon other subjects of a technical or special character, to test the capacity which may be needed in any part of the Classified Service which requires peculiar information or skill. Examinations hereunder may be competitive or non-competitive, and the maximum limitations of age contained in the twelfth Rule shall not apply to applicants for the same. The applies

tion for, and notice of, these special examinations, the records thereof and the certification of those found competent shall be such as the Commission may provide for. After consulting the head of any Department or office, the Commission may from time to time designate, subject to the approval of the President, the positions therein for which applicants may be required to pass this special examination.

RULE VIII.

The

No question in any examination, or proceeding by, or under, the Commission or examiners, shall call for the expression or disclosure of any political or religious opinion or affiliation, and if such opinion or amliation be known, no discrimination shall be made by reason thereof by the examiners, the Commission or the appointing power. Commission and its examiners shall discountenance all disclosure, before either of them, of such opinion by or concerning any applicant for examination or by or concerning any one whose name is on any register awaiting appointment.

RULE IX.

All regular applications for the competitive examinations for admission to the classified service must be made on blanks in a form approved by the Commission. All requests for such blanks, and all applications for examination, must be addressed as follows: 1. If for the Classified Departmental Service, to the U. S. Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C. 2. If for the Classified Postal Service, to the postmaster under whom service is sought. 3. If for the Classified Customs Service, to the head of either customs office in which service is sought. All officers receiving such applications will endorse thereon the date of the reception thereof and transmit the same to the proper examining board of the district or office where service is sought, or, if in Washington, to the Civil Service Commission.

RULE X.

Every examining board shall keep such records, and such papers on fle, and make such reports as the Commission shall require; and any such paper or record in the charge of any examination board or any officer shall at all times be open to examination as the Commission shall direct, and upon its request shall be forwarded to the Commission for inspection and revision.

RULE XI.

Every application, in order to entitle the applicant to appear for examination or to be examined, must state, under oath, the facts on the following subjects: 1. Full name, residence, and post office address, 2. Citizenship. 3. Age. 4. Place of birth. 5. Health and physical capacity for the public service. 6. Right of preference by reason of military or naval service. 7. Previous employment in the public service. 8. Business or employment and residence for the previous five years. 9. Education. Such other information shall be furnished as the Commission may reasonably require touching the applicant's fitness for the public service. The applicant must also state the number of members of his family in the public service, and where employed, and must also assert that he is not disqualified under section 8 of the civil service act, which is as follows: That no person habitually using intoxicating beverages to excess shall be appointed to or retained in any office, appointment, or employment to which the provisions of this act are applicable." No person under enlistment in the Army or Navy of the United States shall be examined under these Rules.

RULE XII.

1. Every regular application must be supported by proper certificates of good moral character, health, and physical and mental capacity for doing the public work, the certificates to be in such form and number as the regulations of the Commission shall provide; but no certificate will be received which is inconsistent with the tenth section of the civil service act.

2. No one shall be entitled to be examined for admission to the Classified Postal Service if under sixteen or over thirty-five years of age; or to the Classified Customs Service, or to the Classified Departmental Service, if under eighteen or over forty-five years of age; but no one shall be examined for appointment to any place in the Classified Customs Service except that of clerk or messenger who is under twenty-one

years of age; but these limitations of age shall not apply to persons honorably discharged from the military or naval service of the country, who are otherwise duly qualified.

RULE XIII.

1. The date of the reception of all regular applications for the Classifled Departmental Service shall be entered of record by the Commission, and of all other regular applications by the proper examining boards of the district or office for which they are made; and applicants when in excess of the number that can be examined at a single exami nation shall, subject to the needs of apportionment, be notified to ap pear, in their order on the respective records. But any applicants in the several States and Territories for appointment in the Classified Departmental Service may be notified to appear for examination at any place at which an examination is to be held, whether in any State or Territory, or in Washington, which shall be deemed most convenient for them.

2. The Commission is authorized, in aid of the apportionment among the States and Territories, to hold examinations at places convenient for applicants from different States and Territories, or for those examination districts which it may desiguate and which the President shall approve.

RULE XIV.

Those examined shall be graded, and shall have their grade marked upon a register after those previously thereon, in the order of their excellence as shown by their examination papers, except that those from the same State or Territory may be entered upon the register together, in the order of relative excellence, to facilitate apportionment. Separate registers may be kept of those seeking to enter any part of the service in which special qualifications are required.

RULE XV.

The Commission may give a certificate to any person examined, stating the grade which such a person attained and the proficiency in the several subjects, shown by the markings.

RULE XVI.

1. Whenever any officer having the power of appointment or employment shall so request, there shall he certified to him, by the Commission or the proper examining board, four names for the vacancy specified, to be taken from those graded highest on the proper register of those in his branch of the service and remaining eligible, regard being had to the apportionment of appointments to States and Territories; and from the said four a selection shall be made for the vacancy.

2. These certifications for the service at Washington shall be made in such order as to apportion, as nearly as may be practicable, the original appointments thereto among the States and Territories and the District of Columbia, upon the basis of population as ascertained at the last preceding census.

3. In case the request for any such certification or any law or regulation shall call for those of either sex, the four highest of that sex shall be certified, otherwise sex shall be disregarded in such certification.

4. No person upon any register shall be certified more than four times to the same officer in the customs or postal service, or more than twice to any department at Washington, unless upon request of the appointing officer; nor shall anyone remain eligible more than one year upon any register. No person while remaining eligible on any register shall be admitted to a new examination, and no person having failed upon any examination shall within six months thereafter be admitted to another examination without the consent of the Commission. But these restrictions shall not extend to examinations under clause 5 of Rule 7.

5. Any person appointed to or employed in any part of the classified service, after due certification for the same under these rules, who shall be dismissed or separated therefrom without fault or delinquency on his part, may be re-appointed or re-employed in the same part or grade of such service at the same office, within eight months next following such dismissal or separation, without further examination.

RULE XVII.

1. Every original appointment or employment in said classified

service shall be for the probationary period of six months, at the end of which time, if the conduct and capacity of the person appointed have been found satisfactory, the probationer shall be absolutely appointed or employed; but, otherwise, be deemed out of the service.

2. Every officer under whom any probationer shall serve during any part of the probation provided for by these rules shall carefully observe the quality and value of the service rendered by such probationer, and shall report to the proper appointing officer, in writing, the facts observed by him, showing the character and qualifications of such probationer, and of the service performed by him; and such reports shall be preserved on file.

3. Every false statement knowingly made by any person in his application for examination, and every connivance by him at any false statement made in any certificate which may accompany his application, shall be regarded as good cause for the removal or discharge of such person during his probation.

RULE XVIII.

Every head of a department or office shall notify the Commission of the name of every person appointed to, or employed in, the classified :ervice under him (giving the date of the appointment and the designation of the office or place) from those examined under the Commission; and shall also inform the Commission of the date of any rejection or final appointment or employment of any probationer, and of the promotion, removal, discharge, resignation, transfer, or death of any such person after probation. Every head of any office in the postal or customs service shall give such information on these subjects to the Board of Examiners for his office as the regulations of the Commission may provide for.

RULE XIX.

There are excepted from examination the following: 1. The confidential clerk or secretary of any head of a department or office. 2. Cashiers of collectors. 3. Cashiers of postmasters. 4. Superintendents of money-order divisions in post-offices. 5. The direct custodians of money for whose fidelity another officer is under official bond; but these exceptions shall not extend to any official below the grade of assistant cashier or teller. 6. Persons employed exclusively in the secret service of the Government, or as translators, or interpreters, or stenographers. 7. Persons whose employment is exclusively profes sional. 8. Chief clerks, deputy collectors, and superintendents, or chiefs of divisions or bureaus. But no person so excepted shall be either transferred, appointed, or promoted, unless to some excepted place, without an examination under the Commission. Promotions may be made without examination in offices where examinations for promotion are not now held, until rules on the subject shall be promulgated.

RULE XX.

If the failure of competent persons to attend and be examined, or the prevalence of contagious disease or other sufficient cause, shall make it impracticable to supply in due season for any appointment the names of persons who have passed a competitive examination, the appointment may be made of a person who has passed a non-competitive examination, which examination the Commission may provide for; but its next report shall give the reason for such resort to non-competitive examination.

RULE XXI.

1. No person shall be promoted, without examination under these rules, from any position for which an examination is not required to any position for which an examination is required under the rules; nor shall any person who has passed only a limited examination under clause 4 of Rule 7, for the lower classes or grades in the departmental or customs service, be promoted within two years after appointment to any position giving a salary of $1,000, or upwards, without first passing an examination under clause 1 of said rule, and such examination shall not be allowed within the first year after appointment.

2. But a person who has passed the examination under said clause 1, and has accepted a position giving a salary of $900 or less, shall have the same right of promotion as if originally appointed to a position giving a salary of $1.000 or more.

A The Commission may at any time certify for a $900 or any lower piac in the classified service any person upon the register who has

passed the examination under clause 1 of Rule 7, if such person does not object before such certification is made.

RULE XXII.

The Civil Service Commission will make appropriate regulations for carrying these rules into effect.

RULE XXIII.

Every violation, by any officer in the executive civil service, of these rules, or of the 11th, 12th, 13th, or 14th section of the civil service act, relating to political assessments, shall be good cause for removal.

[Rules, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 16, 18, and 19 were amended and promulgated Nov. 7. Rule 12 was amended and promulgated Dec. 5, 1883. Rule 16 was amended and promulgated Jan. 18, 1881. Present Rule 21 was promulgated Jan. 18, 1884. Former Rule 21 is now 22; and 22 is Rule 23.]

REGULATIONS.

The United States Civil Service Commission, acting under the authority of the Civil Service Act of January 16, 1883, and the rules promulgated by the President, makes the following regulations:

CHIEF EXAMINER.

1. The Chief Examiner shall, as far as practicable, except when otherwise directed by the Commission, attend the examinations held by the several boards of examiners. He shall take care to secure accuracy, uniformity, and justice in all their proceedings, which shall at all times be open to him; but leaving the duty of the examiners, in marking and grading those examined, unimpaired. The Commission will, in its discretion, designate one of its own members, or request the detail of a suitable person, to supervise examinations whenever deemed needful. 2. He shall prepare and submit to the approval of the Commission proper forms and questions. He shall take care that the rules and regulations are complied with, and bring every case of injustice and irregularity observed by him to the attention of the Commission. Ile shall take such part as the Commission shall assign him in the work at Washington. It shall be his duty to confer, from time to time, with the heads of the postal and customs. offices which he officially visits concerning the regularity, sufficiency, and convenience of the examinations for the service under them.

SECRETARY.

3. The Secretary shall keep the minutes of the proceedings of the Commission and have charge of and be responsible for the safe keeping of the books, records, papers, and other property in its office. He shall make the proper certification of those eligible for the Departmental service. He shall generally conduct the correspondence of the Commission and perform such other appropriate duties as it may assign to him.

BOARDS OF EXAMINERS.

4. The general Board of Examiners for the Departmental service shall consist of two persons from the Treasury Department, two from the Post Office Department, two from the Interior Department, and one from each of the other Departments. But any three members may be designated by the Commission to constitute the acting Examining Board for any examination.

The secretary of the Board of Examiners for the Departmental service shall keep a record of its proceedings and have charge of its papers. 5. In case of examinations to be held at other places than those having the classified service, the Commission will designate an Examining Board for that purpose.

6. For each post-office, the Board of Examiners shall consist of three persons.

7. The Examiners for each customs district shall consist of two persons selected from the office of the collector, and one from each of the other customs offices which are subject to the rules; but if there be no office subject thereto except that of the collector, the three shall be selected from his office.

8. The Examiners may serve as a Board for conducting any exam ination; and the Examiners for any customs district will determine which three shall hold any examination, taking care that, if an exam