regulations differ from those in the united states
—mounted men in the island force.
the civil service regulations for the postal service in the philippine islands vary considerably from those for the united states. there is only one examination—that of letter carrier. carriers are divided into two classes, mounted and unmounted. the entrance salary of an unmounted carrier is $360. the higher classes are filled by promotion. all the carriers must furnish their own uniforms, as in the united states, while the mounted carriers must provide their own conveyances. both conveyances and uniforms are subject to inspection and must be approved by the director of posts.
the examination consists of tests in spelling, arithmetic, penmanship, copying from plain copy, location of buildings, streets, plazas, etc., in the city of manila, reading addresses and simple tests in english.
the following is an example of the questions asked by the philippine examiners in an examination for letter carrier:
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spelling.—question, column, regular, possible, precious, guardian, entrance, separate, official, eager, patience, position, exceed, language, explain, business, receive, copyist, certify, specimen.
arithmetic.—1. add the following numbers: 7,820, 140, 616,487, 18,021,762, 5,329,456, 5,647,893, 432,890, 23,578,932, and 45,004. from the sum of these numbers extract 8,641,762.
2. multiply 794.4 by 450-3/5, and divide the product by 49.65.
3. a clerk received a salary of $720 a year. he spent 3/5 of it for board, 1/4 of the remainder for clothing, and $144 for all other expenses. how much did he save?
4. an open court contains 160 sq. yds. how many stones 9 inches square will be required to pave it? (1,296 sq. in. equals 1 sq. yd.)
5. a manila grocer imported 1,083 pounds of butter at 39 cents a pound and sold it at 5/13 more than it cost. if his expenses were $36.47, what was his net profit?
letter writing.—two subjects for letter writing are given, and the competitor may select either upon which to write a letter of not less than 125 words. the exercise in letter writing is designed chiefly to test the competitor’s skill in composition.
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penmanship.—the rating on penmanship is determined by legibility, neatness, rapidity and general appearance, and by correctness and uniformity in the formation of words, letters and punctuation marks in the exercise in copying from plain copy. no particular style of penmanship is preferred.
copying from plain copy.—candidates were required to make an exact copy of the following:
“the hemp tree in the philippines reaches an average height of 10 feet. it is a native plant, the stem of which is inclosed in layers of half-round petioles. the hemp fiber is extracted from these petioles, which, when cut down, are separated into strips 5 to 6 inches wide, and drawn under a knife attached at one end by a hinge to a block of wood, while the other end is suspended from the extremity of a flexible stick. the bow tends to raise the knife and a cord attached to the same end of the knife, and a treadle is so arranged that, by a movement of the foot, the operator can bring the knife to work on the hemp petiole with the pressure he chooses.”
