ALBANY, N. Y., December 31, 1901 To the State Civil Service Commission, Albany, N. Y.: GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to submit the following report of the examination division for the calendar year 1901: Organization of the division Few changes of importance have occurred in the organization of the division since the last annual report. Mr. Briscoe, who held the position of assistant chief examiner and inspector, resigned on March 1, 1901, to return to the service of the municipal commission of New York city. I regret that this resignation was compelled by the fact that no appropriation could be obtained for his salary, as the work which he did in the investigation of the municipal civil service commissions was important and productive of much good, and there has been no one to carry it on systematically since his resignation. Mrs. Warner, who has held the position of stenographer to the chief examiner for nearly six years, has given her resignation, to take effect at the end of the year. As a result of her resignation the salary of Miss Paterson has been increased to $900 per annum, and Miss Rose J. Mehan has been appointed to fill the position heretofore held by Miss Paterson. With these exceptions the force of the division remains the same as at the last annual report. As a result of the establishment of a permanent examining staff in the office of the Commission, I am able to report that the expense for services of expert examiners outside of the office force, which amounted last year to $2,326.21 and which has averaged about $2,700 for the last five fiscal years, is reduced to $908.75 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1901. In addition to this the examination work, which is done in the office by the regular staff, is better done than ever before or than it could be by examiners who are employed only occasionally and therefore cannot become experienced in the technical work of examining. The saving in expense alone is equivalent to the entire salary of one examiner, and the advantage of greater uniformity and accuracy in the examining work more than outweighs the extra cost of the additional examiners. Statistics of examinations The work of the examination division for the year 1901 may be summarized as follows: Examinations of 1900 completed in 1901 Provisional examinations Non-competitive examinations conducted directly Applications for competitive examinations re- Applicants notified for competitive examination. 1 1 Competitive examinations, state and Oswego city service (janitor, normal school)... The number of candidates appearing at open competitive examinations again shows a slight decrease, due mainly to the fact that several large examinations usually held annually have been postponed beyond the end of the year. Such examinations are those for clerk, court attendant, chainman and one or two others. The number examined in competitive examinations during the last six years is as follows: The num The number of applications received for competitive examinations is also slightly decreased for the same reason. bers for the last six years are as follows: As will be seen by the statistics given above the amount of uncompleted work is very small. It results entirely from examinations held in the month of December which will be completed early in the coming year. New examinations The great variety of the examination work is shown by the titles of examinations held in 1901 in the tables appended hereto. Of the titles there given, the following are entirely new, representing positions newly established or classified for which the Commission had never before been called to hold examinations: Foreman of machine woodworking, state prisons Inspector of charitable institutions, Comptroller's Office Folio writer, register's office, New York county Foreman in horticulture, Agricultural Experiment Station Physician, New York county jail Transfer agent, Elmira Reformatory Orderly (pharmacist), Queens county jail Bakery keeper, state prisons Chef; head cook, state institutions Instructor in blacksmithing Kitchen keeper, state prisons Optical surgeon Student assistant, Agricultural Experiment Station Instructor in brass-smithing Instructor in masonry and bricklaying Instructor in plumbing Instructor in laundering (woman) Keeper, New York county jail Laundry engineer (woman) Marshal (woman), state institutions Instructor in machinery Assistant superintendent, State Hospital for Crippled and Deformed Children Foreman of foundry, state prisons Clerk, transfer tax bureau, Comptroller's Office. Foreman of chair industry, state prisons Librarian, district attorney's office, New York county Operator of inclined railway, State Reservation at Niagara |