Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 259, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 October 1913 — Tricks by Men in Tests for Fire Department [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Tricks by Men in Tests for Fire Department

CHICAGO.— If you lack a fraction of an inch of the height necessary for the attainment of some cherished ambition you may gain it by one or more of three methods. \ First —Raise the scalp the necessary distance by an injection of water beneath the skin. Second —Bastinado the soles of the feet with a flat club until they swell the required amount. Third —Have a sincere friend "bump”, your head forcibly with a shoe brush. These scientific disclosures were made In the offices of the city civil service commission the other day. Dr. E. T. Olson, physical examiner, and Secretary R. A. Wlddowson are responsible for giving them to the world.

Dr. Olson measured an applicant for the fire department. His height was 5 feet 7% inches. The rules require that firemen must be 5 feet 8 inches tall. The aspirant went away sorrowfully, but returned the next day wearing a confident smile, Dr. Olson too}* his height. ' It was 5 feet 7% Inches. He stood back and looked his man over. Then he placed a hand on the candidate’s scalp.' It felt “pulpy.” “Why, I was born that way,” insisted the man under examination. “G’wan,” protested Olson. “That is water Injected under the scalp and you still lack a quarter of an inch. You can’t get enough water in it to make it, either. You’re out. "It’s the first case of water%n the brain,” said Wlddowson, “but we have encountered two other stunts of the same kind. The first was a trick of doing on the soles of the feet. That may have worked a few times before we caught It. Then a new one bobbed up in the last police examination. “One fellow in the dressing room got another to hit him on the head with a shoe brush.”