Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/822

 �The applicant stands on a platform close to the motion-picture screen with the con- troller and air-brake handles in his hands. He is supposed to operate them just as he would if he were on a car on the street

��The controller and brake levers are con- nected with a tape recording machine. Moving the handles causes two needles to trace lines or curves on the tape. At right are the examiners watching the tape

��Testing the Motorman's Quickness and Sl^ill

The speeding automobile, the busy street and the excited crowds are brought into the testing room — on the screen

��THE instructor in charge of a Brooklyn school for motormen, which is main- tained by one of the street railway companies of that city, has devised a test for ascertaining the efficiency of motormen by means of a motion picture screen and a clockwork tape-printing mechanism.

The test, in some respects, is similar to that which is used in determining the re- liability of French war aviators which was described in the October number of the Popular Science Monthly.

In the test for French aviators, the candi- date's quickness in responding to certain sensations, such as sound, sight, and feel- ing, was carefully recorded.

The quickness and accuracy of judgment of a motorman at the controlling handle of a street car traveling at high speed when an automobile darts around the corner and down the track would determine his fitness for the job.

��The accompanying drawing shows the arrangement of the testing apparatus. On the platform before the motorman- applicant is mounted a regulation-sized street car controller and air-brake lever. Half-way down the room facing him is a moving picture screen. Back of the screen, at the other end of the room, is the pro- jection machine. The controller and brake levers are connected electrically with a tape- recording machine. The tape is about three inches broad and is marked by two self-inking pens. Moving the handle of the controller or the handle of the air-brake causes two needles to move, tracing irregular lines, or curves, along the tape.

As soon as the picture is flashed on the screen, the applicant is ordered to operate the two handles as if he were actually on the platform of a street car. The pic- ture, taken from the platform of a moving car, shows an assortment of contingencies.

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