Cottonwood Chronicle Newspaper, December 19, 1919, Page 7

NOT ALWAYS FAIR Psychology Expert Decries Some Popular Tests. Wrong to Judge Character and Intelll- gence by Means of Handwriting and Photographs, Is Assertion of Prominent Kansan. Judging character and intelligence by means of photographs and hand- writing is a senseless custom, in the opinion of Dr. J. C. Peterson, assistant professor of psychology in the Kansas State Agricultural college. Even though the custom is maintained by at least two-thirds of school boards, a large number of emplayment agencies, and many leading. universities, it has no basis of proven accuracy as an ex- cuse for its use, according to Doctor Peterson, Persons applying for teaching pos!- tions or for fellowships in colleges are almost always required to submit applications in their own handwriting and to send photographs with the ap- Plications, “Too often,” says Doctor Peterson, | “a pleasant smile and clear, regular | penmanship outweigh years of experi- | ence and testimonials of scholarship. “ A belief in the claims set forth by handwriting and feature-reading ex- perts has become widespread. And no one will deny that a few persons of more than ordinary insight have been most successful in determining char- acter and mental endowments by a | study of features asd handwriting. But | these experts have not been able to . explain their methods so that others, | less gifted, could follow them and ob- tain satisfactory results. “Twelve children, ranging from the weak-minded to those of superior in- telligente, were tested for mentality by the psychology department of the Ohio State university. Photographs of the children were then submitted to 68 judges, among whom were physi- clans, psychologists, teachers, college students, and business men and wom- en. “When the estimated intelligence re- ports were compared with the actual mentality determined by the mental tests, it was found that they did not | correspond, One girl who was an in- mate of an institution for the feeble- mined was judged by most to be of superior intelligence, while~a boy who was really superior was judged to be on the border line of feeble-minded- ness, “Handwriting tests have shown largely the same results. Handwrit- ing experts are almost unanimous in the opinion that pride and ambition are shown in an upward slanting of lines; that bashfulness is indicated by fine lines; force, by heavy lines and heavy bars on t’s; perseverance, by long bars on t’s; reserve by closed o's and a’s, etc., and that lack of these qualities is indicated by a lack of the | corresponding characteristics in pen- | manship. “Holding that a person’s traits of | character can best be determined by the combined judgment of many ac- | quaintances, psychologists of the Uni- versity of Wisconsin judged 17 stu- dents of the university, ranking each according to the degree of each trait possessed. Specimens of handwriting, all written under the same conditions, were then secured. These were care- fully measured and graded, and the result compared with the ranking previously given. There was no appre clable correlation.” et eee The Joy of Living. With all my heart I believe in the joy of living; but those who achieve it do not seek it as an end in itself, but as a seized and prized Incident | of hard work well done and of risk and danger never wantonly courted, but never shirked when duty com- mands that they be faced. And those who have earneyi joy, but are re warded only with sorrow, must learn the stern comfort dear to great souls, the comfort that springs from the knowledge taught in times of tron that the law of worthy living is not fulfilled by pleasure, but by service and by sacrifice when only thereby can service be rendered—Theodore Roose- velt. Can't Lose It. Adolph Tandler, symphony orches- | tra leader, was commenting on the de- mand that music by German com- posers should not be played, “There is so much music that is Ger- man, that I doubt if it can be done,” he remarked, and added, with a laugh, “besides, they tell me that they are using it at the peace conference, or, at least, that is the claim of a certain | German musician I used to know. “This German, after listening to the uproarious discord attending the peace celebration, cried: “Ha! Observe that in order to cele- brate they have to raise to the Wag- nerian style of music!’” There in Profusion. Mary had been promised a visit te a certain camp, which was in an ad- joining town. The promise was ful- filled one pleasant day and Mary, on tiptoe with excitement, started on the trip. Each time a soldier appeared she exclaimed: “Oh, see the khaki boy.” But when the camp was at length reached Mary had nothing to say. Her mother, noticing this, asked her why she did not talk about them, \witg a long sigh, Mary exclaimed: we “Oh, mother! there is a whole fore- Purposes. rN O. K. Hog Feed Supplies DRAW NO INTEREST. More than $41,000 worth of First Liberty Loan Bonds, with accrued interest amounting to nearly $3,600 is going begging for rightful owners in the Feder- al Reserve Bank of San Francis- co. The bank has had the Bonds for over two years, and is anxious that their owners, who FA Linseed Oil Meal Cotton Seed Meal Digester Tankage Corn and Poultry SLEpDs AIR RIFLES Nut Bow1 sEts ‘T RAINS ART PICTURES CASSEROLES Lames ALUMINUM WARE UNBREAKABLE DOLLS SILVER WARE TTENTIO Horns EREcTorR SETS AsH TRAYS Dominors Qua iry cuT GLAss UNIVERSAL PERCULATOR ALARM CLocKs ROckING HORSES ‘T HERMOS BOTTLES Execrricat Toys Our stock is teeming with just the sort of things you will want for Gift Make your selections now before stocks are depleted. Razors, SAFETY & STRAIGHT SKATES IN RMERS We can supply you with Alfalfa Hay, Carload Lots or Less. Barley and Oats, either Whole or Chopped and Mill Feed. D. D. WEINS, Agent. in lieu of the Bonds during the First Loan, surrender the Cert- ificates at once in exchange for the Bonds. At the time of the First Lib- erty Loan the actual bonds were not ready for distribution, and Interim Certificates were issued. These, however, bear no interest, so that persons throughont the Twelfth Federal Reserve Dist- PRINCESS FLOUR IS THE BEST Vollmer-Clearwater Company rict who are holding Interim Certificates should communicate with the Federal Reserve Bank in order that the exchange can be made at once and the interest accrued on the Bonds paid. If a subscriber has lost the Certi- ficate, the Federal Reserve Bank should be notified, and, upon re- quest, procedure to be followed “Tdaho Gold” the real family friend. 24-tf WANTED — Poultry of ail kinds. Jungert and Hocker- smith. 51-tf A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. John Voskuchler of Keuterville on the 13th, Owing to the illness of Rev. Marion Sligar there will be no services Sunday at the Com- munity church. Sunday school will be held as usual. Charming indeed are these new silks at a 20 per cent dis- count, Leggett Mercantile Co. 51-1 SAVE $38.00 $110.00 Columbia Grafanola with $28.00 worth of records, all for $100.00 machine almost new. W. W. Flint. 51-1 at the buys_hides, <- 46-4 be.paid by December 20th. 49-3 _ _ Reduce the hight cost of liv- ing by using flour ‘piinacing more loaves of better bread. 24 Marriage licenses were issued _ to Miss Stella McLaughlin of | this-city and Perey Campbell of Piniele, Mont. at Lewiston, this week. ° The McLaughlin family have just recently remov- ed from the Walla Walla country and have again made Cotton- wood their home. Mr. Camp-~ bell was ‘at one time employed here as a barber. : BIRDS’ EFFORTS TO DECEIVE Pathetic Deception Practiced by Moth- er of Brood in Her Attempt to Save Her Young. It has been pointed out that the military tactics which a commander may employ to deceive the enemy are practiced im a limited way by many birds. There is nothing more interesting in the study of bird life than the efforts to deceive which many species put forth to save thelr young or their nests from the despoiler. They flutter just in front of the trespasser to attract his notice, and then they trail off with a “broken” wing dragging on the ground, emitting cries of distress, The bobwhite (commonly called quail) 1s a most notable tactician in this kind of deception. This bird is physically helpless in. the face of dan- ger, possessing no weapons, Its power of swift filght for a short distance ia great, but when there are little bob- whites to protect, the mother will not leave them. The nest is always on the ground, and the eggs are thus peculiar- ly open to the ravages of snakes and othér enemies, There are sometimes.a score of eggs, sharply pointed at one end and round at the other, so that space in the nest ig economized. The chicks quit their birthplace before they are fairly out of the shell. They inherit a knowledge of the family vernacular, and each little head about the size of a pea, holds quick perception and resolute will. If dau- ger threatens the brood, the mother bird calls. The young all “go dead” instantly; they drop down wherever they chance to be at the moment, A man or a boy might step on them; they are almost iivistble among the dry leaves and grass. The mother bird renders herself very conspicuous, fiut- tering with a “broken wing.” The mourning dove ts another timid and helpless creature; she also tries the broken wing ruse to divert dan- ger from her nest. The dove acquired the “broken wing habit” of deception while the tribe yet nested on the ground. The habit persists, although rather ludicrous when exercised on the bough of a tree or on the top ofa rail fence, Clay Eaters. The Agmara Indians, inhabiting the shores of Lake Titicaca and the lofty plateau of the Andes, find the strug: gle for existence hard: at an altitude “ of more than 11,000 feet above sea level. Their principal articles of food are quinoa, a coarse grain re sembling rice, and potatoes, of which tuber their country is the original home. The difficulty of boiling food at so great an altitude necessitates the previous maceration of all articles intended to be so cooked. The potato is therefore prepared for storing and use by exposing it to the frost; then it 1s placed in water and stamped into « paste, all the soluble matter is washed out and the starchy and fart naceous substance remains, This {# called huno and ft {s made into a nu- tritious though insipid soup. The Ag: maras use clay as an article of food, mixing it with quinoa, The clay they use is of a whitish color and rather gritty. Careful analysis shows that it contains no ofganic matter. ANSWER HER LETTER