Selecting Men Made Easy 



Here is a self-thinking file that 

 picks those wanted automatically 



THE experience of England and France 

 early in the war clearly proved the 

 importance of 

 keeping a detailed 

 and intelligently 

 indexed record of 

 every man in the 

 army and navy 

 and their auxiliary 

 branches. It also 

 showed the need 

 of a system that 

 would make the 

 grouping of the 

 men, according to 

 certain qualifica- 

 tions, a simple, 

 possibly automatic, 

 process. 



Such a system 

 is offered by a file called the Findex, 

 which promises to save the American 

 government from the difficulties experi- 

 enced by her allies. The device consists 

 of a file case containing rectangular index 

 cards. These cards have a space for the 

 name of the soldier at the top, while in the 

 lower part there is a system of round 

 holes, arranged in horizontal and vertical 

 rows. Each hole represents some partic- 

 ular information concerning the subject of 



The file case does 

 not differ in ap- 

 pearance from the 

 ordinary kind 



Above is shown 

 the front of the 

 file case with the 

 rods inserted for 

 making a selection 



This is a reproduction of an index card. Each hole 

 represents a detail of information about some soldier 



the card, which it may be desirable to put 

 on record. The items represented by 

 such holes include for instance the 

 previous civiHan occupation, military ex- 

 perience, knowledge of languages or ex- 

 pertness in some profession or trade. 

 To indicate that the subject of the card 

 possesses a certain qualification, the space 

 between the holes corresponding with the 

 Respective index number is punched out, 

 thus making an oblong slot. 



Suppose that the Gov- 

 ernment wanted to select a 

 corps of railroad engineers. 

 A clerk inserts five rods 

 through holes in the front 

 of the case, numbered to 

 correspond with the holes 

 in the cards, indicating the 

 particular qualifications 

 desired. Then the whole 

 file, case and all, is turned 

 upside down on the table. 

 All of the cards not having 

 the slots to indicate the 

 possession of the required 

 qualification by the sub- 

 ject of the card will be 

 held in place, while the 

 slotted cards will drop 

 down and can quickly be 

 removed from the file. 



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