THE VESTIBULE SCHOOL 
277 
servation, and certain very significant moral qualities 
can be detected. For example, the instructor may find 
that a pupil is very impatient under instruction, a quality 
which augurs badly for future usefulness. Or a pupil may 
betray signs of impatience with her work, such as tearing 
up sheets upon which she had made a mistake, banging at 
her typewriter, answering sharply, etc. She may show 
signs of inattention and constantly repeat mistakes which 
have been pointed out to her. It may be discovered that a 
pupil has certain objectionable habits which, if not elim 
inated, will create havoc among the girls or men in the 
main office. She may frequently be late in arriving, or 
consume too much time in personal attentions. These 
and a hundred other negative qualities may appear during 
this period, and every one of them is a source of labor 
turnover. However, under the special conditions of the 
vestibule school, these traits may be discovered in time, 
and at the hands of competent instructors many correc 
tions can be made. 
If an individual is incorrigible, that fact can be ascer 
tained and the pupil dropped. One of the great sources of 
difficulty in the present day large organization is the 
presence of driftwood; that is, incapable employees who 
have slipped past the employment manager and obtained 
positions, and whom the office heads have not the heart 
to discharge. The writer has seen numerous instances of 
this kind. Such employees are often sent from post to 
post in the organization, a constant source of trouble not 
only to their superiors but to themselves. Finally, some 
merciful chance does for the organization what should 
have been done at the outset. The employee either 
happens to light on some congenial work or gives up in 
despair. Even if the tests fail, the vestibule school is