Any person who was employed on or before the 16th day of January, 1883,
in any Executive Department at Washington in a position not included in
the classified service in said Department, but who was at that date
exclusively engaged in the duties of a clerk or copyist, and who has
since been continuously so engaged, may, in the discretion of the head
of the Department, be treated as within the classified service in the
Department in a grade corresponding to such duties, provided such person
has either already passed an examination under the civil-service rules
or shall pass an appropriate competitive or noncompetitive examination
thereunder at a grade of 65 per cent or upward.
Approved, June 12, 1884.