St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1869-04-23
"Udntetf---I CIeIH. ~

paper tor clerk, and requested appl
cantS to address their notes to him at tin
Ledger office. BY the close of the frs
day on which the advertisement appeare
there were four hundred and eightee
applicants for this one clerkship. Thi
affords Il most torcible Illustration Of til,
extent to which the occupation of clerkin
ana housekeeping is overstocked in thi
city. But 4 few months previous, tn,
mead OF business establishment, VIII,
wished some help in the way of writing
but III which some literary ability wa:
required, advertised for an assistant, a
a moderate salary, and having incident
ally mentioned that the position nigh
suit Il lawyer or physician not in gooC
practice, got more than a hundred appli
cations, of which fiftv-three were from
! young lawyers and doctors. Here wa.
another illustration OF an over supply o.
the professional or ''"enteel occupations >
Another advertiser i'll the Ledger, who
wanted 4 person to take charge of the
editorial work NJ Il weekly paper, got fit:
ty-Seven applications, not more than hal
dozen Of the applicants being recogniz
cd newspaper writers, but nearly all o.
them being clerks, book-keepers, ant
professional men. Still another adver-
tI>ed tor two apprentices in a whcclwrighr
and smith shop, in one of the semi-rura
wards OF the city, requesting applicants
to give their address and are. lie GOT
three applications, but in every case the
the applicant was too old. two of them
beng over eighteen and one nearly TWEEN
~. still another advertised for an office
boy about fourteen years old, and had 50
many applications that his office was
crowded tor more than five hours, and
the applicants We're of all ages, from
mere children not more than twelve years
old +" tull-grown men OF twentv-one.
IhcNc are not very cheerful or encour-
a@lng sgn-. They are such. however.
IL every man ana woman in Philadelphia
should givc attention To. The present
generation OF yuung men seem to have a
great aversion 10 every kind of trade,
business calling and occupation that re-
qulrcS manual labor, and an equally
strong tendency towards some so-called
''-rntert employment or occupation
The result : seen in such lamcntable
facts a. those above statrd-a supera-
huudanr" "i elegant pemmen. book-kecp-
yr> and clerks OF every kind who can get
NO employment, and are wasting their
lives IN tho vain pursuit of what Is not
10 be had and a terrible overstock of
lawyers without practice and doctors
wit Iout patients. The passion on the
part OF boy, and youn. mcu to be clerks.
uiijcr attendants. messengers. ANYTHING.
- that Ii i not work of the Kind that
viii make thcIn mechanics ur traI.sman
= a d,piorahIr >lIut To- those who lave
iuil opportunities to Sc the distressing
effects of II IN tine struggle tor such en-
pIoyncut> hy those unlortunate> who
nave put 1t out OF their power TO 10 any
thin- else hy ucgIrctiug to learn some
permanent trade or business in which
trained ,hllI can AWAY, he turned to nc
count.
The applications for clcrh,hip- and
similar positions ia lar-c establishments
are numerous beyond auytUir. that,
would br though; oi 10y ihu- ave
no chance 10 witness o. i-riu AN!
relatives. a. well a. the b,y~ and yuun.
men themselves, seem To hy afflicted with
the same imtIjuatiuu. To all such We
>ay. that the most uuwi,c advice YOU
can givr to your boy is to encourage him
to be a clerk or book-kceper. At the
best, it /, not 4 wcll-paid occupation.
Very frequently it Is among the very
poorest. This Is the case when the clerk
Is fortunate enough to he employed but
il he should happen TO he out OF place,
then comes the weary search, the fearful
struggle with the thousands of others
looking for places, the never ending dis
the hope deferred that
makes the heart sick. the strife with pov-
crty. the humiliations that take all the
manhood out OF the poor souls, the pri-
vatIuns and Sutirrings of those who de
pend upon his earnings, and who have
no resource when he is earning nothing.
No father, no mother. no relative would
wish to see their boys or kindred wasting
their young lives in striving after the
gcntccl positions that bring such trials
and privatlons upon them in after lite.