Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-17
OLD MEN WANTED.
Anti-Age Limit Society Finds Work
for Them in Chicago.
From the Chicago Journal.


From the Chicago Journal.
Employment for old men and others who
have passed the civil service limit is being
found daily by the Auti-Age Limit Society,
which has established offices in Room 1872,
Republic BUILDING. All day long a stream of
stcop- shouldered, gray-haired men who
wish to be enrolled as members pours into
.he office. Each man is given card of
membership anS goes out with new hope.
The fee for membership is 81. but the APP
plicant who has 81 is usually so scarce the
money consideration generally is waived.
Meantime the expenses of the society are
being betrayed by its two founders, ]. f.
Downey president, and Benjamin Giroux.
secretary aud treasurer.
The curious visitor looking for stream
of human wrecks will be disappointed. No
tattered throng, no collection from the
worlds back alleys comes to the society.
Ii BOXERS are few. There is work enough
of this sort for the man who can do it. and
for the man who can work and will not the
society has no time. While no class or con-
dition of men Is excluded except those man
uestly unfit through personal habits to
hold any position, external circumstance
have narrowed down the efforts of the
ciety to what may be called the sem-pro
fessional class. BoolJkeepess accountants,
clerks, statesmen, engineers, all come, each
with his story of POSITIONS long held, and
many holding good references, but all out
maud for younger men. Most of these men
have the side stoop which is common to
boQkkeepers. Their hands are as steady as
ever, and they assert their ability to com
pete with any of the rising generation in
rapid and accurate work. Few admit hav-
ing lost "a position through inefficiency or
because of~any inability TO keep up. 1T is
just the craze fad for younger men" said
one of them But for that we would all
be at work.
Statesmen abound. They can sell any
thing, they say. Some of them have sold
nearly everything. They are not afraid to
work on commission, they say. if some one
will only give them paying offer. The
trouble Is, they claim, that a man with
good business proposition insists on young
men to push it, ''even if he is an old man
himself" one of them added. Clerks floor
walkers, general and expert accountants,
locomotive engineers and a lot of miscel-
la1 eous callings make up the remainder of
the applicants NeaLly all of the men
clean and neat, and most of them look
capable enough But the fatal gray hair
and the thick lenses of their eyeglasses seal
their fate in many business houses, they
say
we will do with them anything we can"
said Mr.. Downey today. These men are
in no sense objects of charity. nor are
they particular about the honest means
which they may have to adopt to earn
their living. Our hardest problem so far
has been the case of a railroad engineer.
The man was apparently perfectly able to
do his work; he claimed that no criticism
had ever been made on it, but there was
no hope for him so far as the railroads
were concerned. Luckily. we found him
place as engineer in new fiat building.
That was the worst yet added Mr.. Dow
ney, as a powerfully built man of fifty-fve
years old came to the desk The new APP
plicant proved to be former lake captain,
whose salary In the good days had been
$3.50 a month. 1t all went, he said to take
care of his children. Now they are mar
ried and could not. he said, be expected TO
support their parents.
my wife is fifty-nine, he said. He
showed his discharge as naval quarter
master, and a packet of recommendations
as captain from former employers. but
said he could find no place to work. This
is worse than the engineer" commented
Pre- sident Downey. Then ne frightened up.
Can you do night watching and take care
of the fires?' he asked The man assented
eagerly "All right" said Mr.. Downey, II
think we have a place for you. Come
around In the morning.
The man went out with the consciously
erect carriage which marks two Grand
Army men out of three, and gave no hint
of knee half shot away at Chancellors-
vile. MANY collection agencies are look
ing for good men over fifty, who make the
hest collectors" continued Mr. Downey
after the veteran had gone. I'VE Will find
places for a good many applicants In this
work, and II man isn't fitted for Il
guess we can get him something else in
addition to its efforts to secure places for
men out of work the society aims to Sc
cure remedial legislation. which Will raise
the age limit in civil service. That Is where
the trouble started, and before we finish
we hope to pry the age limit up to, say,
fifty years. Such action on the part or the
government will make all the difference IN
the world with private firms. and will put
the man Of forty-fve or fifty back into the
place in active life which is rlghtfully his.