The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-05-30
Bureau Which Does a
Needed Work.
MANY INDECENT POOR


working age for work that cannot
ray full mems wages, have you ever
tried to use capable man, who has
some handicap, but who will fit into
your work in spite of it?"
This is one of the questions that
have for the last few months been
propounded to employers by the men
who have In charge what is known
as a special employment bureau for
she handicapped. says tho New York
Times
Statistics have been compiled
which show that there is annually n
waste of 100000 worth of labor
IN the world. In the United States
alone 524, 900 persons are disabled
IN Industrial accidents. OF these
thousands, It is estimated that 225.-
0da still possess a certain earning
power which can be utilized and here
IS where the bureau expects to an
peal to the utilization for help. II
these crippled, sick and detective
persons can do so per cent. as much
%ork as they did before, why should
not that so per cent of labor be ta.
kGR advantage Of?
The average yearly wage of tho
S0rkingman is $3.50. Take you:
$4,000 handicapped men who can
skill make good and multiply by
F225, half the average wage, and YOU
have in round numbers $50,0O0.0O0
year saved to the world by the
placing of willing energies.
Other statistics have shown that l.
takes about $4,000 to support a
garper through the natural term OF
Me. Keep on figuring and assume
That the world is not willing to take
the responsibility of finding work.
bgs in taxes, charities ana in other
ways prefers to assume the liabilities
oI It's paupers, and it is not long be-
fore you find a sum like $2,OOO.O0O,-
ESQ yearly incurred In this way, the
woli mans burden. Eight million
pbupers in the British Empire, with
one out of every four dying a public
charge is almost equalled by our own
records.
IN the long list of available
''haudlcaps" none Of the 10000
professional paupers now on the
hsts of the various charitable organ
iEattons has place or part. These lat
Ter have been tried in the fire of
Sork and patience and have been
tound wanting-they are the waste
heap of humanity, for which there is
10 adequate Testing crucible as yet.
The "handicaps" are trustworthy.
Their abilities, ambitions, earning
pnwer and pasts have been thor
Dgghly investigated and they have
been as carefully classified.
All classes in society are represent
ed and all ages. The young girl whose
hand has been torn in the machinery
PE factory and the professor Of
bellies lettres whose place has been
uken in the university by a young
utan jostle each other in the line of
application.
What could be found for girl OF
seventeen. crippled as described?
The answer that such a one has al
ready been placed at the small
switchboard Of telephone with sat
isfactory results disposes of that
question, The professor of belle let
tres Is more than content with being
made private secretary to a wealthy
man.
An old man who has added to the
allotted years an extra half decade is
pointed out Al one time he was
chief geologist for one of the West
srn railroads. He Is an expert chem
Is, and, Russian by birth. speaks and
writes seven languages 4 place was
found for him as translator on a
aiming periodical, but for two years
he had tramped the streets of New
York seeking employment.
One of the most difficult problems
that has to be faced is the heartle3s-
Eess of the world toward the man
who has passed his prime and is on
che down grade, Every year the bust
Zess world levies on the young man,
Gnd as squeezed oranges they are
thrown aside when youth and vital
fy are gone. There are many places
which might be filled by these
"handicaps" If only employers could
30 made to see that age, while It may
&ebar from certain roles, has its
value in the commercial and profes-
sional market.
Clerical positions are filed with
she young and inexpert because they
6an be had cheaper; girls and boys in
Iheir teens are found In them often
10 the detriment of their short
sighted employers. A man who has
had fifty years experience in the
business world might be made much
more useful, even with handicap,
shan a boy Of seventeen.
The man who is totally blind Is a
hard problem, although In one OF the
sandy manufactures a blind man
has been employed for years to crack
auts, task which he fulhlls with
remarkable expedition.
Switzerland will probably soon
enact a law I'm accordance with