The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-12-11

| Is a city Of steady habits according
| to the findings of the educational Sec
ton of the survey. More than in most
cities. its people stay in one place
and stick ito one job. in this II diff
/. fers from typical American commu-
mites. According to the information
| gathered by The school survey, nine
tenths of Richmond's school children
and more than five-sixths OF their
| fathers were born either in the city
| OF Richmond or in the State OF Nir-
GINA Mos. cities Of similar size have
far more migratory populations. The
! investigation further revealed that the
young people OF the city hre not
royers from Job to job. After they
! leave schoo land go work there is
comparatively infrequent shifting from
position to position and a considerable
portion of what does take place oc-
! ours during the first year. These
/ facts appear to indicate that II pres
ent conditions maintain i'll the future.
Richmond may safely train a larger
proportion OF her children for future
participation in her local industries
than would be wise in the average
city.
1 Engaged In Varied Work.
The study of the occupations OF the
city's young people show that they
are engaged IN the most varied sorts
Of work ranging from actor to agent,
Z ma chinist to messenger, stenographer
to rnilliner. and blacksmith to boot
black. TIL estudy further shows that
| a fea occupations engage large por-
| ton OF the young people while the
remainder are scattered through a
great variety OF different sorts OF
work Facts as to occupations were
gathered from many hundred young
men and women less than twenty one
years of age and at work. This study
showed that more than one-thtrd Of
all the white young men are engaged
in great variety OF industrial and
mercantile occupations OF each five
white young women at work, one Is
q stenographer, one a sa1eswoman.
and one an operative in a tobacco fac
tory.
THE occupations OF the colored
Young men and women are less varied
than Those of the white. Two-thirds
of the eolored young men are en-
gagged liz five occupations. They are
porters, teaInsters. laborers. messen-
gers and tobacco operatives Similar
/ ly four fift.,s OF the colored young
women are engaged in four oceupa-
tons. They ere servants. laundresses.
nurses and tobacco operatives
/ "A study Of the wages OF Rich
mon6's young people shows four sig
nificant facts, First. the earnings of
the heys are much larger than those
of the girls. Second. the earnings of
the whites ere larger than those OF
the colored- Third, among white boys
and girls. wages are comparatively
low UP to the age OF eighteen, and
IA frne n
nentiy. Fourth. among the colored
boys and girls, earnings show but
slight increase with advancing age. and
This Is especially true among the girls.
+ All of these findings have impor.
tant bearings on the problems OF in
dustrial education They empha size
the need of more and better training
Tor work. The fact that the wages
OF the young people are low up to
the age OF eighteen and that they
then Increase rapidly, indicates thar
in general employers are unwilling
to hire immature boys and girls and
that the best investment that a boy or
girl can make from fourteen to eigh-
teen is to secure the training which
viii enable him or her to do the best
work and 20 earn the largest wages
after the age of eighteen.
Boys Out Of school Early.
The study of condition in the
schools showed that the children who
are thirteen and fourteen years old
are scattered through the grades from
the first elementary to the third class
In the high school. Boys and girls
at these ages drop ont Of school rap
idly and so 20 work The fact that
more than half of them are In the sixth
grade or below II the city Of Rich
mond indicates that many of them riay
be expected 10 leave school soor and
so to work with an educational prep
aration so Inadequate as to hamper
them i'm their vocat.ens and seriously
I" reduce their value to the commune
~ One of the most imporfan. prob
TENS IN the progress Of vocational ed
cation IN Richmond Is the increasing
of the amount OF common schooling
secured BY the average bay ana .irl,
In Richmond as e!ser here pub