The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-07

Birmingham. like any and all other cit ies. always has it's quota of unemployed Of course. there are those who do not want work, but there are great many others who are anxious to find something to do As some find work. others in the city lose their places or still others come into Birmingham in search of work 1ncompetency is only one of many req sons for their being out of employment. A civil engineer finishes contract here or elsewhere in the state and makes Bir- mingham his headquarters while looking for work, milliner wants work between . seasons, a cook or laundress is left with out work through a change in the house. hold arrangements of the family for which she has been working. The same thing happens to a butler, a gardener, or chauffeur. A girls health fails at one thing and she must take up some other kind Of work yet she doesn't know where to find employment of different kind.
 Someone else is sick and has to give up his place. It is filled and he has to look l for another.
 1 A man with family comes here hop
 
 ised him. lie fails to get employment at I once and he has to hunt, literally. for 1 something to do.
 | It may be a case of bad management, or it may be sickness or set of unfor- l tunate and unexpected circumstances. and l the person may be nurse, house. | keeper, butcher, an electrician or a | briclSlayer, but he is out of work and wants work. Now, where and how shall he find it? Many tramp the city over in | search of 1t, and that is hard and often | a fruitless task. To such a one the city | looks very different from the way 1t ap- pearsh to the man who has a place. Tc I be a stranger perhaps woman, who is | no longer young, or a country boy, or a man. even a failure but with a family l to support, and to ask and ask and ask l for work and to be refused is almost ! unbearably humiiating. 1t Is not time 1 when one can see, that things will event ually straighten themselves, and that ii l he does his best he will soon be in bet | ter circumstances. It is easy to believe | that when one has job or place or a | situation. but for the unemployed there ! is nothing except to look for work, often with little encouragement and with his 1 courage at low ebb.
 | It is very much to the credit of the Birmingham churches that they have undertaken to provide a way for those who are in need of employment to find 1t. They have established an employ ment bureau in the Hood building and are endeavoring to find work and put | in touch those who need places and l those who have places to be filled pr Henry NJ Edmonds. pastor of the south 1 Highland Presbyterian church. is the rlainstay of this bureau and is giving | it much of his attention. pr. Edmonds Mason ]. billiard and Hugh F. Latimel q. Lao. | is composed of Rev. Wilioughby Clay brock. M V. Joseph. Rev Willis C. Clark and Rev. H. c. Kegley, together lWith representatives from othei churches of the district.
 The bureau has been open for three weeks and is in charge of Mrs. l.. W l Pittman, manager It is hoped that it will eventually be sclf-supporting but it is now being operated at the expense of the churches, as practicalls Inc fees have yet been realized from it's services. It Is free to employers Employees are charged a nominal reg iistration Tee and 10 per cent of tho first months salary. The bureau in vestigates the records of persons Wh' Happily for positions of responsibilits land makes speciality or suppiyihl workers on short notice.
 For the week ending July 20. which wa' the second week of the existence, the bu reau had secured positions for 30 people During the next four days it found worl
 for %, and gave employment to 10 In th'
 office This work was of course, Tor onl,
 a short while for each one. as there i' no elaborate office management and n'
 work other than handling advertising matter for any one except the manager
 One room is waiting room and th'
 other is the managers office furnished
 with a table. two chairs. typewrite
 and a telephone. It is simply plac
 for work and Mrs. Pittman's object Il to fill positions satisfactorily with thos who go there asking for work.
 Individual employers have responded cordially to requests that they go ther
 for employees. A man who wanted
 private secretary waited three days s
 that he could take one of the applicant at this bureau. At present the burea'
 needs this kind of help for while it's trus
 tees hope to make it of recognized yalu
 to employees it needs now to be given
 chance to show it's efficiency.
 , This is a laudable undertaking and on that every church and every individua