Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-02-02

~ WHAT axe uOtS IL man lose MS
grip? This question is being investi-
gated again AZ the result Of the Euro
pean war, with its long list OF sep
tuaGcnarian GENERALS. If you are what
the world calls an old man. YOU stand
g better chance OF being appreciated
III the future. Late research puts the
age OF greatest efficiency much higher
than IL was formerly reckoncd.
In the United States especially, the
demand FOR young men has been, and
sun Is, conspicuous feature OF the
economic situation. Some years ago. a
large wholesaler advertised for "A man
10 take charge OF branch warehouse
lie got in touch with an applicant hy
correspondence. liked the mans lot
tiers and his recommendations. and
ended by hiring him. Bu; when No
saw his new employee. he called the
bargain OF. The would be manager
was forty-two years old and gray
headed. The Wholesaler told him he
was too old to learn new business
The applicant went back 10 his Job
at routine Office work and held ~ for
min" years. Then he got an opening
in n hardware house. He knew nothing
about the hardware business, but ne
learned II, and to-day he - past sixty.
weli-,o-do, and a success In his new
line But the wholesalers attitude
is typical OF our business world. Youth
is stu regarded as Il primary qualii-
cation In man looking for q Job. The
studies recently made seem TO indicate
that in many cases such a cours" not
only puts an unnecessary hardship on
the old man hunting new position,
hut also results in an economic loss
the loss Of much valuable ability.
Tendency Toward Older Wen.
A mans age according TO this theory.
cannot he reckonca III simple number
OF years, but is comparative guam
iity dependent not only on individual
temperament, hut more especially on
the general line nf work for which he
81 fitted Moreover, the investigators
time is toward older men for leader
ship in all lines. The change in thid
respect is str!kingly illustrated by the
generals y various great wars
In the past. most OF III. great con-
uucrors gained their victories in yoath
or early middle age Alexander COM
maudcd an army and won battles nj
eighteen. Charles MI OF sweden was
the same age when he defeated an
army Of $4,000 Russians. such cases
were the rule in the days whch war
was n comparatively simple science.
AS the implements Of destruction were
dcycloprd and strategy became more
aud more complex. generals grew cor
respondingly older The "Ner"@" age
Of The ten principal Northern generals
in the Civil War was forty years. Ten
leading Confcdcrates averaged Il Few
months younger
The Russo-Ja pancsc War was III"
FIRST conflict In which old men wer"
rnnanicuous though two of tho prus-
siam leaders in the Franco PruSsian
War were past seventy. PraCtica!IN
every japanese general In the f.aStc' u
struggle was we'll along In MS SIXTIES
and it began 10 he rrcoeh'"e" thn'
modern war takes a lifetime To learn.
and that Il young man in nigh NIL
tarv position Is an anomaly the lae'l
gets it's ANAL proof to-day In the aged
leaders of Europe The last case oc-
CURED as lately ns January - VIZ
the Spanish general We%ier, whom
Americans remember in Cuba, was APP
nointcd head Of the Spanish. general
staff. General Weyler is seVentY-heVen
Not Confined to War.
,r,c rise of the old men has not been
confined 10 war. In commerce ana me
professions, ~ we'll as in poiitics' IN"
leading figures are men Wen up III NC
fftics or sixties. Think OF the dozen
host known men in American politics
,o.d,v and YOU will sec how true this
IL in that line. The same truth holds
for business. The youthful genius VINO
built railroads. aoatcd mergers cor,
nercd the market and set the financial
world bv the cars is not much III evil
dcnce. The heads OF Industrial works
are gray heads. The men capitaliZing
the latest inventions can remember the
DAYS when the telephone was laughed
at.
This state of affairs is due TO the
increasing completely of modern ire
! The Young man is no less intelligent
| Than he was 100 years ago, but the
rules of all the games have muitiphc"
until II takes longer each decade 20
master them. The average age or col
lege men, for instance, is increasing.
especially i'm professional branches, un-
iii twenty-five years is AN early age
| for a lawyer or a doctor or an engineer
| TO make his start. In the same pro-
fcssion manN n man was hrmly cSiab-
Iisncd ut that age fifty years ago. Ana
vet there is a movement under way TO
| increase the length Of engineering
| courses by two years We may see the
| day when preliminary professional
! training will run into the thirties.
| Whether or not this tendency IL n
| good thing for the world depends on
| Just where the best years of mans
Iife lie. If they are found, as was for
! merly believed, between twenty-five
md thrty-fivc, then he ought to be
well established in his chosen work at
| twenty-five. 80 that the world should
| get the benefit of his full viEor. ON the
! same assumption, employers OF labor
| arc justified In their reluctance to take
| on men over forty But authorities are
| beginning to lean To the opinion tina
| the best years OF lifo lie about twenty
| years farther along.
brain at Rest In SixtieH.
4 To some extent, this depends on tho