New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1917-12-21

trade he preferred. Then, when at
last the doctor began to believe that
he was won over, Jean suddenly
turned crusty and refused absolutely
to go any further with the matter.
Moreover, 80 per cent of his mates In
the hospital did the same thing on
almost the same day.
Feared Loss Of Pensions.
The hospital staff could not under
stand 1t. Later-much later--after a
good many of Jeans friends had per-
force been discharged from the hos
pital, the staff discovered the explana-
ton: Jean and his mates thought that
they had found the string tied to the
offer. "As soon as you learn n new
trade they'll take away your pension
was the whisper that had run like
wildfire through the wards. Even the
o positive denIals failed to coun-
teract its effects altogether. and a good
many European soldiers still refuse to
learn, solely because they fear to lose
their pension. They have no desire to
lose one bone by swapping at its re-
Election in the water.
Jean, however, was convinced In
time. He learned to be masseur-
as a gylnnast he had Ierforce been
something of II "rubber"-and Is now
earning quite as much as he ever did
and has far steadier employment than
he ever had.
Tommy" in Despair.
Thomas Hopkins suffered In an
other way. Thomas was an anemic
dOWn-and-Outer from the london
slunls when he squeezed, or was
squeezed, into the army. A year In
the trenches built him up, and then u
shrapnel mutilated his right arm so
badly that it had to be taken off.
Hopkins was in despair; gifted with
some ambition he had seer a way out
of the slums, and now he seemed about
to be forced back into them with an
added handicap. He would have
snapped at any chance to learn.
But the system was not we'll or
ganized In those days. and for weeks
Hopkins had to sit around in n con-
valescent hospital nursing his despair
until he had slipped back into his old
indolent ways his muscles had grown
feeble and his joints and tendons stiff.
1t took n long time to Gus his nmbi-
ton again and still longer to educate
the sensitiveness of his stump and to
teach him how to use it and how to
use some of the 40 and more attach
ments that have been devised for
use on stumps. He did learn, how
ever, and now run n typesetting ma
| chine in a London newspaper office.
Hopkins was wounded, nearly two
years ago. Nowadays he-and of
course any Amer1can-wOuld start re-
education at the very earliest possible
moment. Nowadays, by the way, 1t
has been found necessary to restrict
the hours that a convalescent may
work; or the great majority would
ovcrtax their strength.
Disabled Men Best Teachers.
Another lesson that Europe has
passed on is the necessity of teaching
by instructors who are disabled in the
same way as those they teach. An in
structor with two perfect legs, for in
stance, cannot possibly understand
the despair that brushes n legless man
whereas a legless teacher by his own
ability inspires his pupils with hope
and hope is the basis of the whole
work. This fact, so obvious when II
is once suggested, was discovered by
accident. Rose lie Blanc, who had lost
both hands at the wrist by an explo-
sion in a munitions plant, applied to
the orthopedic hospital for food when
starving in the streets of Paris. Al
table she showed such skill in using
the stumps of her arms that the pa.
tients marveled and tried to initiate
her. The rest followed naturally
This one girl, who thought her life fin
ished, is now the best teacher for arm
less men in all France. She has re-
created the lives of hundreds.
Many former soldiers are now teach.
ers. The fact that they have been
through the mill is al enormous m
enlargement to the injured.
Blind Taught Typewritins.
Blind men have also a great range
of work thrown open to them. In
England all of them are taught to
typewr1te; and each, on leaving the
school, is given a typewriter, so that
he can also attend to his correspond.
ence. To typewrite really seems to
come by nature nowadays. For q
trade they may choose either mas.
sage machinery adjusting, net making,
piano tuning, brush making, pottery,
or any one of many more.
1t is, of curse. of little avail to
teach u disabled man a trade and then
TO turn him out to seek an employer
Employers are all from Missouri
and hesitate to employ disabled men.
Hence Uncle Sam, like his allies, will
have to find jobs for his pupils and
be able to guarantee that they a dc
their work. Some of these pupils, by
the way, will be willing to work any
where, some will work only lea their
homes, and sorle will be outrageously
persnickety both as to location and EN-.
ployers. Uncle Sam will try to satisfy
them all. Moreover, he is planning to
| establish, as none of the allies has yet
done, Il follow-up system, by which. II
a man gets discouraged and quits, I'm.
Gle Sam will know of it and will dc
his best TO start him upward and on.
| ward again.