The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1918-01-10
Feared losa Of Penslons.

the hospital did the same thing on
almost the same day.
Feared loss OF Pensions.
The hospital staff could not under
stand II. Latcr-much ~later-after q
good many of Jeans friends had per.
force been discharged from the hos
pltal, the stan discovered the explnna-
tlon: Jean and his mates thought thut
they had found the string tied to tho
offer. "As soon ms you learn n new
trade they'll take nway your pension"
was the whisper that had run like
wlldire through the wards. Even tho
most positive dcululs failed to coun-
tcract .ts effects altogether, and a good
mnny European soldiers still refuse To
learn. solely because they fear 10 lose
thcHr pension. They have no desire TO
lose one bone by swapping ut It's re.
Election in the water.
Jean, however, was convinced In
time. He learned to be "A masscur-
ms Il gymnast he had rerforcc been
something of n "rubber"-and Is now
earning quite ns much as he eve did
and has far stcadlcr employment than
he ever had.
The United States will OF course
meet no such difficulty. Our soldiers
will know all about re-educatiOn long
before they IRE wounded; and they
Will know that the insurance bill spe.
officially provides that n soldier shall
suffer no reduction In his compensa.
ton because he learns to work In spite
OF n permanent injury. They will
know that no person who had lost his
hand. for instance, was ever reduced
by Uncle Sam because he learned &c
write with the stump.
Tommy" IN Despair.
Thomas Hopkins suffered in an
other way. Thomas was an anemlc
d~own-and-outer from the London
slums when he squeezed, or was
squeezed, into the army. A year In
the trenches built him up. and then n
shrapncl mutilated his right arm so
badly that 1t had TO be taken on.
Hopkins was In despair; gifted with
some ambition he had seer n way out
Of the slurus, and now he seemed about
to be forced back into them with an
added handicap. He would have
snapped Mt any chance TO learn.
But the system was not well or
ganlzc1 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.
II took n long time to rouse his aimbi.
ton again and still longer to educate
the sensltivencss Of his stump and to
teach him how to use 1t and how to
use some Of the 40 and more attach
ments that have been devised for
use on stumps. lie did learn, how.
ever. and now runs n typcsettlng ma.
chine In n London newspaper Office.
Hopkins was wounded, nearly two
years ago. Nowadays hc-and OF
course any American-would start re-
education ut the very earliest possible
moment. Nowadays, by the way, II
has been found necessary to restrict
the hours that a convalcscent mny
work or the great majority would
overtax 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 II lcglcss man (:
whereas Il lcgless teacher by his
ability inspires his pupils with hope
and hope Is the basis OF the whole
work. This fact, so obvious when 1t
Is nee suggested, was discovered by
accident. Rose lie Blanc, who had lost
lSth hands at the wrist by an explO-
sion In u munitions plant, applied 10
the ~orthopedlc hospital for food when
starving In the streets of Paris. At
table she showed such skill in using
the stumps Of her arms that the pa
tlcnts marvelcd 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
eTs. The fuct that they have been
through the mill Is an enormous en-
enlargement TO the injured.
The choice of work Is wide; already
men who have lost one or both arms
or legs are doing excellent work ut
photography, movie projecting, electric
wiring, linotype operating. elevator
running, baking, tailoring, drafting,
and many other trades. They play golf.
use sledges, scrub, write and hoe.
Blind Taught Typewrlting.
Blind men have also a great range
Of work thrown open 10 them. in
England all of them are taught to
t%ypewrite; and each, on leaving the
school, is given n typewriter. so that
he can also attend to his correspond
ence. To typewrlte really seems to
come by nature nowadays. For a
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 course, Of little avail IN
teach a disabled man a trade and then
to turn him out to seek an employer.