The Cordova daily times., 1918-08-19
POSITIONS FOR
THOSE CRIPPLED
IN WORLD WAR

sba q - 1rA ~ y stus
NEW YORK. Aug Thousands
OF factories, shops and Offices in the
! nitcd States are planning to open
their doors after tn" war to the sol
GicrS and sailors who may return
HON" handicapped by wounds so scri
Gus as to force thes" men to enter
new trades and industries.
Already field agents employed by
the Red Cross Institute fo~ Crippled
and Disabled Men in this city are at
work demonstrating to employers OF
| l. Dor that Il man who has lost an arm
or a leg may prove to be a valuable
worker, capable of maintaining him,
self in comfort, IL not aftiuence; for,
with the allowance made by the gov
eminent to the returned fighter,
wages earned by labor would place
him on better footing financially
than he was before the war
Douglas G. McMurtric, director Of
the Red Cross Institute. has knowl-
edge of hundreds of typical cases OF
men who have been crippled in in
duStry and in battle Such men, &C
cording to Mr.. McMurtrie instead Of
becoming respondent derelicts or
mere pensioners. have learned trades
and professions which have made
them happy and successful.
y mechanic who enlisted in the
Princess Patrcias regiment and who
was wounded and returned to Canada
spent three months in a convalesCent
hospital. and now earns, it is said
double his former pay. having taken
advantage of mechanical drawing and
arithmetic classes carried on at the
institution. Writing to the hospital
instructor. he said: at present.
since my discharge from military
service. | I'm, technically, a better
man all around: | am able now to
hold job as foreman in a machine
shop, with more than twice the sal,
airy | was getting before"
a former private in the Thirteenth
battalion, before enlistinE. was get,
ting 81 week for driving a city
milk route. He lost an arm and
leg, and after a course in a re-educa.
ton school subsequent to preliminary
training at the cOnvalesCence hospi.
tai. he obtained a position as n metal
turner and filter at SIS a month.
Quoting Lord Shaughnessy, Mr..
McMurtrie said that "the occupations
and training provided reveal aston
iEhing talents which even the man
himself did not know he possessed"
The success which is being achieved
in Canada in dealing with the prob.
lem of vocational re-eduCation. Mr..
McMurtrie stated, has been inspiring
to those who have the same work in
hand in the United States.
The federal board for Vocational
education, with an initial appropria-
ton of $2.000,000, is authorized to
take over all schools and institutions
necessary to re-educate the crippled
soldier or sailor, and in certain cases
to build new schools. Thus far the
preliminary work OF rehabilitating the
war cripples has been undertaken
largely at the Walter Reed general
hospital in Washington. under United
States army supervision. and at
dozen or more similar institutions
throughout the country.
Basketry. typewriting and similar
simple kinds OF work are given the
patient to keep his mind clear and
bright and give him an interest In
life Major General William Gorgas.
surgeon general of the army. 1t is
understood. heartily approves of this
method. The Red Cross Institute
here. however will not take a man
for training until he has been dis
charged from the military or naval
service. Its plan contemplates the
employment of a re-educaton advisor
in every military hospital where the
needs of the patients as to learning
new trades or professions could be
studied. and the men will be given
every advantage OF selection after