The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-20
Frederic Haslin's Letter
Odt Of Job.

on the day the reporter yi,itsa /
was just three Yet all day H.
lines Of men stood in patient =
ASPIRATION before the various =.
tons OF the ONCE, marked sHosl1
and Restaurant" Skilled Lah~s
and Clerks" hoping for a -.
Of encouragement. The demSnd 4.
experienced clerks still exists I
. feeble way. one of the secra.s
les explained, but the other q.
departments for the past ~
weeks have had practically MOTH
ing.
What is your line!" inouiraS
social service worker of a fan
gaunt and haggard faced man =
he left the waiting group aai
started for the door.
Drill press operator" he "a
piled DULY.
He continued to answer tho ~
cial workers questions in the sam.
dull, tired voice. Yes, he was MAJ
Red, he said. Five children On.
Of them had diphtheria. His IN.
was out of a job, too. Yes. he hss
tried to get something else, bu
the agency had nothing. They uS
they would let him know il An
quest came for drill press orr.
ator. In the meantime he "
scrubbing floors in a high school 4
night. but it did not pay enough IA
keep the family.
Unreliable Agencies,
The social worker wrote Soma.
thing on a card and gave it to the4
man, whose face then assumed
more hopeful expression, but al /,
loud dispute arose in the hotel and
restaurant section of the ofYice n
this critical moment the reporter
was compelled to pass up the finale
of this incident.
Nearby, few minutes later, one
job hunter was explaining to an.
other that he had tried every nav
agency on Sixth avenue and that
at last he had discovered one that
offered a job as truck driver. But
the man in charge wanted IS for
the address of the job.
$50 there was nothin' dom on
that" the first.job hunter explain.
ed emphatically. You can't trust
them guys. They fix it so that YOU
go to work one day, and get fired
the next-and then where's your
eight bucks?"
In these normal times, the vari.
GUS disinterested employment agen.
cies, which played such an import
ant part during the war, are con.
spicuously missing. Most keenl,
missed of all are the Offices of thu
United States Department of Labor
that did so much to straighten ou1
labor turnovers and complication
two years ago. Gone, too, are tn
agencies of the knights Of Colu,n
bus, the Y. M. c. A., and the 0thel
valiant rooters for overseas ser
vice, who were going to do so mucl
for the boys when they came hom(
Many of these men who are walk
ing the streets in search of worl
are scarcely out of khaki; some o
them still wear their khaki shirt
and spiral puttees. But people y
: not notice that now. T.
The lack Of free employmM
agencies is a serious handicap 10
the man with only a few dollar
left in his pocket. The pay agencie
are taking advantage of this gold
en- opportunity to charge high com
missions, and even then, accord
ing to the testimony Of the 1ul
hunters, few of them are reliable
For the men to go direct to the fac
/ tories and hotels and Offices and De
partment stores seeking work.
merely a waste OF time and snc
leather. Recent canvasses nav
shown that not a single Job Is
be had in any of these quarters.
Only Accountants Wanted.
In fact. the only class of worn
ers for which there is still an &C
tive demand is accountants. ne
quests for auditors and assistan
accountants are still so great tina
there are not nearly enough TO s
around. This is because OF u
large number Of New York frm
! which have lost goods and none
in the crime wave and have TO nav
their books Strengthened out. :.
1t seems that when a crook rop
a store he not only does much dsm
age to the stock. but to the BOOK
as we'll. Missing stock plays havo
with a firms bookkeeping. SO q
long as the crooks keep up thel
work. at least accountants VII
have jobs.