OCR Text |
Show I Giving Crippled Soldiers Another Chance in Life I I Institute Offering First Gleam of Hope Sets II Remarkable Record I in Training Handi- capped Men to Be- H come Self -Support- I New York Snturdiv fc A BUILDING which owes tho cits Itpth- t i - in is that where a "School of An- other Chance " Is being held rtallv nl-Jjt. nl-Jjt. though, In truth, it calls Itself sedately "The fB Institute for Crippled and Disabled Men" Before this tenancy a business co'lege was housed there and before that tho CoMega of Physicians and Surgeons. A remarkable record, as will he admitted, but Its most useful use-ful days are the present, when 101 East Twenty-third street sees Its floor space devoted de-voted to tho training of disabled men In printing, welding, Jewelry making, typewriter type-writer repairing enamelling and artificial limb making Tho school has been operating operat-ing since January 1917. At the moment there are fifty-one men In training; cisht learning to be motion pic-ture pic-ture projectors, nine In typewriter repairing fourteen each !n welding ""d Jewelrv mak- !lng. four In enamelling and one each In telephone tele-phone operating end plating Since tho school first opened 336 crippled men have enrolled, en-rolled, and of these 115 men have been placed lr the work for which they mined. This means that upward of 300 discouraged discour-aged dependents .ikely to fall Into mendicancy, mendi-cancy, have been restored to an earning capacity and are contributing to the economic eco-nomic status of society. That rr.ay be the way to phrase their uplift up-lift In cold blood, but It does not express the way these men fed. In order to do this one must talk In terms of psychology They have been made over and life Is to ihcm no longer a menace or a weariness. These once hopeless cripples now have a new state of mind. Beginning of the Institute. At the start a chid of the American Red Cross and Inspired hv the certainty that many boys would come back crippled from the wor'o war. the school became a (pirate (pi-rate and Incorporated Institution last January. Jan-uary. Tho directors of the Institute are Samuel M. Greer nresldent: Douglas C lie-Murtrle. lie-Murtrle. secretary Jeremiah MI'bank. treasurer: Mrs. August Belmont, Mrs Arthur Scott Burden Miss Ethel L McLean Miss Florence E. Sullivan. C G Du Beds. W .1 Hiss. Walter E. Hope. George Murnane and Arthur Woods The self-art task of the Institute was the rehabilitation of men who are suffering from Injuria Involving the amputation or loss of use of a limb. It undertook no medical or surgical work, accepting the disabled man "as Is"" and planning for hi rehabllltarlon In the condition It found him In Tt chose to meet the man whose limb had Just been amputated before he left the hospital and to cheer him up hv promising to restore him as an economic factor of the community Its work at the htfnnlne was spiritual: It comforted and held nut hope before It began be-gan the material task No mere amateur, however tender his Fen. stbflltiea may he. Is fitted for this first step What the social worker has to do when he seeks out ihe disabled man at the hospital Is to rive him positive assurance that there capped one. Without knowledge of what it these are tho "angel of hope" falls In his 1 mission The next step Is to bring the doubting, disabled one o the school and let him ee l! how men with similar disabilities are hoine trained Then It Is seldom difficult to plant 8 in his mind that he Is to he "fixed up" as soon ns passible In order to find a new place In the industrial order. jmK" Artificial Limb Made at the School. As the rehabilitation In half a dozen cases in ten mean a new limb or a pair of new iwk lew and a; the cost of these In the shops 'fl was. for various reasons so hlcrh as to be d prohibitive. l early was determined to start an artificial llmh shop on the premises. The tm best limb makr-rs were engaged. Improved "I machinery Installed end nn effective organ- I lzaffon huflt up. The expense of this would be offset. It was hopd. hv supplying a mrf J of the Drodi"t to the Government which needed to huy limbs for the disabled r. H service men And It happlh turned on that the United States did hecome a liberal ill natron of the Institute hhop. The Government Govern-ment has bought those limbs, too. at a lower I price than they could he purchased from commereii1 manufacturers. For their own people the directors have supplied llrr.be of approved tvpe and best material ma-terial expertly made to 377 Civilian Tbev sell them pme-t Irally at cost to their pro-lego pro-lego and on the Instalment plan when necessary nec-essary Dr. John Culbert Farles has Issued a pamphlet giving a resume of three years Work for handicapped man He '.as been Sfl 'aeflvo In It dneo its Inception and knows Tr ?)ow to tell abotit the work In a wav to take ES rld of the reaeler's Imagination TbS orlp- i Oiee) and disabled have been unforunatlj WH always with us but how to help thorn oon- : Structivelyt how to use their remaining 1 '.vower and faculties In a wav to matte these. handicapped nerons pelf-support Ing Is a t more novel subject. Tt is one. however that j finds Its Interest readv made nt the present t!me With the publishing of t ie casualty j lists from the late war It became pr.'.nfully f clear that we would have to plan carefully j for what Is best for the disabled soldiers. I The Institute was ready with data collected by Its secretary, Douglas C. McMurtrle. who had spent eight years gathering '.t In this and foreign countries. The subiect o cripples crip-ples and their care forms a ureal mass of literature on the shelves of tho Institute and It Is constantly belnc added to. From what had been accomplished In other e,,untr!es for tho rehabilitation of disabled soM'ers Mr. McMurtrle prepared a nodes of leaflets calculated cal-culated to stimulate an .nterest In the subject sub-ject Your Duty to the War Criptlr was ono of theso and others were Rcrons'mclinp ths. Crippled Roldlcr. and the Jtrhabllitatton of hWar Cripple. These booklets are ob-I ob-I talnnblo free of expense at tho Institute. K An appeal tp tho eye waa made by tho i I 1 1 ! y - fj ' ' m. I ill 'I, ' I MECH ANICAL DRAFTING CLASS ( printing of a set nf eighteen poster snow. Iiik striking pictures of cripples at various kinds cf work. In this, tho Illustrative age. theso posters have proved of great servico In dualizing what can bo done. To look nt them I" almost to believe that In certain cases miracles have been wrought. These means of attracting attention to a splendid cause are very well, hut the directors direc-tors of the Institute realize that personal lsits of Inspection will accomplish much more than they can. To see the cheerful faces of the men of all ages who have been given "another chance" and to watch them al useful and remunerative woi k i- better than all tho literature that can be r-'led up To hear but one of these cripnled man say with a Krln. as the writer did: "T couldn't believe In such RoeHl fortune for me. but In a few days I shall po out from here a skilled workman and able to earn a decent s:ilarj'" proved the efficacy of this school as ncthlng also could have done When a cripple begins his course of study In whateer branch the first aim Is to give him confidence that what he is attempting he will accomplish, and before he has been at his task very long he begins to feel like n normal man. Having Imbued him with this feeling the Instructors know that their most difficult task Is done. Working With High Spirits. In the school may bo seen tho men learn-In learn-In motion plf-turc projection, and there Is not one of them who is not hopeful that after ten weeks' studv to fit him for passing on examination for a license ho can go out and get a J3." a week Job. Other cripples have done this, why not he' The class In Jewelry making Is composed at this time of younger men than those In me oilier ciHHii ome oi nipm ;ire uos of thirteen or fourteen and some are Just passing out of their teenv. In showcases are displayed their work Jewelry In the form of brooches, chains, pins. &c . studded with seml-preclous stones and comparing favorably with the similar thing sold In the shops. A fascinating display Is that of flower, pote containing little plants and 1 flowers wrought out of tin. but so delicately enamelled In colors as to constitute from the smallest to the largest specimen genuine works of art. The typewriter repair class has been cry successful, turning out skilled workmen who have always found employment A pair of good eyes two good hands and some mechanical ability nr all thnt is required. As this work can be done when the operator Is sealed. It makes no difference whether he has two legs, one leg. or no leg Tho men are graduated out of this class after four months' studv. Printinc Attract Many The printing trade Is fascinating to many cripples, nnd an It ranks third In Importance among NYw York Industries they have some reason for adopting It as a means of their future livelihood. The "School 0f Another Chanco" runs a modern printing shop, equipped with monotype casters, cylinder and platen presses and compositors frames Pupils are given practical Instruction In caster running and operating, the elements of hand composition the correction of gal-Ifys. gal-Ifys. press feeding and proofreading. faster runners can be trained In two months, pros feeders In eight weeks. Al-thoueh Al-thoueh It Is desirable that a mnn have two good hands for this trade. It Is not absolutely necessary, and legs are unnecessary. Cripples Crip-ples with an artificial hand and with finger-less finger-less stumps are making good at It. Tho oxy-acetvlene welding plant Is housed in a one story brick shop adjoining the main building of the Institute This nroro-o Is used largely In shipbuilding, mending troken automobile and machine parts, typewriting type-writing machine and various type castings. A man with enly one hand Is able to learn f-iittin;. in a month and welding In three or four months. The plant Is equipped with foven welding stations, with gauge nnd torches and one cutting station with portable port-able tanks; o sheet metal shears, a power einerv wheel, a gn.s fo-go nnd anvil An BCefytane generntor supplies the gas while 'he oxygen Is bought In cylinders. factory, men likely to benefit by such iraln-Ing iraln-Ing ore referred to these places. Th- Institute Insti-tute however, conducts no placement tralrt-Ing, tralrt-Ing, that Is. training on the Job In h shop or f.t tory. But where such training Is available avail-able under satisfactory conditions the pcllcy ct the Institute Is to foster Its growth V:-Ccrdlngly V:-Ccrdlngly It does not start training classes lo such Industries This placement training Is capable of large expansion, hut it requires careful supervision and follow up work which Involves the cooperation oj tie employer em-ployer It easily will be comprehended that the r.gld requirements of a shop canno'. be met by disabled men until their mdrale baa been established, and in Its processes the tcaoot B0 ks to develop this In the Individual ani U:us lead him by easy stages Unto habits of ii : m : in j m : m : www O FLECTf? ICAL SWITCHBOARD WORK. Besides training men In Its own shops the employment department has acquired a knowledge through Its Industrial survey of manufacturers who will take learners nnd Will pay them a wage while learning Where the processes are suitable for the handicapped handi-capped and conditions of work are satis- Industry. Cripples who find travel on the sine, cars during the rush hours almost terrifying at first must be given leeway in tMeir hours of arrival and departure. Crlp-pics Crlp-pics who have to attend clinics for tteat nient must- h accommodated; those who car- work only part of a day. either from lack of physical endurance or to assist lo their maintenance by part time work, muit have special consideration Besides, a I I andlcapped man feels his disability when hr has to work alongside of men completely equipped. Where he works with other j: handicapped persons his pride will lead him tii minimize his disability and to strive to excel In his work. So It Is again seen that I -vi hologlcal problems enter Into thereat or.c of complete restoration of mind v 1th great a restoration of physical powerr as Jj v- lenre can aid In giving. The training activities of the Institute ne-gn ne-gn In March. 101$. The first man trained la now eajmjpg J30 a week as a mechanical draughtsman In the employ of one of the largest manufacturers of elevators. Ho has ' but one hand. All expenses connected wJ,U this man's training were paid by the directors, direc-tors, but It proved to be money well invested, for after ho got paying work, although the wage bo received at lirst -was but $15 i. week. ! be;, m paving back and he has return.-d i. 'it advanced him H The class in draughting has been temporarily H uisconi uiueu inr idc rr.isuu iuv in ..it ivaw- h tustment of industries at the close of the war the demand for draughtsmen fell off t M la to be hoped that a new demand m eg arise. H for It has been demonstrated that draughting Is a suitable occupation for men of a certain type Who have one geod hand and a serviceable service-able stump for holding the required implements imple-ments In position. The value of recreation Is not over'ooked ' I j the dliectors of the Institute, and the disabled dis-abled men respond to every attempt to lighten the weary monotony of the ordinal- cripple's life Lectures are given with moving mov-ing picture embellishments The men have been encouraged to start a little pap-" which ihev edit and write for with great enthu-StSSnV enthu-StSSnV P bears the significant nnd striking name of Thttmbv Vp. Also on June 12 the Institute band made Its official debut, fur-nishlng fur-nishlng an excellent proarammo for the third I n, rial field day. Under the direction of James Watson, a crippled man. the fifteen members showed how faithfully they had been rehearsing all winter Watson has 'eg missing, and the others have suffer 1 major or minor disabilities. This Is the onl band, so far as Is known that Is inado uu entirely of handicapped men. Interesting Viiitort. Some of the most Interesting visitors to the lnstltuto are disabled men who come of their own accord to see how men with disabilities dis-abilities similar to their own are being trained I" rnnsrenlal occupations Advice Is given as to suitable artificial limbs and appliances II it may mitigate their condition and the i i( ia nought to be Implanted are that life for the disabled Is by no means hopeless, and that eveiy one of them should endeavor to return to some form of activity as soon osslble. But the visitors who ough' to be goln tl ere In throng" are nble bodied men and women who upon seeing the fine work oi reconstruction being done would be Inspired to help It alone Society owes It to the In- Jured men to give them a lift Bv doing so II will only be paying a personal debt. |