OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS Photo by Brown Bros. TAMING NATURE OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS BY BENNETT B. JACKSON, A.M. Superintendent of Schools," Minneapolis, Minnesota AND NORMA H. DEMING Principal of Horace Mann School, Minneapolis, Minnesota AND KATHARINE I. BEMIS Teacher of English, Franklin Junior High School, Minneapolis, Minnesota FOREWORD BY DR. CHARLES A. PROSSER Director, The William Hood Dunwoody Industrial Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1921 Copyright, 1921, by THE CENTURY Co. PRINTED IN U. S. A. PREFATORY NOTE In preparing this volume, we have made no attempt to treat the subject exhaustively. It has been our en- deavor to present only a few of the many occupations that are open to the boys and girls of to-day, with the hope that the study of these may provoke interest and inquiry in the minds of the young readers. It will be observed that many of the more unusual and uncrowded vocations (especially for girls) are offered for consideration. We have stressed those occupations that require education and training, trusting that many boys and girls will feel the necessity of remaining in school for a thorough preparation for their life work, thus avoiding an easy entrance into "blind-alley" jobs. We wish further to state that the salary and wage schedules quoted in the various occupations have been based on the prevailing schedules at the time of the publi- cation of this volume. It must be borne in mind that these vary constantly, according to ever-changing eco- nomic conditions, and to the law of supply and demand. THE EDITORS. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Editors of this volume make grateful acknowledg- ment to the following for permission to use copyright material : - Edwin Markham for " The Day and the Work." Franklin K. Lane for " Education and Americanization." The " Christian Herald " for " How Education Pays." The " Outlook " for " Work " by Angela Morgan. Dr. Kenyon L. Butterfield for " Vocations." Harper and Brothers and Burton J. Hendrick for " Fitting the Man to the Job." Ralph Albertson, Literary Executor of Prof. Frank Parsons for " A Would-be Doctor," by Frank Parsons, Ph.D. The " New York Times " for " Schools Where Boys Learn to Earn a Living " by Katherine Woods. Louis L. Park for " Training the Boy for Industry." Frank H. Freericks for " Pharmacy as a Vocation." Arthur D. Little for " Chemistry in Overalls." The Federal Board for Vocational Education for " Employ- ment Management " by Edward D. Jones ; " Farm Management " by Walter J. Quick; " Forestry Pursuits " by Capt S. T. Dana; " Journalism," " The Practice of Medicine," and " The Law as a Vocation " by Dr. H. L. Smith ; " The Printing Trades " by R. G. McGrew ; " Show-card Writing " by May H. Pope, and " Bee-Keeping " by Walter J. Quick. " The Saturday Evening Post " and Floyd Parsons for " The New Day in Salesmanship," and " Miss Jones Lands a Job." Dean R. W. Thatcher for " Farming as a Life Work." vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The " World's Work " for " The Girl of To-morrow " by Ben- jamin R. Andrews. The " Red-Cross Magazine " for " She Wanted to be a Farmer" by Harriet Mayo. The " Review of Reviews " and Katherine Speer Reed for " New Open-air Vocations for Women in Horticulture." Mary Schenck Woolman for " Wage-earning Occupations Connected With the House-hold Arts." Louise Marcley Cushman for " Secretarial Work." Maurice Irwin Flagg for " Vocational Art." Mabel Robinson for " Interior Decorating." Gratia A. Countryman for " Librarianship." The " Christian Science Monitor " for " A New Vocation for Women " and " A Woman Producer of Plays." Dean Martha Tracy for " The Woman Physician and Her Unparalleled Opportunity." Louise M. Powell for " Nursing." The Bureau of Occupations for Trained Women, Philadelphia, for "Department Store Education" by Harriet B. Fox; "Ad- vertising as a Vocation for Women '' by Elizabeth Conover Moore ; " The Selling of Stocks and Bonds " by Clara A. Mon- roe ; " Woman and Craftsmanship " by Myra B. L. Kohler ; "The Manufacturing Clerk in a Publishing House" by Laura Wilson ; " The Woman Laboratory Worker " by Elsie Robbins ; "Insurance" by Mabel M. Spencer; "The Hospital Dietitian" by Helen Evangeline Gilson ; " Statistical Work for Women " by Neva R. Deardorff, and " Tire Profession of Landscape Architecture " by Elizabeth Bootes Clark. " The Ladies' Home Journal " for " Where Your Job May Lead " by Ruth Neely. Vlll FOREWORD This excellent reader on the vocational opportunities for boys and girls in these Twentieth Century days would have been entirely unnecessary under the simpler condi- tions of pioneer life in this country. Vocations were then very few in number. People lived and worked and died and were buried in the little com- munity where their parents resided before them. Sons followed the callings of their fathers or of their neighbors close by. Daughters lived at home, performing house- hold duties until Prince Charming knocked at the little lattice gate. The household arts like weaving and knitting and gar- ment making that have now become large commercial en- terprises were then practised in every household and were known to every girl in her teens. Trades were hand- crafts in which there was no subdivision of labor, and every workman learned all the processes in the making of the complete article or product. Commercial callings like those of the stenographer and typewriter in the growth of what might be called distributive callings were unknown. Professions were few in number and carried on in a crude way. Under these simple conditions girls learned in the household from their mothers practically all of the activ- ities which they would be called upon to perform in their lives as daughters, wives, and mothers. Boys came in contact in very intimate ways with the whole round of trades and crafts practised in the village. Long before they arrived at maturity they had had a chance not only ix FOREWORD to take part in the work of their fathers' callings, but to test their interest and their ability in the occupations of their fathers' friends as well. Boys and girls did not need to read about the demands and the requirements, the opportunities and the possibili- ties, of vocations. They learned about them in what was perhaps a more effective way through actual experience with them. How different are the conditions today! The discov- ery of steam, the invention of labor-saving machinery, the growth of our population, the rise of an era of large scale production with its centralized control and its extreme division of labor, has brought into our economic and so- cial life many thousands of occupations unknown to our ancestors from which boys and girls must choose their life work. The simple village life has given way to large cities, and the little work shop with its master and journeymen and apprentices has become the modern factory, housed in by walls behind which the work is carried on where children do not get a chance even to see the wheels go round. The youth of the Twentieth Century faces the task of choosing a vocation with little if any knowledge gained by experience which will help him to select the thing which he likes best and which likes him best. Recog- nizing this, modern society is seeking ways in which to help him by furnishing him information with regard to callings and pursuits and by counselling him in his ado- lescent days as he seeks to find himself and make the most of himself individually and as a citizen. FOREWORD This reader would be commendable if it had no other merit than a worthy effort to supply the boys and girls of this country with needed information concerning voca- tional possibilities. It is doubly commendable for the wis- dom that has been shown in the selection of topics and of authorities. Most of the authors from whom the selec- tions have been taken are not only persons of nation-wide reputation but have won their right to speak with author- ity by their successful experience in the fields which they treat. A fine balance has been maintained in the amount of space and the number of vocations described as between girls and boys, a most commendable thing when we see the extent to which the modern girl and woman are fol- lowing wage-earning pursuits for a part or all of their lives. The list of vocations considered is by no means ex- haustive or complete but it is long enough and wide enough to furnish the youth with information about a great many of the leading vocations and pursuits or groups of vocations and pursuits. It is at the same time complete enough to stimulate as most important by-prod- ucts certain points of view which to my mind are be- coming of vital importance in American life a respect for the work of all men, an interest in the way in which the world gets its work done, a sense of responsibility for choosing and following an occupation properly, and a seriousness of purpose in school work as a necessary step to vocational efficiency. C. A. PROSSER, Director, The William Hood Dunwoody Industrial Insti- tute, Minneapolis, Minn. CONTENTS PAGE FOREWORD . . C. A. Prosser . ix PART I WHY CHOOSE A VOCATION THE DAY AND THE WORK . Edwin Markham ... 2 EDUCATION AND AMERICAN- IZATION Franklin K. Lane . . 3 How EDUCATION PAYS . . The Christian Herald . 7 WORK Angela Morgan ... 9 VOCATIONS Dr. Kenyan L. Butterfield u PART II VOCATIONS FOR BOYS FITTING THE MAN TO THE JOB Burton J. Hcndrick . . 23 A WOULD-BE DOCTOR . . Frank Parsons, Ph. D. . 33 SCHOOLS WHERE BOYS LEARN TO EARN A LIVING Katherine Woods . . 40 PREPARING THE BOY FOR IN- DUSTRY Louis L. Park . : . .46 PHARMACY AS A VOCATION F. H. Freericks . . .55 CHEMISTRY IN OVERALLS . Arthur D. Little . . . 58 FORESTRY PURSUITS . . . Captain S. T. Dana . . 67 EMPLOYMENT MANAGEMENT Edward D. Jones ... 79 FARM MANAGEMENT . . . Walter J. Quick, M. S., Ph.D. ...... 85 CONTENTS PAGE JOURNALISM Dr. H. L. Smith . . . 92 THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE Dr. H. L. Smith . . . 103 THE LAW AS A VOCATION . Dr. H. L. Smith . . .no THE PRINTING TRADES . . T. G. McGrezv . . .118 SHOW-CARD WRITING . . May H. Pope .... 121 BEE-KEEPING Walter J. Quick, M. S., Ph.D 126 FARMING AS A LIFE- WORK R. W . Thatcher . . .134 THE NEW DAY IN SALES- MANSHIP Floyd Parsons . . . 141 PART III VOCATIONS FOR GIRLS Miss JONES LANDS A JOB . Floyd Parsons . . .155 WHERE YOUR JOB MAY LEAD To Ruth Ncely . . . . 169 THE GIRL OF TO-MORROW . Benjamin R. Andreivs, Ph.D 174 SHE WANTED TO BE A FARMER Harriet Mayo . . . .185 WAGE-EARNING OCCUPA- TIONS CONNECTED WITH THE HOUSEHOLD ARTS . Mary Schcnk Woolman . 196 SECRETARIAL WORK . , . Jessica Louise Marcley . 204 VOCATIONAL ART .... Maurice Invin Flagg . . 207 LIBRARY WORK .... Gratia A. Countryman . 211 A NEW VOCATION FOR WO- MEN Christian Science Monitor 214 DEPARTMENT-STORE EDUCA- TION Harriett R. Fox . . .216 ADVERTISING AS A PROFES- SION FOR WOMEN . . . Elizabeth Conover Moore 219 THE SELLING OF STOCKS AND BONDS Clara A. Monroe . . . 223 CONTENTS PAGE WOMEN AND CRAFTSMANS- SHIP Mira Burr Eson-Kohler 227 THE MANUFACTURING CLERK IN A PUBLISHING HOUSE Laura Wilson . . . 231 A WOMAN PRODUCER OF PLAYS Christian Science Monitor 236 THE WOMAN PHYSICIAN AND HER UNPARALLELED OP- PORTUNITY . . . . . Martha Tracy .... 239 THE WOMAN LABORATORY WORKER Elsie Robbins .... 248 INSURANCE Mabel M. Spencer . . 251 NURSING Louise M. Powell, R.N. 255 THE HOSPITAL DIETITIAN . Helen Evangelinc Gilson 259 STATISTICAL WORK FOR WO- MEN Neva R. Deardorff . . 263 HORTICULTURE OFFERS A NEW OPEN-AIR VOCATION FOR WOMEN .... Katherine Speer Reed . 267 THE PROFESSION OF LAND- SCAPE ARCHITECTURE . . Elizabeth Bootes Clark . 270 INTERIOR DECORATING . . Mabel Robinson . . . 273 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Taming nature . Frontispiece PAGE A Valley Forge hut 5 Exercise for brain and body 41 Where theory is made practicable 59 Logging . 68 Saving the forests 73 Modern hospital operating room 102 Judges of the Supreme Court in A modern press room .118 Our humble helpers 127 A harvester 135 Uncle Sam's Land Army 186 A class of art students 208 Mosaic making 226 Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell 240 Mme. Sklodowska Curie 247 Clara Barton 256 Hospital kitchen 260 Women horticulturists , . . 266 PART I WHY CHOOSE A VOCATION THE DAY AND THE WORK There is waiting a work where only his hands can avail; And so, if he falters, a chord in the music will fail. He may laugh to the sky, he may lie for an hour in the sun But he dare not go hence till the labor appointed is done. To each man is given a marble to carve for the wall: A stone that is needed to heighten the beauty of all : And only his. soul has the magic to give it a grace : And only his hands have the cunning to put it in place. EDWIN MARKHAM EDUCATION AND AMERICANIZATION IT has never seemed to me that it was difficult to define Americanization or Americanism : " I appreciate something, I admire something, I love something. I want yon, my friends, my neighbors, to appreciate and admire and love that thing, too. That something is America." The process is not one of science; the process is one of humanity. But, just as there is no way by which the breath of life can be put into a man's body, once it has gone out, so there is no manner by which, with all our wills, we can make an American out of a man who is not inspired -by our ideals, and there is no way by which we can make any one feel that it is a blessed and splendid thing to be an American, unless we ourselves are aglow with the sacred fire, unless we interpret Americanism by our kindness, our courage, our generosity, our fairness. What is America? There is a physical America and there is a spiritual America. And they are so interwoven that you can not tell where the one ends and the other begins. I would give to the man whom I wished to Ameri- canize (after he had learned the language of this land) a knowledge of the physical America, not only that he might admire its strength, its resources, and what it could do against the world, but that he might have pride in this as a land of hope a land where men had won out. And I would give to that man a knowledge of America 4 OPPOiVrtlNiTIE'S OF TODAY that would make him ask the question, " How did this come to be?" And then he would discover that' there was something more to our country than its material strength. It has a history ; it has a tradition. I would take that man to Plymouth Rock, and I would ask, " What does that Rock say to you? " I would take him down to the ruined church on the James River, and I would ask, " What does that little church say to you ? " And I would take him to Valley Forge and point out the huts in which Washington's men lived, three thousand of them, struggling for the independence of our country, and I would ask, " What do they mean to you ? What induced those colonists to suffer as they did willingly? " And then I would take him to the field of Gettysburg and lead him to the spot where Lincoln delivered his im- mortal address, and I would ask him, " What does that speech mean to you? Not how beautiful it is! But what word does it speak to your heart? How much of it do you believe ? " And then I would take him to Santiago de Cuba, and I would ask, " What does that bay mean to you ? " And I would take him over to the Philippines, where ten thousand native teachers every day teach eight hun- dred thousand native, children the English language. And I would bring him back from the Philippines to the Hawaiian Islands. And I would show the man how these children, whether Japanese or American, no matter what their source, stand every morning before the American flag and raise their little hands and pledge themselves to one language, one country, and one God. And* then I would bring him back to this country and EDUCATION AND AMERICANIZATION 5 I would say : " Grasp the meaning of what I have shown you and you will know then what Americanism is. It is not 115,000,000 people alone: it is 115,000,000 people who have lived through struggle, and who have arrived through struggle, and who have won through work. Let us never forget that ! '' A VALLEY FORGE HUT We are to conquer this land in that spirit, and in our spirit we are to conquer other lands, because our spirit is one that like a living flame goes abroad. And again it is like some blessed wind some soft, sweet wind that carries a benison across the Pacific and the Atlantic. And we must keep alive in ourselves the thought that this spirit is Americanism; that it is robust and dauntless and kindly and hearty and fertile and ir- resistible ; and that through it men win out against all ad- versity. That is what has made us great. It is sympathetic. It is compelling. It is revealing. 6 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY It is just. The one peculiar quality in our institutions is that not alone in our hearts, but out of our hearts, has grown a means by which man can acquire justice for himself. How best may we spread that spirit through the land ? How best can we explain our purposes and interpret our systems ? Through the community council, through the school, I am making an appeal to Congress on behalf of an ap- propriation that will permit us to deliver from bondage thousands, tens of thousands, millions of children and men and women in the United States to liberate them from the blinders of ignorance, that all the wealth and beauties of literature and the knowledge that come .through the printed word can be revealed to them. Congress will be asked to help all States willing to co- operate in banishing illiteracy. And I want you to help. We want to interpret America in terms of the square deal. We want, in the end, to interpret America in healthier babies that have enough milk to drink. We want to interpret America in boys and girls and men and women who can read and write. We want to interpret America in better housing conditions and decent wages, in hours that will allow a father to know his own family. This is Americanization in the concrete. This is the spirit of the Declaration of Independence put into terms that are social and economic. FRANKLIN K. LANE. HOW EDUCATION PAYS BOYS and girls who go to work when they have finished grammar school rarely get good jobs. The work they find to do is usually unskilled; it offers little training or chance for advancement. When they are older they find that they are still untrained for the skilled work that offers a future. Many boys and girls, when they leave school, find work that offers a high wage for a beginner. But these wages seldom grow, because the work requires no training. A position with a future and steadily increasing wages requires school training. A table prepared by the United States Bureau of Edu- cation compares the wages of a group of children who left school at fourteen years of age with another group who left at eighteen years of age. At twenty-five years of age the average boy who had remained in school until eighteen had received over $2,000 more salary than the average boy who left at fourteen, and was then receiving over $900 a year more. This is equivalent to an investment of $18,000 at five per cent. Can a boy increase his capital as fast any other way? From this time on the salary of the better educated boy will rise still more rapidly, while the earnings of the boy who left school at fourteen will increase but little. 8 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Although the wages paid now are much higher than when this study was made, the comparison remains the same* " THE CHRISTIAN HERALD/' WORK Work ! Thank God for the might of it, The ardor, the urge, the delight of it; Work that springs from the heart's desire, Setting the brain and the soul on fire Oh, what is so good as the heat of it, And what is so glad as the beat of it, And what is so kind as the stern command, Challenging brain and heart and hand? Work! Thank God for the pride of it. For the beautiful, conquering tide of it, Sweeping the life in its furious flood, Thrilling the arteries, cleansing the blood, Mastering stupor and dull despair, Moving the dreamer to do and dare. Oh, what is so good as the urge of it, And what is so glad as the surge of it, And what is so strong as the summons deep, Rousing the torpid soul from sleep? Work! Thank God for the pace of it, For the terrible, keen swift race of it Fiery steeds in full control, 9 10 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Nostrils a-quiver to greet the goal. Work, the power that drives behind, Guiding the purposes, taming the mind, Holding the runaway wishes back, Reining the will to one steady track, Speeding the energies faster, faster, Triumphing over disaster. Oh, what is so good as the pain of it, And what is so great as the gain of it? And what is so kind as the cruel goad, Forcing us on through the rugged road? Work! Thank God for the swing of it, For the clamoring, hammering ring of it Passion of labor daily hurled On the mighty anvils of the world. Oh, what is so fierce as the flame of it? And what is so huge as the aim of it? Thundering on through dearth and doubt, Calling the plan of the Maker out. Work, the Titan ! Work, the friend, Shaping the earth to a glorious end, Draining the swamps and blasting the hills, Doing whatever the Spirit wills Rending a continent apart, To answer the dream of the Master heart, Thank God for a world where none may shirk Thank God for the splendor of work! ANGELA MORGAN IN " THE OUTLOOK/' VOCATIONS ASK yourself, each of you, " Why do I plan to work?" Most of you would probably answer, " Because I have to earn a livelihood." Doubtless sheer necessity is the mother of work. Few men can keep from starving unless they work. For a large proportion of men, however, in a civil- ized community there is another motive that soon be- gins to make itself felt the desire for gain. Mere livelihood is not enough; something more than to have the mere necessities of life is the ambition of most men. This desire for gain takes many forms and has many degrees. In some men it may become miserliness, just the bald love of money. This spirit probably is com- paratively rare. For, just as money itself is only rep- resentative of values, so labor for money seeks not the money but what money can buy. The wish for ease, for comfort, for adornment, for better houses, for travel, for treasure all of these things constitute an attractive goal. Others work in the spirit of playing a game (indeed, there are a few who make play a vocation). Among many vigorous workers there is a certain restlessness a love of the chase, a desire to throw stakes, an eager- ness to make new ventures that constitutes the great motive for work. It is the old spirit of the explorer, the adventurer, the pioneer, the discoverer, pushing ii 12 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY ahead, risking all on the chance of gaining something new, or of merely having the exhilaration of the sport itself. Then there is, of course, in the minds of many of the strongest men a love of power that leads to big work. The mastery of men, the commanding of resources, the overcoming of difficulties, the recognition of strength all these experiences form a tremendous incentive to work. One form of this love of power is the desire to excel others, which a great French economist has said to be the great civilizer. Here is a trait of human nature at first thought unlovely in itself, and often lead- ing to most despicable acts; yet the wish to have or to be or to do something above or beyond others unques- tionably is the root of much of the world's toil. Every serions-nTinded man could probably answer this question as to why he works by saying that it is his duty to work. With Roosevelt he would agree that he should "pull his own weight"; he has no right to ex- pect others to drag him along as if he were an incom- petent. In its finer forms this acknowledgment of ob- ligation idealizes vocation as a " calling, 1 ' a sacred call- ing possibly, for it springs out of a passion for helpful- ness to one's fellow men. It is the missionary spirit, the evangelizing spirit, the teaching spirit, if you please, often the spirit of sacrifice, urging men to the severest toil. Perhaps the crowning personal motive in work is the creative instinct at its best. For this motive gathers up all the other various elements necessity, the desire of gain, the spirit of the game, the love of power, the wish VOCATIONS 13 to excel, and the passion for helpfulness and adds either the genius for artistic achievement or the organ- izing and executive power. In both of these fields im- agination plays a major part only men of insight can be creators. The conscious, deliberate purpose to make work a means of service and helpfulness gains ground slowly but surely. Creative work, which we have said is the highest form of work, is at its best when its goal is human welfare. The great choices of life are made by those whom their elders often regard as still immature. A man's re- ligion, his political party, his wife, his occupation, are usually chosen long before judgment has been seasoned by experience; he is governed by instinct and passion rather than by cool deliberation. Yet these choices are inevitable and often irretrievable. To a remarkable ex- tent they are also sound, for they are the outpouring ex- pression of the real personality. In the main you are restricted in your choice to four main occupational groups : The so-called " learned professions '' - law, medicine, theology, teaching, writing, art, science. Business. Engineering. Agriculture. The opportunities in each of these fields are varied innumerable, and constantly increasing in both number and variety. Each group of occupations runs the gamut of quality from shyster to philosopher, and of type or characteristic to suit many tastes and capacities. The lawyer may be merely a collector ot'bad debts or he may 14 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY be the profound interpreter of constitutions. One doc- tor may possess as his greatest asset a genial smile and hearty hand-clasp; another may stamp out terrifying plagues. One preacher may be the quiet pastor, beloved and helpful ; another the thundering prophet who brings public malefactors to judgment. The teacher may be a scholar of renown, or the obscure but powerfully in- fluential counselor and friend of youth. THe writer may be the purveyor of daily gossip, or the interpreter of the deep and high moods and aspirations of humanity. The artist may copy old masterpieces or create new ones. The scientist may enrich his employer or open for all mankind the treasures of earth and sky. kl Business " ranges all the way from the corner grocery to the vast and intricate commercial mechanism with world-wide re- lationships and influence. Engineering comprises scores of occupations necessary to the successful development of mines, shops, mills, and railways. Agriculture, earliest of the arts, last of the professions, calls for a unique range of knowledge, coupled with business acun^n, man- ual skill, and love of soil and of beast and of growing plant. Roughly speaking, a young man must choose from one of these four groups of occupations. There are, of course, many occupations that do not quite classify here, such as many forms of personal service and the odds and ends of work that men are called upon to do, but in the main these are the great vocational opportunities, at least for which special training is desirable. As a rule it is a sad mistake for one to enter upon a vocation that he does not like. In all occupations there VOCATIONS 15 is a great deal of drudgery, and there are a great many disappointments and limitations. There are multitudes of men who kick against the pricks, grow sour, advise their sons and other young men by all means to avoid a particular vocation. This perhaps proves that it is a mistake to be in an occupation that one does not like. It is rather obvious to remark that ability to perform work is a requisite for good work. Ability or capacity may be natural or partially an acquired power. It is not specific. Manual skill is equally essential in the artisan, the artist, and the agriculturist. Executive capacity may find its outlet in business, or in politics, or in college work. The organizing talent gets results in the pulpit, in daily journalism, and in labor leadership, as well as in industrial management. You will ask, " How am I to know my real tastes until I try? How am I to know whether I can do or not do until there is the opportunity? " That is a natural ques- tion. There is absolutely no way by which success can be guaranteed except through trial. No matter how much experience the elders may have had, no matter how keen the young man's observation, there is no cer- tainty that the particular calling chosen will fit taste and ability. So we have to acknowledge the place of chance in the successful choice of a vocation. One's personal instincts, the advice of one's friends, the cumulative evi- dence of what experience one may have had all these things help to form the judgment and decide the voca- tion. Many young men early in life know exactly what they want to do and follow their path unhesitatingly ro the end. For the great majority of men it is the ac- 16 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY ceptance of apparently chance opportunity that really de termines the choice of vocation. Until comparatively recently the majority of men pre- pared for their work wholly through apprenticeship. Gradually schooling was added, first in the learned pro- fessions and finally in all occupations. With the advent of systematized instruction apprenticeship went into the background. It needs to be revived, occasionally, among men who receive the higher type of education. One of the most mischievous defects of our present educational system is the ineffectiveness that comes from study with- out its application. Preparation for vocation, then, of every type and grade should include an apprenticeship that brings the apprentice very close to actualities, gives him touch with the whole problem, requires him to handle the tools of his trade and experience the whole range of his activities as far as this is practicable in a short time. Apprenticeship, let it be said, is not for the sake of skill, but for the attainment of insight and sympathy, and per- haps most of all for the acquirement of that practical sense that passes judgment accurately and easily upon the nature and significance of problems presented for solution. So far as schooling is concerned, we still have to learn a good deal about adequate preparation for a vocation. The unfortunate antagonism, or apparent antagonism, between " education " and the profession, between the college and the vocational courses, has resulted in many misapprehensions. Vocation is often treated as some- thing rather vulgar, merely a " bread-and-butter " affair VOCATIONS 17 " culture " as something sacred and apart ; whereas what we want is the whole man at work as well as the whole man at leisure. We can provide adequately for vocational instruction only by insuring the teaching of the fundamental principles of technic as the solid founda- tion, the application of theory to practice as the first term in effectiveness, and skill in the organization of the factors or forces involved as a basis of leadership in the vocation. The main problems of life that a man seeks to solve lie in the realms of his work, of his citizenship, and of his personal, intellectual, and moral life. Let us cease to classify the problems too sharply. Let us remember that work should contribute both to citizenship and to in- tellectual growth and moral integrity. The man of breadth of mind and variety of tastes is usually more truly effective, if not always more immediately efficient, in his occupation. Let education for a vocation, then, prepare the whole man for his best work in the occupa- tion that for him is the best expression of his tastes, his capacity, his desire to serve mankind, his power to grow. Vocation can never rise to its full stature until it be- comes idealized. Men must seek the highest things through their work, or at least the highest things that work can give. So there are two aspects of vocation that need particular emphasis. The first has already been alluded to, and is the thought of vocation as primarily service. Under the inspiration of this motive, even drudgery may be glorified. And certainly all the forms of work that are at all essential to men may be done in i8 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY the spirit of service. This does not exclude the idea of a just reward for work; it does exclude the idea of excessive profits and of gain as the main motive. The other possibility of vocation is that of work as a means of culture. Most men get what culture they pos- sess through their work, not through their leisure. Their knowledge of facts, their observations of men and things, their philosophy of life, the range of their reading, their social contacts, are made either directly or indirectly by their work. Nearly all of their associations are de- pendent upon their vocation, or at any rate upon their relation to their vocation. The true social meaning of one's vocation is its in- fluence upon human welfare. The power of vocation to contribute to intellectual growth, spiritual insight, and appreciation of all things created by God or by man, is its measure of culture value. The great possibilities of vocation, therefore, lie in these two directions that of making the occupation as serviceable as possible to other men, and of so treating it that it becomes a source of personal power and apprecia- tion. But vocation has its limitations. The lower motives may prevail and stunt character. Greed and pride and the love of ease may so dominate the work of life that the soul shrivels. Pressure of time and infinite special- ization of toil may narrow thought, circumscribe inter- ests, stifle culture. There can be no doubt that men need leisure as a foil to work. Of the various aspects of leisure, all of which are not always emphasized, there must first of all be leisure for VOCATIONS 19 relaxation for sheer rest. Most Americans do not know how to relax. It is a national blunder and may become a national crime. Even in the interests of effec- tiveness, it is necessary to relax. But there is the more positive form of leisure found in recreation, where the activities are taken away from the ordinary work of life and directed to something else. It may be an avocation, it may be sport or game, but it serves to recreate through a change of activity. Both relaxation and recreation are vital to complete fitness. There is another form of leisure a sort of hybrid between relaxation and recreation. For we need leisure also for growth, the growth that comes from thinking yes, from thinking things through. Meditation is almost a lost art. We jump at conclusions. We flit from one book to another. The daily journal is our literature. We are tremendously active, but we do not give ourselves a chance to grow. Activity breaks down tissues ; we must give new tissues a chance to be made. Nature man- ages better. She rests during the winter in order that -spring may bring the flood of life and vitality. So growth of mind and spirit induced, let us say again, largely by the work of life comes to its fruition best in the leisure of life. Work gives power. Leisure brings appreciation, which is the crown of culture. Let no worker be denied appreciation of the finest things of the human mind and spirit, appreciation of art, of litera- ture, of nature, appreciation of the achievements of man- kind and of the higher motives of human goodness. All these have their rootage in work and their flower in human association. 20 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY But it is not mere sentiment that gives us the chance to glorify work. After all, it is through work that man comes to his best estate. It is only thus that he can be truly effective; it is only so that he gets results. The solving of problems is the great vocation. Usefulness, service, helpfulness to others to solve their problems, make society a scheme of mutual aid and make possible the great hope of common endeavor for the good of all. If to the effectiveness of the problem-solver and the spirit of service may be added friendliness rather than fighting as the mood of work, we have compassed the great possi- bilities of vocation. Dr. KENYON L. BUTTERFIELD. PART II VOCATIONS FOR BOYS FITTING THE MAN TO THE JOB HOW many people who read these lines are satis- fied that they are filling their appropriate place in the world? How many believe that they are doing the particular work for which their talents and inclinations fit them? How many feel that there are other things which, if they were once given a chance, they could do much better? How many believe that their careers are the result of a well ordered, thought-out scheme, and how many realize that their present occupation is pure acci- dent ? The man who is doing the thing that he planned as a boy or young man is the rarest phenomenon. The human being who can deliberately set his goal and ad- vance unwaveringly toward it has determination, almost genius, of a high order. Every one of us has some one thing that he can do better than anything else; in some one undiscovered particular we are all supermen. How many of us are doing that one thing? Questions like these, which most people constantly ask themselves, are now assuming a practical importance in industry. The healthy discontent that leads the average citizen to quarrel with his lot seldom assumes the propor- tions of a tragedy; but there are millions of flesh-and- blood ghosts who haunt the purlieus of modern enter- prise me n and women who never seem to find an eco- nomic affinity. American industry is now searching its heart in the interest of these industrial waifs. To what 23 24 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY extent are the manufacturer and business men themselves responsible for the misfit? To what extent does the mis- fit present the possibility of cure? The latest develop- ment of scientific management is its attempt to solve this problem, to use profitably the vast amount of human ma- terial that is constantly going to waste. Drifting, not steering, is apparently the principle that regulates most lives. A glance into any office or factory discloses the wildest inconsistencies. Men physically frail are trying to do heavy manual work simply because they lack the mental training to do something else. Big, beefy men, deliberate and judicial in temperament, who might do well as butchers, are trying to fill executive posi- tions. There are others tingling with activity whom fate has chained down to sedentary jobs. Good fortune has placed others, who might have done well as doorkeepers, in positions of authority. There are men who haven't the industry to qualify for mental work, but who are too proud to earn a living with their hands. There are others who are full of ambition for commercial success, but who display a hopeless im- practicability at every turn. Men aspire to literary fame who are too lazy mentally to learn the rules of grammar and punctuation. Proud parents make doctors and law- yers of boys who could have had useful careers as farm- ers. Plenty of school-teachers ought to be wearing overalls. There are thousands of clerks, salesmen, and other members of the " white-collar " squad who could have done splendidly as carpenters and bricklayers. Every office has detail men doing executive work and executive men doing detail work. No one has studied FITTING THE MAN TO THE JOB 25 they themselves least of all the inclinations and abilities of men ; no one knows why they fail. The foreman puts a man at a skilled job who is really only capable of handling pig-iron. He sets a girl with de- fective eyes working at a task that demands the keenest vision. Because she fails, the foreman " fires her " ; had he merely called in an oculist, she would have been transformed into an efficient employee. Mr. C. B. Lord, general superintendent of the Wagner Electric and Manufacturing Company, believes that eighty per cent, of these failures are really ambitious to make good; they fail simply because there is no intelligent effort made to utilize them. One of the largest manufacturing concerns in New York State recently gave every employee a physical ex- amination. The results were fairly astounding. Deaf girls were serving as telephone operators. Men with heart disease were doing work that required them con- stantly to go up and down ladders. Others with high blood-pressure were employed in the heaviest tasks. Workmen with deficient muscular coordination were blundering along with jobs requiring the finest manual skill. And this examination touched only the most ob- vious physical qualities. If the investigators had pos- sessed instruments that could record mental aptitudes, one can only imagine what absurdities they would have disclosed. The fact that there are scattered instances in which the misfit, after floating around for several years, sud- denly discovers his vocation, shows that the situation is not hopeless. Nearly everybody can remember cases of this kind. One of our greatest advertising men made his 26 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY beginning in life as an unsuccessful preacher. An em- inent efficiency engineer spent several unhappy prelim- inary years as a college professor. I know a man whose father insisted that he become a lawyer. He failed at this, took to drink, and was rapidly qualifying for the scrap-heap. His natural liking was for the open-air, and the closed atmosphere of a lawyer's office simply stifled all his energies. Some one advised him to buy a fruit farm. He did so. He became ab- sorbed in the work and developed great earning capacity. Another old misfit is now the vice-president of a large automobile company. Ten years ago he was a member of the " floating " class, puttering away at the job of an unskilled laborer. The man really had great executive and financial ability ; only the barest chance put him in the way of utilizing it. Though every one can recall instances of this kind, what we don't always recognize is that these are sporadic cases a few instances of misfits who have accidentally been steered in the right direction. But the great majority are submerged. "What was your first job?" an employer recently asked one of these. " My first job was several places " an answer that went deep into this great social problem. " I can't touch that machine again! " a man once said, appealingly, to his foreman. " I am afraid of it. I shall spoil some of the goods, injure some of my fellow workmen, or hurt myself." He was a sober, industrious person, and the firm concluded that he needed a vacation. When he went back to the old machine, however, he broke down again. The man was simply a misfit. His talents FITTING THE MAN TO THE JOB 27 were executive, not mechanical. He was tried as a sub- boss ; he now holds an important managerial office, earn- ing ten times the pay of the old position. Only the acci- dental thought fulness of his employer enabled this man to discover the thing that he could do. But many industrial establishments are now attempting to reduce employment to a science. The central idea is to use such talents as a man possesses. The great mod- ern quest is to get greater efficiency out of the efficient and to get efficiency out of the thousands hitherto cast aside as inefficient. Twentieth-century industrialism has finally attacked its greater problem how to use all that is in its human material " except the squeal." Great industrial plants, in all parts of the country, are now establishing employment departments. In the old days, the foreman had the privilege of " hiring and fir- ing." It was a prerogative that he jealously guarded. However, he seldom performed his duty with much skill or intelligence. He was notoriously a person of likes and dislikes. He had no system, beyond a few crudely asked questions ; appraising human nature was not usually his strongest point. Prejudice entered largely into his choice of underlings. Not infrequently he was venal, de- manding a bribe as a prerequisite to giving a job, and se- curing pay increases on condition that he obtain a per- centage. But this old-fashioned foreman is rapidly los- ing his power. In hundreds of our largest establish- ments he now does no " hiring or firing " at all. The modern employment superintendent has succeeded this functionary. This office, usually having a large staff, passes candidates for all positions through its hands. 28 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Foremen, when they need steel, iron, or other material, make out written requisitions; now, in the places having up-to-date employment departments, they do the same thing for their materials of brain and muscle. The em- ployment superintendent's business is to supply precisely the kind of men and women needed to do the particular work. If the person sent does not fill the bill, the fore- man can refuse him; the employment department sends another man, and then sends the rejected person some- where else, where his services seem more clearly indi- cated. The employment department thus performs two func- tions : first, it studies the requirements of the shop; sec- ondly, it studies minutely the miscellaneous human beings who offer themselves at its doors. Its theory is that every person can do something. It submits all of its ap- plicants to physical and mental tests, canvasses their past successes and failures, learns their habits, their ambi- tions, their aptitudes. With the aid of a competent med- ical man, it examines their eyes, noses, throats, teeth, hearts, lungs, and digestive systems. After the em- ployee is once engaged, the department's work has really only begun. It receives periodical reports; if the man is not doing well, it finds out why; and it makes a point of shifting him around until he finds his appointed place. One of the greatest of American establishments, located in Ohio, begins sorting out its employees long before they have entered the plant. It works in association with the grammar and high schools, which have arranged par- ticular courses intended to fit boys and girls for particu- lar places in this great industry. In this way, long be- FITTING THE MAN TO THE JOB 29 fore the time arrives to go on the pay-roll, the employ- ment department has learned just what these prospective employees can do, and, after graduation, can immediately place them where they belong. For important office positions the department has a special arrangement. It selects a number of boys, in the junior and senior years of the high school, who seem espe- cially promising. These boys attend school, and, as part of their school work, also spend certain hours in the factory office. Here they are tried out, in one position after another, until their finest aptitudes manifest them- selves. As soon as they are graduated, therefore, they at once step into a good position which there is every assurance that they can fill. Here, certainly, is an ex- treme instance of fitting people to their jobs. Many employers adopt this system of pre-education, though not to the same degree. But most of them are beginning to have greater respect for the sanctity of a job. A man once entered on the pay-roll has peculiar claims upon their forbearance. One of the greatest prov- ocations to inefficiency is the overhanging worry of los- ing one's job. Nearly all human beings work to the best purpose when they are once assured that every effort will be made to use them in some way. So the custom is rapidly spreading of shifting an unsuccessful employee until he finds his place. If he fails at one job, he is put to work at another. No man is " fired " until he has had abundant chance to prove that he can do something. In one of the greatest plants in the Middle West, em- ploying twenty thousand men and women, " firing " has virtually ceased. No foreman or sub-officer can perform 30 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY this solemn ceremony. No man is ousted until one of the four highest executives the president, the vice-presi- dent, and two others has gone over the case and pro- nounced it hopeless. Any employee threatened with such treatment can appeal in person to one of the executives. I could mention many great industrial organizations manufactories, department-stores, mail-order houses, printing and publishing establishments, and the like that have adopted this new attitude toward the poor man's only possession his job. And nearly all ex- press their satisfaction with the experiment. They fur- nish plenty of illustrations that show its wisdom. Here, for example, is a foreman who shows signs of rheuma- tism. " He is useless," the old school would have said; " it 's too bad, but he must go ! " Now the company doc- tor makes an examination and finds that he is merely flat-footed. He is received by properly-fitting shoes, and does twice as much work as before. Under the old conditions, he would have " floated " about, through no fault of his own, and degenerated into a misfit. Here is a girl w r ho started work feeding a machine. She failed. The old-fashioned shop would have told her to " get her time." Why waste efforts on a demon- strated incompetent? But the modern system tried her at light clerical work. Again she failed. She was put to work figuring elapsed time on tickets. Once more she proved a disappointment. She was next called upon to inspect finished books, it was in a printing shop, and this turned out to be the very thing that Heaven ordained her to do. She simply loved her new work, and became an asset to the company. FITTING THE MAN TO THE JOB 31 Another girl started feeding a gathering-machine, but conspicuously lacked ability or interest in her work. Then she tried her hand on a sewing-machine, and caught the trick ; she is now an especially valued " hand." A stenographer began work in an accounting depart- ment, but made unsatisfactory progress. She tried the same work in another department, and failed again. After several experiences of this kind the employment department despaired of her. But there was some mys- tery in the matter : she possessed all the technique of her art, but still made no progress. Accidentally she was placed in a department where she had little supervision and had to assume a good deal of responsibility. The mystery was solved. In the previous departments she had constantly worked under a superior, and the con- stant oversight unnerved her. She was one of the nu- merous people who " work best when left alone." Under the new conditions she developed really brilliant qualities. The employment department put another girl to work inspecting; when she failed at this, it tried her at filing. This didn't work, either. She then tried her hand at the telephone, and make a bad mess of it. She then obtained a job whose chief requirement was the accurate handling of figures. That was the one thing that she did beau- tifully. Here is a man who, after failing in several jobs, was placed on a cutting-machine, with deplorable results. The employment department looked him over again and decided to try him in the stock department. From the first moment in this new place he made a success. 32 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY And so it goes. The employment department can give thousands of instances of the kind. All these people, under the old system, would have joined the perambulat- ing classes. A little effort at selection transformed them into useful workers. BURTON J. HENDRICK. A WOULD-BE DOCTOR A BOY of nineteen said he wanted to be a doctor. He was sickly looking, small, thin, hollow-cheeked, with listless eye and expressionless face. He did not smile once during the interview of more than an hour. He shook hands like a wet stick. His voice was husky and unpleasant, and his conversational power, aside from answering direct questions, seemed limited to " ss-uh," an aspirate " Yes, sir/' consisting of a prolonged ^ fol- lowed by a non-vocal uh, made by suddenly dropping the lower jaw and exploding the breath without bringing the vocal cords into action. He used this aspirate " Yes, sir " constantly, to indicate assent or that he heard what the Counselor said. He had been through the grammar school and the eve- ning high. He was not good in any of his studies, nor especially interested in any. His memory was poor. He fell down on all the tests for mental power. He had read virtually nothing outside of school except the newspapers. He had no resources and very few friends. He was not tidy in his appearance, nor in any way attractive. He knew nothing about a doctor's life; not even that he might have to get up at any time in the middle of the night, or that he had to remember books full of symptoms and remedies. The boy had no enthusiasms, interests, or ambitions 33 34 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY except the one consuming ambition to be something that people would respect, and he thought he could accomplish that purpose by becoming a physician more easily than in any other way. When the study was complete and the young man's rec- ord was before him, the Counselor said: " Now, we must be very frank with each other. That is the only way such talks can be of any value. You \vant me to tell you the truth just as I see it, don't you? That 's why you came to me, is n't it ? not for flattery, but for a frank talk to help you understand yourself and your possibilities. " Ss-uh." " Don't you think a doctor should be well and strong ? Doesn't he need vigorous health to stand the irregular hours, night calls, exposure to contagious diseases, etc. ? " " Ss-uh." " And you are not strong." " Ss-uh." (This was repeated after almost every sen- tence of the Counselor's remarks, but will be omitted here for the sake of condensation.) " And you have n't the pleasant manners a doctor ought to have. You have not smiled or shown any expressive- ness in your face the whole time you have been answering my questions, and telling me about your life and record. Your hand was moist and unpleasant when you shook hands. And you put your fingers in my hand without any pressure or show of interest. I might as well have shaken hands with a stick." (The Counselor's criticisms were very frank and forceful; but he smiled at the boy as he spoke, and his tones were gentle and sympathetic, A WOULD-BE DOCTOR 35 so that the young man was not offended or repelled, but seemed attracted and pleased, on the whole, by the frank and kindly interest of the Counselor in his welfare.) " You might cultivate a cordial smile, a friendly hand- shake, and winning manners, and you ought to develop good manners no matter what business you follow ; but it will take much time and effort, for manners do not come natural to you. " You should cultivate your voice and use smooth, clear tones with life in them. Your voice is listless, husky, and unpleasant now. " And read good, solid books, history, economics, gov- ernment, etc., and talk about them. Develop your con- versational power. At present you do not even seem able to say, 'Yes, sir/. distinctly. " You want to win respect, to be something your fel- low men will admire. But it is not necessary to be a doctor in order to be respectable. Any man who lives a useful life, does his work well, takes care of his family, is a good citizen, and lives a clean, true, kindly, helpful life, will be respected and loved, whether he is a farmer, carpenter, lawyer, doctor, blacksmith, teamster, clerk, or factory worker. " People will respect a carpenter who knows his busi- ness and does his work well a good deal more than they will a doctor who doesn't know his business. It is a question of fitness, knowledge, skill, and usefulness. A bad doctor is one of the least respectable of men. Think of the blunders he is likely to make, the people he is likely to kill or injure through wrong medicines or lack of skill in diagnosis or treatment." 36 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY The Counselor then painted two word-pictures sub- stantially as follows : " Suppose two men are trying to build up a medical practice. One is tall, fine-looking, strong and healthy, with a winning smile, a cordial way of shaking hands, a pleasant voice, and engaging manners. He is bright, cheery, wholesome. People like to have him visit them. His presence in the sickroom is a tonic worth as much as the medicine he gives. He has a good education ; has read a lot of good books; keeps posted in the leading magazines and understands the public questions of the day, so he can talk to all sorts of people about the things that interest them. He has a good memory, so he can carry in his mind the volumes of symptoms and medical data a doctor ought to know, and can tell a case of small- pox, scarlet fever, diphtheria, or other disease, without running back to his office to study the books. He has friends to help him get patients, and money enough to live in good style three or four years while he is building up a practice. ' The other man is small, thin, hollow-cheeked, sickly- looking, with a poor memory, little education, virtually no reading, no resources, undeveloped manners, a husky, unpleasant voice, no conversational ability nothing to attract people or inspire their confidence, and with mental handicaps that would make it very difficult for him to master the profession. No memory to hold the book- fuls of symptoms and remedies the patient might die while he was going back to the office to study up what was the matter. A WOULD-BE DOCTOR 37 " Which of these two men would have the best chance of success? " " The first one." "And which most closely resembles your own case?" " The second." " Do you really think, then, that you would have a good chance to make a success of the medical profession? " " I don't know as I would. I never thought of it this way before. I just knew it was a good business, highly respected, and that's what I wanted." " But there may be other highly respectable lines of work in which you would not be at so great a disad- vantage. " Suppose a lot of races were to be run. In some of them you would have to run with a heavy iron ball, tied round your leg, while others ran free. In other races you would run free as well as the rest of them, and have something like a fair chance. Which sort of race would you enter? " "'I 'd rather run free, of course." " Well, your hands appear to be just as good as any- body's. You can exercise care and industry. You can remember a few things, and can be successful if you don't attempt too much. If you go out into some sort of work where you won't have to meet as many people as a doctor must, or remember such a vast mass of facts, something where the memory and the personal element will not be such important factors, so that your handicap in those respects will not cripple you, you may run the race on fairly equal terms and have a good chance of success. 38 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Some mechanical or manufacturing industry, wholesale trade where you would handle stock, care of poultry, sheep, cows, or other outdoor work, would offer you good opportunities and be better for your health than the comparatively sedentary and irregular life of a physician. " I suggest that you visit stock and dairy farms, car- penter shops, shoe factories, wholesale stores, etc., see a good many industries in the lines I have spoken of, read about them, talk with the workmen and managers, try your hand if you can at various sorts of work, and make up your mind whether there is not some business that will interest you and offer you a fairly equal opportunity free from the special handicaps you would have to over- come in professional life." The Counselor also made specific suggestions about the cultivation of memory and manners, and a systematic course of reading and study to prepare for citizenship, and to develop economic power and social understanding and usefulness that would entitle the young man to the esteem of his fellow citizens. As the youth rose to go, he wiped his hand so it would be dry as he shook hands with some warmth and thanked the Counselor for his suggestions, which he said he would try to follow. He smiled for the first time as he said this, and the Counselor, noting it, said : ' There ! You can smile. You can light up your face if you choose. Now, learn to do it often. Practise speaking before the glass till you get your face so that it will move and not stay in one position all the evening like a plaster mask. And try to stop saying ' Ss-uh.' When you want to say ' Yes, sir,' say it distinctly in a clear, A WOULD-BE DOCTOR 39 manly tone, and not under your breath like a steam-valve on an engine. A good many times when you say ' Ss-uh ' it is n't necessary to say anything, and the rest of the time you should say ' Yes, sir/ or make some definite comment in a clear voice full of life and interest. Watch other people, and imitate those you admire, and avoid the things that repel or displease you in people you do not like." "Ss-uh yes, sir," said the boy, with another faint smile, " I'll try." And he was gone. He told another young man a few days later that the Professor said he would go through him with a lantern, and he had certainly done it, and he was glad of it, for he learned more about himself that evening than in all his life before, and though part of it was like taking medicine all the time, it was all right, and he knew it would help him a great deal. FRANK PARSONS, PH.D. SCHOOLS WHERE BOYS LEARN TO EARN A LIVING ! 'f AHE purpose of the vocational schools of New York A City is to train boys, really and practically, for citizenship able and interested citizenship," said George J. Loewy, a school principal. " People say that the draft examinations showed a general lack of physical development among our boys, and a lack of mechanical training as well. The aim of these schools is to give boys those two things, and at the same time to educate them in patriotism and an interested understanding of American life, institutions, and ideals. Many of our boys in the electrical department are preparing to go into the signal service at the navy yard. But the best of our work is that we are giving our boys a practical education that is making alert and capable Americans of them all." The Murray Hill Vocational School was established in 1914, a Brooklyn branch a year later. Boys enter the vocational schools at fourteen or fifteen, when they are graduated from grammar schools, and in two years are ready to enter their chosen trades as ad- vanced apprentices. Every graduate thus far has been employed at once. The school keeps a " follow-up rec- ord." It has more offers of good positions than it has graduates to fill them. No graduate takes a position at less than ten dollars a week at the start. The graduates 40 SCHOOLS WHERE BOYS LEARN 41 of the last two years are now employed at wages up to fifty-four dollars a week. The course of study changes with changing conditions. It is one of the basic ideas of the system that it must be flexible. Each boy, on entering, chooses some branch of vocational work, and receives a thorough training in it and in academic subjects as well. Every student must take English, trade mathematics, some mechanical draw- Plioto by Brown Bros. EXERCISE FOR BRAIN AND BODY ing, industrial and commercial geography, applied science, and hygiene, and must receive regular physical training. Each boy also must know the history and the govern- ment of his own country. In the vocational work he chooses, according to the present schedule, one of eleven trade groups woodworking, plumbing, electric wiring and installation, machine-shop practice, architectural 42 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY drafting, printing, sign-painting, automobile maintenance and repair, mechanical drawing, garment design, and sheet-metal work. " In the curriculum of the vocational school the train- ing in practical work is the point from which everything focuses," said Mr. Loewy. " That is not to say that we do not insist upon the academic work. We do, and in the last six months of the course cultural subjects are in- cluded. But the academic work is taught from a prac- tical standpoint, and its practical significance is brought out. A boy who can see no sense in the study of Eng- lish grammar becomes interested in it quickly when it is studied in relation to his chosen trade. " It has been the custom to call these vocational schools trade schools. Some even have felt that they were institutions where those who have failed in other branches of the intellectual work might find refuge, or where boys of questionable character might find a place to be reformed. This is not the case. Our students are graduates of elementary schools, and this alone tes- tifies to their elementary school knowledge as well as to their good moral character. " You ask wherein the Murray Hill Vocational School and its Brooklyn branch differ from the general type of, say, manual training high school as we find it through- out this country. High schools, whether academic, com- mercial, manual training, or technical, have one main purpose to prepare their respective students for en- trance to college. Where preparation is for specific duties upon leaving school, it is only an incident to the main functions of such schools. They all assist in de- SCHOOLS WHERE BOYS LEARN 43 veloping the intellectual, moral, and physical well being of the student. How many of its entering students com- plete the course? Not twenty-five per cent. Again, how many of those graduating from the elementary school enter the high school ? The percentage is lament- ably small. What is the reason? Either the type of work most essential for the great majority is not offered, or economic conditions of the students prevent them from pursuing the work, even when it meets their requirements. " Hitherto secondary schools have been for the lim- ited few. Only fifteen per cent, of those entering ele- mentary schools ever take advantage of them. The other eighty-five per cent, have been virtually neglected by our present arrangement. It is true that we have claimed our system of education to be democratic in plan and scope, but can we say that of an institution that makes it impossible for the large majority to accept the training which such a system offers? Democracy in education implies free opportunity for all. We do not wish every one to take this work, but we do offer a new field for those who can not fit into the conditions existing in our established secondary institutions. " The theory upon which the Murray Hill Vocational School and the Brooklyn Vocational School have been based is that what is needed is that at the end of a short course, say of two years, the student shall have acquired such fundamental knowledge of some branch of voca- tional work, together with its correlated academic sub- jects, that he will be in a position to do useful work having a market value. One half of the time is devoted to practical work in some trade under the guidance of 44 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY an instructor who is a master mechanic in that trade. In the academic subjects the teachers are also men who have a background of experience that enables them to correlate the academic work with the practical shop work. No foreign languages are taught. " We differ from the old trade-school idea in that we are first of all a school for modern citizenship. To make a boy a good citizen, we first give him specific training that will enable him to make his living, together with the academic work that will make it possible for him to get ahead. Then we teach him the history and civics of his country, And to a great extent we depend, in our pur- pose to make first-class American citizens of all our boys, upon the atmosphere of the school. " We are, you see. using public moneys. This is a public school. And we can not spend public money sim- ply with the idea of fitting boys for a trade. The first idea, after all, must be the benefit to the State. The State is interested primarily in maintaining itself. But what earthly good to the State is an academic training that doesn't teach a boy to make a living? " New trade subjects are added from time to time, according to conditions in industry. At present the most popular are the machine-shop, electrical, and automobile repair and maintenance courses. But. while most trade schools neglect or treat in minor fashion their academic subjects, we place as much emphasis upon the academic as upon the trade subjects. " Both the schools are now filled beyond their capacity. Our greatest needs are proper housing facilities and ad- ditional shop equipments. The next step will be to add SCHOOLS WHERE BOYS LEARN 45 a third and a fourth year, so that graduates of our two- year course may at some future time take an additional year, or if necessary two years, to advance themselves in their present positions, or, for a limited few, to enter schools of technology. This would be in line with the original purpose of the school free and equal oppor- tunity for all. Indeed, we might even expand the idea, and by adding year after year gradually develop a Peo- ple's Technical University. I believe it was Huxley who said that ' every English boy ought to be able to climb the ladder from the gutter to the university.' I agree with this, but I should like to modify it so as to make it pos- sible for the climber to rest at various stages of his as- cent, to have him acquire practical experience and the needed money to continue his studies, and then proceed to climb to a height limited only by his physical and men- tal abilities." A boy may enter one of the schools at any time, leave if necessary, and come back and finish his course when he is ready. KATHERINE WOODS in " NEW YORK TIMES." PREPARING THE BOY FOR INDUSTRY TO a large percentage of the boys who each year reach legal working age, the call to enter industry comes with a strong appeal, the appeal of a great new experience. It offers a change from the routine of school life and a freedom from study; it offers a charm of an income and of more spending money, a feeling of independence and an improved standing among one's neighbors. Others have succeeded, have secured good jobs and earn good wages; why may not they? It is the call to a big adventure in which are wrapped the pos- sibilities of the future. Were we to ask these boys what is the most important thing to be attained through industry, it is likely that from most of them we would receive the answer, " Good wages." The ability to command an adequate income is unquestionably the great thing desired by most of the human race ; and, while we may covet for humanity higher and more unselfish motives, we must agree as to the importance of proper income to the industrial worker. His view of life, his ability to seek and enjoy the things most worth while, his standing and his use- fulness in the community, will depend in no small de- gree upon his ability to live a normal life in comfortable surroundings. But industry holds far more these days than a chance 46 PREPARING THE BOY FOR INDUSTRY 47 for financial gain. It gives to many the opportunity for that development of mind and body which leads to broader interest and to increased ability, and their ac- tivity in matters of social interest is partly the result of success as industrial workers. The larger relationships of industrial life present also the problems of moral de- velopment, either for better or for worse ; for with the associations that come with work in mill or shop come moral influences that help in the strengthening of char- acter or that tend to lower its standards. As he goes from the more definite influence of school and home to the freedom of industrial acquaintance, the boy is likely to grow stronger or weaker in morals, form companion- ships that will influence for better or for worse his am- bitions in life, and largely fix his position as a factor either for good or for evil. If the boy who is to enter industry is to be prepared for life, much will depend, then, upon how he is pre- pared for industry; and the extent to which our schools prepare the boy for industry will in many cases mark the extent of their influence in shaping him for life in a de- mocracy. If he is to emerge in later life a useful citizen, it will be by the way of industry, and the tone that his influence is to give to the affairs of his community will be colored to some extent by his contact with industrial life. How, then, may our schools prepare the boy for in- dustry? How assist him to withstand the temptation to misuse the freedom and the enlarging opportunity of in- dustrial employment? How plant firmly within him the ideals that will help him to develop into a useful citizen 48 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY rather than become a self -centered, money-getting arti- san? The vocational training of boys for industry can be considered here in a very general way only. So varied are the demands of industry, so many the degrees of op- portunity offered, and so different the provisions made for training after employment, that no simple rule can be suggested. The needs of each locality will naturally govern to some extent the vocational training advisable, and the preparations that the employer makes will modify those needed in the school for the training of the future worker. Still further, there is the problem of adjusting the individual to his proper task, of finding the work that will afford development and provide income to the satis- faction of the worker. These variables must be met by a program sufficiently flexible to insure justice to the greatest possible number. We may well keep in view the fact that most indus- trial workers eventually specialize in their work, no mat- ter how elaborate their training. The young man finds that he does his best work and makes the best wages in some one process, and to this he is apt to hold, while only a few engage in work involving broad training and demanding general skill. The instruction given to em- ployees after entering industry is, therefore, part of a program of adjustment that is necessary to enable the worker to find his ultimate job. All specialization is most intelligent and appropriate if it has been preceded by a program of training in dif- ferent operations. The apprentice and other training courses offered by employers have this as one of their PREPARING THE BOY FOR INDUSTRY 49 objectives, not only to develop men for general utility, but to give the mental development that produces ef- ficiency to the worker. Several things are here accom- plished: First, the worker's curiosity as to certain kinds of work is satisfied in the process of the rotation about the shop, and he is content afterward to settle down to one of them. If confined to one task from the start, he is apt to think some other is more attractive and keep changing later to less advantage. Second, he is better able to judge the work to which he is adapted because of his all-round experience. Third, he is mentally broader and more ingenious and self-reliant from his contact with many problems and their solution and his mastery of a number of processes. Fourth, he has less fear of specialization, since he knows his ability to do other things, if necessary, and there is absent a feeling of narrowness due to the con- fining character of his task. If variety of opportunity is not provided, it will in many cases be obtained by vol- untary drifting, and it may well be given by plan at first than by accident later. We find, then, that this ultimate job may not be the thing he likes best, but it will be apt to be the thing he can do to best advantage. Here industry has played the part of vocational guide, since it directs him by experi- ence to that which gives fullest play to his talents. Most boys who have served four years at a trade usually stick to that trade ; but in the first year or two there is much of readjustment on the part of many, as they try to find the path of least resistance. 50 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Whatever the school may do in vocational guidance should help to decrease, though not eliminate, this post- employment fitting of boys to jobs and jobs to boys. The thing he likes best may eventually be set aside, and an- other more serious task may claim his life's greatest ef- fort; but with the larger number the guidance of the school will prove to be safe and in some cases final. When proper training in industry is not provided, the vocational opportunity of the schools is apparent. To a greater or less extent, they may prepare for specific posi- tions or trades, and give the student the breadth of ex- perience that should always precede specialization. They may at least teach the essential operations of certain pre- dominant trades, or what we may call the " alphabet " of the trades, from which are deri ved the many combina- tions that make up a variety of industrial occupations. With these fundamentals mastered, it will be easier for the student to adapt himself to a specific situation than if he has attempted to specialize in school and must later take up other work. As vocational guidance becomes more practical in the years of school activity, the more effective may become the vocational training possible to the boy, and the more certainly may the variety of experience be made to con- tribute to his final work. But, whatever may be the extent of trade or voca- tional training, before the boy enters the shop or mill there are certain mental traits that, if he has acquired them, will help toward successful progress in industry. He may have gone through the school program, and clone all the " stunts " required, and be able to show some PREPARING THE BOY FOR INDUSTRY 51 samples of his productive ability, but yet miss the most desirable of things possible of accomplishment. The state of mind is, after all, one of the great things de- sired the attitude of the boy toward his future work. His conception of the scope of his school training, his ability to adjust himself to his work, his reaction under discipline, his sense of the relation of quality and quan- tity, and his attitude toward compensation, will have much to do with his progress toward efficiency. The extent to which the school may help in shaping his attitude toward these is problematical, but .whatever it may be able to accomplish in this direction will be desira- ble. We have known boys to consider their trade-school training as sufficient to insure a substantial income, and who have drifted from place to place because it did not soon materialize. We believe that it is unwise for any one to encourage boys in considering themselves skilled mechanics when they have mastered only the elements of a trade ; yet there is a tendency, even though an unconscious one, for this to occur. A realization that his training has been a preparatory one will usually help the boy to better appreciate the requirements of his real job. " Production " is the big word in most industrial es- tablishments. However promising a boy may be, the world and his employer will not long be satisfied with promises: he must produce the goods. The shop was called into being to produce needed commodities, and it must fulfill its mission efficiently or die. It is not sur- prising that upon this word has pivoted the whole of business organization, and by this word must be gauged the extent to which each individual fits into the scheme 52 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY of industrial enterprise. Whatever else the boy may be or do, or may not do or be, he must produce his expected share of the shop's grist. It is " output " or " put out." The proper balance between "quality" and "quan- tity " is the secret of success in industrial production. A boy may be extremely accurate and painstaking, but be exasperatingly slow. Another boy may be " quick as a wink," but lack the care necessary to proper finish. Each of these will find his niche, but his name should not be " legion," for these niches are limited. The great de- mand is far those who can coordinate carefulness and speed, and their number must continue to increase. Both traits can be developed in some degree by training. One naturally expects our schools to teach accuracy rather than speed, but if quick thinking can be stimulated in school work it will pave the way for the final develop- ment of the future skilled producer. The money question is a serious one to many young people at the age of business opportunity. Too many are willing to sacrifice their future for immediate finan- cial gain, and leave school and further training for what they may earn. Courses of training in industry are often passed by for futureless jobs with large incomes attached. Thousands of young men have been ruined in the past few years by this money-mad policy. It is a condition that can be reduced only by the close coopera- tion of school and parent and employer. It deserves our best thought and effort in a campaign of education that must begin at some point far from the zone of temptation. All work in industry naturally demands abounding health and physical soundness. If the work involves PREPARING THE BOY FOR INDUSTRY 53 muscular activity, physical preparedness will help to pre- vent undue fatigue at the start ; while, should the work be sedentary and involve little muscular effort, the abil- ity to withstand the confinement is equally important. The value of body-building exercise as a preparation for industrial work needs little comment here, but we do not wish to appear to undervalue it as compared with the other subjects involved. We may well include in our school equipment the shop, the study room, the gym- nasium. Carefulness and the avoiding of hazards may easily be taught, and our school shops should, of course, train the boy in the use of safety devices and eye-pro- tectors. We believe that most schools have a direct moral in- fluence that is of the greatest value in steadying the lives of growing youth. Where home and other agencies co- operate with the school in moral training, the results are encouraging; but when the school operates alone, the task is a trying one. Within the ranks of industry will be found some of the finest people the world has pro- duced, men and women of high ideals and excellent in- fluence. But industry as a whole has not as definite a moral caliber as we might wish. Its detailed influence may be for good or for evil ; its habit-changing and habit- forming power will sometimes be for the worse as well as for the better. Since the problem of preparation deals with an end- less variety of student abilities and tendencies, it is evi- dent that individual instruction in school will count ef- fectively to whatever extent it is permissible, for that preparation alone can be effective which takes into ac- 54 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY count the needs of the individual student. Thorough- ness in a smaller number of subjects will outweigh a more pretentious program hurried through. It is not so much the extent of his knowledge as it is his ability to apply what he has studied that measures the value of his training. We believe the present increase in cooperation be- tween school and employer a most helpful sign of future progress, for this mutual interest will accomplish needed improvement. As the school sees more clearly the de- mands of the future upon the boy, as the employer ap- preciates more fully his responsibilities in the worker's welfare, we may expect the boy to realize more fully that progress in industry will depend upon developement and not upon good luck or friendly influence. This mutual understanding will make most effective the preparation of the boy for industry, and through industry for life. Louis L. PARK, Factory Welfare Superintendent, American Locomotive Company, Schenectady, New York. PHARMACY AS A VOCATION BROADLY speaking, pharmacy to be followed as a vocation is divided into the manufacturing and the retail branch. American pharmacy in its manufacturing branch has advanced to a very high state, and is the equal of any in the world. There is a splendid field and op- portunity for the technically trained man in the pharma- ceutical laboratory. Retail pharmacy for the man pro- fessionally inclined now shows signs of rapid advance- ment and improvement. There is an ever-increasing higher standard. "The edu- cational institutions in pharmacy have for years been striving to attract the qualified student and to bring it upon a higher plane professionally. The efforts are be- ginning to show splendid results, and it is now only a question of time until American retail pharmacy will be the equal in standing to that of any other country. In practical life retail pharmacy to-day is the corner drug-store. It has its distinct business and professional features. In the past quarter of a century or more, re- tail pharmacy has shown marked development on its busi- ness side, to the detriment of its professional side; but now there is a noticeable trend in the other direction. A successful retail pharmacist should combine good com- mercial training with a thorough technical training, and the promise of greatest success for the future is with the 55 56 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY man who has a well grounded technical and scientific training. The several States control and supervise the practice of retail pharmacy by requiring those who would be engaged therein to prove proper qualifications, by examination. Fitness and qualification for manufacturing pharmacy is largely left for supervision to those who are engaged therein; but the success of the manufacturing pharmacist depends upon requiring proper qualification, and it is very carefully regarded. Whether intending to take up manu- facturing pharmacy or retail pharmacy, the first thing to have in mind is a pharmacy college education. The re- quirements for entering a college of pharmacy or depart- ment of pharmacy vary in the different States. The min- imum requirement for entrance to-day is at least two years in high school, and in many States it is high-school graduation. The courses in different colleges cover a period of from two to four years, and degrees conferred are graduate of pharmacy, master of pharmacy, and doc- tor of pharmacy. Whether intending to take up manu- facturing or retail pharmacy, the student who would build well for the future, and who is at all able so to ar- range, should decide upon spending a full four years at college, to become thoroughly equipped and trained. In their supervision of the practice of retail pharmacy, the several States require four years of combined prac- tical and college work, or of college work alone, to be- come registered or licensed as a pharmacist. In many States two years of combined practical and college work permit registration as an assistant pharmacist in any of the several States by successfully spending two years PHARMACY AS A VOCATION 57 at college and two years at practical work in a retail pharmacy. There are recognized colleges of pharmacy, or university departments of pharmacy, in almost every State in the country. In manufacturing pharmacy, remuneration depends to a large degree upon personal ability and initiative in re- search work, but the man of average ability and fitness will have a fair living income. For the person of small means, or of no means at all, retail pharmacy doubtless offers an attractive future. It is the ever human desire of persons to contemplate the time when they may be- come their own masters, that is, when they will not be the employees of some one else. With proper practical and technical training, a man having from twenty-five hundred to five thousand dollars to invest may hope to become the owner of a retail pharmacy. The capital investment of profitable pharmacies is usually larger, but results from gradual accumulation, or the having of credit, which is always available for the right kind of man. Any properly qualified man in retail pharmacy who is without any means may hope, after an employment period of from five to ten years, to accumulate from his earnings sufficient to engage in business on his own ac- count. Retail pharmacy does not promise all the riches in the world, but it does promise a fair living income to provide for one's self and family; it promises a helpful and useful occupation, a fair social standing, and a pro- fessional standing that is likely to rise to a much higher plane. F. H. FREERICKS. CHEMISTRY IN OVERALLS CHEMICAL control may sound theoretical ; but it is, in effect, intensely practical, and it applies where those who are unfamiliar with the subject would least expect it. For instance, if a man makes mowing-ma- chines he may not appear to need the help of a chemical engineer in his establishment; but if we inquire into the subject we shall find that he does. In fact, next to the design of his machine, the chemical features of his prac- tice are of leading importance. Every unit of his product should be made of that very specific material which will provide the best and most enduring service at the lightest weight and the lowest cost. It requires a metallurgical chemist to select most of his materials in the first place and to hold them to quality afterward. The question where the machine will wear out first, or the location of any structural weakness, can be indicated in specially designed laboratory tests and the fault corrected before the machine is put upon the market. Every spring should be made of steel that maintains its resiliency; the knives should have and hold the best cut- ting edge that the manufacturer can afford; and the driv- ing rods must be stiff without being brittle. These quali- ties are not regulated by the price paid for the steel ; it often happens that the best is very cheap, provided one knows just what to specify or to buy. Paint is another material that requires laboratory control to insure en- 58 CHEMISTRY IN OVERALLS 59 durance, maximum covering power, quality of shade, and proper cost, combined with protection against rust. The structural characteristics of different steels and the internal structure of paint films are subjects that, riot many years ago, were entirely within the realm of pure theory. They have now become the very foundations of the best practice. Is it not obvious that the man who knows the real nature, and therefore the possibilities and 'hoto hy P>m\vn Urns. WHERE THEORY IS MADE PRACTICABLE limitations, of his materials is at least a neck ahead in the race of the one who judges by the price he pays or by the affirmations of a man whose interest lies only in making a single sale ? It may not seem clearly evident that a street-railway system has much of a chemical side to it; and yet, chem- ists do a great deal of work for street railways. In the 60 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY first place, railways buy many tons of metal. Here the metallurigcal chemist makes specifications for that which will best serve each purpose, and deliveries are tested. Paints and varnishes cut a larger figure than with the mowing-machine man. Important savings are made by buying supplies, such as lubricants, boiler compounds, soap and cleansing powders, according to actual needs, under specification and in bulk. Chemical control is needed in the purchase of railway supplies all along the line, and it takes experience as well as study to maintain it. This would seem to be self-evident; nevertheless we can point out utterly absurd losses in great organiza- tions that are otherwise well managed, all for lack of this needed and specialized form of control. One might not think that a dry-goods merchant needed the chemist's aid; and yet here is what the chemist does for dry-goods and department stores in the textile lab- oratory. They determine the actual fiber content of sam- ples furnished. This avoids errors in the quality of goods purchased, and provides the only proper basis for the guaranty that goods are what they are represented to be. Guaranties based upon guesses are expensive. The chemist determines the strength and wearing quali- ties of fabrics, and tests the resistance of dyes to light, bleach, mud-stains, and washing. He analyzes hosiery, for instance, with regard to structure, content, wear, and general merit, as definitely, as he would a rod of steel. Even in the matter of supplies, such as paper, stationery, twine, soap, polish, etc., he makes specifications that result in remarkable savings. A bank is hardly a chemical institution; and yet the CHEMISTRY IN OVERALLS 61 chemist is frequently called upon by bankers and invest- ment houses for help. A manufacturer of an unfamiliar product may be increasing his obligations in a measure to arouse the concern of the careful banker. A confidential report from the chemist as to what the manufacturer does, what his product is, and whether his processes are economical and adequate, posts the banker on the very features of his depositor's business that he desires to understand. It enables him to judge as to the right line of credit, and often clears away doubts that have re- stricted legitimate and desirable loans. Again, some one comes along with an invention all patented and the patents passed upon by eminent counsel. It looks like the proverbial gold-mine with an engaging prospectus, a financial plan with provision for working capital, and with sales practically guaranteed. But the process, which seems to be mechanical, involves principles of physics and chemistry that the best business man is almost certain to miss unless he is thoroughly familiar with the scientific basis of the art involved. Now, un- less every step in manufacture is developed through fac- tory as well as laboratory research and tests, the proposi- tion may be fairly bristling with otherwise invisible chances of failure. " State of the art " searches, in which the chemist has long specialized, prove no less useful to banking and in- vestment houses than to manufacturers. These provide a careful study of prospective as well as present markets for materials, compare available methods of production, and, by a diligent scrutiny of the progress of applied science both here and abroad, disclose dangers that 62 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY threaten long before they are felt. The chemist also points out where extensions of sales are warranted. From a banking standpoint it would appear that a manufacturer should himself see to it that his establish- ment is kept up to date in the matter of raw materials, processes, and use of wastes; but very often far too often for the welfare of American industry he does not. Time and again, if he has a good thing, he lets it go at that while somebody else, somewhere else, works out a shorter or cheaper method or a better product, and he is left stranded. Then the creditors form a commit- tee, and the president of the bank explains to the directors that the failure is due to cut-throat competition while the competitors are getting rich ! The trouble is that the manufacturer failed to learn that the most practical thing in the world to-day is science. Now, it always has given, and it probably always will give, a man a financial black eye to say of him that he is an impractical theorist; and experience teaches that the impractical theorist is a dangerous borrower, no matter how honest he may be. But the manufacturer who is not of a scientific disposition, and who conducts his business without competent control of his materials and processes, is unable to keep informed as to the march of progress; and by this very fault he invites hazards that are bound to affect his credit. He, too, is a dangerous borrower. Information of this sort is not available from mercantile agencies or credit bureaus. A very important branch of the chemist's activity con- cerns cellulose. This is nature's great structural mate- rial. It is the essential component of the cell walls of CHEMISTRY IN OVERALLS 63 plants, and as such the basis of all plant tissues. So its properties are of interest and importance to the lumber- man, the maker of cordage, the spinners and weavers of cotton, the workers in flax, hemp, jute, and ramie, the pulp and paper-makers, and to all those whose business it is to utilize this remarkable material that still remains the product of nature's laboratory. This is only a hint of the bewildering possibilities and actualities of cellulose. It takes kindly to nitric acid and becomes gun-cotton and smokeless powder. Less highly nitrated, it functions as soluble cotton, collodion, and cel- luloid, and it appears in lacquers, artificial leathers, and a host of other things. Treated with caustic soda and car- bon bisulphide, it is transformed into viscose, and later comes upon the market as artificial silk, of which millions of pounds are produced annually. Acetic anhydride transforms cellulose into cellulose acetate, a first cousin of the nitrate, but less temperamental, being non-explosive and as harmless as a paper doll. From it have been made artificial bristles, a superior artificial silk, non-in- flammable films for moving pictures, windshields for avi- ators, and " dopes " for airplane wings. If zymo-technology is a word that twists the tongue uncomfortably, let us call it fermenting, which will indi- cate the subject. There are a great number of yeasts and bacilli that cause fermentation, with a great variety of products as the result, and they are, like fire, good serv- ants but bad masters. When the desired culture is se- cured for a given purpose, and its life and habits are studied and mastered, ideal manufacturing conditions may be attained. They work while you sleep and they live in 64 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY a tub. From an industrial standpoint the great field of bacteriological chemistry is full of interest and promise. Chemists have helped to develop the production of alcohol from wood waste such as sawdust, and from other materials having a basis of cellulose, and they have done effective work in the opposite direction in the way of preventing rot, fermentation, mold, decay, and the like. They have done successful work in the sterilization of water, and in its treatment for various purposes from feeding boilers to table use, and also in the treatment and disposal of sewage and factory effluents. Skim milk is chiefly casein, and, while it is a food rich in protein, it was formerly fed to the pigs or thrown away. Chemical research brought out its value in paper- sizing, in making water-soluble paints for interior use, and for many other purposes. Another use for skim milk consists, under a patented process, of emulsifying cocoanut oil and skim milk in water and then stabilizing them so that the product has substantially the same food qualities as milk and cream, and it looks and tastes like milk and cream. The skim milk may be shipped dried. Binder twine, used in the harvest fields for binding sheaves of wheat and other grains, was formerly often consumed by crickets, leaving the sheaves unbound. The chemist was called upon to solve this problem. It re- quired elaborate entomological research to discover why the crickets consumed the twine, and, following this,, an effective means of discouraging them from their attacks. Again, the chemist was asked to develop a waterproof paper that would not tear. This is now manufactured on CHEMISTRY IN OVERALLS 65 a considerable scale. The chemist's contributions to the paper industry have been many and extend over the en- tire period of our history. The question as to where future supplies of paper are to come from is a pressing one, and in an experimental pulp and paper-mill the chemist has tested out a large number of different mate- rials, some of which are full of promise. The chemist has been an important factor in the development of the sulphite pulp industry especially. An interesting under- taking was the production of a certain kind of paper-felt from bagasse for covering the young sprouts of sugar- cane and thus avoid the growth of weeds in Hawaii. It increases the yield more than twenty-five per cent, and cuts down the labor costs from fifty to seventy per cent, by eliminating the necessity of repeated weedings. A mill in Hawaii manufactures this paper- felt. Chemists have made extensive researches into the lum- bering industry, and the results of their studies of the actual and proved possibilities of the longleaf pine bring out the amazing fact that the industrial value of a full grown pine tree is no less than five times what has been obtained from it. If, of all the yellow pine cut, the en tire trees were used, not only as theoretical science teaches but according to known and proved methods of applied science, there would be added to the estate of the Amer- ican people every day 40,00x3 tons of paper, 3,000 tons of rosin, 300,000 gallons of turpentine, and 600,000 gallons of ethyl or grain alcohol, together with the fuel for these industries, besides the lumber. Of course, this would re- quire a heavy expenditure of capital and a large amount of labor; but the facts remain. 66 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY It is our firm belief that thus far science has only scratched the surface of the industry. The great re- wards await those who have the faith and courage to plow deep. ARTHUR D. LITTLE, Industrial Research Laboratory, Cambridge, Massachusetts. FORESTRY PURSUITS FORESTRY is the business, or the art, or the science, depending on the point of view from which you look at it, of handling forests for timber production or stream-flow protection. It does not, as is often mis- takenly thought, have anything to do with fruit trees, or even with street and park 'trees. The care of these comes under horticulture and arboriculture. Forestry is distinct from either, in that it has to do primarily with entire stands of trees, or forests, rather than with indi- viduals. Forests are really nothing more or less than tree societies, or committees, comparable in many ways with human communities, every member of which has an influence upon and in turn is influenced by its neighbors; and it is this fact that gives to forestry its distinctive character. Forestry should also not be confused with lumbering. Lumbering has to do merely with harvesting the trees on any given area, with cutting them, transporting them to the mill, and converting them into lumber or other prod- ucts. While the chief task of the forester is to manage forest lands, he has to do with the production of trees as well as with their utilization. Forestry is concerned fully as much -with the future as with the present. Like agriculture, it looks forward to keeping the land con- tinuously productive by the growth of successive crops. Only, in the case of forestry, the crops, instead of being wheat or rye or corn, are trees, which in turn can be con- 67 LOGGING FORESTRY PURSUITS 69 verted into fuel, fence-posts, railroad ties, wood pulp, lumber, and a host of other wood products. How much the forests mean to the economic development of a com- munity through the crops that they produce and the em- ployment that they offer is evidenced only too plainly by the desolation that has followed destructive lumbering in many a once prosperous forest region. In addition to yielding crops that have a commercial value, forests in mountainous regions perform another important function, which is none the less valuable be- cause its benefits are difficult to measure in dollars and cents. By decreasing erosion and regulating stream- flow, the mountain forests conserve water for domestic supplies, irrigation, power, and navigation, and at the same time help to lessen the damage caused by destructive floods. So far-reaching is this influence, and so great is the population affected by it, that the treatment that such forests receive becomes a matter of vital interest to the general public. One of the primary concerns of forestry is to see that they are handled in such a way as to afford the maximum amount of protection, even if this involves, as it not infrequently does, the restriction or entire prevention of lumbering operations. In order to handle to the best advantage the area under his charge, there is a wide range of work that a forester may be called upon to do. He must be able to identify different kinds of trees, and he must know the uses to which each can be put and the sites to which they are best adapted. He must be able to map the area and to determine the amount and value of the timber upon it. He must be able to draw up a complete plan for jo OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY protecting the forest from fire, and to carry out the de- tails involved in its execution. He must know how to control the attacks of destructive insects and fungous diseases. He must be able to handle the many details connected with the collection of seed and the production of young trees in forest-tree nurseries. He must know where and how to plant these, or how to sow the seed on areas where this is preferable. He must know whether any given stand is too dense, and if so what and how many trees should be taken out to stimulate the growth of those that are left. He must be able to de- termine the rate at which trees are growing and the age at which they should be cut, and to make plans for har- vesting them in such a way as to secure natural reproduc- tion. And, finally, he must be able to draw up a " work- ing plan " providing in detail for the handling of the en- tire forest in such a way as to keep it continually pro- ductive. All of this obviously involves a good deal of office work in the formulation of plans, the maintenance of rec- ords, and the miscellaneous administrative work con- nected with any business enterprise. It also involves a good deal of practical out-of-door work. The average forester must take long walks and horseback rides. He must often camp out. He must take his part in fighting fires, which means the liberal and energetic use of the ax, the mattock, and the shovel. He must run compass and transit lines and make topographic maps. He must estimate the size and contents of standing trees by the use of calipers and height-measures, and must scale the fallen timber. He must mark, or blaze, the trees to be FORESTRY PURSUITS 71 removed in lumbering, and must see that the operations are carried out in accordance with the approved plans. He must collect tree cones, extract the seeds from these, sow them in the nursery, care for the young seedlings, and later set them out in the forest. He must .also do a hundred and one other things that are not strictly forestry, but that are so closely connected with it that they must be handled by the forester along with his other work. Grazing is a good example of this, since most of the forest regions in the United States pro- duce forage as well as trees. In order to utilize this to best advantage, the forester must know how many stock the range will support, and how they should be handled. In regions where mineral deposits occur he must be famil- iar with the mining laws, and must have at least enough knowledge regarding mining to deal intelligently with prospectors and others. Since most of the forests occur in undeveloped regions, he must know how to open these up by building ranger and lookout stations, and by con- structing such other permanent improvements as roads, bridges, trails, and telephone lines. In short, the average forester, particularly in pioneer regions, must be a veri- table jack-of-all-trades. Forestry is primarily an out-of-door occupation. Some indoor work in the formulation of plans, writing of reports, handling of correspondence, and other office routine, is of course necessary, particularly in the case of those charged with the administration of large areas. But the average forester must spend the bulk of his time in the open, in the forests for which he is caring. ' Some- times his headquarters may be in a small town, sometimes 72 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY in a more or less isolated situation in the woods them- selves. In either case, his daily work will ordinarily take him into the open, in sunshine and in rain. Occa- sionally he may be absent from home for several weeks at a time, carrying his bed and provisions on his back, or, if he is fortunate, on a pack-animal. As far as geographical location is concerned, oppor- tunities for foresters have heretofore been mainly in the mountain regions of the West, where the national forests are located. As forestry comes to be practised more and more on State forests and on private lands, however, similar opportunities will develop in the East. There is no reason why large number of foresters should not eventually be employed wherever forests occur, and this means practically throughout the country, except in the Great Plains and in the farming regions of the Cen- tral States and Middle West. Generally speaking, a forester must be able-bodied and in good physical health. He must have a strong heart, sound lungs, and a constitution able to stand exposure to all kinds of wind and weather. Heart disease, tubercu- losis, and other serious organic troubles are handicaps that point to the choice of another occupation. Forestry requires the services of three more or less dis- tinct grades of workers the professional forester, the forest ranger, and the forest guard. The professional forester handles the larger and more technical phases of forest management. He determines what the forest under his charge contains, how much it is worth, how fast it is growing, when and how it should be cut, what kind of trees should be favored, and other FORESTRY PURSUITS 73 questions of the same kind; and he also exercises general supervision over the execution of whatever measures are decided upon. SAVING THE FORESTS The forest ranger acts as a sort of semi-technical as- sistant to the professional forester. He does not need so thorough an education as the professional forester, 74 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY but he must have sufficient technical knowledge to enable him to carry out intelligently the plans formulated by the latter. His work is to a large extent " practical," and involves the routine of fire protection and fire-fighting, marking the trees to be removed in timber sales, scaling the felled logs, handling planting operations, surveying, building trails, running telephone lines, and doing other work connected with the administration of the forest. The forest guard is ordinarily a non-technical assistant who helps the forest ranger in those aspects of his work that require little or no knowledge of forestry. Forest guards are frequently appointed for short periods only, to help the regular force in the busy season, and particu- larly in the work of fire protection and fire-fighting. Previous experience in the woods or in similar occupa- tions, such as lumbering and surveying, constitutes a valuable, but not essential, preliminary training for for- esters of all grades. Twenty-five years ago the professional forester was almost unknown in this country, and there was not a sin- gle educational institution at which he could secure the necessary training. To-day the profession is well recog- nized, and there are more than twenty schools offering instruction of a grade similar to that required of civil engineers, doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and other pro- fessional men. As a basis for the more technical phases of his education, the man who desires to become a pro- fessional forester must have had courses of collegiate grade in botany, geology, prganic chemistry, mathema- tics, through trigonometry, plane surveying, mechanical FORESTRY PURSUITS 75 drawing, economics, and either French or German, or preferably both. With these as a foundation, he is ready to go ahead with the technical subjects such as dendrol- ogy, silvics, silviculture, forest mensuration, forest valu- ation, forest management, and forest regulation. Obviously, a comprehensive training of this sort can not be obtained with less than four years of collegiate work, at least two of which must be devoted almost en- tirely to professional forestry subjects. If a man has already had a college education, however, he can readily prepare himself for the profession by two years of post- graduate work. The degree of bachelor of science in forestry is usually given on the completion of a four- year professional course, and of master of science in for- estry, or master of forestry, on the completion of a five- year professional course or of two years of postgraduate work following four years of regular college work. For the forest ranger no such intensive training is necessary. With a high-school education as a back- ground, one year of rather elementary training in such subjects as fire protection, surveying, timber estimating and scaling, nursery practice, methods of planting, range management, and report writing is sufficient to enable a man to qualify. In general, the course covers much the same ground as that taken by the professional forester, but in a much briefer and more elementary way. Those who have already had considerable practical experience along these lines can secure a sufficient foundation for their work in three or four months, although even for such men the longer course is preferable if time to take 76 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY it can be found. Many of the forest schools of the coun- try now offer courses of this sort, and the opportunities for instruction are ample. Since forest guards are engaged almost wholly on non- technical work, no particular course of training is neces- sary. No one with any ambition, however, would wish to remain a forest guard indefinitely when other oppor- tunities are open to him merely by taking a free course of instruction. If one wishes to take up forestry, there- fore, and is not in a position to take the professional course, he should by all means attempt to qualify as a forest ranger. Should lack of other openings then make it necessary .for him to serve as a forest guard for the time being, he would be in a position to take advantage of the first opportunity for advancement. Opportunities for employment of foresters may be classed as fairly good. The national forests already offer opportunities for the employment of many men, and it can not be doubted that similar opportunities will soon be offered in State forests as well, as in the case of forests still in the hands of private owners. With the steady decrease in the timber supply, the nation will soon be face to face with the necessity of practising forestry exten- sively as a national safeguard; and, unless private owners take upon themselves the task, there is little question but that the Federal and State governments will take matters largely into their own hands. Altogether it is a safe prediction that any one who de- sires to engage in forestry, and who qualifies himself for the work, will be able to find employment. The entering salary for forest guards in the national service averages FORESTRY PURSUITS 77 about nine hundred dollars a year and for forest rangers about eleven hundred dollars a year. Technically trained foresters ordinarily enter at approximately the same sal- ary as forest rangers, eleven or twelve hundred dollars a year, but with greater opportunities for advancement later. In State and private work approximately the same entering salaries may be expected, although some private owners may be unwilling to pay quite so much to forest guards and forest rangers at the start. Chances for limited promotion are reasonably good. It should be recognized frankly, however, that one can not hope to get rich in the profession, a comfortable living being all that can ordinarily be looked forward to. In exceptional cases unusually able and well qualified men will doubtless be able to draw salaries of four or five thou- sand dollars a year. The average professional forester, however, can hardly hope to advance much beyond twenty-five or thirty-five hundred dollars a year, except by acquiring an interest in some lumber business or in the forest itself. For the forest ranger a salary of fifteen or sixteen hundred dollars may reasonably be looked for- ward to. Moreover, this salary often carries with it a ranger station, which can be occupied as long as he stays in the service, and also an opportunity to produce some crops for his own use. Forest guards can hardly hope for more than nine hundred or a thousand dollars a year. In other words, in forestry, as in all other professions, the better educated you are the better are your chances for promotion. Even at best, however, the chances for large salaries -are small, and men who are bent on get- ting rich should look elsewhere for an opportunity to do 78 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY so. On the other hand, one who is satisfied to make a comfortable living, to spend a large part of his life in the open, to occupy a responsible and respected place in his community, and to enjoy the satisfaction that comes from having an important share in a work of great pub- lic service, can not look for a more congenial or attractive occupation than forestry. CAPTAIN S. T. DANA, U. S. Forestry Service. EMPLOYMENT MANAGEMENT A GREAT deal of thought is now being given by American business men to the subject of em- ployment management. At one time the labor problem seemed to be solely a matter of the policies of organized labor and the methods of industrial warfare. It now shows itself to be chiefly a question of the intelligent handling of the human relations that result from the normal course of business, day by day. It has to do with a study of the requirements of each occupation, the care- ful selection of men for their work, their adequate train- ing, the fixing of just wages, the maintenance of proper working conditions, and the protection of man against undue fatigue, accidents, disease, and the demoralizing influences of a narrow and inadequate life, and the open- ing of a channel through which employees may reach the ear of the management for the expression of dissatisfac- tion with its labor policies. Hitherto, executive control in business has been exer- cised through three main divisions of administration : (1) Finance in charge of a treasurer or president. (2) Manufacturing in charge of a general manager or general superintendent. (3) Sales in charge of a sales manager. To these general divisions industrial enterprise is now adding a fourth employment management, or, as it is sometimes called, supervision of personnel. In the em- 79 8o OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY ployment department of a business are gathered all the ac- tivities that have to do with the human relations hir- ing, education, promotion, discipline, discharge, wage- setting, pensions, sick benefits, housing, etc. To bring all these matters together under one head, and provide each subsection with specialists, is a great step toward scientific industrialism. Industrial experience has proved the advantage of a separate department equipped to deal with questions of personnel. The prompt discovery and analysis of un- favorable working conditions can be made only by a central bureau. Most of the approved methods of deal- ing equitably with the working force have been devised or brought to notice by the new type of industrial special- ist. The primary functions of an employment manager are to hire shop employees (and often office employees also), to superintend transfers and discharges, to assist in de- termining rates of pay, to study the causes of labor turn- over and absenteeism and strive to reduce them, to adjust grievances, and to recommend changes in working condi- tions that will eliminate fatigue and accidents, or will improve the health and spirit of the force. In performing these functions, the employment man- ager will need to organize a staff and provide himself with proper office aids. He will require a set of labor records that will reveal for each department of the busi- ness the degree of efficiency being attained in the utiliza- tion of labor. He will analyze the sources of labor sup- ply, and make studies upon which job specifications, which set forth the qualifications required for each task, EMPLOYMENT MANAGEMENT 81 can be based. He will install such methods of physical and mental examination as will safeguard the force against the hazards of the occupation and the hazard of employment with men unfitted for their work. To the employment manager often falls the function of supervising the training of employees by apprentice- ship, in vestibule or shop schools, or by Americanization programs. The employment manager should be the chief agency of his corporation in forming and executing the policies that may be adopted for keeping the worker up to the standard. These efforts may take any one of a variety of forms. In one plant a mutual benefit organization may be a success ; elsewhere local transportation may be a serious problem, or a recreational or thrift campaign may occupy the greatest amount of attention. Each indus- trial situation requires particular study. The prescrip- tion of economic and social remedies should rest as strictly upon diagnosis as does prescription in medical practice. This means that the employment manager should know how to make industrial and labor surveys. Finally, in connection with the government of the shop, the employment manager will have a hand in drawing up shop rules, and will, by means of suggestion systems and control sheets, deduce the significance of complaints and the causes of discharge. He will be in contact with shop committees, should such be formed. And he will be a harmonizer and mutual interpreter in all collective bargaining negotiations with organizations of employees, striving ever sincerely to reach a fair and permanent basis for loyal cooperation. 82 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY It will be observed that most of these functions are not new in industry. They are now being gathered to- gether under one authority, so that they may be handled in a more expert manner, harmonized into a consistent policy, and made the definite responsibility of competent officers. In such a summary of possible activities as the fore- going, the range of duties indicated is wider than would be actually undertaken in most individual cases. Never- theless, the employment manager has need of a firm grasp on the technique of his* art, and an acquaintance with the successful policies of other employers. He is called upon to practise human engineering, and he has a human part in transforming the relation of employer and employee from a mere " cash nexus " into a satisfying human relationship. Before the employ- ment manager there opens one of the finest opportunities American business life has to offer. The employment manager who measures up to the new standards now being set is a first-class executive, standing on a parity with the sales manager or the production engineer. He has the more need of talent because of the newness of his position; a circumstance that emphasizes flexibility of ideas, the ability to conduct investigations, the courage to be a pioneer, and the power to command the confidence of others in hispioneering. Again, his position is difficult because he stands be- tween parties that have been traditionally opposed to each other, namely, capital and management on the one side, and labor and craftsmanship on the other. He must always perform the functions of a mutual interpreter and EMPLOYMENT MANAGEMENT 83 often those of a peacemaker. The successful employ- ment manager must be a person exceptionally fitted for leadership. He needs good native ability, made service- able by adequate general and special training. He should possess a well balanced and absolutely impartial judg- ment. It is a powerful aid if he possess humanitarian in- stincts and a sympathetic disposition. These must, how- ever, be real attributes, and not a mere pose or policy ; for no deception will long blind those with whom he is associated. The person who measures himself for this profession should be able to find indubitable testimony as to the strength of his own character in the quality and amount of his achievements, and in the regard he has been able to earn from responsible persons with whom he has been associated. He should find in himself, also, the ability to understand human nature. With these endowments the employment manager should couple sufficient education to avoid embarrassment in the oral or written use of his mother tongue. His education should enable him to understand the use of general principles, avoiding the pitfalls into which the so-called " practical " man has usually fallen when he complains of " theories." And this education should have had a wide enough scope to enable him to meet the minds of others, and cement friendships, in a world of ideas larger than the details of his work. At present the salaries of employment managers - the great majority of which probably fall between twenty-five hundred and six thousand dollars are not equal to those commanded by sales managers and produc- 84 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY tion engineers of equal ability. This discrepancy is due partly to the recentness of the function and to its more subtle and indirect relations to the profit-making process. It is due further to the fact that the work of the employ- ment manager is a form of social service that is deeply satisfying to many natures, and that in itself provides a reward able to compensate for some inadequacy of salary. EDWARD D. JONES. FARM MANAGEMENT FARM management has been defined as " the science of organization and management of farm enter- prise for the purpose of securing the greatest continuous profit." It is the business end of farming. It deals with farm organization, methods, accounts, and credits, and is therefore of interest to all classes of farmers, including owners, managers, and tenants. In agricultural affairs, as they have been carried on, the lack of business methods has been amazing. Abso- lute mismanagement has frequently been the principal cause of discouragement, failure, and abandonment of farms. This influence has prevented many from taking up farming. But one who has a genuine love for the farm, and who has or can get some practical experience on the farm, may take a course of intensive study in farming and farm management and then develop into a successful farm manager. The candidate must not for- get, however, that farm management is a profession, and that a person without experience should not expect to become a successful farm manager in a few weeks by taking a short course at some agricultural school. What is worth getting requires time and effort in this as well as in other things. Many who have felt full confidence in farming, and have invested their money in it and applied business principles to it, have proved that the same measure of success will attend farming under business management as attends other industries when properly managed. 85 86 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Tens of thousands of farmers in the United States have demonstrated this by earning substantial profits. Whatever has been true in the past, the manager of a farm to-day must be a business man capable of negotiat- ing complicated transactions, buying and selling, and at- tending to the diverse details of organization and man- agement. You should consider well your adaptability for the di- versifications of general farm life, your inclination to acquire an intimate knowledge of the principal affairs and at least a comprehensive acquaintance with every- thing relating to farming. As a manager you must keep accurate accounts ; you must know live stock as well as crops; you must be a mechanic, and ready to lend a hand with your laborers in a word, you must be broad- mind,ed and tactfully cooperate with your men. You must have a practical knowledge of crops, of their seeding and harvesting, of the principles of plant-breeding, prop- agation, and adaptation to soils. You must understand animal husbandry, breeding, growing; and feeding the animals produced to a market finish or for milk produc- tion. Variations in profits from farms are more largely due to mismanagement than to unfavorable seasons or fluctu- ating prices. Farming has become decidedly a business proposition. The abnormal demand now being made upon the United States for food and other agricultural products to be consumed at home and in European coun- tries makes the extensive application of scientific farming imperative. FARM MANAGEMENT 87 Many farms, unprofitable because of mismanagement, could by reorganization be systematized and developed into profitable, lucrative undertakings. Accompanying this reorganization, the application of business principles and practical management to scientific methods is of paramount importance. With this better farming there must be associated re- liable accounting. It is often claimed that farmers can not keep books, when as a matter of fact, while they do not do bookkeeping in the generally accepted term, nine out of ten, from notes jotted down, have as accurate a knowledge of the financial side of their enterprise as the majority of business men. This has been repeatedly proved by the hundreds of farm surveys, representing many States, by the Office of Farm Management of the Department of Agriculture, through which it was found possible on almost every farm to obtain an accurate finan- cial statement from the memoranda kept by the farm- owners, their managers or tenants, and to ascertain the profits. Thorough organization with method and accounting simplifies management, curtails expenses, makes possible larger returns with less outlay, and establishes credit, which will not longer be denied the farmer when he adopts business methods and can show the bank his state- ment of annual business condition. From their ability to absorb money and labor farms have been likened to huge sponges. But the capable manager can make investment of money and labor in farming profitable. Many farms, like some manufac- turing plants, are being run to only half capacity or less 88 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY by a " one-horse tenant," caretaker, or discouraged farmer. They are awaiting men and money, ready to absorb both, and if they are reorganized and managed on a business basis they will become highly profitable. Only 60,000 farms out of 6,361,000 employed man- agers and superintendents, according to the 1910 census. But it is practically certain that more than one farm in a hundred would have been operated by managers had there been a larger number of effectively trained men available to men owning; or in position to own, farms large enough to justify the employment of a manager. With the number of improved farms now increased to probably 7,000,000, the demand is greater for this class of trained men. The Department of Agriculture and the State Agricultural colleges report inability to fill numer- ous calls for farm managers and superintendents, and the advertisements in the agricultural and live-stock papers for them indicate that the demand continues. The small percentage of profits from the inefficient management of idle and incompetent tenants makes tens of thousands of farm-owners not living on their places desirous of secur- ing active farm managers, capable of introducing sci- entific methods. We believe in fact, we know that there are in the country numerous " old-time " farm-owners who are barely making a living, while their farms are constantly depreciating in value. Unquestionably such owners would receive better returns by employing farm man- agers. The combination of a number of farms with co- operative handling under a competent farm manager, on the community principle, would reduce expenses for FARM MANAGEMENT 89 machinery, teams, and power, and make possible more economic employment of labor. The existence of such conditions offers an excellent field of activity to the man who is trained well enough to see and to use these opportunities. Knowing the pos- sibilities, such a man might be able to convince the own- ers of a number of inefficiently operated farms of the advantage of having them worked as a unit and thereby get them to adopt his plans. The country is full of landed estates of sufficient area to justify the owners in employing specially trained men. Syndicates and individuals have been for years buying groups of neglected farms and orchards in the Southern States. These are almost invariably being handled by scientifically trained farm managers. The properties have improved under modern methods of culture, and have in most cases shown profits within two or three , years, notwithstanding the necessary outlay to bring the run-down property into productive condition. Large farms and estates employ crews of men and . utilize expensive equipment. They especially require the services of well trained and reliable farm managers, cap- able of selecting practical foremen and laborers, and of keeping well in hand the details of all farm processes necessary to economical management. But good man- agement is essential on small farms, operated by owners or tenants, as well as on large estates. The owner and generally the tenant are their own managers, and man- aging a small farm well is one way of learning the pro- fession of the farm manager. The small farmer as well as the large owner must QO OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY consider well the location, climate, soil, lay of land, wates supply, and other features of his farm, in order to determine the most suitable type of farming under existing conditions. He, as well as the large farmer, must keep accounts, organize the farming operations in proper sequence, determine upon cropping, direct the preparation of soil, fertilizing, seeding, cultivating, har- vesting, and all the minor details of live-stock breeding, raising, and feeding, do the buying as well as the mar- keting of crops, live-stock, and live-stock products! The farm manager must have an intimate knowledge of tools and machinery, and an inclination to employ only the best and most modern implements, even if special financing for a year or so must be undertaken in order to farm most profitably. Tractors, modern machinery, and labor-saving implements should be studied. Opportunity for promotion is exceptional in farm man- agement, and will naturally be accorded you in fact, you will be given preference if your efficiency is evi- dent. Men with ideas, who think and do things, are in demand on the farm. Having taken the vocational train- ing in farm management, having skipped no links in the chain of development, and having acquired by reading and observation all the information pertaining to it, pro-, motion will be natural and rapid in the occupation that you have made a specialty, and upon which you have made yourself a reliable authority. The salary paid is proportionate to experience and effi- ciency and commensurate with that of other callings. As in other occupations, it may be small at the start, but it will increase with efficiency. Commonly farm managers FARM MANAGEMENT 91 and superintendents are receiving annually from one to three thousand dollars, and on large estates often four or five thousand dollars, with many perquisites, such as dwelling, garden and truck land, fuel, and the privilege of keeping a cow, pigs, and poultry. Farm foremen are paid from five hundred to eighteen hundred dollars with perquisites. As in other positions, that of manager and the amount of salary commanded varies with the magnitude of the farm and the capacity of the manager to develop himself and the opportunities intrusted to him. A farm-boy, after two years in an agricultural college, took a fore- man's position, starting at six hundred dollars a year and perquisites. The second year he received nine hundred dollars, then became manager at eighteen hundred dol- lars, and now receives three thousand dollars. In five years he has quadrupled his income. A knowledge of the common-school branches, espe- cially English, mathematics and current literature, will greatly assist you in studying the elementary principles of chemistry; in comprehending the analysis of soil and water, the protein and carbohydrate contents of the feeds, milk, and plants, quite necessary to the selection of feeds for the proper balancing of rations; in the understanding of plant breeding, growth, and propagation; in studying entomology and obtaining a practical knowledge of in- sects, pests, diseases, and the bacteria of milk, water, etc., and in acquiring some knowledge of physics and its ap- plication to the soil, drainage, buildings, machinery, heat- ing, lighting all vastly important to the farm manager. WALTER J. QUICK, M.S., Ph.D. JOURNALISM THE main purpose of a newspaper is to give the day's news. Another purpose is that of making the meaning of this news clear to the readers. More- over, newspapers often furnish their readers with ad- vice and with useful information as well as with enter- taining reading. There was a time when the purpose of a newspaper was thought to be that of simply stating con- ditions as they are. At the present there is a rapidly growing tendency to use the newspaper to state condi- tions as they should be. A newspaper that tells what to do to make things better plays a great part in making democracy safe. In any large newspaper plant there are three main di- visions : the business office, whose duty it is to make the paper pay ; the plant, which must see to the actual print- ing of the paper; and the editorial department, which pre- pares all of the reading matter except the advertisements. It is with the editorial department that the term " jour- nalism " is connected. There are two classes of reading matter in the news- paper, the news and the editorial comment, each class of material being prepared by a different force of writers. The editor-in-chief is at the head of the editorial staff; and, since editorials consist of opinions rather than of bare statements of new facts, he holds the most important 92 JOURNALISM 93 position on the paper. He is helped by men who are very well informed about all matters that are of interest to the public. The number of these helpers is from one to a dozen, according to the size of the paper. The managing editor looks after gathering and re- porting news. His department is made up of several parts, each one in charge of an editor. The news editor looks after all out-of-town news, that is, news from other countries or from this country outside of a distance seventy-five miles from the city of the newspaper. The telegraph editor looks over " copy " sent in by outside reporters and decides what is good and what is poor. The Sunday editor gets up the pictures and other " fea- tures " and special articles outside of strictly news arti- cles. The art editor decides upon the pictures to be used and the method of making those pictures. The cable editor prepares the foreign news by filling in cable mes- sages and making long articles out of them. The city editor hires and directs reporters on city work and on work outside the city but within a distance of seventy- five miles, having sometimes as many as seventy-five helpers within the city, and as many as that outside, called " local correspondents." The sporting editor looks after news of sports, and has an assistant for each kind of sport. The night city editor covers late news, being in charge after 6 P. M. to receive copy brought in by re- porters previously assigned to their duty by the city edi- tor. The night editor is in charge of the " make-up " of the paper and the getting of the paper to press. Most newspapers also have other editors, called de- partment editors, for such departments as music, drama, 94 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY society, finance, literary criticism, railroads, real estate, and stock markets. The department editors gather as much of their news as possible by themselves. Their work differs from that of other editors in that their copy goes directly to the printer and is not first looked over and corrected by the city editor. The life of a newspaper man is not an easy life. A study of newspaper work in Boston sums up the hard- ships and difficulties in the life of a reporter in the fol- lowing way: " The hours are long and irregular. On a morning paper they run from one in the afternoon until midnight, usually with an occasional evening off. But the free eve- nings can never be counted on in advance ; they come only when the news happens to be slack. On the afternoon papers the hours are almost as bad ; for, while they are supposed to be from half-past eight or nine to five, an assignment will very often come in at the last minute that will keep the reporter out until midnight. This means little or no freedom. ' The irregular hours also affect the meals. An as- signment often takes the reporter out into the suburbs for hours at a stretch, where there are no restaurants, and where one can only work as fast as possible in order to get back to town. It means all kinds of weather, too; for suicides and elopements will occur, be it fair day or foul, in houses several miles from the nearest car track, and they have to be looked up at once. A long, hard trip, like this, is not only an every-day matter, but it means no extra pay." JOURNALISM 95 The desk man or editor, while freed from the hard- ships of travel, has other difficulties to overcome. The difficulties are set forth in the following further quota- tion from the same report : " As the time for going to press approaches, the copy pours in faster and faster, the composing-room signals that the paper is already overset, and yet perhaps now, at the last minute, an item of first importance in the whole day's events comes in, and room must be made for it. In the midst of all this clamor the desk man must keep his head, racing through the piles of copy, weighing its merits discriminately and giving as cool and careful decision as though he had all the leisure and quiet in the world." One must have good health to stand the hardships and irregular hours of work, under bad conditions, often long distances from the office and in all kinds of weather. There are also certain personal qualifications that one must have to succeed in the field of journalism. Chief among these personal qualifications is the ability to adapt one's self to many different subjects and to feel at home in each. Unlike writers in other fields, the reporter is a writer of matter that lives to-day and is dead to-morrow. He is not as much in need, therefore, of the artistic quality in his writing as he is in need of the ability to pass quickly from subject to subject, writing briefly but to the point on each. Another thing one must have for success in journalism is what may be termed the " news instinct " ; that is the 9.6 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY ability to recognize news in any form even in the most commonplace events, and to write up these commonplace things in cuch a way as to interest the reader. This ability is not found in the person who does not observe carefully. A clear, easy style full of dash is necessary for the re- porter. This style can usually be gained with a little practice by the man or woman with a sense for news. The reporter's main aim is to catch the public eye; after that he needs most to produce copy at great speed, re- membering all the while that his work is not likely to be read more than once. Other qualifications a reporter should have are intel- ligence and an understanding of people. He must have tact, and be a " good mixer," capable of easily gaining the confidence of people in order to draw them out in his search for news. A college education is a help, of course, but it is not absolutely necessary in the journalistic profession. One who wishes to become a journalist may enter the news- paper field as a reporter at almost any time after he has had enough experience and general knowledge to make him well acquainted with a number of subjects, and when, in addition to this, he has learned to write his thoughts in clear, forceful language. Certainly a grade education is necessary and some high-school education is advisable for the beginner. More and more, as the field of news- paper work enlarges and broadens, a full four-year high school course is becoming essential. The best opportuni- ties will more and more open up only to those of wide experience and knowledge. Toward this experience and JOURNALISM 97 knowledge a college education adds very much, particu- larly if the college education deals with the theory and methods of newspaper organization, as well as with prac- tical training in reporting and in editing work. Whether the foundation education is obtained in the grade school, in the high school, or in the college, one must have ac- quired somewhere along the line the ability to write cor- rectly and briefly in language that can not be misunder- stood. Much of the ability to do this -comes from the practical school of experience. Much of it, however, can be given in schools. More and more the emphasis is being placed upon thorough preparation before entering the profession of journalism. Once the college man in a newspaper office was re- garded as a joke by others in the office. They sneered at his style. Two things have happened to change that feeling. In the first place, college men are now trained in a simpler style of writing than they formerly were. In addition to that, they now get more practical train- ing than they did. Besides this, so many college trained men have done well in journalism that newspaper men are beginning to see that their success is due largely to the college training. On many papers to-day one will find the staff made up very largely of college men. On many papers now, when they are looking for a new man for the writing force, they look for a man with a col- lege degree. Since the beginning of the Pulitzer School of Journal- ism at Columbia University in New York, about twenty other colleges and universities have added courses in journalism. One of the requirements for entering these 98 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY courses is four years of high school work. The course itself ranges from courses of lectures by newspaper men to a complete course, four years in length, which usually leads to a bachelor of arts degree, or its equivalent. In- struction in journalism includes a study of the English language, literature, and composition, the work of the reporter and editorial writer, the methods of gathering news, the technique of newspaper making, the general management of papers, the history of journalism, to- gether with general history, economics, sociology, and psychology. Typewriting and sometimes stenography are required for graduation. The college work in jour- nalism is accompanied by actual experience on papers, either college publications or papers published in the city or town in which the college is located. Students trained in such courses know how to write a story, how to plan a headline, and how to write editorials, and men so trained get promotions in shorter periods of time than others. For the benefit of those journalists who have not the chance to take the full college course, several phases of journalism are given in the summer schools of many col- leges, and special courses in newspaper and magazine writing are given in evening schools. Such courses can be taken at the same time that one is employed on a newspaper. It is clear, therefore, that journalism calls more and more for education and training before one begins actual 'work as a regular reporter on a paper. In few vocations is there greater differences in sal- aries than in the field of journalism. There does not JOURNALISM 99 seem to be any general standard that all the newspapers of the country attempt to live up to. The managers of certain newspapers follow the practice of employing only experienced men, taking them wherever they can be found from the staffs of other newspapers. Such papers, of course, pay good salaries. Other publications are willing to take on a few, or even a large number, of beginners. Such beginners in journalism are usually paid twelve or eighteen dollars a week on the daily papers, though some receive as low as ten dollars a week. Promotions are very rapid, and any one with promise can hope to get a rise in salary from time to time until it reaches from twenty to thirty dollars a week, which is the salary of regular reporters. Reporters who do special work are generally paid more. Their salaries range from thirty to sixty dollars a week. On the very best papers there are very few reporters who draw sal- aries ranging from thirty-five to sixty dollars a week. Such men are as well paid as men in the editorial depart- ment. The chiefs of the different editorial departments draw from fifty to one hundred dollars a week. Man- aging editors and editors-in-chief get salaries all the way from two thousand to ten thousand .dollars a year. There are other lines of work far easier to master and more certain to bring large money rewards than journal- ism. The tendency now, however, is to pay bigger sal- aries to newspaper men. As it is, the income is greater than that of the clergyman and equal to that of the law- yer. With many men in journalistic work, however, ideals mean more than money. The public good, with such ioo OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY men, means more than private gain. Another reward in this profession is that he comes in contact with mature people. He learns to know personally many of the great men in business, in politics, in law. The newspaper is one of the greatest educational agencies. It does for the adult in an educational way what the public school does for children. Among the mature there are masses of ignorant people, ignorant in letters and ignorant in citizenship. The journalist, through the newspaper, has thousands of people for his audience. Through his opportunity for instruction the journalist may exercise great influence in politics in con- nection with work for municipal reform, clean streets, or better schools, and against machine control in politics, with its bribery and election frauds. Especially is the opportunity for such influence by the journalist good in America, where there are twice as many papers published as in any other country, and far more than twice as many copies issued. It is estimated that more than five billion copies of newspapers of all kinds are printed in the United States yearly. Very often men who have been successful in early life as newspaper reporters take up magazine writing later. It is often stated that magazine writing is postgraduate newspaper work. The monthly magazine has become an important influence in the modern world, many of the more popular magazines having a larger circulation than any newspaper. On the staff of each periodical there are usually several special editors in charge of separate departments. These editors are often assisted by a reg- ular staff of writers. Frequently, however, those who JOURNALISM 101 write for magazines are not connected with the regular staff, but are " free-lances," contributing articles from time to time on subjects that they are especially fitted to write about. The whole field of journalism is constantly enlarging, and the claim is made by those who are expert in the field that the profession is not overcrowded with good workers. Dr. H. L. SMITH. I THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE THE work of the physician is twofold. It is his duty to cure those who are sick, and to keep the well from becoming sick. Usually he is not called upon until there is an illness, so that the bulk of his work is with the sick. There are two general fields of activity for a physician that of the general practitioner, and that of the specialist. Physicians in rural communities and small towns and cities must be prepared to deal with any type of accident or disease. In cities the tendency is to specialize in some particular disease or on dis- turbances connected with some particular part of the body. Some specialists in large cities are able to con- fine their activities to office work altogether. The work of the physician is difficult. There is a great mental strain connected with his work, for often the life of the 'patient is at stake. With the general practitioner there is a great physical strain due to irregular meals and sleep, and trips in all kinds of weather. Particularly is this true of the practice of medicine for its curative ef- fects. In modern times more and more thought is being directed to preventive medicine, that is, to ways and means of keeping well rather than of getting well. The preventive work can be done under conditions more nearly those that the physican himself chooses rather than under conditions forced upon him, as is usual in the case of curative work. 103 104 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Of all the professions, the practice of medicine makes the greatest demand for a good, sound body. In some professions a man with even severe physical defects can, through careful living, be successful. Good health, how- ever, is essential to the physician if he is successfully to withstand the long periods of strain, the irregular hours for meals and sleep, the bad weather he is often forced to go out in, and the dangers of infection. Not only must the physician be physically fit he must have a natural aptitude and love for his profession. He should care more for medicine than for any other calling in life. By natural aptitude for medicine is meant certain foundation qualities that are essential. It goes without saying that the physician, because of his close relationship with his patients, must be of the highest moral character in order to gain and retain their confidence. A kindly and tactful manner are essential also in gaining this confidence. One must be alert, too, particularly at the present time, when rapid advances are being made in medicine more rapid than in many other professions. Self-reliance is essential in medicine, be- cause unexpected situations are constantly arising, and emergencies, too, in which the help of other physicians can not readily be gained. To practise medicine success- fully one must be constantly learning. Because of the rapid changes in medical science, one's apprenticeship is never completed. Each day some new method or means of treatment must be mastered. Moreover, one's work is never ended. One great element of success is faithful- ness to the patients one already has. This means love THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE 105 for the work and enthusiasm for the idea of service to mankind. Among the characteristics that lead to failure in the practice of medicine are dislike of the work, inability to decide quickly and definitely, and lack of ability to get along well with other practitioners and with patients. As a basis for a course in medicine, one must have completed not only the eight grades of common-school work, but the four years of high school. Twenty-eight medical schools require two years of college work for entrance, and there is some tendency to require even four years of college work. This tendency, however, will probably not grow very fast. Certainly, if the require- ment is made, it can not be a hard-and-fast rule, for the simple reason that it would raise the age of graduation from the medical school to a point higher than the age at which it is wise for one to begin practice. The question of what subjects should be taken in pre- medical work is also very important. Not long ago some three hundred graduates of the Harvard Medical School were asked to fill out answers to questions, giving their opinions in regard to the value of their pre-medical edu- cation. They were asked to state whether they thought it best in this pre-medical work to have a large amount of general culture, such as history, philosophy, economics, literature, and art, or a large amount of natural science, such as physics, chemistry, and biology. Of the three hundred reporting, one hundred and twenty favored a large amount of science, while one hundred and ten favored a large amount of general culture. Seventy fa- io6 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY vored an equal amount of general science and culture. It would seem, therefore, that, according to the present opinion, there should be an equal amount of general cul- ture and science in one's college education previous to taking up the special training in medicine. At the present time one can not hope to get a satis- factory medical education without taking a full four- year course in the medical school. The course of study in American schools of medicine at present is definitely laid out, and one can know beforehand just what sub- jects will have to be taken. Even at the end of the four- year course in medicine it is not advisable to begin the practice of medicine immediately. Those who are look- ing for good positions in the profession should add to the theory gained in college some actual practice. The best way to get this practical work is to serve as an interne in a hospital. Appointments to such positions are often made on the basis of an examination. Such positions last sometimes for one year and sometimes for two years. In the first period of his work in the hospital an in- terne is directed to some extent by other physicians, but largely by his senior internes. In the last six months of his experience as an interne, however, when he is usually acting as the house doctor or surgeon, he is shown espe- cial attention by physicians and surgeons who have pa- tients in the hospital.. There is generally no pay given the interne, aside from board and lodging. The period in which one acts as an interne is considered as a further educational period. It has been said that the experience gained in the two years' interneship to New York City's THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE 107 largest hospital is considered equal to that acquired in ten years of ordinary undirected practice. But, even after a doctor actually begins the practice of medicine, his education is not complete. In order to keep up with the times he must do a great deal of read- ing. He must attend district medical meetings, and also State and national meetings. Moreover, he should visit other cities and thus come in contact with the ideas of practitioners in other communities. An ideal standard of medical education is outlined in the following quotation : ' The American Medical Association's ideal standard of medical education, as set forth by the Council on Med- ical Education after years of extensive study, research, and investigation, is given herewith : "(a) Preliminary education sufficient to enable the candidate to enter our recognized universities, such quali- fications to be passed upon by the State authorities. "(b) A course of at least one year to be devoted to physics, chemistry, and biology, such arrangements to be made that this year could be taken either in a college of liberal arts or in the medical school. "(c) Four years in pure medical work, the first two of which should be largely spent in laboratories on anat- omy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, etc., and the last two years in close contact with patients in dispen- saries and hospitals in the study of medicine, surgery in its various branches, and the specialties. "(d) A sixth year as an interne in a hospital of dis- pensary should then complete the medical course. Under io8 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY such procedure the majority of students should begin the study of medicine at about eighteen years and graduate from the hospital interneship at about twenty-five." The practice of medicine does not hold out the hope of any great financial reward. There are some medical practitioners who have made small fortunes in their prac- tice, but such cases are rare. The ordinary practitioner can not count on much more than a comfortable living, in accordance with the living standards in the community in which he lives. Not only is the physician's compensation generally small, but it is uncertain as well. The fact that the physician's work has a great effect upon the length of life of the patient is in itself a great reward. In the past three centuries medical science has made so great an advance that the average working life of the English-speaking people has been almost doubled. The things that have added to this increased length of life are physical comfort, medicine, hygiene, and surgery. Aside from the satisfaction of seeing length of life in- creased, the worthy physician enjoys the satisfaction of holding a position of trust and leadership in his com- munity. It has been said that in America the number of doc- tors, in proportion to the number of people, is greater than in any other country. A recent study shows that there were in the United States 151,132 practising phy- sicians and surgeons, 16,920 students in medical schools, and 6,955 instructors in medical schools. Before the European war the supply of physicians in the United States was large so large, in fact, that the income of physicians was being materially affected thereby. As a THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE 109 result of the war, however, new fields of practice will be opened for American physicians in other countries, because of the fact many physicians in those countries were either killed or disabled, and also because students have not been graduating from the medical schools in those countries in the past few years. DR. H. L. SMITH. THE LAW AS A VOCATION THE work of the law is to establish rights, satisfy claims, protect the innocent against wrongdoers, secure convictions for the guilty, and to maintain a cause in the face of all forms of opposition and misrepresentation." The profession of law, there- fore, is a profession of action rather than inaction, of fighting for a cause. In this fight the lawyer finds his work in two rather distinct fields office practice and court practice. Office practice again subdivides itself into practice of a public nature and practice of a private nature. Office practice of a private nature consists very largely in the examination of titles to property, the draft- ing of legal papers such as deeds and contracts, the act- ing as trustee or guardian, .the collection of accounts, and the giving of general legal advice. In the office practice of a public nature, the lawyer acts as public adminis- trator, referee in bankruptcy proceedings, or auditor of public accounts. In the field of court practice the lawyer deals with criminal cases, damage suits, etc. It is in this field that there is the greatest nervous strain, but at the same time the greatest opportunity for building up a wide reputa- tion. In court practice an attorney conducting a case usually consults other lawyers and has their aid and coun- sel as associates in the case. no 112 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Both in office and court practice, lawyers usually be- come notaries or justices for the convenience of clients in the acknowledgment of deeds and the making of affi- davits. Classified on a still different basis, the principal fields of practice in law are five in number. Any lawyer would usually have the bulk of his practice in one of these five fields, acting in one of the following capacities : gen- eral practitioner, criminal lawyer, tort lawyer, real-estate lawyer, patent lawyer. All but the first of these repre- sent specialized fields. The general practitioner performs various kinds of legal services any kind, in fact, that may be called for in the community in which he lives. The criminal lawyer limits his practice chiefly to work in criminal courts, and deals with offenses that have been committed against society. The tort lawyer deals with damage suits. The work of the tort lawyer is often divided into two fields, that of the plaintiff lawyer and that of the defendant lawyer. The plaintiff lawyer works for those parties who are claiming damage. The defendant lawyer works for those individuals or organizations that are sued for dam- age. Generally the defendant lawyer serves a 'liability or insurance company, corporation, or other employer. The real-estate lawyer is engaged largely in examining titles, and in acting as trustee and thus holding funds for investment. His work naturally brings him in close touch with both the buying and the selling -end of the real-estate business, so that he usually himself engages to some extent in that business. The patent lawyer assists in getting patents from the THE LAW AS A VOCATION 113 national government, and in acting as an attorney in patent cases. Certain personal qualities are fundamental for success in the law; others, though of high value, are secondary. The fundamental qualities are as follows : Moral integrity, worthy of the trust often involved in handling the property and other interests of clients, or able to withstand inducements to unprofessional conduct. This involves intellectual honesty. Persistence in carrying to completion any piece of work undertaken. This means unlimited capacity for hard work. Sound judgment, to take a right and well informed attitude in questions involving law and facts. Self-confidence, a belief in one's ability successfully to handle a task once entered upon. Concentration, power to bring all one's thought and activities to bear on a case in hand. These basic qualities, with adequate training in the profession, are likely to bring at least a fair degree of success ; the lack of any one of them is a serious handicap, and accounts for most failures. Some years ago even the best law schools did not re- quire any definite amount of education for entrance into the school. In fact, many individuals with only a com- mon-school education read law in an office and took up the practice without any training in a law school. At present, however, every person looking forward to the practice of law is urged to graduate from a law school. H4 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY All reputable law schools now require at least a four- year high-school course for admission. Many of these law schools, especially those connected with the large universities, require, in addition to the four-year high- school work, one year, and in some cases two years, of college work as a preparation. Two law schools admit only students who have a college degree of A.B. or B.S. There was a time when by reading law in an office one could get a fairly adequate training for the practice of law. Particularly was this true of preparation for prac- tice in small towns. Even at the present time this method is followed to some extent in small towns that are long distances from law schools. The rapidly increasing com- plexity of the law, however, now virtually necessitates at least a partial course in a law school, and makes desirable a complete course. The method of training for the law now recommended, therefore, is training in a law school rather than in a law office. The practical experience of the office has re- cently been supplied in the best law schools by the prac- tice court, thus doing away with the former objection to the law school, namely, that it furnished to the student no experience in methods of handling and conducting cases. Each State has its own bar or legal society, and admission is granted to the applicant in accordance with the regulations in force in each State. The tendency at the present time is to continue the past practice of raising standards of admission. This ten- dency has been supported by the American Bar Associa- tion, and with its promise to continue interest in this mat- ter it should not be long before there are evolved uniform THE LAW AS A VOCATION 115 requirements that will constitute a national standard on a high plane. It is difficult to estimate, except very generally, what the average yearly earnings of a lawyer will be. It is difficult to do this, because the income will vary accord- ing to the locality and the character of the service in which one is engaged. Generally speaking, in the first year of his independent practice a lawyer's earnings will seldom net him more than a few hundred dollars. With experience and acquaintance, however, his competence will increase. If a lawyer chooses to serve an appren- ticeship, as it were, with another firm, he may reasonably expect from ten to fifteen dollars a week at the beginning, with an increase after three or six months according to the amount of practice in the office in which he is en- gaged. The following quotations would tend to discourage one from entering upon the profession, unless he is by nature and training well prepared for the work : " Its demands [those of the profession of law] are so high and the condition of genuine success so exacting that it is in- evitable that many of the ill equipped and misguided begin- ners who flood the ranks of the legal professions should fail of success. " The field is greatly overcrowded and the average earnings very small. This is the great objection. Only the more able and fortunate in securing profitable legal practice can hope to win more than a bare competency. Young men may not only be indebted to their family and friends for a course of study covering three or four years in preparation, but after that for a period of five, ten, or even fifteen years consumed in acquiring a competent practice. Many never reach such a practice, and n6 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY are obliged to turn to some other occupation for part or full income, or to come down to the end of life in straitened cir- cumstances, unable to do for their families what was earlier done for them to place them in the profession." Legal training fits a man not only to practise law, but to enter other fields of activity. The lawyer may enter into commercial affiliations and into political life through the judiciary, legislative, or executive branches of the government. Men trained in the law may serve the pub- lic as attorneys for towns, cities, counties, districts, States, or the nation. The positions in the State and Federal service are as follows : Town or city solicitor. County or district attorney. Attorney-general for the State and his assistants. United States district attorney and his assistants. Attorney-general of the United States and his regular and special assistants. Many lawyers also are connected with various national government bureaus, such as the Bureau of Insular Af- fairs and others. Practising lawyers are also often chosen as professors or lecturers in law schools and other schools, such as schools of commerce and finance, medical schools, col- leges, and universities. For those lawyers who have a literary education there is opportunity for its exercise in writing for law journals, magazines, or the daily press. A lawyer's training naturally brings him before the peo- ple as a leader in movements for the public good, if he is at all public-spirited. Finally, many lawyers have an op- portunity for becoming counselors for the people in gen- eral in the practice before legislative bodies considering THE LAW AS A VOCATION 117 public interests. Special economics and industrial prob- lems demand for their best solution legal ability of the very highest order. The legal profession is rapidly becoming overcrowded. During the period from 1870 to 1900 the percentage of increase in the number engaged in the practice of law was 180.1. In the opinion of the leading members of the American bar to-day, the practising of law is a very poor vocation for the incompetent and poorly equipped. Dr. H. L. SMITH. THE PRINTING TRADES THE printing industry is both a profession and a trade. It is essentially an occupation of intelli- gence, the mechanical processes of which require a high degree of specialized skill and training. Printing in the Courtesy Zeese-Wilkinson Co. A MODERN PRESS ROOM United States requires nearly half a million people. The trade is not confined to any particular locality, but is prac- tised in all parts of the country. The number of print- ing establishments in any city is a comparatively accurate 118 THE PRINTING TRADES 119 index to its size and commercial importance; therefore the competent man in the printing business is not re- stricted to particular localities or conditions. The printing trade develops intellectuality, for a printer must fee well read in the very nature of his occupation. His work is skilful, but not extremely arduous, and the eight-hour day is practically standard. Wages in the various branches average from eighteen to sixty dollars a week, with special and executive positions commanding higher salaries. This is the age of rapid industrial changes, and new in- ventions may render certain occupations almost obsolete in a night. It is unwise to enter some lines of industry because the demand is lessening, the business decreasing, and the future uncertain. This is not the case, how- ever, with printing, which is a growing business. The use of printing is increasing in every field of industry. In so far as human judgment can determine, it will con- tinue as an essential industry, and twenty years from now there will be immeasurably more product than there is to-day. Printing nas been aptly designated " the art preserva- tive of all arts." The product of the printer's trade is so well known as to require little comment. Books, period- icals, newspapers, commercial forms, advertising litera- ture, and other products of the press form a component part of the business and social structure of all civilized nations, and are integral parts of the daily life of virtu- ally every individual. Hardly any other field of human activity has a product so universally used. The printing business is entirely shop and office work. 120 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY There is no exposure, nor is the trade affected materially by weather conditions. The work is more uniform in volume than in many other trades. Only a few of the processes have special hazards, and the health of printers compares favorably with that of other indoor trades. The printing trade embraces several distinct branches, chief among which are composition, including hand and machine, presswork, and bindery. Each of these is sub- divided into a number of processes. The regular appren- ticeship is five years for each branch of the trade. Very few are proficient in more than one branch, the nature of the business being such that specialization is necessary for both the trade and the individual. Within the last few years technical schools have been established, which aid in training for the industry. It must be clearly understood that the schools are intercon- nected with the trade, and are for the purpose of adding to shop training and not superseding it. An indispens- able requisite of the printing industry is thorough in- tensive training and experience. In common with other worth-while things, it can not be hurriedly or super- ficially mastered. Time and work both are necessary. T. G. McGREw, Superintendent United Typothetae of America, School of Printing, Indianapolis. SHOW-CARD WRITING A MAN'S attention is attracted through his sense of sight more readily than in any other way. A word, a phrase, a pithy sentence, will catch his eye and focus his interest, when something requiring more con- centration would fail. For this reason, window dressing has grown into an important feature of every merchant's business, and cards pointing out the quality and prices of the goods displayed are universally used. These show cards were formerly made by sign-painters, until some, more far-seeing than others, realized the opportunity to specialize in this line of work, which has now developed into a distinctive trade. There is a great variety of types in show cards. Some are large, others are small ; some are ornamented with de- signs suitable for the occasion or season or goods to be featured in the advertisement; others are plain numerals or letters giving the bare detail of cost. Since these cards are shown in street-cars, on moving-picture an- nouncements, on bill boards at theater entrances, as well as in the stores, they must be so varied as to be appro- priate to their surroundings. A practical feature in writing show cards is the selec- tion of some special design or slogan with which the article or firm may always be associated in the mind of the public. In this field a show-card writer with orig- inality is able to realize materially upon his ideas. 121 122 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Because the merchant believes that seeing will prob- ably mean buying, he finds the show-card writer indis- pensable to his business. Whether large or small, every store needs these display cards with their catchy an- nouncements to aid in promoting business. Present-day competition makes it necessary that every known means of attracting attention shall be utilized by the merchant who would succeed in his line. Progressiveness in store management has occasioned rapid growth in the trade of card-writing within the last few years, and the con- stantly increasing demand for advertising indicates that the trade of show-card writing has an assured future. For the man possessing limited capital the small cost of the necessary equipment is an alluring inducement to enter the trade. A few dollars will cover the entire cost. Brushes, pens, penholder, with ink retainer, ruler, art gum or sponge rubber, thumb-tacks, combination com- pass, a pair of large shears, a T-square, a box of charcoal, soft lead pencils, and cardboard make up the list of nec- essary material for the show-card writer. A good-sized drawing-board completes the list. " The better the workman the fewer the tools," has been said. An ex- pert card-writer can work efficiently with a board, a T-square, and .half a dozen thumb-tacks. A good general education is essential for a show-card writer who expects to be more than merely a mechanical maker of words and letters. Those who become expert in the art need a knowledge of designing and an original- ity in composing effective phrases, such as can not be re- sisted even by those who read the cards casually. SHOW-CARD WRITING 123 A practical knowledge of the geometric construction of letters is fundamental; for, though simple lettering may be largely mechanical work, skill must not be con- fined to the utilization of mechanical means alone. A knowledge of color is an advantage to those who make sign cards. Color combinations and contrasts play an important part in producing attractive cards. As card-writers are confronted by all sorts of combinations of words in inscriptions, it is necessary for them to know letter forms; to understand novelty in designing, ar- rangement, and artistic embellishment; and to exercise taste in harmonizing colors, in order to produce cards that will be not only neat and attractive but at the same time legible. Show-card writers make price tickets and all types of trade cards used in windows, on the announcement boards of theaters, on automobiles, in cafeterias, in street-cars, and wherever else the card may serve as a proper medium for advertising. The trade is carried on in different ways. Cards are sometimes made by salesmen who give only part of their time to this work. Other writers give all of their time to one firm that requires a large number of cards for its own use. Some card-writers work for show-card firms, while others have their own offices and fill special orders. The demand for show-card writers is far greater than the supply. Every small town offers an opening for one or more, who would make a good living at the trade in that locality. Many card-writers are trained in the shop. Corre- 124 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY spondence courses afford fair advantages to the man wno must save time and money, but personal supervision is of great advantage, and personal criticism is essential if a correspondence course is taken. Courses in card-writing are now offered in technical schools and Y. M. C. A. classes and vocational schools all over the country. The length of time required for the completion of courses depends upon the student; one very good course covers eight weeks. Some students after the fifth or sixth lesson have done work sufficiently creditable to bring a money return. Proper and methodical training is very necessary. Care and exactness must first be ac- quired and speed will naturally follow. Courses given in show-card writing cover such sub- jects as how to mix and when to use water colors, inks, and oils; the care of brushes and pens; -the proper kind and color of cardboards to use; and how to apply bronze and diamond dust. The formation of pen and brush letters is, of course, fundamental, and the principles of lettering must be taught in a simple, thorough, and cor- rect way. Proper instruction, with application, is bound to bring success. An exact standard of prices has never been possible for card-writing, as so much depends upon the quality of the work and the time required to make the cards. The cost of the material is negligible ; but show cards have an intrinsic value to the merchant, who is usually willing to pay for them. Card-writers make from twenty-five to seventy-five dollars a week. Advertising cards, being of a tempo- SHOW-CARD WRITING 125 rary nature, must be inexpensive. Rapidity is necessary in order to make it profitable, as the writers are usually paid by piecework. An example may be cited of a hunch- back who began show-card writing at three dollars a week and who by his energy and application rose to a salary of forty dollars in a short while. MAY H. POPE. BEE-KEEPING BEE-KEEPING differs from most other branches of agriculture in that the bee-keeper handles a creature that has never been domesticated. He must therefore study the habits of this creature, and know them inti- mately before he may hope to succeed in this work. The feeding habits, breeding, and even the housing of bees have not been materially changed in all the centuries that man has handled them. If their habits are understood, the bee-keeper may cause them to accomplish results that will lead to the greatest profit to himself. The work is light, without routine duties at fixed times, with no drudgery. Bee-keeping is interesting, and is strengthen- ing to the mind and the body. It is a profitable business that may be made very lucrative with devotion and ex- perience. A Western man sold his crop of one season to a company dealing in honey for thirty thousand dollars. Honey is made from the nectar secreted by thousands of varieties of flowers. This nectar is gathered by bees and modified by them chemically. Water is evaporated out of it, and it is ripened into a delicious and wholesome food. Before cane sugar was manufactured in quanti- ties for commercial use, honey was the most common sweet in human food. In pioneering days it was hunted systematically in hollow trees and crevices in rocks. Wild honey so secured was considered well worth the time spent in seeking it. 126 BEE-KEEPING 127 There is another form of honey, designated as abnor- mal, since it does not come from the nectar of flowers, but is nevertheless gathered by bees. It is developed from a sweet substance known as honey-dew, deposited on the leaves of plants by certain insects such as plant- OUR HUMBLE HELPERS lice. In some regions honey-dew is not found at all. Where found, the amount that bees gather is negligible in comparison with the amount of nectar gathered from blossoms. Nectar is so changed chemically and modified by ripening and evaporation after being gathered by bees, 128 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY that in the form of honey it is readily digested and as- similated. Before the manufacture of great quantities of sugar a larger amount of honey was used per capita than is used now. The necessary introduction of honey as a substi- tute for sugar during the war called attention to its health- fulness, and the lesson is not likely soon to be forgotten. Because it is predigested and readily assimilable, physi- cians recommend it as a food for persons with delicate stomachs. The average amount of sugar consumed annually for each man, woman, and child is about eighty pounds, and this sugar can not be assimilated without change in the stomach, an action not necessary with honey. It can readily be understood that the population might be bene- fited by substituting honey for some of the sugar con- sumed. When the stomach fails to do its work in modifying the sugar, the eliminating organs, the kid- neys especially, are severely taxed. A noted physician, now eighty-four years old, eats honey instead of sugar, believing that it will give him better health and prolong his life. He believes that, as our natural craving indi- cates, sweets are a real need of the system, but that the excessive use of sugar brings in its train a long list of ills. He asserts that if honey could be at least partially restored to its former place, the health of the present generation would be greatly improved. Professor Cook, a Californian, says : "Physicians may be correct in asserting that the large consumption of sugar is a menace to health and long life, and that by eat- BEE-KEEPING 129 ing honey our digestive machinery saves work that it would have to perform if we ate sugar, and in case it is overtaxed and feeble this may be just the respite that will save it from a breakdown." Switzerland produces large quantities of honey, but the demand for it is so great that the price has advanced and the government has been compelled to fix it. Al- though we may infer that the Swiss themselves are a great honey-eating people, Dr. Emfeld, of Geneva, seems to think that they might well eat more of this sweet. " If people would eat more honey," he says, " we doctors would starve." Honey has many medicinal qualities, and is used in nearly all cough syrups, cold preparations, and other medicines. While commonly used in the natural state as a spread on hot bread and cakes, honey may be employed in cook- ing wherever sugar is ordinarily used. The same bene- ficial effect upon health will follow as a result from its use in the natural state. Foods prepared with it are bet- ter and will remain in fresh condition longer than if prepared with sugar or syrup. Bread and cakes prepared with honey will not dry out, as with sugar, because honey attracts moisture. It has long been employed in the household in general cooking, as well as in canning and in the baking of many desirable kinds of bread, and numer- ous varieties of cakes, gems, snaps, and cookies. When used in sweetening tea and coffee it does not cause any loss of aroma. Its recent substitution for sugar is caus- ing it again to be employed in making pies, puddings, and 130 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY sauces. Confectioners use honey freely, and might well use it more freely than they do in making honey mils, candies, creams, butter-scotch, and popcorn balls. In Turkey, a great honey-producing country, where bee culture is scientifically followed with the noted Oriental strains of bees, a popular sw r eet, known as rose-honey marmalade, is manufactured. It is made from the leaves of roses and honey, and combines the exquisite perfume of the former with the delightful flavor of the latter in an unusual product of the nature and texture of a marmalade, due to incorporating the rose petals with the honey. There are in the United States about eight hundred thousand persons who own bees, although not all of them can be classed as regular bee-keepers. Perhaps the aver- age bee-owner has about ten colonies. Since there are many owning bees by the hundreds of colonies, it is ob- vious that the majority have only two or three colonies. This side line of a few hives on the farm does not really pay; it is simply a little luxury. The type of bee-keeping presented here is for a vocation, and is the practical kind employed by the best bee-keepers of the country by men who make a good living keeping bees. The retail price of honey has gradually advanced to forty cents or more a pound, and beeswax to forty-two cents wholesale, notwithstanding the fact that there was produced in 1918 about 250,000,000 pounds of honey. This probably does not cover the entire honey crop of the United States, since a large amount is marketed locally. In fact, this product is so greatly in demand that a large percentage is sold at the home of the apiarist. Apiarists BEE-KEEPING 131 can, if attentive to the attractiveness of their product and considerate of their customers, hold them and make of each an advertisement for additional business. The honey crop of the United States is estimated annually at $20,000,000, and yet there has never been a time when any country on the globe could produce enough to make this delicious food a common article of diet. Not all parts of the United States are equally good for bee-keeping, and it is advisable for one who contemplates making it his life work carefully to consider the selection of a location. As a rule, it is not advisable to go too far from the country with which one is familiar. Bees may be kept with profit almost anywhere where agriculture is practised, the returns depending largely on the care given to the bees. Only those persons who study and devote themselves to the business are successful bee-keepers. They make money, some big money. One Indiana man's honey crop exceeded $20,000. Success requires making bee-keeping the chief vocation, for the person who does not rely upon it for his living is likely to be busy when the bees most need his care, and being constantly engrossed in other things he does not take the time to study the problems of the bee-keeper. Bee-keeping' is preeminently a special- ist's job. There is demand for all the honey that can be pro- duced in the United States, and there was never a time in the history of the industry when the honey market was so well established. Of course, during the war, when there was a shortage of sugar, the demand for honey was ab- normal, but it seems improbable that the market will ever 132 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY revert to pre-war conditions in price or demand. Many persons learned to use honey who .will continue purchas- ing it, notwithstanding they may now buy all the sugar they wish. Honey is not a substitute for sugar in the diet, but more properly takes the place of jellies and jams. . With the development of the bottle trade in honey, which has been rapid in the past five years, there has been an increasing demand- in the wholesale markets. The introduction of prohibition has unquestionably caused the use of all kinds of sweets, including honey. This has already become apparent. The sugar stringency, result- ing in the war basis distribution, had its application in many States simultaneously with prohibition. It was not difficult to enforce the curtailment of sugar to confection- ers in " wet " States, but most difficult, and in fact im- possible, in the prohibition States, where it was actually necessary to increase the sugar allotment to candy-makers. Investigation proves that former users of alcoholic bev- erages were large buyers of candies and other sweets. There is an abundant opportunity for the development of local trade in honev in almost all parts of the country. The future of bee-keeping is inviting. There is every reason to expect that it will continue to develop rapidly for several years, and that it will long continue to be an important minor branch of agriculture. From its very nature, owing to the limited supply of nectar, it can never be one of the leading branches of agriculture, but there is abundant nectar to build up bee-keeping to ten times its present capacity. One of the best ways to acquire a thorough knowledge of bee-keeping is to take a course in one of the agricul- BEE-KEEPING 133 tural colleges that offers such work. It must, of course, be understood that the knowledge so gained must be largely theoretical, for there is not time in a college course for much practical work. However, if the work is properly presented the student should be able at the close of the course to begin with one hundred colonies, and then he may \vork up in bee-keeping practice as he increases the number of colonies. The following colleges offer good courses in this subject : University of Minnesota, College of Agriculture, St. Paul, Minnesota. College of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa. Agricultural College, Storrs, Connecticut. College of Agriculture, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Agricultural College, East Lansing, Michigan. Agricultural College, College Station, Texas. Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kansas. WALTER J. QUICK, M.S., Ph.D. FARMING AS A LIFE-WORK LIFE on the farm, or as our English cousins call it, " living on the land," has many attractive features and advantages as well as disadvantages. Farming differs from all other vocations in that it is both a business and a mode of life. In nearly all other occupations the wage-earner goes away from home, to the shop, store, or office, to carry on his work; but in agriculture the farm is both the home and the place of business. In other occupations the interests of the dif- ferent members of the family are divided at the be- ginning of the day's work the members of the family separate to go to their different and unrelated tasks ; while on the farm all of the members of the family work almost, if not quite, in sight of each other, with lands, animals, and machinery that the family itself owns, and in which there is, or at least may be, joint interest and joint desire for pleasure and success. Again, the farmer and his family are both the employer and the employee, the capitalist and the laborer, in agri- culture as a business. Hence, there is much greater free- dom of action and greater possibilities of common pleas- ure and interest in the business in which the family is engaged. This is what is generally called the " freedom " or " independence " of life on the farm. On the other hand, the farmer is more dependent than any other worker upon forces or agencies that are en- 134 136 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY tirely outside of human control for the success or failure of his work. The weather is one of the controlling fac- tors in crop growth. Often a single brief hail-storm will destroy the results of a whole season's labor. If timely rains do not come, or if a killing frost comes too soon, the crops on which a whole season's effort has been spent wither and die. Fortunately, however, in all locali- ties that are suitable to farming, the forces of nature usually work favorably to the production of farm crops, and the farmer may depend with confidence upon the timely rains, the beneficent heat and light from the sun, the ripening frost at the proper time, the alternation of winter rest with summer labor and growth, which make the farm business so successful and farm life so attrac- tive. Unfortunately, it is often the case that the farmer and his family fail to appreciate the advantages of their com- mon interest in the things of the farm and the pleasures of using the forces of nature to their own advantage, and the work on the farm often becomes a round of drudgery and its life one of isolation and unhappiness. But, unlike the conditions that surround nearly all other occupations, it is within the power of the worker himself to determine how these conditions shall affect his mode of life and the happiness or unhappiness of himself and his family, because he may choose his surroundings with reference to both his business and his home life, instead of being required to live wherever he can in order to be able to get to his daily work. Of course, a failure of crops, or economic changes that result in unprofitable prices for farm products, may make it impossible at times to have FARMING AS A LIFE-WORK 137 on the farm many of the pleasures and comforts of life which the family may desire; but the many examples of fine happy farm homes in the same neighborhood as, and even alongside of, those where drudgery and unhappiness prevail show how truly these conditions are the result of the farmer's own desires and efforts, rather than of ex- ternal influences over which he has no control. Since the choice of farming as a vocation is also the choice of a home in the country, with both its advantages and its disadvantages, the first necessity in preparing for this vocation is either a natural or a cultivated desire for life in the country. No one who dislikes country life or has a distaste for hard manual labor can hope to succeed in farming as a business or to enjoy farm home life. The coming of good roads, rural free delivery, rural telephones, consolidated schools, and farm home electric- light plants and pressure water supplies have done away with much of the physical and social differences between country life and life in the city or town; but the farmer and his family must like hard physical work and enjoy doing much of that work out in the open, in all seasons of the year and under country life conditions, if they are truly to succeed in farm life. Next, the successful farmer must have as much techni- cal training for his work as possible. In addition to the best education he can get for general business and citizen- ship uses, he ought to have as much as possible of educa- tion in the principles of scientific agriculture. It is, of course, not possible to learn " how to farm " in school. Skill in handling farm implements, familiarity with farm animals, muscles accustomed to hard work, etc., can be 138 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY obtained only by actually working on a farm. But a real understanding of how the soil should be treated to get from it its maximum productivity; of how the insects and plant diseases that injure crops or animals can best be controlled; of how improved strains of seed stock for crops or improved breeds of live stock can be obtained; of how animals can be fed so that they will make the best possible use of the materials which they consume; of whether the raw materials grown on the farm had best be sold as such or manufactured on the farm into other forms of food products all these and many other ques- tions that arise in connection with the operation of a mod- ern farm can be intelligently answered only after careful study of the scientific principles that govern each of these matters. " Book farming '' is not a substitute for practical ex- perience, and will not teach any one how to work skilfully on a farm ; but it will give him the knowledge that will help him to avoid mistakes and to plan his work intelli- gently. Also, a true understanding and appreciation of the forces of nature with which he has to deal means much to the happiness of the farm worker. Most of the drudgery and discontent of farm life in the past has been due to the feeling by the individual farmer that he was being made the victim of unfavorable forces or agencies that he could not understand or successfully combat. Farming differs from many other occupations in the great variety of types of work and of living conditions that it offers. A shoemaker's work is practically the same wherever he may locate ; a banker conducts his busi- ness in much the same way, wherever it is undertaken ; a FARMING AS A LIFE-WORK 139 merchant sells much the same goods in much the same way, wherever he may decide to establish his store. But the farmer has a choice of an almost infinite variety of types of agriculture, and a program of daily work that varies with each succeeding period of the season. In any given locality, he may choose between the growing of a considerable variety of crops; the production of cattle, swine, sheep, horses, or chickens ; market-gardening or the growing of large-field crops; bee-keeping; fruit-grow- ing; dairying; or any combination of these that he may desire or find to be adapted to the local needs and con- ditions. Again, he may choose between the widest pos- sible variations, in different localities, of soils, seasons of weather, market conditions, and conditions of community life. Hence, in the choice of farming as a life-work, one needs to consider not only the general comparison of this vocation with others, but also to choose between the al- most limitless number of possible variations in the kind of farming and the conditions of home life on the farm that are open to him. What has just been said about the great variety of con- ditions of farm life emphasizes both the opportunity and the need for trained leadership among farmers. In other occupations the problems and conditions of work of all those who are engaged in any particular industry or pro- fession are very similar, and leadership may easily result from natural ability or from long experience. But in agriculture the variations in the problems are so great that no one person can become familiar with any considerable part of them by the experience of a single life-time. 140 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY This fact is a constant stimulus, as well as a challenge, to any one who really wants to lead a life full of interest to himself, opportunity for his family, and service to his neighbors and his community. Added to health of body resulting from an intelligent, sanitary life in the open country, there may be health of mind and soul resulting from intelligent appreciation of and participation in the works of nature for the benefit of mankind. Taken all together, farming offers a most attractive life-work and mode of life combined. It has its troubles and disadvantages, as do all other occupations, but in farming these are more easily remedied or overcome by the intelligent efforts of the farmer himself than are those of almost any other vocation. Life in the country is at the same time an inspiration and a challenge to all that is best in human life. It is this fact that makes true the often repeated statement that " our best men come from the country." R. W. THATCHER. Dean of the Department of Agriculture and Director of Agricultural Experiment Stations, University of Minnesota. THE NEW DAY IN SALESMANSHIP PERHAPS the most widely discussed subject in busi- ness to-day is the art of selling. Whether this is true or not, the fact remains that practically every human being is a seller of something. Efforts are now being made to develop definite methods for use in the selection of salesmen. Other investigators are endeavoring to lay down rules of a scientific nature to govern the problem in action. Yet strange as it may appear, this oldest of all occupations continues to be practiced in conformity with the personal ideas of each individual salesman rather than as an exact science with proved formulas. However, this deficiency in the matter of a prescribed course of procedure in selling goods is due more to a lack of organization of present available information than to any dearth of knowledge on the subject. The time has passed, if it ever was here, when a salesman to be a suc- cess must depend chiefly on good fellowship and an ability to entertain. These qualities, though valuable, now rank below creative ability and the power to present in force- ful manner the proper appeal to each particular prospect approached. In other words, salesmanship has acquired the dignified distinction of being a profession demanding a grade of intelligence and education that was not the case some years ago, when the average salesman was little more than a hired man who traveled a fixed route and recorded orders. 141 142 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY In an effort to get a line on a variety of new ideas in selling and sales management I got in touch with a num- ber of bur best-known leading lights in this interesting game of getting commodities from the producers to the fellows who need them. I found these men in possession of accumulated facts indicating close observation and patient research. The modern sales manager is a combi- nation psychologist, statistician, merchant and analyst. He is no more born to follow his pursuit than is the aver- age doctor or engineer. The secret of success in selling is chiefly a willingness to devote the necessary time and study to learning the business. My informants were agreed that one of the greatest difficulties is the selection of men to act as salesmen. The new applicant may have talent to sell goods, and yet pos- sess very little ability to sell himself. This truth, coupled with the prevalent tendency of most employers to follow their intuitions and prejudices rather than cold facts in hiring men, makes it advisable never to employ a sales- man during the first interview, and if possible to procure an opinion of the man from two or more of the company's officers. One concern requires that four of its executives shall interview each applicant for a salesman's job and that the average of the four ratings shall determine the new man's qualifications. The physical characteristics of an applicant provide no accurate measure of the man's mental capacity. It is, of course, understood that there should be some difference in the style and mannerisms of a man who is wanted to sell jewelry to Fifth Avenue stores and a salesman for paints and oils in Texas or Oklahoma. It is fatal to provide a THE NEW DAY IN SALESMANSHIP 143 situation where the prospect is made to feel that the seller is of another class. The merchant or farmer in a soft hat and shirt sleeves won't mix well with the salesman who carries a cane and wears spats. Physical appearance therefore must be taken into account to see that the man who is employed will not appear out of harmony with the trade and surroundings he must meet. However, the difficulty in picking the right man for a selling position lies in getting a true slant on the newcomer's mental and moral traits, which qualities are not always wbrn so they are in plain view. The use of application forms is only helpful in that time may thus be saved through the elimination of inter- views with men who might be put out of the probable or possible class by certain unfavorable facts that their writ- ten answers to specific questions might reveal. The native ability and general intelligence of a prospective salesman are the important questions to be determined, and these distinctive attributes can only be discovered after careful search and the application of simple but proved scientific tests. Some managers have prepared charts with two columns of qualities, the virtues being known as plus qualities and the deficiencies being called minus qualities. In this system, after the applicant has been interviewed one or more times, the employer fills the chart by giving the man a certain grade for each quality. The total of the minus qualities or deficiencies subtracted from the total of the plus qualities gives a figure that represents in a general way the merit or probable value of the applicant. Among the plus qualities are energy, persistence, loyalty, appear- 144 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY ance, personality and imagination. The minus column includes laziness, ill temper, bad habits, jealousy and conceit. Some men are born with certain qualities that are essen- tial to success in salesmanship, and yet these same men are frequently excelled in the matter of results obtained by other individuals who have been obliged to acquire the necessary qualities by education and cultivation. In the business of selling goods a man must possess staying power and be slow to recognize defeat. He must be capa- ble of quickly adapting himself to different temperaments and surroundings. He must be versatile, fairly entertain- ing, able to talk intelligently about other lines of business than his own and possess sufficient magnetism and per- suasive force to bring conviction without bluntly dis- crediting the ideas and opinions of the opposition. Many concerns now prefer a well-balanced staff of average salesmen to a mixed force containing a couple of stars and a lot of tailenders. So-called born sales- men generally work in spurts and do not easily absorb either instruction or information that comes from the directing force higher up. Star sellers often demoral- ize a whole department through having all the general rules shaped to fit men of their own personality and abil- ity. Many companies have lost good material through the petting and favoritism shown to an egotistical, undis- ciplined star salesman. Without teamwork success in any organization is impossible. The modern salesman in most lines is expected to devote more time to selling intangible things like service and prestige than merchandise. Our great manufacturing THE NEW DAY IN SALESMANSHIP 145 concerns spend millions of dollars in national advertising, and the salesman must know how to sell the idea of the greater salability of an article due to the wide educational work of the manufacturer. The present-day seller of goods must be able to convince his prospect of the value that rests in the reputation of the maker, of his policies and the service that is rendered. It is this new turn that has been given to salesmanship that makes a failure of many men whose instincts are all for material things. Such salesmen have too little imagination and find it dif- ficult to succeed in the selling of such things as goodwill and other intangible merchandise. The present time is a day of specialties, and through the character of the container, the finish and the trade mark, even goods that once were staples have been con- Verted into specialties, the distribution of which requires a wider and more diversified selling ability than was needed in former times. The salesman who would be a success must fix in his mind that he is selling his prospect not merchandise pri- marily but the expectation of a later profit. The seller of goods must be an optimist or he will be too easily dis- couraged, and he must be an analyst so that he can base his campaigns on sound principles rather than expedience. Selling experience has taught that each move must be founded upon specific information, and not hope and enthusiasm. When the facts are clear and the decision has been made, prompt action must follow before the opinions arrived at become obsolete and valueless. Pa- tience in preparation and vigor in performance are essen- tial to success in salesmanship. Some selling organiza- 146 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY tions are ninety per cent motion and only ten per cent accomplishment, because the manager attempts to conduct a campaign without first basing his different moves upon a careful and thorough analysis of the field and all relative conditions. One experienced manager of sales said : " I preach to my men that nothing is impossible until all of the facts are in and it is plain that the thing can't be done. Every man on my staff must be unswerving in his loyalty to the company rather than to me personally. It is also neces- sary that each one shall understand that in the matter of all breaks the company must be given the long and favor- able end, and not the customer. I have also found that as a general rule the article should be manufactured wher- evef possible to suit the market and the selling plans, rather than that the sales planning should be shaped to fit the merchandise. " Selling is the most important division of business, and it is not a matter of what can be made but what can be sold. Even the question of mechanical excellence and price must be based on the possible market and the prob- able demand. An article that can be put forth as em- bodying the ideas of an acknowledged authority in that particular field will often have a better chance and an easier road to travel. Goods that are not made to attract in appearance will frequently fail to get an opportunity to prove their merit. Any number of successful companies sell merchandise that costs less than the container in which it is put up. People pay for individuality in an article, and for this reason each product must have at least one important qualitv in which it excels all of its competitors." THE NEW DAY IN SALESMANSHIP 147 Concerning the proper methods of approach and action in selling goods, I found a diversity of ideas almost as nu- merous as there are selling organizations. There are some principles, however, that appear to have become ac- cepted practice in many of the larger sales organizations, and a few of these may prove interesting. It is funda- mental in a salesman's education that a possible buyer may be able to control his speech, but not his eyes and facial expression. The seller of goods must quickly de- termine the character of the man he is trying to sell to. Some men are most easily reached by the ear, some by touch and others by the eye. The first class will listen to talk, the second will want to feel the article, while the eye-minded folks usually prefer to read pamphlets, cata- logues and advertisements in order to get their informa- tion, or observe the merchandise. The successful salesman must quickly discover these individual traits of his customers and cater to them. It is foolish for a salesman to waste time in trying to dem- onstrate an article to the man who can be sold by touch. This prospect's mind has been fully reached with a strong argument the moment he has come into personal contact with the object. The most successful sellers of goods concentrate their sales appeal by calling particular attention to two or three vital points in an article rather than by offering a wide number of arguments. Before the salesman can sell his merchandise he must sell his own personality. After having made good in this one particular he must stick to plain, sincere talk and not slip off into oratory. If ob- servation tells the seller that his prospect is highly edn- 148 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY cated he must present his complete line of facts. If the buyer, however, is of the heart type the seller's aim must be to reach the imagination or emotion of his prospect. No more powerful argument has ever been invented to persuade a prospect to buy than a bunch of signed orders showing that other merchants are favorable to this par- ticular line of goods. If the prospect finds the name of a friend or competitor on one of these orders this style of argument is doubly strengthened. Testimonials do not compare in value at all with actual orders. Many salesmen pride themselves on their knowledge or ability to analyze character through a study of a man's physical appearance. The most common conclusions are that gray or blue eyes indicate a cold temperament and precise methods. Thin lips with such eyes indicate a still lower temperature. Straight eyebrows indicate self-reli- ance, while eyebrows that are arched express temperament. Small eyes denote an analytical mind, while large eyes indicate imagination and feeling. A projecting fore- head is supposed to show some weakness of will ; a broad, high forehead analysis and perseverance ; while a retreat- ing forehead indicates perception and imagination. A large mouth with full lips manifests good sense, energy and good nature. A small mouth suggests pettiness. The large chin represents a practical disposition and a persistent nature; the small chin indicates petulance and vacillation. Though professing to beneve in the possible value of such physical signs of character, most salesmen have dis- covered that they can get a good line on the real qualities THE NEW DAY IN SALESMANSHIP 149 of their prospect by carefully noting the condition of the buyer's office, desk and surroundings. It is further true that in many .cases a man's speed of speech is a fair indi- cation of the celerity of his.mental processes. Some pros- pects are filled with questions, and such individuals must be supplied with a quantity of facts and detail. Other buyers are annoyed by detail and must be approached and won through arguments of a general nature, holding forth the large advantages of the merchandise. The psychological moment in the art of selling is when the buyer is supposed to sign the order. Many a sales- man has succeeded in winning over his man, and then has talked himself out of what would have been a sure sale if he had only known when to stop. Ability to determine the moment when conviction has been established is one of the highest qualities of selling. The salesman who does not save hammer blows for use in closing has not prepared himself in thorough manner for his work. It is no longer true that price makes the market. Peo- ple to-day are willing to pay a higher price for an article when they know that they are buying security, reputation, style, appearance or purity with it. One investigator maintains that more articles can be sold at twenty-one cents than at nineteen because of the feeling on the part of the buyer that at twenty-one cents the article has had a four-cent cut, while at nineteen cents it has been reduced only one penny. It is likewise true that in the minds of many purchasers the price of an article actually deter- mines its quality. Many cases have occurred where in testing human nature articles of considerable value have 150 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY been offered at a ridiculous price without attracting a purchaser, the conclusion being that when anything is too cheap most prospective buyers are skeptical. It is the nature of a majority of salesmen to overrate the methods and goods of their competitors and secretly underrate many of the merits of their own products. This condition is due to the fact that the salesman is the one person who always is informed by prospective buyers of the cheapness and excellence of the other fellow's goods. Sometimes the seller hears so much of this talk that he commences to believe it and then busies himself in an effort to persuade his own company to reduce prices. There are cases on record where prices have been reduced to satisfy such a demand, and the result has been disas- trous. In several instances of this kind consumers have refused to buy at the lower price because of a suspicion that the quality of the article had been lowered. In this new day of salesmanship and sales management we have reached the commencement of an era when sci- entific methods will be substituted more and more for superstitious beliefs and hit-or-miss plans. All modern companies have learned that a business built on nothing more lasting than a personal good will has an unstable foundation. Great corporations have discovered the value of indirect action. Large central-station companies producing electricity have gone into the manufacture and sale of electrical appliances, not to make money on these articles, but to create a larger demand for electric current. One large manufacturer of bookcases increases the sales of his product by carrying on a campaign of edu- THE NEW DAY IN SALESMANSHIP 151 cation to encourage the wider reading and purchase of books. Sales managers have also discovered that there are better ways of handling men than those that prevailed in years past. If a salesman who has shown some degree of ability proves to be a failure in one locality he is now transferred to another field or a different line of work, where he may have a second chance to prove his worth. The day of the man with many side lines has passed and the hour of concentrated thought and ability has come. Few managers now drive their salesmen on by continual faultfinding. The newer plan is to take the man com- pletely into the confidence of the company, ignoring the fact that an occasional employee might undertake to profit by the inside knowledge he has gained of general busi- ness conditions and the company's plans. It is now understood that nagging letters reduce rather than increase the efficiency of the average salesman. Continual criticism from the home office will do more than anything else to kill the seller's ambition. Wise manag- ers now find it best to encourage a salesman until there is no further doubt that the man is a failure, when his services are promptly dispensed with. Buying is but the climax of confidence. The creation of this confidence in buyers can only be accomplished by an efficient selling organization, which cannot be created in an hour. Every sales organization should be regarded as the motive power of the company. It is likewise an accurate reflection of the sales manager's ability and the company's policy. When a corporation first starts its 152 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY green salesmen as students in the factory, then teaches them the principal selling points of their merchandise, and finally trains them skillfully to meet objections, it has created sellers who are equipped to overcome exceptional difficulties and procure satisfactory results for the com- pany. If in addition this same concern does not overlook the fact that its salesmen cannot sell an article in which they themselves lack confidence, and further that the best kind of enthusiasm is not that developed by ginger talk but by the opportunity to earn a handsome money re- ward, the company may rest secure in the wisdom of its policy and the solidity of the business foundation it is building. FLOYD PARSONS. PART III VOCATIONS FOR GIRLS MISS JONES LANDS A JOB ON the night before the memorable day when Mary was to seek employment, the Jones family gathered in council, and the prospective saleswoman was so filled with feminine advice that her inexperienced mind was quite bewildered by the multitude of " don'ts" that were designed to safeguard her against errors that were sup- posed to be fatal in the game of hunting a job. When the morning arrived, this youngest daughter was brushed and polished to suit the critical taste of her fam- ily, and long before nine o'clock had left her sisters at the ferry on their way to business and was waiting uneas- ily in the office of the employment bureau of a large de- partment store in New York's most famous retail dis- trict. Other applicants came in one by one, and soon there were seven hopeful members in the party, the girls being separated from the men. Then the long-anticipated ordeal began. A pleasant young woman gave each applicant a blank form to fill out. Not having had previous experience, there was not much for Mary to write on the sheet, except that she lived at home, had finished one year of high school, and could give the names of her minister and an old family friend as her references. The applications were collected, and half an hour later Mary was asked to step into the office of the employment manager, where she met a tall, dark, polite young man 155 156 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY who sat at a large flat-top desk with a good-sized mirror standing upright upon it. He requested her to remove her hat, and then asked her many questions, most of which appeared to have no bearing on the work in hand. The one thing that Mary failed to notice were the glances the employment manager cast toward the mirror, where, quite unknown to her, he could scan the image of her face and hair. It was right here that our aspiring young applicant came near meeting defeat. She did not know that one of the chief requisites for employment as a saleswoman in a high-class store is a neatly dressed head of hair. Only that morning Mary had accepted the suggestion of her older sister, and instead of her usual simple coiffure had dressed her hair in a barbarous style that was a sort of cross between the coiffure of a Hottentot and a Fiji Islander. Mary entertained no suspicion that the man she faced was a college graduate with years of experience in the concentrated study mostly of feminine types and their adaptability to the business of selling merchandise to a great cosmopolitan clientele. Little did she realize that he was trying to form a picture of how she would look with her hair changed, nor did she know that if she got the job the first action of the employment manager would be an order to one of his women assistants tactfully to re- quest the Jones girl to reduce substantially the compass of area occupied by her fluffed hair. At any rate, the manager completed his survey of the new applicant, and turned her over to a young woman, who conducted her to a room where further strange ques- MISS JONES LANDS A JOB 157 tions were asked. Once more Mary was puzzled, and again she did not know that she was in the hands of a young woman who had graduated from a great university and whose profession was vocational psychology. Even if she had known that she was now in a research labora- tory where human qualities are tested very much as chem- icals are analyzed, the knowledge would have meant little to her. But she was in earnest, and readily complied with all the requests of the young woman examiner. It was ap- parent to her that they wanted to test her eyesight when she was asked to read words of diminishing size on a large card twenty or more feet distant. But it was all Greek to Mary when they gave her a pencil and paper with a column of strange words, each one of which seemed to be nothing but a jumble of letters. She was told that the words were the names of animals, and was asked to see how quickly she could write the correct names alongside the words with the misplaced letters. The first word was niol, and she quickly wrote lion. Then came tgrei, and she wrote tiger. But farther down the list, where the words were longer, it was not so easy. It took her sev- eral seconds to discover that clreoicdo spelled crocodile, and she was only half finished with the column when she was stopped by the examiner, who unknown to her had watched the time and had allowed ninety seconds for the test. Our young applicant next started on a list of cities where the letters of each word were again scrambled. This time she showed her smartness by skipping several difficult words on her way down the list, and by so doing 158 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY managed to get to the bottom and had finished recon- structing several of the hard names she had first omitted before the allotted time was up. That the examiner was pleased with her effort Mary could plainly see, and her hopes were again restored by this show of encouragement. Next she was examined in color naming, then in num- ber checking, and in other tests too complicated to de- scribe, but all designed to grade her in mental intelligence. She passed the physical examination with flying colors, and a little later was called to the desk of the employment manager, where she signed the employees' agreement that bound her faithfully to perform her work and to become a member of the company's Mutual Aid Association. Be- fore leaving she was given a manual of information for employees which she was asked to read carefully, and was told to report in the morning. All that afternoon at home Mary studied the book of store information. She learned that if she were neither late nor absent for all or any part of a day for four con- secutive weeks she would be allowed one half day's sum- mer vacation. This meant that if' she could keep up a perfect record until the following summer the company would grant her an additional week's vacation with pay. But she also found that if she were late four times in any four consecutive weeks the penalty was one day's suspen- sion. In case of sickness the employee was to notify the Mutual Aid Association, and prompt assistance would be rendered by one of the three nurses or two doctors who were in the regular employ of the company. After carefully noting the instructions concerning the color and style of clothing and shoes she should wear at MISS JONES LANDS A JOB 159 business, Mary studied the remarks on unnecessary waste. She was informed as to the proper use of twine and wrap- ping paper, the handling of delicate fabrics with soiled hands on dusty counters, the throwing away of useful lengths of cord or rope, the careless dropping of fresh wrapping paper to be trodden upon and the waste from using paper to protect one's sleeves. Other rules warned against loitering about the store, chewing gum and smok- ing, reading books or letters, leaving a department with- out permission, and taking cloaks, hats, umbrellas, bags, and lunches to the department where the employee works. The manual further stated that promotion was sure to follow a display of ability and willingness, for the policy was to fill all vacancies, when possible, by the ad- vancement of the company's employees. In case of an opening in any department, the plan was to post a notice to that effect, and all employees were invited to apply for any vacant position they believed they could properly fill. Each month three prizes were given to the employees who made the best three suggestions for the betterment of store service. Boxes were located in convenient places, and the ideas intended for entry in this contest were to be plainly written and dropped into one of these boxes. The first prize was ten dollars, the second five dollars, and the third two dollars. Perhaps nothing interested Mary more than the de- scription of the department of training. She found that a part of every day was to be devoted to class work, where she would be instructed in store system and all the intri- cacies of salesmanship. If she preferred, she might learn to operate an adding-machine, a dictating-machine, or one 160 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY of the other mechanical devices used in large business houses. She read that there was a special officer, the assistant superintendent of training, whose duty it was to interest herself in each of the girls, both at the store and at their homes, when it was so desired. It was this woman's duty to listen to the various tales of woe, to advise in business and personal matters, and to render material help, even to advancing money in cases where the need was urgent. The information that was given concerning the recrea- tion-room, where employees might rest and read in com- fort during their lunch-time, appealed to Mary's sense of justice. Being fond of reading, her attention was also engaged by the facts and rules concerning the library that was solely for the use of employees. It was news to her that New York stores provided fa- cilities to enable their workers to save money. She learned that this concern operated a branch of a big New York bank, and that any amount of money from five cents up was accepted for deposit. She learned that the Mutual Aid Association was gov- erned entirely by the workers themselves. All matters of information concerning the society were posted regularly, so that every employee at all times might know the exact state of affairs of the association. The dues were never to exceed ten cents a week, and each girl, after being in the company's service three months, was given an insur- ance policy for five hundred dollars, which insurance was increased one hundred dollars a year until it reached a total of three thousand dollars. This information was read aloud to Mary's mother, whose struggles with life's MISS JONES LANDS A JOB 161 vicissitudes had rendered her appreciative of any and all safeguards. Our youthful aspirant skipped hastily through the par- agraphs devoted to a description of the summer camp that the company maintained for its women employees. She was satisfied with storing in her memory that the rates for board were moderate and the railway fare to the vacation house not excessive. Vacations were a long way off, while other matters were pressing. The comments in the manual now turned to such mat- ters as the treatment of customers and the store's informa- tion bureau. The prospective employee was told how important it was that courtesy and accuracy should be observed in directing customers where to find merchan- dise. It was pointed out that the shopper might ask for leather goods, and in such case it was necessary to in- quire as to what kind of article was wanted. Pocket- books and traveling bags are both made of leather, but are sold in different departments. Each girl who had not memorized the store directory was advised to consult her handbook containing an alphabetical list of articles arid departments, in directing shoppers. The rules stated that under no circumstance should a salesgirl resort to guess- ing and thereby jeopardize the good- will of a customer. Special notice was included to exercise care in making promises of delivery and other matters, so that disappoint- ment should not result from failure to fulfill the assur- ance given. Other instructions imparted knowledge as to what must be done in case a customer was taken ill suddenly, and how the sick person should be sent in a wheel chair to the emergency hospital. 162 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Following these directions, Mary read with wonder of the services the'store was prepared to render its custom- ers. One department was equipped to purchase railroad, steamship, and theater tickets ; to issue and cash express orders ; to conduct a post-office ; to send telegrams ; to procure hotel reservations; to arrange special tours; and to act as agent for express and transfer companies all free of charge. If a non-English-speaking customer happened to come in, an interpreter was available to make known the stranger's wishes. Should a patron desire ad- vice in shopping, there was a personal service bureau ready to render assistance. The remainder of the manual contained instructions that were not plain to a novice like Mary. Much detail dealt with the work of cashiers and checkers, and told how to mark and stamp sales checks, how to make change quickly, and how to use the carriers. In order to en- courage accuracy, premiums were offered for the detec- tion of errors, and it was particularly stated that no money given for these rewards was deducted from the salary of any clerk, so that no employee should hesitate to report an error through fear that some fellow worker might be injured. Two further points were of interest to her. One ex- plained the arrangements that were made to permit any employee to shop, and contained the good news that a dis- count would be allowed on all purchases. The other suggestion pertained to the company's publicity, and stated that, since the permanent success of the store de- pended largely upon the truth and correctness of the firm's advertisements, the company would pay one dollar MISS JONES LANDS A JOB 163 to the employee who first called the attention of the man- ager's office to any exaggeration, mistake in printed price, grammatical error, false statement, or misspelled word that appeared in any newspaper or other announcement. Having mastered all the rules and regulations that were understandable, our prospective saleswoman called it a day's work, and retired that night with the happy thought of a great adventure well begun. When Mary arrived at the store in the morning, she was sent up to school, where thirty minutes were devoted to a* study of the company's rules and policies, after which an hour was taken up by lessons in store system. Next she was sent to the head of the contingent force, a trained teacher, upon whose shoulders rests the responsibility of properly placing each new girl in the department for which she is best qualified. About fifty girls were al- ready in the contingent department, and she learned that frequently a whole month is devoted to this work by a new girl. She soon discovered the basis of the plan that is followed. Each new employee is tried out in different departments during their time of contingent service. One girl, called Jerry, who had already sold everything from notions to wicker furniture, enlightened Mary on many points. She told her that much depended on the impression a girl made on the department head. But she explained that different departments required different mental and physical types. In order to sell veiling a girl had to be rather tall on account of the height of the counters, and must have an attractive face and well mani- cured hands, because she had continually to hold the veil- ings over her face to display them properly. She said 164 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY only special types could sell evening gowns; and as for suits, she knew as a fact that only last week, out of ten contingent girls who were sent down to work in a suit sale, but three of them were recommended by the depart- ment head as being qualified for that kind of selling. Mary was sent to the hosiery department to gain her first experience, and when she went to lunch two hours later she was very proud of the fact that she had really made some splendid sales. Sitting beside her at the lunch- table was a little girl about her own age, who had form- erly worked in a hat factory on Houston Street. This young woman was disturbed over the fact that her work had appeared to be unsatisfactory, and she had been sent to the employment manager's office to explain her trouble. She had told the manager frankly that she did find it hard to keep her stock in order, but that there wasn't a girl in the department who kept the buttons and hooks and eyes in better shape. She saw to it that in her stock none were missing. That night, on the way out, Mary met the same little girl, and found her very happy over the fact that she had been transferred to a department where she had lots of sewing to do and she just loved to sew. The cloud in her young life had disappeared, for she no longer had to keep stock. Three weeks passed before Mary finally left the con- tingent department and was given a regular job selling cretonnes and similar draperies. Already she had at- tended one lecture at the Museum of Art, where with a group of her fellow-workers she had heard a wonderful talk on interior decoration. Her friend Jerry had been placed in the yarn department, and had just returned from MISS JONES LANDS A JOB 165 Philadelphia, where she and other girls selling yarns had been taken to visit a great mill where yarns like those sold in the store were manufactured. Mary now has her insurance policy and is a full-fledged salesgirl. Only the other day the buyer for her depart- ment told me that the Jones girl knew more about cre- tonnes and the patterns printed on them than he did him- self. He stated further that several customers had com- mented on the girl's unusual knowledge concerning in- terior decorations, and mentioned that everything was be- ing done to encourage her interest and enthusiasm. The employment manager, who was standing beside us, smiled and remarked that " the further we go in this busi- ness of making a real science of salesmanship, the more girls we will have like Mary, who is handling the things she appreciates and is doing the work she enjoys." The manager went on to tell me how one girl may possess an active mind and yet be clumsy with her fingers. She should never be put to doing things that require man- ual dexterity. On the other hand, there are girls who are mentally slow but very nimble with their fingers, and such girls fail in jobs that necessitate brisk thought. In other words, the mental and physical agility of the individual must be determined, and the job fitted to the person, not the person to the job. Later, as I walked through the store's restaurant, where Mary and all the other five thousand or more employees ate their noonday meal, I marveled at the immensity of these great commercial establishments. Here we found an equipment to feed thousands of workers, in addition to the hundreds of customers who eat in a public restau- 166 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY rant on the same floor. The average check of the sales- girls is fourteen cents. In answer to my question concerning the benefits that were resulting from the application of more modern meth- ods to the employment and placement of help, the manager replied that there were six principal lines of endeavor, all of which were acting to reduce the labor turnover in big department stores. First, there were the efforts to establish ideal condi- tions. This work provided food for employees at cost, and a roof garden or recreation-room for the workers. Second, there was the establishment of a minimum wage in every department. Two years ag6 there were jobs that paid only eight dollars a week; now the mini- mum wage of all, even packers, is fourteen dollars. No juniors are employed unless they live at home. Third, the days have been shortened. The closing hour in Fifth Avenue stores is now five-thirty in the winter and five o'clock in the summer. This change has brought in girls who formerly would work only in offices because they objected to the longer hours. Fourth, we have the plan of group insurance, which forms a tie with the home of the employee. Fifth, there is the understanding that any employee may have a hearing at any time, and the additional rul- ing that requires all persons before leaving the company to have their pay slips approved by the employment man- ager. This provides an opportunity to find out what the trouble really is. In many cases the difficulty can be straightened out and the worker saved for the company. If a girl has been offended by some male employee, the MISS JONES LANDS A JOB 167 two are brought together, and the man may have to leave instead of the girl. If the matter is trivial the whole dif- ficulty may be smoothed over. This plan of requiring every one to report before leaving the company's service often provides a record that shows up an inefficient or overbearing department head. Sixth and last, there is the plan of having department meetings, where the workers are encouraged to discuss matters honestly and frankly. These meetings uncover many ills that would not otherwise have come to light. It has been shown clearly in many instances that em- ployees will talk more freely when they have the moral support of their fellow- workers. One big store employs thirty women to operate the ele- vators. Recently a stranger stopped in and pressed a slip of paper into the hand of each elevator girl. The note stated that a job with record wages was waiting for each operator in a downtown office building. This act of po- lite robbery was immediately exposed at a meeting of the elevator operators ; and, notwithstanding the higher wages offered, the store lost but two of its women. In concluding my look-in on department stores, I car- ried away a somewhat different idea of the business from that I had held before. Many of the men and women who are drawing big salaries as expert buyers started as messengers. The most valued buyer in one of the two largest stores in New York once was an orphan lad run- ning about the city streets, virtually without home or friends. A man became interested in the boy and pro- cured a job for him as a store messenger. When we realize that a big retail establishment with a i68 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY pay-roll of five thousand workers is actually the equiva- lent of a city of eighteen thousand people, as far as the number of bread-winners is concerned, it is easier to com- prehend the ramifications of such a business, and to under- stand the need for methods that are the last word in scien- tific completeness. Perhaps it is this newer conception of things that is causing the progressive stores to reach out to the colleges for material on which to build a highly trained personnel. On the other hand, as time passes, college men and women will look upon the big department store as an increasing field of opportunity. The fact that one large retail es- tablishment in New York already has a special squad of college men, representing ten different colleges, is but a criterion of what is to come. FLOYD PARSONS. WHERE YOUR JOB MAY LEAD TO WHILE for the girl of more than ordinary ability or talent, ambition, and energy combine to bridge the way to success, for the average self-supporting girl there is no terror equal to the apprehension of inefficiency. Fear of " losing her job " overbalances hope of advance- ment, outweighs ambition, and makes her content to stay where she "does not belong. And yet, if she realized how to utilize present opportunities in " connecting up " with better or more congenial work, even the girl of only av- erage ability would need hardly to fear at all. The special opportunities that the newspaper business has afforded of bringing me into close contact with work- ers of all kinds forces me to the conclusion that the whole problem of occupational exchange could be worked out advantageously for women in a wide variety of employ- ments. This research, although not highly systematized, has revealed some interesting facts, one in especial con- cerning opportunities open to stenographers. No other business, I believe, so largely occupied by women lends itself as completely as an incidental preparation for othei fields of effort as does stenography. Taking the careers of fifty successful business women of Cincinnati as the basis of a recent special survey, I found that thirty-two of them had started out in life as stenographers or typists. Two of these thirty-two are now heads of business colleges; four conduct profitable 169 170 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY stenographic bureaus ; two are special teachers in the pub- lic schools; two are successful insurance agents; two are lawyers; two are heads of prosperous restaurants; two are court stenographers; three are physicians; three are in the advertising business ; four are prosperous real- estate agents; one is business manager of a newspaper; and five are heads of business departments of large stores. The yearly incomes of three of these thirty-two erst- while stenographers the newspaper manager, one of the business-college principals, and one of the department- store heads are said to reach a good deal more than three thousand dollars each a year. The average salary of the group is estimated at twenty-four hundred dollars. Not one of them earned more than eight dollars a week when she began. Not fewer than ten of these thirty-two successful busi- ness women sought new avenues of effort because they had been discharged from their first positions. Each said virtually the same thing : " I would never have dared to leave, although I just hated my job. I had to be ' fired ' before I could really get the right start." Admitting that stenography offers a girl the best chances of advancement, I made an investigation to dis- cover what profession offers the poorest. I believe that this position belongs to the garment workers, and my opinion is shared by Miss Florence M. Marshall, principal of the Manhattan Trade School for Girls in New York City. As was to be expected, I found that transciency of oc- cupation seemed to constitute the greatest bar to efforts WHERE YOUR JOB MAY LEAD TO 171 for advancement among unskilled and low-skilled woman workers. Without question the majority of girls and younger women in low-skilled employments look to mar- riage as the easiest and pleasantest solution of their eco- nomic problems, and are therefore lax in improving op- portunities leading to occupational advance. But I was surprised to note what a small part this supposition of transiency played in the higher grades of women's work. But, even granting the probability of marriage, it is nothing less than pathetic that any woman should ignore an actual opportunity presented by her occupation. That woman is in the business world to stay, whatever answer the future may bring to the sociological part of the prob- lem, is surely a fact too obvious for intelligent challenge. The time has come, in fact, when a woman may not only enter virtually any profession or engage in any pursuit that she prefers, but when she is also free to devise new activities, useful and lucrative occupations not yet pre- sented to the less imaginative consciousness of man. Never before have there been so many opportunities of advancement afforded to women. But the novice must have a two-edged sword to fight with preparation and efficiency. The girl who goes to work with the question " What next? " on her lips will probably find opportunity answering her question ; while the woman who flinches, and who prayerfully hangs on to a poor position, will never be able to cross the bridge leading to greener pas- tures. Following is a chart that may be of service to those who are willing to expend a little energy to gratify an ambi- tion. The purpose of the chart is merely to suggest fur- 172 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY ther possibilities in the way of systematizing the relation- ships between typical occupations, and to point out a very few of the occupational by-products fchat may be re- garded as connecting links. Present Occupation Affords Training in the Following Leading to Occupation of Bookkeeper Knowledge of financial trans- i actions ! Business system Quickness and correctness in calculating Expert accountant Public auditor Broker Investment banker Cashier Skill in handling currency Knowledge of human nature Skill on adding-machine Bank assistant Head of credit department Adding-machine agent Children's Nurse Skill in treating child ailments Acquaintanceship among fam- ilies Ability to amuse Knowledge of child nature Trained nurse Playground supervisor Director of children's entertain- ments Caterer for children's parties Cook Skill in food preparation Knowledge of food cost Caterer Head of institution kitchens Hotel chef Dancing teacher Methods of teaching grace, poise, etc. Wide acquaintanceship Skill in physical culture, hy- giene, etc. Physical director of school or institution Head of college for public dancing Supervisor of public dances Head of health institute founded on hygienic dancing Dressmaker Knowledge of textiles, designs, etc. Skill in buying Business acquaintanceship Professional designer Textile demonstrator Head of fashion shop Professional shopper Governess Training in foreign languages Skill in travel Knowledge of child processes Art of teaching Head of girls' school Teacher of languages Chaperone of tourist parties Social secretary Housekeeper Skill in household manage- ment Skill in buying food, textiles, and other supplies Matron of institution Hotel housekeeper Management of private hotel Linen manufacturer's agent WHERE YOUR JOB MAY LEAD TO 173 Present Occupation Affords Training in the Following Leading to Occupation of Journalist Special knowledge of civic conditions and community needs Habit of exactness in stating facts Skill in character study General information Publicity agent Magazine writer Head of philanthropic or correc- tional institution Lecturer Laundry worker Knowledge of fabrics and cleansing processes Head of dry-cleaning or of fine French laundry Stenographer Working knowledge of em- ployer's business Habit of concentration Acquaintanceship with busi- ness methods Skill in shorthand and as typist Head of institution laundry Head of stenographic bureau Head of business similar to em- ployer's Head of abstract bureau Attorney Notary public Court stenographer Typewriter demonstrator Trained Nurse Knowledge of sanitation and disease prevention Human insight Knowledge of dieting Habit of authority Physician Head of sanitarium Traveling companion Specialist in reducing and re- storing weight Teachers Habit of systematic planning Exact knowledge of historical, geographical, and literary facts Habit of careful judgment Knowledge of human nature Special knowledge of children Journalist Lecturer Writer of text-books Head of special private school Head of extension schools main- tained by large industries Text-book salesman RUTH NEELY. THE GIRL OF TO-MORROW THE girl of yesterday we grown folks all know. We went to school with her, we went off to col- lege with her the same college if our lot was cast in a co-educational democracy. The education of the girl of yesterday we all know that, too. It was the education of the boy of yesterday. It lay first of all in the public school, or in favored com- munities in the kindergarten where " gifts" were ex- pected to create in the child mind a certain world-view dreamed by a German philosopher, but where in reality social activities and games first brought little barbarians to the yoke. And through this kindergarten porch the girl 01 yester- day went into a graded place called a school a sort of temple of knowledge with many great terraces, on each of which she lingered a year. And there she mastered numerals and letters and numbers and words, and learned how these odd dead things made books, readers and spell- ers, and more spellers and readers, and geographies and histories and grammars. Yet all this was for her only a confusion of memorized symbols and words, a veritable desert relieved by occasional vivid teaching. Outside the school it was that the girl of yesterday had her real educa- tion on the playground, in the yard and garden at home, in the house with the family group wherever, in 174 THE GIRL OF TO-MORROW 175 fact, real interests and activities took hold on life itself and shaped mind and purpose. From the graded school the girl of yesterday went on to the classical high school. How wistfully and fear- fully she had looked across the green to the academy! And when the Irish janitor rest to his soul ! one day brought across the academy skeleton, " that the eighth-grade children might see how they were made," the girl of yesterday wondered whether she must learn the two hundred and eight bones or was it two hundred and six ? when she too reached the high-school yonder. In due time she arrived there, and found it all, alas, a place of bones, not only in physiology, but bones in his- tory " name the Presidents in order," or " Who were the nine muses? " and bones in Latin "do, dare, dedi, datum "; and often only bones in literature " give names and dates of Scott's novels." Lucky that life went on in social groups, in school and out, and in the home ! Occasionally the high-school girl of yesterday won- dered what she would do when school days were over, and of all professions teaching alone seemed open to her. All the world is a sea to the sailor; and, to girls just fin- ishing the old-time school, teaching seemed the only pro- fession. The old high-school course with its algebra never applied in life, its analytical study of literature, its stilted compositions, its endless translations and paradigms employed the mind in innocent exercises. That this had something of useful discipline we will not deny; but it gave no practical training for life. As the student grew to maturity, her knowledge of the world as it is came 176 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY through outside experiences, and widened if it did widen more despite the high school than because of it. Of the girls of yesterday who started in the elementary school, one in ten received a high-school education ; and fewer than one in a hundred of those who finished high school went on to college. To those who went to college, education was offering, at best, only a continuation of the literary curriculum of the high school. Brave women in the last generation had demanded women's colleges and women's departments in universities; but what courses they gained were largely serving to perpetuate literary culture and to prepare for teaching. Matthew Vassar's fine aim, to train women to be self-supporting, was buried at once under classical tradition. Men's colleges for a generation have been differentiating into groups of scien- tific and professional schools engineering with its var- ied phases, law, medicine, agriculture, commerce, journal- ism, and what not, each offering a diversified preparation for a distinct vocation. All this time the woman's col- lege has stood by its general literary and scientific courses and against vocational specialization, until finally some one remarks in passing that " in women's colleges alone is the education of the gentleman held in its proper esteem." The college girl of yesterday, the one in a hundred who could go on to college, found herself in a blind alley literary culture with its two outlooks, the life of the idle gentlewoman or the life of the teacher, and then more lit- erary culture. The woman of to-day, the girl of yes- terday, if she is broad-minded and generous and serv- iceable, owes her high qualities to the formative social in- THE GIRL OF TO-MORROW 177 fluences that have shaped her life, rather than to her formal education. But the girl of to-morrow what of her education? You will not find it embodied to-day in any one school, but here and there you can get partial glimpses of the world to be. Come into a certain elementary school in Manhattan where the aim is preparation for serviceable, happy living, not for pedantry. Note the equipment: a large gymnasium with apparatus suited to fixed exercises, with plenty of baths, with ample space for folk-dances, pageants, drama in short, with opportunity for all kinds of activity except swimming. There is a library and reading-room where little children work during school hours, learning that books are tools to be used by all people in every practical undertaking. Each class- room is equipped, not with fixed desks for parrot recita- tions to a parrot teacher, but with ordinary work-tables and chairs suitable for working operations, for conver- sation, discussion, and cooperation. And there are spe- cial rooms, besides a cooking-room and dining-room, where little girls learn the wonders of bread doughs and soups ; a shop-room, where the rougher, heavier construc- tive work is carried on ; a sewing-room for clothing pro- jects; a club-room, giving place for social activities; a garden space on the roof in lieu of nature's space on the ground. Such is the building, and within it one finds life, not barren schooling. Can I say better than that each sub- ject is lived through, not learned that one acquires let- ters to read a loved story, and numbers to count and control some matter already of real concern ; that one 178 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY studies history to understand the puzzle of the Stars and Stripes and the devotion of the veterans on Memorial Day; and geography to know why there is a valley here where the school-house stands, and to know where those ships are bound that pass on the river. The way of real education is the setting of the child's mind to solve the problems that life fixes; and this way my ideal elementary school has found. Not only in method, but in content of study, does it reach out into life's realities. The weakness of the old school was that it worked in a vacuum. The strength of the new school is that its subject matter of instruction is not only literary material and scientific results (as in history and geog- raphy), but that all this and everything in its curriculum is taught as an interpretation of the work-a-day dynamic world in which we live. This new school will give to pupils at fourteen years of age intelligence regarding the various fields of work professional practice, trade, commerce, or housekeep- ing that are openiiTg up before them, and will thus aid in that most fundamental decision, the choice of a voca- tion. Industrial and vocational intelligence (not specific vocational training, however) describes this new aim of the elementary school. Through this period the training of both sexes will stand substantially alike liberalizing, cultural, problem-solving, informational as regards the world just ahead. What now of the higher schools, where the girl of to- morrow fits herself for the woman's work of the day after? Come into a certain great new technical high school in an Ohio metropolis. It has for its principal THE GIRL OF TO-MORROW 179 the graduate of an engineering college, and it offers courses especially for boys and courses especially for girls. Here the girl who must soon make a livelihood may pre- pare to be a designer in special fields, an illustrator, a house manager, a private secretary, a dressmaker, a mil- liner, an infant's nurse, or perhaps a skilled cook; and she is trained in such a way that she keeps a more liberal outlook on life than the specialized worker of to-day dreams of. Or go to Chicago, with its promising two- year vocational high school for those who can tarry but two years after grammar school before going to work. Take notice of its system of cooperation between school and shop and factory, which successfully combines in- struction and practice. This is but an indication of a mighty revolution in edu- cation the girl shall be taught a definite vocation (out- side of home work) as well as the boy. The school shall prepare young people for practical life. The elementary school, although it will not teach vocations, shall fit chil- dren to make an intelligent choice. The high school shall give them the training they need for their elected careers ; it shall offer its courses of varied length and purpose two years for those who can stay only so long, four years for those who will remain longer. With vocational train- ing shall go some liberal culture, so that ultimately every man shall have a vocation and a free choice of avocations at his command. The girl of to-morrow who can postpone her voca- tional choice shall find an opportunity in the high school to continue her liberal education ; but for her benefit there shall be highly specialized schools that, when she has fin- i8o OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY ished her preliminary training, will give her scientific preparation for useful work. A number of such schools are already in existence. Go to the splendid institutes in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Rochester, and Chicago, established by far-seeing men of wealth to train high-school graduates for practical serv- ice, and canvass the training offered there to the girl of to-morrow. Preparation for household management, woman's traditional field, is provided as a matter of course but note with what new implications and ap- plications. First, we find hundreds of teachers of domes- tic science who may increase the efficiency of private housekeeping through that socializing instrument, the pub- lic school, to the end that housework may pass over into a science, as the decrepit farming of the last generation has become the agriculture of to-day. What of the household when methods of dry-farming, irrigation, Bur- banking, modern chemistry, bacteriology, and mechanics shall be turned loose within doors as well as on the land? But new opportunities in household arts are also open- ing in every direction. In the Rochester institution there is a course of training in lunchroom management, in which young women are instructed in related science, but especially in the practice of their profession by daily re- sponsibility in conducting a lunch-room for two hundred students. The graduates have been quickly absorbed in Rochester by wise managers of banks, department stores, and factories ; one, salaried at twelve hundred dollars, directs her French chefs and feeds the three hundred employees of a department store. Another manages a lunch-room in a huge clothing factory ; and since her ad- THE GIRL OF TO-MORROW 181 vent saloons across the street have gone out of business. A similarly trained young woman took hold of a lunch- room in St. Louis last fall, improved the service, and turned a deficit into a two hundred and ninety dollar surplus the first month. Schools, banks, and mercantile and commercial houses need the trained lunch-room manager and are discovering their need and how to fill it. It is only a step from this to the commercial lunch- room. The best lunch-rooms in Boston and thsy are among the largest, too are to-day conducted by a trained woman, and they are cleaner than your own kitchen. Even the despised delicatessen shop and the commercial bakery may yet come into the hands of the trained woman, who will give us there, on a grand social scale, the safe- guards to health that in the past she provided for the private home. Again, these institutes are fitting women to conduct dressmaking shops and millinery shops as skilled business enterprises. Who knows but that escape from the rob- ber-barons of fashion will come through the more intelli- gent professional standards of those who clothe us? All kinds of artistic achievement in design, in illustration, and in creative work in all the special fields for which deft fingers and the sensitive eye are essential, as well as enterprise along commercial and industrial lines, are other ventures that these practical institutes are providing for the young woman of to-morrow. What the young man of to-morrow does, the young woman of to-morrow may also freely do if she will and so we shall then find her occasionally, as we find 182 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY her now, in the advanced professional fields of engineer- ing, law, medicine, and the ministry. It is well so, for absolute freedom of action is the only possible basis for a wise choice of vocations. The young women who go into higher professional training will, however, fit them- selves, as a general thing, for the fields of service that be- long distinctly to women. But what about a professional, specialized education for women', on a university level an education that corresponds to the training that young men receive at schools of technology? For answer, go to a certain pent- in Manhattan street and enter the businesslike looking structure that stands there. In this building several hun- dred young women are hard at work studying the house- hold arts. Make inquiries about them. One is the di- rector of a college dormitory, come for special instruc- tion in dietetics, that the three hundred girls in her charge may enjoy nutritious food while her expenditures still keep within her budget allowance. Another wishes to be a visiting dietitian, instructing in tenement homes as to the best food for the infant, the working-man, and the aged. There is a group of graduate nurses, already skilled in their profession, fitting themselves for the ad- ministration of hospitals or for teaching positions in nurses' training schools. There is a nurse who is matriculated in " laundry management " and who will become the director of a hospital laundry. Here are young women preparing in house decoration or interior decoration, others as costume designers and illustrators, or as designers in special industrial fields of unending varietv. THE GIRL OF TO-MORROW 183 Others of these young women of to-morrow have entered for diplomas in household administration and in dietetics ; some preparing for general institutional man- agement, and others for the direction of the commissary department of institutions, such as the school and college dormitory, the asylum, the hospital, and the orphanage undertakings that involve money, materials, and labor in factory-like quantities, and for which compensation will be given according to the responsibility involved. There are curricula that prepare for the less ambitious but no less important management of the private home ; and for a new field of special study, that of nursery management, which promises aid in the infant-mortality campaign. Other courses prepare for sanitary inspection of markets, tenements, and food supplies, and for various kinds of service in the municipal housekeeping that now guards the private home. Graduates of these institutes will teach to all people the new science of right living, and will make it the law of the land. Here, then, is a technical school of collegiate rank for women, devoted to the development upon a social scale of those household activities that have long been women's particular domain, and to the professional training of women not only in the conduct of the private house but also of the institution and of related industrial under- takings. What is being done in this building in Man- hattan is also under way in other university centers at Boston, Toronto, Chicago, and elsewhere. In these col- legiate schools of household science and arts, which prom- ise to be a feature of American universities as common as schools of engineering, the young woman of to-morrow 184 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY will find one of her most fascinating fields of possible study. Personal life and the private home will not suffer in the education of the girl of to-morrow. Some things seem fairly certain. Every young woman (social para- sites disregarded) will be taught some useful livelihood that she will pursue at least until marriage, in some cases after, and that will be insurance if, after marriage, she is again thrown upon her own resources. Every young woman will learn the elements of household management in her public school education, so that she may intelli- gently direct a home, if it comes to her. The industries of the household will be increasingly organized outside the home, and she will bring to their direction her time- proved standards of devotion, rendered more effective by scientific training and professional preparation. With readjustment will come opportunity for life as well as living, and regard for liberal culture will accompany industrial efficiency. This element will be festered in woman's education as well as in man's, and to the girl of the future will be given an education not only for effi- cient service but for vigorous health and for liberal liv- ing. BENJAMIN R. ANDREWS, Pn.D. SHE WANTED TO BE A FARMER SHE was just a pale little city-bred girl. She had learned shorthand in high school, and then taken a job as a stenographer. She had been born in a typical city block, and had lived the usual city girl's weakened and anemic life. Every spring she had experienced an in- tense longing for the country. Evidently the heart of her country ancestors was not yet dead within her, for some- thing cried out for the green fields and for physical self- expression. Every such feeling was necessarily stifled in her city life, and year after year she grew steadily paler and weaker. Farms were asking for laborers. The Woman's Land Army advertised for women to go in labor units to be hired out to the farmers. The little stenographer saw the advertisement. Her heart gave a great leap. It was the call of the wild! Her friends said, " You can never stand the work ; you would not like it if you could, and you must be crazy ! " They offered other kindly advice and remarks, free of charge. She would not believe them. Some new will had sprung afire in her. She overcame their influence, and also the almost insurmountable objections of her fam- ily, and presented herself at the office of the Woman's Land Army. They looked her over. " Sorry," they said, " but you could n't stand the racket." 185 i86 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY " Do you mean I can't go ? " she asked, growing pale. " You never could pass the physical examination," they told her. And they expressed this as final. What did she do? Like a real woman, she wept! " Why are you weeping? " they asked her. " Do you really want to go as much as all that? " She said she did. UNCLE SAM'S LAND ARMY " In that case,' 1 they said, " perhaps your spirit would make up for a good deal that your body lacks. We'll test you out." They allowed her to take the physical exam- ination. She passed squeaked by, somehow or other. After all, there was nothing organic the matter with her. It was just a little fresh air and exercise starvation. SHE WANTED TO BE A FARMER 187 She arrived in the country, and was installed in a house with a number of other girls, in charge of a super- visor who negotiated with the neighboring farmers for their services. A call for help came in from a farm, and the little stenographer was directed to a place where she was to labor from eight in the morning until five in the afternoon at whatever the farmer gave her to do. When she presented herself to him as his new farm- hand, he looked at her aghast. The girl knew what w r as going on in his mind. She put up a good fight. " Do not tell me that I am only a frail woman," she said to him. " My pallor, my lifeless body, my slim, weak fingers are no indication of what I can do. It is my spirit that will give me strength." The farmer wriggled, and then he thought he had a way out. He said : " Pulling weeds is pretty tedious work." ' Tedious? " the little girl said to him, with a curious little wistful smile. " I have done tedious work year after year in a hot city. It was in a close office, with a lot of other sickly people like myself. We had only electric lights to see by. When spring came I yearned for the country, but I worked drearily on, sitting still through the whole day weary, nervous, irritable, and unhappy." " But the pay " began the farmer. ' You can not discourage me, sir," was the quick re- sponse. " I have gone through too much for that. Every friend has tried to do it. Every one has told me how foolish I was to give up the money of a city job. Yet my earnings were mostly spent for clothes to wear to i88 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY my office, to earn more money for more clothes. For the loss of those pleasures for which I longed " - she cast her eye over the green fields as she said it " my pay- ment was further loss of my good youth and health. 1 ' "Can you pitch hay?" was the farmers amused query. ' Yes, sir," came the stout answer, " You may not understand this power of spirit. I have become strong from desperation. Set me to work." " It 's drudgery," he warned her. "Drudgery?" She gave him a charming smile, and swept her gaze over the beautiful landscape. " Ah, sir, has your heart grown old? See the thing with the eyes of youth ! Smell the sweet ground ; see the wide fields teeming with summer; gaze at the peaceful sky. Why, this is paradise! " He set her to work. The following extracts from this stenographer's own report give a kaleidoscopic record of her experience, and answer in concrete terms those questions that have arisen in connection with the serious shortage in farm labor: What kind of laborers do women make ? What do farm- ers think of them? How does the woman herself react to this new type of employment? 1 The other girls of the labor unit helped," the re- port says. ' The farmer showed us how to pull the weeds. It was very amusing, sitting under the sky with my new comrades, squatting on the earth, wearing over- alls that were not hurt by the dirt. As we worked, I learned the different reasons that had brought us to- gether. One of the girls had been a dressmaker, had SHE WANTED TO BE A FARMER 189 spent her days fussing- over fine sewing until she became ill and feared that she was going into consumption. She had escaped to the farm to save her life. ' To be sure, my side was aching ; but there, I had an- other side, and so I changed over. " The fat girl turned out to be a singer. I predicted that she would lose a pound or two in that work. The blonde athlete was a well-to-do girl who had been giving her time to the Red Cross and was now giving it to the land. Her name was Helen. We christened her ' Husky Helen.' The one with the foreign countenance was newly graduated from college. Although she was only twenty- one, she was very learned. Scientific phrases that I did not even understand came to her command with perfect simplicity and naturalness. She made it a nice principle, I feel convinced, plainly to expect no distinction on ac- count of her superior mental plane. 1 The farmer suddenly discovered that the Learned One was pulling up his most valuable beet-tops, thinking they were weeds. The only beets she ever saw before just grew in stores ! Also that ' Helen Husky ' was care- fully cultivating worthless plantain. What a lot there was to learn! How many sides has wisdom! I suspect that, if we had not taken the trouble to explain, the farmer would not have been able to pick us out for what we were, or rather what we had been. We looked strangely alike in our blue jeans and our enormous straw hats. " Now both my sides were aching, and I discovered that it was only ten o'clock in the morning. But I braced up. I told myself I had no discouragement, that OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY everything is hard at first, no matter what you try. I made it a part of the fun to invent new positions, and showed them to the other girls, experimenting and try- ing myself out in all sorts of ways. I even lay flat on my stomach. " My, but it was dirty work ! You should have seen my hands. And my ankles were full of dust. Goodness, how sweaty I was, and hot, and whew, but I was aching ! Here was a test of my pluck. The day moved at a snail's pace. 'I am equal to it,' I said. 'Don't mistake! I'll keep right on, right on.' " Somebody discovered that there was an old swim- ming-hole over there. I remembered the sensation of soft water on a truly hot and dusty skin when was it? -years ago! I would turn back the hand of time, and my comrades would join me. We would continue to tor- ture ourselves with the heat and the aching; we would resign ourselves to the never-ending day, trusting that sometime it would be over and then we would go and un- bind our bodies and spread and splash in delicious cool freedom. We worked on, we talked, we sang, or we sat silently aching. In time it came five o'clock. At last! Oh, oh, but I could hardly rise oh! Well, I was on my feet. Then for the swimrning-hole ! " The next morning, when I awoke, I made a discov- ery. It was that I had been asleep. Now, that was sleep ! I had not tossed, or lain awake, thinking through long hours I had slept ! I had forgotten or per- haps I had never known what sleep was. Nine hours of true oblivion! But when I started to move oh, my muscles ! Heavens, but I was sore and lame ! Well, SHE WANTED TO BE A FARMER 191 what did I expect? So I just said to myself, ' Buck up, you 're a farmer now ; it 's part of the game ! ' ''' That day we hoed beans. The dressmaker and I were set to doing a patch together. At first we were very awkward; but the farmer showed us how to strad- dle the rows, and we soon got the hang of it. Right away the poor man got all mixed up trying to remember 1 Miss This ' and ' Miss That.' He finally asked us if he could n't just call us ' Bill ' and ' Jack,' because he was more accustomed to that sort of thing. So I was ' Jack ' and the little dressmaker was ' Bill ' ! " We found that it pleased the farmer when we were enthusiastic, and were open-minded and teachable. After all, we were women, and it was pleasant to make him happy. He noticed a difference in the spirit of his men and his women workers. I should say that it was the difference between work and play. For us it was a new recreation. The days were rather long, but so they were at the office I never forgot that. I could feel my body building out with strength. I took a long breath and I said, ' That 's oxygen ! ' " Some of the men laborers left. They found the work difficult and tiresome, and so they quit. I could have told them they would find that most things worth while have their difficult and tiresome beginnings, that success is attained by summoning one's will to go on through the difficulties. How could they win at some- thing else if they did not summon that, then as well as any time ? For me, I would stick it out ! " I had another new experience. The farmer drove up with the old hayrick and said, ' Jump in ! ' OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY " ' Jump in ? ' I said. ' But it is all dirty in the bot- tom, and where shall we sit?' " Then I suddenly remembered that I was a farmer, and so I jumped in. I found myself armed with a pitch- fork. I can not describe my aversion to carrying it. It seemed like such a vulgar tool, fitted only for the hands of men. " I quickly suspected, however, that my mind had fallen into ruts and my imagination into inactivity, like my muscles, and that I would better make this a test of my plasticity, and so I hung on to the pitchfork. Who said it requires brute force to pitch hay? On the con- trary, I found that it took largely knack and skill. Also I discovered that I possessed an innate finesse that I had not dreamed was in me. I handed up the bundles of hay to Bill, who spread them on the load. How marvelous is a pitchfork! Jab, lift, release; jab, lift, release a clever game of give and it is taken. " It was almost exciting, this display of a hitherto unsuspected ability in myself, and this use of a new body that I did not know I possessed. The farmer was amazed, too. And also he was pleased to speak of our good conscience, and to pretend surprise because we did not loaf when his back was turned. " It was strange, with all of this heavy exertion, that we did not simply die of fatigue. Instead, more work bred more strength. It was unbelievable. " And always there was the peaceful view, birds call- ing in their graceful flights across the sky, then the creep- ing twilight with its long shadows, and finally the long night of sleep. SHE WANTED TO BE A FARMER 193 " Another new experience. Men will be men, it seems, even if there is prohibition. One of the men laborers went off to the village Saturday, got drunk on stored- away liquor, and failed to show up Monday morning. Who could expect us to be unhappy when the farmer suddenly discovered that we were dependable? On ac- count of losing his man, the farmer was obliged to teach me to run a tractor. "So that was a tractor! To any man I suppose it was a commonplace, e very-day piece of machinery. To me it was a great novelty and curiosity. How extraor- dinary is a tractor! Some man expressed his thoughts in terms of steel and iron, and produced a thing that has the power to do something, in this case the work of a tireless giant. Wherein is it different from a literary production, in which a man fits together words that make you see a picture and maybe laugh or cry? A tractor is a species of story or poem, only one that is infinitely useful. It can turn the earth into neat furrows; it can harrow and cultivate; it can cut and bundle; it can scoop lung piles of hay into a cart almost without the aid of Uie human hand. " Who was the man, or who the men, that invented it? Mow, if he were a poet of words, I could have named him. To my admiration poets have always been the thing; I could have told you the author of the most trivial poetic invention. But there I was sitting on the seat of a tractor, a harmonious device made by man to re- spond to my will like an almost human thing, and I did not know whose mind had invented it. I developed a new respect for machinery, and for the men who create 194 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY it. I found that literature has many guises as tractors as well as sonnets. Machinery 's the thing, and machin- ists! My husband shall be a machinist, and my son an inventor ! " Great changes were being wrought in our little unit of farm laborers. The singer was rapidly losing weight, and we noticed that her voice was improving. ' Husky Helen ' was as brown as a beechnut. And could this be the little dressmaker of a month ago? Scotch-Irish roses were blooming in her fair cheeks, her lips were crimson- ing, and her eyes were growing bright and clear. For myself, I had awakened from a half-dream. I had a new sense of well-being, a peace of mind. I was happy, like a child. But ah, Miss College Graduate, you indeed were changed! You had come to a new realization of all the knowledge there is that may not be found in books ! You had associated with people outside your college and your home set, and you had found that they were just as important under the sun. Best of all was the growing modesty of your thought and decisions. You did not toss off great questions and tremendous social beliefs with such facility and assurance. Just a simple onion will never look the same to you again ! " We plowed and planted, we cultivated and harvested. We sprayed trees, drove horses, ran tractors. We shin- gled roofs, painted barns. We picked fruit, sorted and packed it. We cleared up brush, sawed wood, mowed lawns, tended chickens, milked cows. We cut the hay with the machine, teddered it, raked and loaded it. We pitched sheaves of rye. We husked corn. We hunted for borers in the peach-trees. We swung the scythe SHE WANTED TO BE A FARMER 195 with the best of the men. And we even blew up stumps and dug ditches with the use of dynamite. '' The raw wind began to bite our fingers with cold. The season passed. Fall and Thanksgiving were in the air. It was time to return to the city to say good-by to brown trees, bleak fields, to flights of birds across a lowering sky, and to the chill and loneliness of the. fall twilight. We donned our city clothes again." Thus ran the record. When the little stenographer returned to her familiar city clock, every one on the street stared. Strangers as well as friends looked and gaped. They were amazed at the richness of her color, at her strong, high chest, at the brightness of her eyes. Envy possessed the hearts of those who had been the strongest in their disapproval. And they were the very ones now who went to be farmers with the little stenographer the next year! HARRIET MAYO. WAGE-EARNING OCCUPATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE HOUSEHOLD ARTS THERE are now open to girls who must earn their living a large number of interesting occupations that are directly connected with their life interests. These positions offer opportunities for the clever, pro- gressive woman, for they demand her best thought in in- dustrial, economic, and sociological fields. The salaries paid are good, and the supply of workers does not equal the demand. They offer opportunities to rise, for they range from that of assistant worker to the highest pro- fessional and executive occupations. They cover many varied interests connected with domestic science, domes- tic art, home management, hospital economics, and home nursing, so that it is possible for any one to choose the situation best fitted to her special capability and interest. Some of these wage-earning opportunities are in educa- tion, for the household arts have taken their place in schools of all kinds. The old methods of teaching sew- ing and cookery have been superseded by new ones that require women of culture who are at the same time ex- perts in their technical field. Such teachers must be pro- fessionally trained, and must see their subjects as a part of other educational interests such as science, art eco- nomics, sociology, and industry. They should be en- thusiasts in the possibility of developing better home life 196 THE HOUSEHOLD ARTS 197 in America through their class-work. They will find op- portunity for developing the household arts in schools long organized, such as : Elementary schools; high schools (classical, manual training, technical, and practical arts) ; technical schools (elementary and advanced) ; training schools for nurses; normal schools ; colleges and agricultural schools : uni- versity schools of education. A new field for the household arts is beginning in trade education for girls. This instruction aims to help those girls who must earn their living the moment the compulsory school years are over, and who require a short, highly specialized education. In such schools as this teachers of various kinds are needed, all of whom, in addition to their technical training, must know con- ditions of the industrial world of to-day. This field includes: Teachers of hand work in trade schools: sewing, gar- ment and uniform making, lingerie, dressmaking, mil- linery, lamp-shades, sample-mounting, jewelry-case mak- ing, foot- and electric-power sewing-machines, and like objects connected with women's work. Teachers of trade art: who must know the needs of the various industries for which they teach the design. Teachers of trade academic work: who must know the history of the industries, the vocabulary and arithmetic required in each trade, and also the labor, civic, and legal problems connected with the working-girl. Teachers of lunch-room cookery : who are fitted to run a lunch-room, and who can also teach working-girls to choose and cook the most nourishing food at the least ig8 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY cost, and to see this subject as an important factor in their working ability. The opening of a few trade schools for girls has dem- onstrated the fact that vocational instruction can be given advantageously to girls before they leave the elementary school. The sixth, seventh and eighth grades in some cities are now beginning to offer elective studies to those who must earn their living or who expect to bear re- sponsibilities in their homes. Special teachers, who com- bine a practical knowledge of the household arts subjects with industrial intelligence, are required to give this work adequately. Still another phase of household arts instruction is found in the night classes of elementary and high school grade for the teaching of sewing, dressmaking, embroid- ery, millinery, artificial flower-making, and cookery. Continuation and factory schools are beginning to be organized, which offer interrelations between business houses and school life. The students are wage-earners, but still continue studying. Salesmanship schools : a new field of teaching to train girls to higher ability as sales-girls in department stores. Social secretaries : teachers of household arts, who are also social workers, are particularly needed. They can train the sales-girls in department stores, and organize clubs and courses of instruction in stores or in factory towns. Teachers of cooking in all its phases. Teachers of laundry work. Miscellaneous schools of all kinds are demanding THE HOUSEHOLD ARTS 199 household arts teachers; schools for defectives, such as blind, deaf, and dumb, general and orthopedic hospitals, reformatories, asylums, sanatoriums, and settlements. These teaching positions are developing each year. The success of the well-trained teachers of household arts is making them factors in combining social and in- dustrial training with the educational. Professional positions : instructors and professors in colleges, agricultural schools, and universities ; directors of technical and trade schools ; supervisors of domestic art and domestic science in city school systems; and di- > rectors in institutions and hospitals. Many girls prefer business situations to teaching. If they have had some technical training there are good op- portunities in industry, for the untrained girl is not even permitted to enter the better positions, and rises but slowly in those open to her. The industrial and trade fields offer work of various grades in sewing, white work and electric operating (including simple operating and special machine work such as : straw hat, long and short embroidery, and bonnaz machine embroidery), dressmak- ing, and millinery. Art-work sketchers for dressmaking and lingerie houses, designers and workers for the perforating-ma- chines, and designers on bonnaz, costume designers and fashion illustrators. Heads of dressmaking and millinery work-rooms, and foreign buyers. Repairers of table and house linen in hotels and institu- tions. 200 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Garment alterers in department stores. Special invalid and expert cooks for institutions, hos- pitals, and hotels. Management : still other wage-earning opportunities are found in the following : House mother; heads of lunch-rooms, hospitals, hotels, laundries, and nurseries; supervisors of hospitals and in- stitutions; professional caretakers, and housekeepers. House decorators. Textile experts for department stores and museums. Nursing : visiting nurses, supervising nurses, and teach- ing nurses. Sanitary inspectors. Field secretaries for Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation and workers in philanthropy. Craft-workers, bookbinders, jewelry-workers, em- broiderers, and weavers. Magazine writers. To attain success in household arts positions, especially in those connected with teaching, a girl should have good health and an appreciation of its value. She must stand for wholesome, healthful womanhood. She must be truly interested in improving home life, and have a per- sonality that will appeal to those with whom she comes in contact. She must be absolutely clean in person, neat and attractive in dress, and appreciative of art in simple things. Many of the occupations mentioned are new and require the one organizing them to have a pioneer spirit, initiative to go ahead in the face of discouragements. Courage and willingness to wait for results are as neces- THE HOUSEHOLD ARTS 201 sary as enthusiasm and interest in the work in hand. The worker must put her heart into her work. For industrial workers there are in New York City many schools offering courses, such as : night schools ; the School of Applied Design ; special day or night classes at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn ; Manhattan Trade School ; He- brew Technical School ; Pascal Institute ; Clara de Hirsch Home ; Association Settlement Workers ; Young Wom- en's Christian Association; Washington Irving High School; and schools in connection with business enter- prises in art, industry, and social service. Training for still higher steps are offered at Pratt In- stitute, at the School of Applied Design, and at Teachers College in the School of Practical Arts. For teaching, social, and professional positions there are the New York Training School, the New York Uni- versity, School of Pedagogy, Young Women's Christian Association Training School, School of Philanthropy, School of Practical Arts at Teachers College, and Pratt Institute. Outside of New York there are excellent opportuni- ties also for obtaining training for teaching in the house- hold arts, at such institutions as : Drexel Institute, Phila- delphia; Mechanics Institute, Rochester; Margaret Mor- rison Carnegie School, Pittsburgh; Simmons College, Boston; Framingham School, Massachusetts; University School of Education, Chicago; and normal schools and colleges in various parts of the country. For teaching and directing in trade schools, Simmons College, Boston, in connection with the shops of the Edu- 202 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY cational a"nd Industrial Union of the same city, and Teach- ers College, New York, have opened regular courses of instruction. For craft-workers, instruction can be obtained at Pratt Institute, Teachers College, and through individual work- ers in the various crafts. For magazine writers, the School of Practical Arts at Teachers College will arrange a good course for this pur- pose. Many of these openings are so new that no regu- lar salary has as yet been determined. Teaching and social service : The compensation for teaching and social service positions is not so high as for the industrial ones ; the return to the worker is to a great extent in the pleasure she obtains from her work. Teachers of Sewing and Cooking $1,500 $2,500 Social Secretaries 1,300 1,800 Workers in Philanthropy 1,000 1,200 Field Workers in Y. W. C A 1,500 2,000 Teaching Nurses (often in residence) . . 1,200 1,500 Instructors in Colleges i,5 2,000 Professors 1,800 4,000 Supervisors and Superintendents (some- times with residence) 1,750 4,000 Principals and Directors of Schools ... 1,800 3,500 Dietitians, inexperienced and residence 600 Dietitians, experienced and residence.. 1,200 1,800 Industrial and Miscellaneous Positions: Workers, per week 15 35 Forewoman, per week 30 upward Buyers, per year (some make as much as $7,000) 2,500 6,000 Costume Designers, varying greatly with skill. . THE HOUSEHOLD ARTS 203 House Decorators . 1,500 3,500 Textile Experts, openings just begin- ning 1,200 upward Sanitary Inspectors, openings just begin- ning 1,200 upward Craft-Workers, vary greatly with skill and public demand Regular Nurse, private, per week 25.40 Hospital Nurse, with residence 900 3,000 Visiting Nurse, with residence ...... .'. . 1,000 1,500 Supervisory Nurse, with residence .... 900 2,500 Superintendent of Hospitals or Train- ing Schools, with residence 1,200 3,500 House Mother, with residence 900 1,200 Head of Lunch-Room, often with resi- dence 800 1,500 upward Head of Hospital, with residence 900 1,500 Head of Hotel, not yet determined; it has touched $10,000 where there was great responsibility. Head of Laundry, opening beginning . . . 600 I,OOO and up Traveling Caretaker, position is very new but will probably be needed in the future as domestic science serv- ice becomes more difficult to obtain. Magazine Writer, depends greatly upon popularity of subject 1,000 5,ooo upward MARY SCHENK WOOLMAN, Professor of Household Arts, Teachers College, Columbia University. SECRETARIAL WORK SECRETARIAL work of the ideal type covers a field for which the educated woman is well adapted, and sometimes appeals strongly to the college graduate who is not attracted to the profession of teaching, law, or medicine. Besides work in general stenography, the positions open to an educated secretary include such ones as the following : as secretary to a college president, a school or college officer, or a professor; as secretary to a profes- sional or literary man ; as secretary to a business man ; and as secretary in an institution not educational. In the first two kinds of positions the educated secretary is re- quired. In the last two the expert stenographer is com- petent, although the secretary would be more desirable. Information received from one of the Eastern secre- tarial schools, which gives a general college course to- gether with the special secretarial training, states that the salaries of its graduates for their first year range from six hundred to one thousand dollars. It is quite safe to say, I think, that corresponding positions in the Middle West, where salaries are higher, will pay from twelve hundred to two thousand dollars a year, while some posi- tions, such as the secretaryship to a college president, will pay from fifteen to eighteen hundred dollars a year. The general requirements for a secretary can be de- duced from the statement of a prominent publisher who 204 SECRETARIAL WORK 205 says : " My secretary should be as nearly myself, in the proper performance of her office duties, as is possible for any person associated with another in business." Her special training should thoroughly cover shorthand and type-writing at least, and as many more subjects of a business value as possible for example, business cor- respondence, business methods (the use of valuable eco- nomic devices and machines for efficient work), elemen- tary law, accounting, banking, administration, and cata- loguing, both office and library. A general college training is, of course, not a neces- sity; but it is of great value in adding both to the effi- ciency and to the recommendation of a secretary. She should at least have such knowledge of the English lan- guage and literature as will insure her being competent in grammar and spelling. Her college training should give her some knowledge of French, German, Italian. Latin, Spanish, economics, the sciences, and mathematics. All of these subjects may be called into use in a secre- tarial position. In addition to her special training and the knowledge gained from a general college course, a secretary must gather much from experience in a particu- lar position, especially in the way of vocabulary belong- ing to certain kinds of work, methods peculiar to individ- ual employers, and customs prevailing in a given locality. Many peculiar abilities add to the chances for success, and are virtually necessary to every secretary : neatness in appearance and in work, tact, good address, courtesy, punctuality, interest, method, accuracy, unselfishness, re- spect for an employer's confidences, and intelligence in carrying out instructions. While a stenographer may be 2o6 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY efficient and limit herself virtually to mechanical work, the secretary must put into complete service her mind as well as her hands. In using the term secretary, I do not mean stenog- rapher as generally applied to the writer of shorthand and operator of the typewriter. The latter person is often very mechanical in carrying out definite instructions and seems incapable of assuming responsibility. There are so many so-called stenographers, nowadays, sent out from inferior commercial schools, who can not detect their own errors, or even copy work with accuracy, that the educated secretary is justly indignant when she is placed in the general class of stenographers. JESSICA LOUISE MARCLEY, Formerly Director of Stenographic Bureau, University of North Dakota. VOCATIONAL ART THERE is hardly a field at the present time more full of opportunities for women than that of art, nor one in which women can find more satisfactory re- muneration for the efforts expended. Hardly a city or town in the United States is without its teacher of art, drawing, design, and handicraft. To become a success- ful teacher, however, requires definite training along dec- orative lines, with a knowledge of the practical applica- tion of art and of its relation to many subjects. Most cities and towns require teachers with a normal school training in art and with a background of at least a high- school education. Up to the present time few college women have entered this field, for, in general, those wish- ing to become teachers have entered the normal school directly from high school; but, with the increasing scope of such work and its far-reaching possibilities, an acad- emic training gives a teacher greater efficiency. Two years' training, at least, is required for such work. This prepares the student for the supervision of art in both public and private schools. Such a course includes one most essential factor, design ; for design is a cre- ative force behind all good work, and must find expres- sion in every teacher who hopes to become successful in the field of art as a vocation. Such subjects as design, water color, charcoal, black and white, perspective, na- ture study, child study, pedagogy, psychology, history of 207 2o8 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY education, and other related subjects combine with the application of art to the manual trades, such as metal, pottery, modeling, weaving, basketry, stenciling, leather, and other handicrafts, to form a basis for art training as related to present-day needs. A student who has gradu- ated from such a course is fitted to carry on work not only Photo by Brown Bros. A CLASS OF ART STUDENTS in public and private schools but in various industries as well. The commercial field of manufacturing, advertising, etc., is constantly in need of trained designers special- ists who are actually able to create and execute designs, specialists who assume responsibility for art as related to the manufactured product. Many opportunities are open for women who have become proficient in this sub- VOCATIONAL ART 209 ject. These include such fields as weaving, interior dec- oration, designing fabrics, wall-papers, jewelry, metal, and pottery. One has only to note art as it is being dis- played in advertising at the present time to become thor- oughly convinced that it is practical and finds a demand even among commercial men. Specialization in one craft is being carried on successfully by many women. This requires some mastery of the craft after general training has been acquired. The remuneration obtained through these various channels is dependent upon the ability of the individual. There is no guaranty other than that which one can make himself or herself, and which lies wholly in the amount of persistence and application possessed by the individual. Teachers who have become specialists in art are earning from one hundred to five hundred dollars a month, with an opportunity for study and travel in the summer months. This one fact alone is worth consideration. At times a commercial designer earns as much as from five to eight thousand dollars a year. This, however, applies to expert designers. But the average designer who ap- plies herself '(or himself) can earn a satisfactory liveli- hood and hope for such advancement as is deserved. Many women are earning satisfactory incomes from plying the crafts of jewelry, pottery, weaving, and lace- making, as specialized industries. These crafts are not mere fads, but are substantial and necessary factors in the present-day demand for better things things that combine design, craftsmanship, and individuality. One woman sold in one year twelve hundred dollars' worth of hand-wrought jewelry which she had designed and 210 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY executed in that period as her work in a specialized craft, aside from her regular duties. This is one of the many illustrations of successful and individual craftsmanship at the present time. Such a field of art should not be overlooked by those seeking vocations. Many phases of it are specially adapted to women because of their natural aptitude and their inclination toward the finer perceptions of art. There are many fields of labor that offer, possibly, more immediate returns, but none that furnish so many oppor- tunities along creative lines; and there is no phase of life so satisfactory as that which allows the individual to use his creative powers toward individual expression. MAURICE IRWIN FLAGG, Director of Handicraft Guild, School of Design, Handicraft, and Normal Art, Minneapolis; Director State Art Society, Minnesota. LIBRARY WORK TRAINED librarians are a necessity in bringing about the best use of any collection of books that is to be used by the public. The general public library offers the largest field of labor, since every large city has its tax-supported institution, with a more or less com- pletely developed system of branch libraries. Most large towns and many smaller towns also have public libraries. They are no longer luxuries, but necessities. ,Next to the demand for trained librarians made by public libraries comes the demand from school and col- lege libraries. High schools, normal schools, technical schools, and universities must have libraries for labora- tories, with a corps of trained reference librarians to make them useful. There are, besides, State libraries, historical libraries, libraries of learned societies, medical libraries, law libraries, and various specialized libraries, each requiring librarians with special training. An attractive field for librarians lies in the State li- brary commissions that have been established in many States for the purpose of organizing town libraries and promulgating the library idea. Virtually no limit can be placed on the educational influence possible to a well or- ganized State commission working in cooperation with schools, women's clubs, university extension courses, farmers' institutes, and State institutions, carrying on a system of traveling libraries, home libraries, foreign-lan- guage libraries, and developing permanent local libraries. 211 212 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Another field of library activity that promises to open up a wide opportunity for trained librarians is the special technical library, established in connection with commer- cial houses and manufacturing plants for the benefit of employees, who must have the latest and best book tools with which to keep abreast of improvements. The salaries of trained librarians are not tempting. No one enters any kind of educational work for the sake of financial reward. Salaries, however, compare more or less favorably with those in the teaching profession. The teaching and library professions have the common advantage of keeping one in touch with books and in con- tact with cultured people. Library work, especially in a general library, has great returns in that it keeps the librarian alive to every subject that attracts a many- minded public. The librarian must through sheer neces- sity cultivate catholic tastes and avoid all prejudices. The very nature of the work gives a wide horizon and demands an open mind. Moreover, -library work com- bines the attractions of educational work with those of social service. It uses books not simply as educational tools, but as a medium for bringing about better social and moral conditions. The work has all the satisfac- tion that comes from books, together with that which comes from service. The person who expects to make library work a pro- fession should have as a foundation a good education along general lines, especially in history, literature, and languages. If possible, the regular academic course should be completed before attempting special training. Upon this foundation should be built a professional li- LIBRARY WORK 213 brary training, which is offered at several library schools, notably at the State Library, Albany, New York; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn; Western Reserve University, Cleve- land; Illinois State University; the University of Wiscon- sin ; and at several other institutions. This training is usually completed in one year, though there is an ad- vanced course of a second year. The course covers bibli- ography, book selection, reference work, cataloguing and classification, and the mechanical methods necessary for order and accuracy. Many libraries offer an apprentice course, consisting largely of practical training, which to some extent covers the necessary points. It does not, however, compare with the professional training school, and is to be chosen only in case of necessity. Besides educational training, the person who would make a success must have certain natural qualifications. She should have a sense of order and an accurate mind. Details should not be irksome to her, for library work is filled with details. She should have a real love, not only for books, but for people, which should make it a pleas- ure to bring good books and people together. She should be capable of a strong community feeling, so that not only individual people but the social body enlists her interests. She should be even-tempered, and capable of endless pa- tience with all kinds of people children, foreigners, working-men, old people, and whosoever seeks the ac- quaintance of books. If there is in the library field much work with small financial returns, every librarian feels the satisfaction that comes from doing something that is very much worth while. GRATIA A. COUNTRYMAN, Librarian, Public Library, Minneapolis. A NEW VOCATION FOR WOMEN A TINY cabin, twelve by twelve, the walls of which have a continuous band of glass all the way round, perched on the side of a heavily timbered Oregon moun- tain, is the home, in the fire season, of a woman look- out. Many new occupations were opened to women because of war conditions among them that of forest-fire look- out in the national forests of Washington and Oregon, Oregon's national forests bear a stand of 130,000,000,000 feet of merchantable timber, and Washington's 90,000,- 000,000 feet, the protection of which is the most impor- tant duty of the service. Up to now in practically all cases where women are employed as lookouts they have taken a companion with them to the mountain-tops. In some cases this compan- ion has a share in the work and the remuneration of the position ; in others she has just gone for company to the lookout, for at these points there are few callers from the outside. There are the unfrequent trips of the dis- trict ranger, the regular calls of the packer who brings in supplies, and the visit of the occasional courageous tour- ist. Aside from the possibility of loneliness to certain tem- peraments, there is no undesirable element in this voca- tion. If she be a lover of nature, she can never be de- pressed by her isolation, for the ever-changing mountains 2T4 A NEW VOCATION FOR WOMEN 215 and forests are dear comrades. Of course she must be constantly on the alert to discover any smoke or fire visible from her station, and on the instant that this is seen she notes the course by means of the fire-finder, an instrument that gives both the vertical angles and azimuth readings. Sometimes the exact location is determined by taking two readings from the same lookout house; at other times the location is known immediately because of the lookout's knowledge of the country surrounding her station. The location is promptly telephoned to the dis- trict ranger, who passes the word on to the nearest " smoke-chaser," who goes to the place and fights the fire. Should the fire be too large to be handled by one man, he summons help, often by means of the portable telephone equipment that he carries with him. Whether or not there are any fires, the lookout calls up headquar- ters at stated intervals, thus testing out the telephone line and notifying the district ranger that she is at her post of duty. Because of the success derived from the lookout house on Mount Hood, other snow-caps in the Western district are being occupied as lookout points, among which are Mount McLmighlin, an elevation of 9,483 feet, in the Crater National Forest. The last mentioned has a look- out-house at an elevation of 12,307 feet. From these high points the lookout has discovered all of the fires that have occurred within a radius of twenty-five miles, and in some instances fire has been discovered fifty-five miles distant, and so accurately located that the ranger had no difficulty in knowing exactly where it was. "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR." DEPARTMENT-STORE EDUCATION TO the outsider the subject of education in depart- ment stores must be very vague ; indeed, store edu- cators themselves are just coming to see a path along which they may begin this kind of teaching. Because of the great variety in the merchandise and the difference in the education and training of employees, the teacher has need of a broad general knowledge. It is not so much to say that nothing that is included in the term " general education " is useless in this vast field. The technical training should be of two sorts: first, prepara- tion for the profession of teaching; second, an intimate knowledge of stores and their management, and also of merchandise. The trained and experienced teacher (preferably of older students) who secures also experience in selling is best fitted to enter this interesting but difficult teaching field. In addition to this, the work calls for much tact and patience, for ability to meet all kinds of people, and for determination to persevere in spite of difficulties at times almost overwhelming, and yet inevitable when an undertaking so idealistic as teaching is introduced into the alien soil of the business world. Instructors to-day are still breaking new ground, and it will take time to demonstrate the value of this sort of professional work in an institution established for mercantile pursuits. 216 DEPARTMENT-STORE EDUCATION 217 The duties of the instructors vary greatly in different stores. In some places, especially in the smaller stores, they are chiefly concerned with teaching what is known as store system, by which is meant the making out in correct form of the checks, transfers, and other blanks used in various transactions. In the smaller stores the instructor also looks after what is generally known as welfare work. In some of the large stores instruction is given in merchandise and in the principles of retail sell- ing, in hygiene, and in various elementary branches of study. In still other places the educational department exercises some employment and supervisory functions. The range of salaries would probably be from fifteen hundred to four thousand dollars a year, according to the size of the store and the scope of the work. As in other professions, the hours must be regulated largely by the duties of the office and by the needs of the day. Since such a position is of an executive nature, the regu- lations of the store for other employees of equal rank would probably apply. The chances for advancement are unlimited ; for, as one reaches the limit with one house, she is prepared to undertake larger work elsewhere. The need for teach- ing of this kind is being more generally recognized each year, but because of the newness of the idea there are not many trained workers. It would seem, therefore, a special branch of teaching, which, while calling for much more labor and for indefinitely greater initiative than teaching along already established lines, yet offers far 218 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY wider opportunity for achievement, for larger remunera- tion, and for freedom to work along individual lines un- hampered by traditions and by courses of study. HARRIETT R. Fox, Educational Director Strawbridge & Clothier, Philadelphia. ADVERTISING AS A PROFESSION FOR WOMEN AMONG the various business vocations now open to women, there are few that repay so richly in in- terest as the writing of advertisements. Those already in this work realize how much more there is to it than mere writing how wide a field of activity it opens up and how many sides of human effort it touches in the process of bringing together the consumer and the mer- chandise he needs. It is this many-sidedness that proves so fascinating and so rewarding. Here it touches the business of buying and selling; there it has to do with the graphic arts photography and drawing, engraving, printing, color work; on yet another side it demands a mastery of effective writing. Something about all of these things the modern ad- vertiser must know and it must be based upon a thor- ough acquaintance with the goods to be sold and a sym- pathetic understanding of the mental processes of the per- son who buys. Acquaintance with goods implies some familiarity with the sources of raw material, the details of manufacture, and the way in which manufactured products are distributed in the world's markets. With- out a growing body of knowledge of this sort, it would be difficult to present to the potential buyer the reasons why he should buy. It is acquired through daily asso-. 219 220 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY elation with manufacturers, merchants, and salespeople. These are more likely to know the interesting aspects of their goods than they are to have the power of recogniz- ing the interest and using it in writing to sell their goods; this is the advertiser's province. Accurate in- formation is indispensable it serves to paint an at- tractive picture to the consumer, and it also acts as a check upon the unbridled enthusiasm of the men who make the goods and will call them almost anything super- lative in the effort to sell them. In this respect the woman who takes up advertising is a really useful member of the community. True, she stands outside those professions that are primarily altru- istic, and she can not look for the rewards of altruism; but she is not debarred from the satisfaction of being of use to her fellows, for the more serviceable she is in help- ing them to buy exactly the kind of merchandise they need and can afford, the better advertiser she is, according to enlightened modern standards. She is more than guide and philosopher to the consuming public she may be its friend, too. And if she is to do her part in carrying to the consum- er's door the goods she has learned to believe in, she must go one step further she must appreciate how the buying mind works. In the name of the psychology of advertising much nonsense has been uttered ; but there is such a thing, and it does play a large part in the mental equipment of the advertiser. It is so closely allied to what a salesman needs that actual selling experience is in- valuable in preparing for advertising. Indeed, there are many roads by which a woman may ADVERTISING AS A PROFESSION 221 enter advertising. Education is needed, of course not so much an exhaustive training in any one line as a wide range of generally useful information, coupled with the habit of approaching unfamiliar subjects scientifically. In many kinds of advertising every day presents a new subject; and, even when one is sticking to a small range of subjects to advertise, the intelligent, painstaking, thor- ough method is indispensable. Another essential is that "news instinct" which journalistic training gives an excellent school, by the w r ay, for the would-be advertiser. Find out what there is that is new and fresh and interest- ing in your merchandise, and then tell it in the terse, picturesque, persuasive language that will make a man reach for his hat and start out to buy it! Women who can do this naturally may start into ad- vertising without any special previous training. The w r ork itself from day to day will be its own training. Such experience, plus the zest that springs from a real love of the work, has created many a good advertiser. Natural liking is far more essential than any particular " temperament." It has been said that newspaper work is a good train- ing-camp work for advertisers. So is \vork in a pub- lishing house of any sort. And conversely, women who have done advertising especially advertising of the edi- torial sort, involving the planning and make-up of circu- lars and booklets are quite likely to graduate from that into more strictly editorial work in publishing houses. In some cases the latter work pays better. The salary within reach of the beginner in advertis- ing is rather more nearly a " living wage " than that 222 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY offered to beginners in other lines teaching, for in- stance. The average young woman in an advertising agency, a store, or a manufacturing house can ask (and get) at least twenty-five dollars a week, if she combines a good mind, fair education, energy, ability to get along with other people, and something like the advertising instinct. If her work is satisfactory and her employer fair, she should be paid forty dollars in a few years. And there are enough able women getting up to fifty dol- lars a week to suggest this as a fair possibility. Salaries beyond fifty dollars are not common. One must salt generously all rumors to the effect that this or that woman advertiser " is paid ten thousand dollars a year." Save in very exceptional cases, women are not paid such sal- aries for advertising or anything else. Do not go into advertising with the idea that you will grow wealthy - its rewards lie outside the pay-roll. But they are none the less real and satisfying, as many women will testify who are now in the advertising field. ELIZABETH CONOVER MOORE, Advertising Staff, John Wanamaker, Philadelphia. THE SELLING OF STOCKS AND BONDS WTHIN the past few years inquiries for advice re- garding investments by professional and business women have opened a vocation new to women the sell- ing of stocks and bonds. For the woman who is adapted to this work there is an unlimited future in the financial world, but one must have a sound knowledge of securities, as well as of the laws of finance, to be able to exercise careful judgment in order to win success. We are told that this is the age of feminism. There are women physicians, women law- yers, women chauffeurs, women ranchers, women farm- ers, so why not women financiers ? As in all new fields of work, a certain amount of prejudice has to be overcome. In the selling of securi- ties, men have a record at hand and women have a record to make; but the woman who has the courage and pa- tience to grapple with opportunity will win out. Effi- ciency nowadays is the open sesame in every line of busi- ness. A college education, though not a necessity, is of great advantage to the woman who contemplates selling securi- ties, but preliminary requirements may be covered by a general education, culture, and tact; the larger back- ground of that kind one has, the better. Technical train- ing and experience can be acquired in the statistical de- partment of a reliable banking house, where the science 223 224 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY of investments and economics can be studied from every point of view. The goal is not reached in a day, how- ever, for it takes years thoroughly to grasp the subject along the broad lines necessary. Another problem to be overcome is the securing of interviews with prospective clients, and a wide social acquaintance is essential for initial success. The watchword of to-day is " preparedness." To the business woman preparedness means not only efficiency in office work, but extends further to clothes, speech, and manners three important factors in holding any posi- tion requiring personal contact with people. To advise others as to the investing of their money is a responsibility as well as a great service. Many women are absolutely lacking in business sense, and the death of a father, husband, or brother leaves them helpless and a prey to the unscrupulous. Here the woman with a financial education, who has obtained through practical application a broad knowledge of stocks and bonds, is well fitted for the responsible and interesting work in ren- dering " first aid in finance for women." Salaries are usually arranged on a monthly basis (the minimum being rarely less than one hundred dollars), with a commission on all business consummated, so that one's income varies according to the amount of sales made. Working hours, as a rule, are from nine-thirty to four-thirty. It is an inspiring thought to know that many women through voice, stage, or pen are earning thousands of dollars ; and, while the salaries of the woman in business have not yet reached their high-water mark, in this twen- SELLING OF STOCKS AND BONDS 225 tieth century numberless opportunities suggest themselves to those who can render expert service that training and experience alone can give. " Hitch your wagon to a star," for we know that if we aim at the very heights we are far more likely to hit near the top than if we aim too low; so, whatever the work is, one must aim to be the very best there is in that field. CLARA A. MONROE, Manager Women's Department, H. Evan Taylor, Inc.. Philadelphia. Photo by Brown Bros. MOSAIC MAKING WOMEN AND CRAFTSMANSHIP THERE is a wide and an almost unworked field of effort for women of taste and ability in fine crafts- manship. In the application of art to articles of every- day use woman has always been noticeably active, most of the very early art having been applied, as we well know, to articles of women's household service. To-day, however, because of the growth of manufacturing and business conditions and the separation of art from pro- duction, there is much pioneer work to be done in bring- ing them once more together ; and, as in all pioneer work, courage and enterprise are needed. If a young woman, therefore, has a keen sense of beauty and a delight in it, and at the same time courage and imagination, there is a good place awaiting her in the arts. If, on the other hand, she is not willing to earn her way slowly and find compensation in the work itself, or prefers a comfortable week-end salary assured, there are lines in which she may be more sure of a steady course. But, with artistic ability and a determination to succeed, she is needed in the world of craftsmanship. In the past few years the avenues in this direction have increased greatly more, even, than opportunities in other lines. There is a great deal to be done, but the way has to be made and the opportunity developed individ- ually. To-day the business and manufacturing world, as well as the buying public, knows that art is an essential 227 228 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY of life. Manufacturers and educators are studying the problems of art in every-day things, while the craftsman is actually solving them and bringing beauty to the peo- ple. The opportunities for artistic work are almost un- limited, and a young woman who is adequately trained and fairly gifted may hope to attain a fair recognition in time and a reasonable livelihood, and if she is endowed with unusual invention and ability she may hope for honors among artists and craftsmen. There are two ways of attacking the problem of mak- ing a start, once she has decided to take up the work. One of these is to secure employment with a house pro- ducing artistic work. This means beginning at a very moderate wage and going slowly, but keeping her mind open to learn everything that the place can teach of de- sign and the possibilities of her medium. Thus she be- comes prepared to take up work later for herself, or to accept a more advanced position with the firm. A success in work that is creative and independent is more easily accomplished when two work together as partners, supplementing each other's natural gifts. For a very real business ability is necessary to the success of the craftsman, as to any other success. In starting out thus, some capital is needed or some advantage in oppor- tunity that counts for it. In pottery several women have notably made good. Two partners hold summer classes and in winter produce fine ware in their city studio. Another produces and teaches in a city suburb and sends out work that can com- pare with the best. One woman started a class of girls of fourteen or so which has developed into a regular in- WOMEN AND CRAFTSMANSHIP 229 dustry known all over the country. In a Southern col- lege the post-graduates of the art department, women make pottery for sale, and this ware is also well known. In jewelry there are some women doing distinctive work, who have made a name for themselves by means of it. Bookbinding, while it offers a delightful field, can seldom assure an income unless accompanied by teach- ing. This is true of some others of the crafts at present, and teaching is resorted to in most cases while the worker is getting her hold on the public. When this is accom- plished, sometimes helpers are taken on, so that a larger output is possible and a business is built up. The best work is done, as a rule, where the work-shop is kept fairly small, since in this way it is under the direct control of the craftsman who is responsible for the output. All art- producing firms (Rookwood, Herter, the Tiffany Glass Company, etc.) employ women largely. As the public grows more appreciative and this ap- preciation is daily advancing the manufacturer and the shopkeeper will more and more appreciate the artistic worker. 'These know to-day that art is necessary in the production of wares and in setting them out, and they wish to find the person who can do these things for them. The artist, on the other hand, must be ready to learn and accept the necessary conditions of trade and be will- ing to make the work practical. These two need each other, and they must throw aside the distrust that each has had for the other and both, too often, of the public. The public generally prefers the beautiful if it can get it. In textiles there has been less definite success perhaps 230 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY because the outfit is more expensive, or because there are fewer organized industries to which one may profitably gain admission for study. For those who have the means and the enterprise to equip a plant, however, we believe there is a chance here, too, for a notable success. The artist is needed to-day in all lines of endeavor, and the need is becoming more and more a conscious one. But success depends upon the character and courage of the craftsman as much as upon personal gifts of taste; for there is no marked or beaten path for the beginner to follow. It is yet to be made. For one desiring to start in this work, the most important thing of all is to know enough of her tastes and abilities to choose definitely her line of work. When this is decided upon, the meth- ods of securing a place for her gifts can be considered. In all good craftsmanship there must be the ability to draw well, and a feeling for the qualities of the mate- rial in which she is to work. After a course at an art school or under a competent teacher, she may best become the assistant of some one or enter some firm where the practical lessons of the craft may be learned. Up to this time pottery and metal work have seemed to offer the best rewards to the craftsman as regards steady advance- ment and income. A fair field almost untouched is that of wood-carving. Almost any craft to-day offers an op- portunity, if one can develop it; but many have yet to be developed. The most essential thing is to know your gift and then prepare yourself to exercise it. When an artist craftsman is really prepared for work, there will be found openings in plenty for her services or for her creative ability, MIRA BURR ESON-KOHLER, THE MANUFACTURING CLERK IN A PUBLISHING HOUSE THE position of manufacturing clerk in a book-pub- lishing house is one that only in recent years has been open to women; and even to-day, except in the smaller houses, the woman usually acts as subordinate or assistant to the head of the department. There is no reason, however, why the woman should not in time as- sume the headship, provided, of course, that she pos- sesses the power to control others. The manufacturing clerk receives from the editorial department the story, essay, or poem in manuscript form, and it is her duty to produce from it the finished book, neatly printed, attractively bound, and suitably illustrated. She must arrange for and superintend all the various processes of book manufacture, from the selection of type for the compositor at the start to the final placing of the jacket upon the completed volume. Here is a wide field for the exercise of a woman's intuition and imagination, a field for creative work of a most satisfying character. What requirements are necessary for entering this oc- cupation? First, a capacity for never-ending detail; sec- ond, a fondness for mechanical processes ; third, an appre- ciation of color values and harmonies ; and, fourth, a cer- tain commercial instinct that will enable one to bear in 231 232 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY mind always the cost of production as well as the artis- tic result. Fortunately, the first requirement is found more fre- quently in women than in men ; but it is, I believe, a nat- ural endowment and can not be developed where it is not native. Without the second requirement it will be ex- tremely difficult to gain a proper working knowledge of composition, electrotyping, printing, binding, photo-en- graving, and other processes that enter into book manu- facture. This fondness may be acquired through a more or less intimate contact with these various processes or by visits to the plants, where a study of the mechanics involved may be made at first hand. The third essen- tial comes into play in securing artistic effects in print- ing, also in making attractive combinations for book covers, wrappers, and illustrations. Perhaps nothing in connection with the work is more fascinating than to have a color scheme in mind from the beginning and satisfactorily carry it out as the book develops. A short course at some industrial art school would be of great benefit here, though, where this can not be had, a working knowledge of the subject may be gained through home study. The fourth essential requires no explanation. It is a characteristic that may easily be acquired. A few months spent in a printing or binding establish- ment would be excellent preliminary experience for one looking to this position. Where this can not be had, a tour of inspection through a first-class plant of each kind, as well as through an electrotyping and photo-engraving plant, is absolutely essential. These visits would prove THE MANUFACTURING CLERK 233 most profitable to the novice after a short connection with some small book-publishing house had acquainted her with the general plan of book manufacture. Indeed, the small publishing house is much the best place to be- gin, since here the organization is not so highly systema- tized as in the larger establishments, so that a better op- portunity is offered for learning the process. If the house has its own manufacturing plant, visits may be paid to its different departments. The most serious disadvantages in this occupation are the frequent disappointments and the trying detail work. So many are the causes of disappointment that it is the exception to produce a book without arousing this feel- ing; while, as to the crowding of minutiae one upon an- other, there is probably no other line of endeavor where this feature is more pronounced. But there are many compensations, and those who have undertaken this work have eventually grown really fond of it, until in some instances they would not relinquish it for more lucrative employment. This fascination can be understood when one considers the wide interests involved. The remuneration for this work varies so greatly that it would be unwise to mention figures, but there is usually ,'i good chance for advancement. A young woman hold- ing a subordinate clerkship at a few dollars a week may eventually, if competent, be promoted to manager of the department at a very good annual salary. Much de- pends on individual capacity. At the present moment there are comparatively few such positions open to women, but why should she not so 234 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY well fill these few that other and better ones will open up to her, thus broadening and enriching this field of essen- tially womanly activity? LAURA WILSON, George W. Jacobs & Co., Philadelphia. A WOMAN PRODUCER OF PLAYS STAGE decoration, that is, the designing of scenery for plays, and also the production of plays, makes up a most interesting profession for a woman to follow, ac- cording to Mrs. Emillie Hapgood, who has recently taken up that line of work in New York and is enjoying it tre- mendously. Mrs. Hapgood explained that she could see no reason why the designing of stage settings or the pro- ducing of plays should be called either man's or woman's; in her opinion, it was the work of those who could do it best, and that means, of course, artists. Room decoration and stage decoration are two en- tirely different things. One may decorate a room artis- tically, and leave it to the people who live in it to create the atmosphere; but with the stage the decorator must create the atmosphere of the play to be produced upon it. If the one who makes the models for the settings of the play can get underneath that play, so to speak, and feel deeply enough its message, can really understand it, then he can make models for scenery and settings that will help interpret that play correctly to the public. Or he may get on top of the play, so to speak, and merely dress it up from the outside, as most plays are done, and make an attractive set of scenery, but one that is just scenery and nothing else, not a factor in the production of the play, according to the artist-producer. And that is why, as she puts it, it is not wise to turn over the most 235 236 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY precious plays that are written to any one lacking in sin- cerity, for such a one would think only of the artistic possibilities of the settings. " It is a great mistake," says Mrs. Hapgood, " to put anything on the stage, by way of scenery and settings, that does not bring out the meaning of the play. There is a loophole for the author whose books are badly illus- trated with pictures that have no reference to the text, except perhaps to contradict it, for he can convey his own ideas and descriptions by his written word ; but there is no escape for the playwright who is obliged to get his effect through the work of the designers of scenery as well as through the words of the actors. That is why the art of stage-decorating is such an important one, although, of course, not nearly so important as the acting itself, for the words carry the meaning of the play. The setting is the way the play reaches the eye, as the words of the actor reach the ear. We must have nothing but artists behind the curtain, each in his own line. " My work came rather suddenly. I felt such an in- terest in the stage that I decided that I wanted to try my hand at what I believed to be the proper kind of stage decoration, and from that I have become interested in producing plays,'' said Mrs. Hapgood. She intimated that it is impossible to do both at once, as it takes at least three weeks of standing over the scene-painters to keep the atmosphere that one works so hard to get into the model when a thing is so enormously enlarged. Nobody should attempt to do this work on the stage who can not do every inch of it himself. The making of models means a little bit of cutting, a A WOMAN PRODUCER OF PLAYS 237 little bit of gluing, a little bit of painting, the use of a great deal of tissue paper, gauze of various colors, ar- tistic ability, some knowledge of architecture and decora- tion, and dramatic sense one must express so much by proportions. These models must be made on an abso- lutely exact scale, too, and one must know the exact size of the stage, its length and depth, before beginning. It surely is interesting work, making the tiny furniture, ar- ranging the pieces, and putting on the wall decorations. Mrs. Hapgood has a number of attractive models that she has made. One is a forest, a lovely green wood that makes one think of Sherwood or the Forest of Arden. Another is a Venetian scene, a formal Italian garden with the misty outline of the church of Santa Maria della Salute in the distance. An interior shows an old-fashioned English drawing- room. Mrs. Hapgood says that this is the home of a dear, old-fashioned duke living in the country. In order to convey the idea in his surroundings, as much as pos- sible, the affection that his family and people feel for him, she uses Victorian furniture. " In planning stage decorations," said Mrs. Hapgood, " one must remember that the actors are to be seen first. Always the furniture is to be subordinated to them, to what they have to say. For instance, if an actress wears a pale pink gown, and just behind her is a deep rose-col- ored sofa, that brilliant color will catch the attention of the audience first, and what the actress is saying may be missed. The furniture must not be allowed to soak up all the color; the decorations should always bring the actors into relief." 238 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY This artist is very enthusiastic about the way women are finding their way into all sorts of new occupations, new fields of work and usefulness. She considers that women are far more interesting than in earlier days, now that they have so many more interests of their own. " CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR."' THE WOMAN PHYSICIAN AND HER UNPARALLELED OPPORTUNITY SEVENTY years ago there was established in Phila- delphia, the cradle of American liberty, the first college in the world for the medical education of women. It was founded by a group of men, members of the So- ciety of Friends, who recognized that women were spe- cially fitted for this profession of service and would con- tribute notably to the welfare of the community if op- portunity was offered to them. The early graduates from this historic institution, now the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, found the medical career not easy sailing. They were confronted by prejudice at every hand. Pharmacists refused to com- pound prescriptions for them, hospitals to receive their patients. Yet slowly and surely these pioneers gained recogni- tion and patients, and demonstrated not only their sym- pathetic understanding of human ills, but their scientific ability to diagnose and treat those who consulted them. To-day this struggle with prejudice is a thing of the past and the woman physician has her assured place. The problem to-day in the national movement for human welfare is rather to find enough women physicians ready to seize the manifold opportunities presenting themselves for acceptance. 239 240 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY Public opinion no longer sees the woman doctor as a rival to the man in this profession, but instead recognizes her special skill and aptitude for certain medical special- ties to which she has shown herself by temperament and personality peculiarly fitted. So varied are the opportun- ities offered her that no college student looking forward DR. ELIZABETH BLACKWELL The first woman in the United States to receive a medical diploma to medical study need hesitate to assure herself of con- genial work in her chosen career. The practice of medicine, the caring for the sick, has always made its special appeal to certain individuals. If one loves people, and longs to help those who are ill and THE WOMAN PHYSICIAN 241 suffering, and enjoys the glorious satisfaction of restor- ing them to health and happiness, here is a life-work offer- ing the fullest satisfaction. And so much of the illness of the world is related to causes clearly removable and preventable that the family physician, winning the con- fidence of the mother in the home, wields a powerful in- fluence for prevention of disease by her sympathetic un- derstanding of these things and her willingness to teach as she gives her professional advice. Opportunities offer also in lines of special practice in diseases of women and children, and in eye, ear, nose, and throat work; and if the strain and uncertainty of house- to-house visiting is distasteful, institutional service as a salaried resident physican can be obtained in many lines. To the temperament less interested in people and the personal contacts, laboratory medicine makes its appeal. City and State laboratories, the clinical laboratories of hospitals and of the great research institutes, are con- stantly looking for qualified women who are recognized as possessing an unusual gift for accurate, painstaking detail work. Many an important discovery in bacteri- ology or chemistry recalls the name of a woman whose patience at her laboratory desk brought its reward in a contribution to human welfare. The war multiplied greatly the demand for medical women in the fields of work mentioned. Hospitals that were forced by the shortage of medical men to receive women for the first time as resident physicians are not now closing their doors. Communities are asking for women physicians to meet special local needs, and labora- 242 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY tories are unable to secure a sufficient number of pro- fessional workers. Perhaps the most striking effect of the war on the op- portunities for medical women appears in the great na- tional movement for health education. There is a nation-wide recognition of the fact that the American draft army revealed a shocking proportion of young men physically unfit for military service. The dis- abilities exhibited were in large measure due to prevent- able causes, and indicate the fundamental need of health education. The United States Public Health Service is urging a plan for nation-wide conservation of health, and calling on all health agencies to cooperate in a carefully prepared program. Women must play an important part in making this plan effective, and they should prepare themselves by spe- cial training as doctors of medicine, doctors of health, as industrial health officers and health educators, and as public health nurses. The woman is temperamentally qualified and her in- stinct leads her to deal with the individual in matters of health, as contrasted with man's impulse to deal with the mass. The man safeguards through sanitary engineer- ing, water-works, sewage disposal, and meat and milk in- spection. The woman makes practical application of the laws of health in the daily life of women and children in the opportunities offered in : Pre-natal and post-natal clinics ; Well babies' clinics and nutrition classes ; THE WOMAN PHYSICIAN 243 Health centers; as health officers in industrial plants; as professors and teachers of physiology and hygiene in colleges, normal schools, and high schools ; as physical directors in girls' colleges and schools ; as lecturers to women's organizations on all subjects pertaining to health. The preparation that will qualify for this work in- cludes fundamental training in the medical sciences lead- ing to the degree of doctor of medicine, plus fundamental sociology as it relates to health; vital statistics and their interpretation ; heredity and eugenics ; modern psychol- ogy; preventable diseases; personal, social, and industrial hygiene ; and intensive clinical and lecture work in " so- cial preventive pediatrics." In addition, women so trained should be instructed in public speaking and peda- gogy, in order that they may be able to transmit their knowledge acceptably to others. The opportunities in medical foreign mission service should not be overlooked. The appeal of the women and children in the Oriental countries is constantly before the mission boards of American churches. Hospitals are closed and dispensary work curtailed for lack of doc- tors. The number of physicians graduating now in the United States is not adequate to meet our own national needs and the call from Macedonia goes unheeded. The requirements for entrance to a medical school of high standing may be summarized as follows: 244 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY 1. A minimum two years of college preparation, cover- ing six college units of work in chemistry, inorganic and organic ; four college units in biology, including zoology and botany; four college units in physics; and two years of language other than English, one of which must be French or German. These college years must include a total of sixty semester hours of work, the non-science subjects compris- ing English, mathematics, history, etc., according to the requirements of the individual college. 2. A medical course covering four years, of thirty-two weeks, of thirty to thirty-five hours of scheduled work a week. This must be followed by one year of hospital service as interne if it is desired to practise in certain States. Tuition fees vary from a nominal sum in State uni- versities to two hundred and fifty dollars in a number of the larger co-educational schools. The average fee is one hundred and seventy-five dollars. Medical schools are classified by the American Medical Association according to a rating determined by the ex- cellence of the courses offered, the completeness of the equipment, and the high standing of the faculty. Only schools listed in Class A should be considered, as many opportunities for future work make graduation from such a school a prerequisite. 1 For the health educator it is probable that a special course will be developed, including as a prerequisite two * A useful pamphlet entitled " Making a Right Start " may be obtained by application to the American Medical Association, 535 Dearborn Avenue, Chicago. Here will be found full details regarding pre-medical requirements and the standing of each of the medical schools in the United States. THE WOMAN PHYSICIAN 245 or three years of academic college work, followed by two years of training in the fundamental medical sciences, with special instruction in the social applications of pre- ventive medicine, physical education, mental hygiene, etc. For the public health nurse a three years' course of hos- pital training and one year of post-graduate social service work, following the completion of the high-school course. To those who contemplate enrolling in this army of health educators the time of preparation may seem long; but the study is full of interest and opportunity, and one may look forward to a field offering almost unlimited scope for individual accomplishment. Financial returns vary widely and are assuming more attractive proportions as the fundamental value of this work receives public recognition. In the practice of med- icine one may not expect a comfortable income under five years, and it is well to plan for a nest-egg to tide over this period of waiting. A medical practice grows by careful and patient attention to office hours and the giv- ing of honest and scientific service to one's patients. The range of income varies from two to five thousand dollars per annum, increasing in later life to ten thousand dollars. Salaries in institutional positions range from nine hun- dred to two thousand dollars with maintenance. Labora- tory positions vary from one thousand to thirty-five hun- dred dollars. In social service, school medical inspec- tion, municipal court work, etc., on part time, the salary approximates five hundred to one thousand dollars; on full time the maximum reached is five thousand dollars. Teaching positions carry with them salaries ranging from twelve hundred to twenty-five hundred dollars. 246 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY In the practice of medicine the hours of work are not limited, and in the early years a vacation can rarely be taken. Laboratory and teaching hours are limited, as is usual in such lines. Institutional positions are confining, but probably afford the minimum amount of nervous strain. Opportunities for advancement are good, but limited to some extent by sex. Good health is absolutely essential to success in medicine in any of its branches. One must cultivate the social instinct to attain success in the prac- tice of medicine, and the capacity to initiate and to sus- tain effort is as essential in this profession as in any other. Here is no sinecure for the selfish or the lazy ; but for the woman who desires a life-work of satisfying service, and who is willing to give to the uttermost while living, the medical profession offers the fullest possible opportunity. MARTHA TRACY, Dean of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. Wide World Photo MME. SKLODOWSKA CURIE The discoverer of radium THE WOMAN LABORATORY WORKER ONLY in the last few years has the laboratory been open to women workers. All scientific work is re- quiring more and more aid from the laboratory, which promises well for the future. Probably the prerequisites of the laboratory worker vary more than in other lines of work open to women, because there are so many branches of science, and the various laboratories cover one or several of these,'* according to size and conditions. The individuality of the worker herself is most im- portant. Educational requirements vary with the labora- tory and the position. Some laboratories will take in- experienced girls and train them; others require a term of volunteer work before giving positions. Government and municipal positions are subject to civil service, and in the examination education and experience count. In gen- eral well educated women and those with experience are preferred. There may be a bewildering variety in laboratory work, or it may be monotonous. Some laboratories do routine work exclusively chemical analysis of foods, metals, etc. ; preparation and examination of cultures of bacteria, such as diphtheria and tuberculosis, preparation of sec- tions of pathological tissues or preparation of vaccines, antitoxins, etc. For the worker who must do only one of these the work is necessarily monotonous. Fortu- nately, however, most laboratories do several or all of 248 WOMAN LABORATORY WORKER 249 them, and the worker has a variety. Many laboratories combine with the routine more or less experimental work, which is always interesting and requires one to be in touch with similar work done in other places. Contrary to the opinion of many people, laboratory work is not easy. The positions open to untrained work- ers are chiefly technical and require at times rather strenu- ous work. The scientific positions also require a certain amount of technical work, besides considerable responsi- bility. There is an element of danger in most laboratory work, for one is continually handling virulent organisms, infectious material, and dangerous chemicals. With care much of the danger of accident and infection is removed, but one must fully realize that there is danger. Laboratory hours at best are irregular, since the work must be done regardless of time. The stated time is usually from nine to five, with a half day Saturday; but these hours are seldom closely followed, and at times fifty- four hours a week are required. Holiday and Sun- day work are often necessary in the medical laboratory. The salary of the untrained worker is usually from fifty to seventy-five dollars a month. The woman with a year or two of experience is paid from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month. The aver- age small laboratory or hospital can not afford to pay more than this. In some commercial, municipal, and government laboratories, however, the woman in earnest, who has ideas and can work them out, can do better. As a rule, fifteen hundred dollars a year is the maximum at the present time. To be successful, good health is abso- lutely necessary. Speed, accuracy, ambition, persever- 250 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY ance, and enthusiasm are all helpful, but they need a foundation of good health. The fact that many manufacturers are dependent on the experiments of the laboratory, and that many dis- coveries of modern medicine have come from the labora- tory, prove that its importance is increasing daily both from a business and scientific standpoint. For a woman not afraid of real work the laboratory offers a field that is intensely interesting and worth while. ELSIE ROBBINS, Laboratory of the Municipal Hospital, Philadelphia. INSURANCE MOST good life-insurance companies are insisting on every girl in their employ having at least a full high-school education or its equivalent. Some col- lege graduates are to be found among the employees of at least one local company. In the latter case the girl who has a liking for mathematics and has majored in this subject in college will find that the statistical and actuarial departments offer her the best opening. There are actu- arial societies in this country, but before one can become an actuary it is necessary to pass their examinations. However, the actuarial department offers plenty of scope for a woman who is apt in figures and has a liking for this kind of work. For the other departments of insurance except field work nothing but absolute contact can prove a fitness for any particular line. As a basis for a general office position, stenography and typewriting are almost indis- pensable. An ability to use a typewriter can not be over- estimated. Early association with an office begins this way, and insures a living salary. Through writing let- ters and articles for office publications, one gains a famil- iarity with insurance terms and principles, and the brains of the business are demonstrated through these channels. The efficient woman grows away from dictation, but the typewriter never 'ceases to be the best medium of expres- sion. An apprenticeship of this kind is the best prepara- 251 252 OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY tion possible for field work ; but, on the other hand, it delays getting out into the field if one wants to work in the salesmanship end of the business. The only ad- vantage is that one secures a familiarity with the busi- ness that no other method of contact can give. If a woman wants to sell insurance, the best thing for her to do is to devote several weeks to learning the prin- ciples of insurance in general and the methods of the par- ticular company with which she decides to associate her- self. In this connection it should be borne in mind that the company that offers the largest commission on busi- ness written is not so wise a choice as a company offering smaller commissions, but whose insurance is easier to sell. Insurance is dependent on the law of average. Hun- dreds of calls must be made before relationship can be established with ten or twenty. Therefore a woman should, if possible, elect to sell insurance, at least at first, among people to whom she is known or with whom she has some common bond. She must be prepared to take " no " for an answer many times, and yet have courage to go back and convert the skeptic into a belief in insurance and a decision to act. The public, at least the feminine public, is not yet edu- cated up to the advantages and opportunities of insurance, and any woman who undertakes to sell it must be willing to do some pioneer work. One advantage of selling insurance is that it can be done at any time one's hours are one's own, and they can be long or short, according to a woman's strength, interest, and desire for results. The entrance of women INSURANCE 253 into many kinds of work affords an opportunity for solic- iting not open six or eight years ago, and the old belief that insurance is for man only is fast disappearing. To convince a woman that endowment insurance offers her a chance to lay aside part of her savings for her own com- fort in later life, and at the same time protect her estate or dependent relatives, is becoming easier every year, and thousands of women are taking advantage of this method of saving. Women have already proved their ability along this line, as most big agencies have one or two women solic- itors on their staff. In Boston and Chicago there are agencies under the management of women which are highly successful. Work along the line indicated is purely on a commission basis. The settlement of a pre- mium on a policy means the payment of a commission to the solicitor, and in cases where good business is being done, a drawing account can be established against these commissions. An inside position, with a knowledge of stenography and typewriting, offers from fifteen dollars a week up to begin with, whereas selling life insurance means a quicker method of making money after one has learned and applied the principles of salesmanship. Most agencies have every facility for teaching these principles, and use every opportunity to help the beginner to an un- derstanding of the business and insurance in general. Insurance has a tremendous future. Heretofore looked upon as only for a man, and then only for the pro- tection of his family, it has since become adopted for partnerships, corporations, class endowments, creditors, and finally for women workers, offering an avenue of in- 254 OPPORTUNITIES OF 'TODAY vestment for smaller sums than can be invested in real estate or bonds. To succeed in the salesmanship field, a woman needs all the tact and perseverance and courage she can possibly develop. It calls for an unusual gift of " pluck " to stand the first weeks or months of canvassing; for, as has been said before, it is the law of average that counts, and a solicitor must be willing to call on hundreds of people in order to secure ten or twelve out of each hundred. You have no samples to show, you are not selling a com- modity, and your work is to convince your prospect that you are offering some benefit. To follow every adverse argument or criticism, or to face indifference, calls for quick wit, eternal patience, and a determination to con- vince your adversary of the truth of your statements. To sell insurance means to serve your community. Thousands of people to-day are spending beyond their means, and if you can insure at least a partial saving from a woman's salary you are doing for her a good that years will prove. Your own position is one of dignity, for the insurance profession is protected by legislation as never before against crooked practices. And you are absolutely mistress of your own time. What you must do is to discover which part of that public will give you the best hearing, which you can best serve, and then work. MABEL M. SPENCER. NURSING THERE is a large demand for well educated, well trained registered graduate nurses to fill the fol- lowing positions: Private nurse in homes. Institutional positions, as superintendent, assistant su- perintendent, anesthetist, dietitian, social service nurse, supervisor. Instructor in schools of nursing. Public health nurse, including visiting, school, county, community, infant welfare, and industrial nurses. Nurse in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps. Nurse in boarding-schools and colleges. Office nurse. The work of the private nurse is usually the care of one patient in the home. This form of nursing demands special adaptability and tact on the part o 9ft 1943 'L 31 1 -* 10Dec'C2PY MAU.3 MTD 198Z- DEC LD 21-100m-8,'34 4 56 5 7 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY