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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1915)
THE 8EMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. CONNECTING THE J0BLE55 NAN WITH THE MANLE55 JOB 6y EDWARD B- CLARK STAFF 0Cm5&WXMr OF IMF WJTJrUytfWJPAPf?WOJV NCLE SAM today is engaged In thu beneficent work of securing em ployment for his unemployed nieces and nephews, whether native or foreign born. Uncle Sam's workers In chief at tho problem of connect ing the Jobless man with tho man less Job aro William B. Wilson, secretary of tho dopartmont of la- 'bor; Anthony Camlnettl, tho commissioner gen eral of Immigration, and T. V. Powdorly, chief of tho division of Information of the Immigration bureau. Nobody knows doflnltoly how many unemployed men and womon there aro ,ln tho United Statea today. Ono thing, howovor, Is known definitely, 'that tho number probably Is not as great nor any thing llko as great In proportion to tho popula tion as It has boon at times In tho past. Thoro laro enough of tho unemployed, however, to mako (tho problem a serious ono, but thoro seems to be a 'belief on tho part of government oirtclals that tho (broadening of tho field of federal effort to help mon and womon to work stoadlly will sap the etrongth of that droaded and at times actually do- (rourlng monster known aa jBnomployment Tho division of informa fclon of tho bureau of lmmi-' jtratlon not only Is engaged in tho work of promoting jtlio beneficial distribution of ftllena admitted to tho Unit fid Statos, but under tho gen eral power of tho law Is di recting the distribution of residents and citizens of tho (United States "who wish to iavail themselves of oppor tunities for labor afforded through its instrumentality." Recently tho post ofllco Vlopartmont and tho dopart mont of agriculture have en tered Into a co-oporatlve ar; rangomont with tho depart ment of labor in aid of tho plan "for tho cm iployment and distribution of laborers lh tho iTJnltod Statos; tho formor through Its post-' mnstora, officers in chargo of branch post of llcos and rural carriers; and tho latter through Its field and other services throughout the Unit ed States." Every offlcor of tho department of agriculture, mo matter whoro ho is locntodlB charged with itho duty of kooplng Washington officials Informed Iconcornlng tho nocosBlty. for workers In tho lo cality in which ho rosldes. Every, farmer In tho Unltod Statou through tho post offlco depart ment by this timo has boon, or soon will bo, fur bished with application blanks upon which ho can Btato any need which' ho has" of farm labor tora or of help of any description. These blankB filled in and forwardod will do tho sorvlco for which thoy aro intended tho connoctlon of somo Icompotont man with work of tho kind which ho seeks. Tho work which is bolng dono in connection -with farm labor 1b, of courso, only ono part of tho aorvico which tho dopartmont of labor through dts division of Information la performing. Manu facturers and employers of lnbor of all kinds aro furnishod with blanks similar to thoso sent to tho farmers, oxcopt, of courso, that thoy nro ad justed to moot other kinds of working needs. Tho corroBpondonco of tho dopartmont Is tromondouo and tho work of giving mon work Ib going for ward rapidly. Uoforo going Into tho details of tho mecha nism of tho system by which natives, somotlmoa residents, and rocontly arrlvod Immlgrnnts nro directed to fields of employment, something ahould bo said nbout tho dovelopmoit of this groat governmental plan to provldo work for tho workloss. For a quarter of a century William B. "Wlleon, now a member of ProBldont Wilson's cabinet as tho head of tho department of labor, ,haB been deoply Interested, concornod, perhnpB, iworo a bottor word, In tho solution of tho prob lem of forglng.the connecting link of Information botweon tho man Booking work and tho man seek ing workmon. , For Just as long and perhaps a longer porlod T. V. Powdorly, tho chlof of tho division of In formation, has boon interested In tho aamo prob lom. Mr. Powdorly has been connected with tho .govornmont sorvlco for Bomo years and has do volopod a aystom of getting tho work and the workless worker togothor until today tho poBt oMlco dopartmont and tho agricultural dopart mont nro co-operntlng with tho department of la bor In a broad and comprehensive plan io roduco tho ovll of unomploymont to a minimum which might bo callod natural. Porhapa Mr. Powdorly will enter no objection If ono tells a Btory of how ho first became Inter ested to a heart and mind feeling point In plana to get work for tho workleBs. To mo tho story la an intoroBtlng ono and It bcciiib that It ought to bo to others. In tho year 1873 T. V. Powderjy, a machinist by trade, lost hla eyesight. For threo montha ho sat, in darknoBa, and bolng unable to work ho lost hla job. Ilia sight came back and ho started on a 'tramp looking for work. Ho waB a tramp Book ing work, not a tramp oeoklng handouts. Ho loft tho Unltod States and went Into Canada. Ho found no work. On tho ovo of New Year's day, 1873, ho found himself In St. Thomas, Ont., with no monoy In hla pocket, no food In hla stomach and no placo to sleep. A watchman allowed him to Bleep In tho frclghthouao of n depot on a bed made of bagging. From thoro Ppwdorly walked to Buffalo seeking work. Thoro a good-hoarted Irishman gavo him breakfast, tho first ono ho had had for somo days. All this time tho trampor .was asking hlmsolf why there wna not somo 'means of lotting him know whoro thoro wan work, In asking hlmsolf this ho was charging bis heart and mind with a purpose in life, tho iisamo purposo which Socrotary Wilson of tho de tpartment of labor fixed in hla own mind and 'heart aquarter of century ago. "Tramp" Powdorly roached one town whero , there were some machine shops. He applied for work and there were no vacanctoB. He loft Em 'mat jnmiomranmrsi v :JWm$m L f AN AMERICAN MYSTIC Shortly afterward ho learned that at another machine shop thoy had need ed mon. If ho had known It ho could havo sccurod work at hla trade and , havo been clothod.i 1 well fc and happy. Ho had no means of knowing oxcept" by dlroot application that at this placo thoro was work. Today, us a result of study of syatoms and of tho development of Ideas formulated through tho yearB, a worklosB man can go to any post office, or soon will bo ablo so to do, lu th,o United Stntes and thoro learn from tho government ofllrlnls of tho employmont possibili ties In tho ii arllood Undo Sam Is using hla postmaster. i'3 a means of getting tho will ing worker to tho waiting Job. There aro many factors In this problem of un employment. It must bo known that there aro tramps and tramps. Thero Is tho man who la looking for work and who seeks It and haa to tramp to do it, and then thero Is tho man who has loat hla work and haB become discouraged and apparently does not caro whether of no! Ko over flnda work again, Tho first man has not lout his solf-rospcct and the second man haB either lost It or has como protty close to losing It. It 1b not going too far, perhaps, to say that a part of tho governmental function eventually will bo to rccultlvato a spirit of Belf-respect In men who through Idleness, enforced idleness In the first placo, generally, havo loBt it. Somo day these mon will bo brought back to manhood. They aro In tho minority, for experience allows that most of the ldlo onos nro ldlo because they can , "not holp being idlo. Tho government through Its dlvlBlon of Information la seeking to deBtroy idleness. TJie Unltod States, for tho purposo of con necting' employment seokors with employmont, haa been divided Into distribution zones. Thero aro 18 of those zonoa. Tho official of tho immi gration Borvlco already on duty in a city In each zone attends to tho work of distribution. For a long timo tho labor of distributing workmon wna carried on from Now York city, and It la true that In tho futuro a largo part of tho supply of material will como from Now York, because It !b a big city and also a great Immigration port. Tho headquarters cltlea of tho dlfforont distribution zonos aro Now York, Boston, Phila delphia, Baltlmoro, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., Now Orleans, Galveston, Cleveland, Chicago, Min neapolis, St. Louis, Denver, Helena, Seattle, Portland, Oro., San FranclBco and Loa Angeles. Let Now York city ns a distributing contor nnd as a contor of information bo taken as a chief example of how things aro bolng dono in this effort to cdnnect tho unemployed with employ ment. Canon L. Qroouo Is tho Inspector In chargo of tho Information work at tho bargo ofllco In New York city. Now, It should be known that tho government not only trios to connect worklosa onos with work, but it also tries to put men who havo Baved a llttlo monoy and who want to buy farms In touch with conditions in any part of tho country In which it seems likely that thoy will mako a success of their farming oflorts. A man seeking work on a farm comes Into tho bargo ofllco In Now Y 'k. First, tho officiate road a loason tn human nature from tho man's face. Thoy try to discover, It Is said, nnd almost always succeed, how much sincerity thoro li i him. Then ho is asked how much money -has. It ho haa enough to tnko him to tho placo of employment all well and good. Tho fact that ho la willing to pay the monoy to take him there Is first proof of his desire to work and to stick to It. There are men, however, who have no money, but who are capable, willing, temperate and anx- Francis Grlerson, tho American myBtio who was brought up on the prairies of Illinois, la recognized to day as ono of tho most mysterious nnd enigmatic figures in tho world. Ho is able to do things that load to tho belief that ho is something more than human. His prophotlc gifts have aatounded tho greatcBt of Jiving scientists; ho can sit at tho piano and for hour after hour improvise the most beautiful of music, to tho won der and delight of tho world's great est musicians; hla writings In English and French, both proso and poetry, havo won tho warm pral8o of the most exacting critics. Born in England, Grierson waa reared in Illinois, and as a youth made his debut as a musical prodigy In Paris. Because of his wonderful Improvisations ho became at oncotho musical celebrity of tho day and' waa heard and feted in most of the capi tals of Europe. Later in life ho grad ually abandoned music for literature, and ho has written somo notable books. One of tho best of them is "Tho Valley of Shadows," which has been called a picture of the heart of America in tho period immediately preceding tho Civil war. f Many of this Btrango man's utterances have been startllngly prophetic. Ho foretold tho Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the wara df Japan with China and Russia, tho Boer war and tho present great conflict.- Ho has now been making predictions aa to tho results of this war. What England wins, he say's, will bo dearly paid for; what she loses will be lost forever. If tho allies win England will havo to fight Russia. In tho meantime Japan will striko when the moment arrives heedless of any neutrality that may exist. ious to work. In many cases the farmer who needs a special kind of man is willing to ad vance tho transportation which will tako the employed from the placo of his application for work to tho scene of action. Now, of course, Borne men might tako the transportation and never show up and tho government haa not funds to mako gqcd such petty defalcations. Nearly every man, however, who applies for work wants work and such men generally havo some per sonal belongings. Ho Is told that If he will check his bolonglngs, which are first examined to see If thoy aro valuable enough to cover tho cost of transportation, and will glvo the check to the authorities, thoy will glvo him tho monoy to send him to his place of employment. This sys tern of baggage checking has been going on for a long timo and almost never has there , been a allp. The mon go and in most casesTnake good. Chief Powdorly of the division of Information says that in the belongings of most of the men wno appiy ior wont are round pictures or a mom er or a father or of a family group, and thnt al most invariably when the baggage Is turned over for inspection and transportation the workseekor says: "Don't lose the picture." It is a human trait and a sign of the softer nature which underlies almost every exterior, even If it be a rugger" one and porhapa seemingly at times a hard ono. Tho remedy for unemployment Is employment. This Is what Mr. Powderly says and it seerta aa sharply truo as tho saying of tho past In con nectlon with the resumption of specie payment. "Tho way to resume 1b to resume." It Is the ef fort today of the department of labor, through Its division of Information, to ask all emr'oyers in tho United States, agricultural, commercial, mi v ufacturlng, to toll tho government whatrnen they want nnd what they pay. Tho rural carriers, the poBt offices and every postal means is being used to get tho information. Tho responses hare been most generous. Tho officials nt one dlstrl button confer when they find that the proper placo for a man or that the place to which ho wishes to go la located in anothor zone communl cato with tho distribution center of that zone, Tho work la systematized and rapidly It Is be coming the most effective agent to diminish the condition of unemployment in America. Tho officials of the division of Information are now seeking definite information concerning how much repair work on barns and other build inga on tho farms Is dono each winter. Tho plan is to see if through tho farmers who need tho help of carpentera or machinists tn winter, relief cannot bo given to many city workers who havo little or nothing to do during tho cold winter months. The farmers are to be asked what repairs they will need next winter and what kind of a man they would llko tn have Tho fedoral officials will find the man and thu thoy hopo to. supply with employmont during tho slack times in the city many men willing and anxious to labor through the entire year. It seemingly 1b a wish of the officials of the department of labor that It should be known that while the division of Information U a part of the buroau of immigration that this work ot connecting the Jobless with the Job does not concern ltaolf alone with the immigrant, but alms to give ita service fully and freely alike to the Incoming stranger and to the .man who know this as hla native land. TRAVELS A LONG BEAT Harry J. Chrlstoffor la a police man whose beat ia 1,500 miles long and more than 1,000 miles wide. Hla day trick ia three months long, for ho patrols a district in tho land of tho midnight sun. And when he comes home on a furlough it costs him near ly $500. Actually, Mr. Christoffer la chief warden of Alaska for tho bureau of fisheries. After two yearB of duty in the far North ho camo to Washing ton recently ' to spend two monthB resting and compiling his report. Mr. Christoffer Is well known in Washington from tho timo he spent thero as scientific assistant at the bureau of fisheries. When the work of protecting tho fur-bearing animals of Alaska was undertaken by Unclo Sam; he volunteered to assume the task of being tho chief warden of AlaBka. Ho choso to deal with tho animals of the interior, whllo his as sistants are stationed along stretches of the bleak coast where they also look after the salmon and seal fisheries. Mr. Christoffer's principal work is In protecting and developing the new industry of breeding tho silver gray fox, which many Americana now aro embarking upon in Alaska, In the hope of duplicating tho profits already made at that enterprise by Canadians. A silver gray fox Is worth $1,000 or more. i MRS. PALMER'S "PRINCIPALITY Mra. Potter Palmer of "Washing ton and Chicago and her father, Col. H. H. Honor, who ia ninety-three years old, are developing their "prin cipality" In southern Florida., Mrs. Palmer has the largest plantation in tho state. Twenty experienced real estate men are working under Colo nol Honore, and nono is more alert than he. "I expect to mako a fortune," he said, ".out. of my proporty In southern Florida, which I intend to hold for 20 yearB." ' Colonel Honore, who is a Kentuck ian, has approached tho century mark without a caro lino on his smile wreathed face and confidently expects to realize this dream of longevity. Mrs. Palmer, social queen of two continents, never allows a day to pass without indulging in a tramp of eight miles or moro on tho beach that ad joins her vaat estate near Saratoga, unless sho is hunting pirate treasure. Thousands of acres of gulf-bordering land owned by Mra. Palmer were in fested moro than a century ago by pirates, including tho Spanish terror, Gasparilla, who erected a stronghold on Gasparilla isle, site of tho thriving port of Boca Grande, from which he and hiB band of high-sea cutthroats sallied forth in search of defenseless merchant ships. it BUG" THAT MADE GOOD In a shop at Rosebank, Staten Island, ono evening recently Albert S. Jnnln, cabinetmaker, took off his apron, walked up to tho foreman and roslgnod the Job he had hold for 14 years, aa IiIb fellow workmen crowded around with beaming faces. "Congratulations, Al," said the foreman, nnd from somewhere In the crowd spoko ono of Janln'a Intimates; "Tho 'Bug' has mado good. Whaddaya know -bout that?" That afternoon word had been received from Washington that tho board of oxamlnors-In-chlof of tho pat ent offlco had decided' unanimously that tho man who mado tho hydro aeroplane possible was not Glenn II. Curtlss, but Albert S. Jnnin, tho poor cabinet-maker of Staten Island. "Wo put It over, didn't wo, moth er?" Janin said that evening, affec tionately patting his wife. "If it hadn't been that she stuck to me bolloved in mo, when all the rest woro poking fun and scoffing I never would havo made It. The best part of this Invention ia that, unlike a wholo lot ot others, it's going to bring ua money gobs of it" 1