THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Rehabilitate
soldier. Wounded In Battl.
h army hospital, in this
,dl iho hare been crippled fn
toontry . many cases
nr 1 11 1 .
nion aro v - . .
hirh will be finishca
..rr tramm
ibee
!, civil boards authored to continue
1 work begun by the surgeon gen
, it Is hoped that business men
rronoral will accept those trained
" nn an equal footing with men
1 have not been crippled. These
1 will receive a training which will
lk8 them competent In the trade
J profession which they elect to fol-
'cording to the vocational rcha
bllltatlon act recently enacted toy
fomrrecs. those disabled In the mili
tary and naval forces of the United
States have been rlaccd under the
joint authority of the surgeon-general
of the army and the federal board
for vocational educatoln. The aur-rin-general
has jurisdiction from the
time the person la injured unHl ho
Is restored to good physical condl
tton, when he receives his honorable
discharge from tho service. The fed
eral board rhen offers him vocational
reeducation and training which will
enable him to return to useful active
employment, and the United States
employment service department will
find hun a Job.
Discouraflement
When a man Is returned from the
battle line disabled, with one or both
feet or hands gone, or blind, life is
likely to look to him like an utterly
hopeless thing. Before he entered
the service he lived a complete ex
istence, and no matter what was his
station in life he had the full, un
hampered use. of a normal and com
plete body.
Upon becoming a part of yie war
machine, life became more than ever
an affair of action strenuous action,
in which he was constantly wearing
himself to utter weariness, and then
glorying in the added strength that
came as the first fatigue wore off.
He was subjected to training of which
physical perfection was an ideal.
When he got to the line, he had
come fairly close to that ideal. He
bordered on the auperman.
And then the crash. He became,
It seemed to him, nothing, or worse
than nothing; a mangled body with
Its spark of life, a body trained to
the point of mastery, but now a piti
ful, helpless body that he could not
master."
Awaken Hope
Not only was the glorious strenuous
life of the fighting man over, but the
evenly-ordered, mild-mannered life of
the normal civilian was likewise for
bidden to him. He could not work, he
could not play, he could not, per
haps, read, he could not move except
with difficulty. There rose before him
the vision of a blank existence as a
crossing watchman or a pencil ven
dor. While the body lived on, the soul
was deadened. Ambition was killed.
For how can there be ambition when
there la no hope?
The first step in the work of re-
S. A. T. C. Officers and
Students
We manufacture and carry in
stock a full assortment of S. A.
T. C. accessories. Everything
you need.
A Few Specials
Officers Uniforms (serge) . $25.00
Spiral Puttees .... 3.50
Flannel Shirts . ... 3.00
Hate, Cords, Insignia, Military
Books, Sporting Goods and hun
dred of articles listed in out
catalog "N."
Write for it today
MY & Km SUPPLY CO.
2lW.42dSt. New York City
construction, then, la to awaken the
hope that arouses ambition.
A potent factor In getting the beat
of the disabled men'a discouragement
ia Informing them of the many In
stances where men, seemingly totally
and hopelessly disabled, have refused
to be downed by fate, have surmount
ed the obstacles Imposed, and have
"come back." As the work of recon
struction goes on, there are more and
more of these cases to cite as an in
spiration to men who have JurI been
crippled In battle.
Choice of Trade
The choice of a trade to be learned
depends not only on the nature of the
disability of the man, and on what
physical faculties he still retains, but
Just as much on his temperament
and his natural Inclinations. A line
of activity is not decided on unless
it is apparent that it will be con
genial, and the sort of work tv which
the man In question Is temperamen
tally suited.
The prospect of steady employment
Is also seriously considered. Disabled
men aro discouraged from taking up
trades that for the moment aro boom
ing, but that will, in normal times,
fall off in wages or in the matter of
demand for help.
WTien possible, a man who Is pre
vented by his injuries from contin
uing his former pursuit Is encouraged
to select a new occupation which Is
in some way related to Jt, so that he
will be able to apply to his new work
the knowledge and experience of the
past. So it will bo seen that the
choice of occupation .is not made in
a haphazard or arbitrary manner. Ex
pert vocational counselors advise the
men according to the circumstances
of each individual case.
Many Opportunities
There really is almost no end to
the opportunities open to a man who
ha 8 been, for the fortune of war, be
reft of the complete use of his body.
Boundless encouragement is indicated
in this list, for instance, of agricul
tural occupations which may be pur
sued successfully by certain types of
war cripples. It was prepared by the
director of an agricultural school in
France. The twenty-six- occupations
are:
Overseer (proprietor, farmer, work
er or share system); small farming
on the share system (labor) ; agricul
tural superintendent; gamekeeper;
caretaker of properties; gardener;
driver of agricultural machines; con
tractor for agricultural machinery,
mechanician; vine-grower; nursery
man and seedsman; tree cultivator;
cultivation- of willow for basket-making
industry; grazier (herd raising);
cowherd; dairy employe; butter mak
er; cheese maker; steper and strip
per of flax and hemp; cider maker;
sheep raising expert; hog raising and
fattening specialist; silk-worm Indus
try; small live stock raising; rabbit
raising; Ssh culture; bee culture.
And this is but one of the many
fields openJ.o war-mutilated men in
this vast opportunity for vocational
re-education.
In " Canada the work that is Just
getting fairly well under way in our
own country has long been in suc
cessful prosecution.
Canadian experler.', a member of
the military hospitals commission said
recently, shows that of the wounded
and disabled returned to Canada, only
about ten per cent will be unable to
return to their former occupations.
The percentage of totally blind is
small.
They are training their men there
for about two hundred different oc
cupations. Technical schools and in
stitutions are being used, and, more
over, through the co-operation of
manufacturers and employers, a great
many men are being trained in the
Industries themselves. Those in charge
of the work in Canada have not found
any evidence of a desire on the part
of the manufacturers to exploit the
men. and they have received, one of
their number has said, splendid co
operati6n from the labor men. Their
whole aim is eo to train the men that
they will hold the Jobs because of
their efficiency, and not because of
any compassion for them.
An aim of our general work of re
construction is to fit men. fllsafcled by
war for existing and standard indus
tries rather than to develop special
trades, devices and machinery. A
man who has had thla training should
bo able to go out and get a Job In
the same way that any other man
would, fitting Into normal demands,
lining regular tools and machines, get
ting ahead by his own ability.
Special concessions are not expect
ed, or desired. The obpect Is to make
a man normal again. If he receives
special consideration, the purpose of
tho work will be defeated. Every man
or woman who gives alms but not op
portunity to the disabled man be he
soldier, sailor or civilian is an enemy
of reconstruction, one of our own
army officers said recently. One gift
of money that Is not actually earned
may utterly stifle the ambition of a
handicapped man.
"They don't want your charity -
they demand their chance," is tho
way that a magazine writer has well
put It. "We. the stay-at homes, tho
brothers and sons of scarred and
marred men sacrificing their persons,
writhing in agony for our sakeswo
must be reconstructed, too must re
construct our Impulses must love the
Tnrpeian Rock attitude toward the
crippled must, learn to measure the
worth of a fellow by his enterprise
and capacity and give him the pref
erence at every post and In every en
gagementif he can deliver tho goods.
A civilization that won't do its duty
by its defenders isn't worth fighting
for prepare to prove that this one
is."
Avenues of usefulness open up in
the mopt unexpected fllrodon. nv
hMch training men who have lost one
or both legs In tuich pursuits, as st
noraphy, telegraphy and otner usual
occupations involving manual dexter
ity. lt-KH moll-known vocations are be
Ing pursued with gratifying success.
t Walter Iteed hospital, In Wash
Ington, for Instance, returned soldiers
are making rugs, by the method used
by nomadic, tribes of A sit. The beauty
of the handmade Oriental rug has
never been attalnel with modern ma
chines, so the screts of making Per
sian and Turkish rugs are llng
tr.uuht k ex-bollermakers, carpenters,
trainmen, bricklayers, men of count
less former trades, who have given
their best on the battlefields of Franc
and aro now applying that same en
thusi.ism in cheating the war devl!.
All I -1'conMrtn tvd oldier are not
tM lo returned immediately to civil
life hs iron aa they are restored. Rom
l'l lave n chance to get back Into
be var o'rganliatlon. Pome injured
soldier will be able to go back to'
full duty nr.d leturn to their units,
after getting special training. Others,
mho can only bo fitted for limited
service, will be trained to act as in
ntructors in hospitals, typists, book
keepers and In similar vocations.
Special vocational training Is for
men no longer fit for military ser
vice. Put no soldiers will be dis
charged from the service, it has been
announced, even though they are un
fit for further military duty, until
they have attained a complete recov-
j cry. according to the nature of their
! wounds.
No matter what you say
"SAY IT WITH FLOWERS"
CHAP1N BROS., 127 S. 13th B2234
Military Clothes Headquarters
for Officers, S. A. T. C. & S. N. T. C. Men
6A.O.& C
YOU'VE been called to be "with the colors," and fav
ored with special training to qualify and develop
"higher efficiency" for Uncle Sam's "Premier
Army " Now that Labor and Capital, Soldier and Civilian
are united in one cause, with but one object in view the
winning of the war. We as patriotic merchants are doing
our bit by rendering a real economy clothes senice to the
boys in khaki. Individuals have learned that "personal
appearance" is an important factor in winning business
battles The officer who has received a commission is the
fellow with ambition and "fight" who succeeded by paying
careful attention to his clothes.
YOU will receive a "Military Book" in a few days
that we hope will interest you. In -the meantime
remember we are Military Clothes Headquarters for
officers and men. Our stock includes O. D. serge and khaki
uniforms, trousers and shirts, ion Munsing last
shoes, boots, puttees and leggings, army caps, hats, cords,
insigma. Everything.
Come in and get acquainted. You're always welcome here.
MAYER
BROS
CO
ELI SHIRE, Pres.
