ough study of prosthetic appliances. I met him in the lobby this morning. I don't see him right now, but I have an idea he is here somewhere. I refer to Doctor Faries, of the New York Institute for Crippled and Disabled Men. I would like to hear from Doctor Faries on that particular point if he is here. Chairman FOSTER. Is Doctor Faries present? Doctor Faries, we would be very glad to hear from you. Dr. J. C. FARIES. I feel that the discussion of this topic has been so completely covered by Mr. Benson that I shouldn't take the time of the conference to add anything to it, except that I think perhaps we have had more success in short-thigh amputations than Mr. Benson had in his experience. We generally feel that if a man has a stump long enough to give direction to the limb, under ordinary circumstances he should be furnished with a limb, because it is very difficult, as you all know, to place a man who enters an office or a factory on crutches. If he enters on a limb, even limping a little, he is much more likely to be employed than if he enters upon crutches. We have even been successful in furnishing artificial limbs to persons with a dissection of the hip. I have in mind a school teacher for whom we made a leg. You can see readily why it would be an advantage for a school teacher, even with some awkwardness, to wear an artificial limb. I understand that last year she toured Europe with that artificial limb made for a dissection at the hip with absolutely no stump. And yet she wore it so successfully that she was able to make that trip. She is able, with the use of that artificial limb, to hold her job as a teacher. Where appearance is of great importance, if the person is willing to undergo the difficulty and discomfort of wearing an artificial limb for even a high thigh amputation, it is oftentimes very desirable for them to wear that limb, even though they might be able to get around faster upon two crutches. One other thing enters into this consideration: Where there is fine manipulative skill required of a man, it is better to give him an artificial limb because of the deleterious effect of the use of crutches, sometimes resulting in crutch paralysis; a diminution of the fine technique of the hand comes as a result of the constant use of crutches. Chairman FOSTER. I think we should all be more interested in getting through with the program first, so let's go down the line just a little bit and come back to our discussions a little later. "Methods of placement in rural districts," by Mr. Snortum, of St. Paul, Minn. Mr. Snortum. METHODS OF PLACEMENT IN RURAL DISTRICTS KENNETH O. SNORTUM, St. Paul, Minn. The placement of disabled persons in cities that are not in the metropolitan class involves restrictions. These are concerned, first of all, with the number of opportunities available for handicapped men. That is to say, the smaller the city, the fewer are the kinds of employment open to workers of any description. The restriction applies also to the number of openings within a given kind of employment. Agricultural, mining, and lumbering cities (meaning those which probably have but one of these to any considerable extent) may not be large cities and hence opportunities for placement are accordingly restricted by their very size. This restriction due to community size offers a problem of no mean size to placement specialists. On the other hand, it may offer some advantage through a ready and frequent survey. No placement agent will assume that he is doing his job without some kind of systematic survey. Either this will be stimulated by the call for specific placement, i. e., a place for a watchmaker, a bookkeeper, an automobile mechanic, or what not, or it will be a general survey to reveal possibilities of whatsoever sort, valuable when calls for specific jobs come. In the very nature of the case, then, the smaller community offers an advantage in the familiarity which necessarily prevails in such smaller units. Whatever advantage there may be in this, however, is probably offset by the fewer opportunities which it presents. There is no procedure, everything considered, which can take the place of the survey heretofore mentioned, regardless of its method. One must make the calls in order to secure results. Sitting at a comfortable desk, thumbing through the telephone directory or similar publication will not do the job. The telephone may be an aid, correspondence may be of assistance, plans are valuable, but nothing can take the place of outright, face-to-face application at the source of supply the factory, the shop, the store, the foundry, the warehouse, and the office; in short, wherever labor of any sort or skill is needed. There is no substitute for the wearing out of shoe leather or car tires in securing employment for physically disabled men. Whatever the problem may be in the metropolitan centers, it is nothing short of that in the country. The employer demands it, the handicapped worker will get no jobs without it, and the field agent is shirking his duty who avoids it. If he believes something other than this strenuous, physical activity will do the job he is greatly mistaken. Success in modern business is built to a large extent upon confidence rightly placed. Bank business carried on through its various forms of paper has, as its foundation, the integrity and honesty of those who make use of its channels. The credit which mercantile establishments extend to their customers is based upon the assumption that the purchaser will pay at the time specified. Oral and written contractual relations of any sort depend in their fulfillment upon the good faith of those who make them. So it is without any doubt in the relations between the successful placement agent in the field and the employer of labor. Upon the cordial and friendly relations between these two factors of rehabilitation depends in a large measure the success of placement. Upon the integrity and good faith of the field agent is built the willingness of the employer to give the disabled a chance. Upon the reciprocal substantiality of the labor superintendent, stimulated by the field agent's integrity of purpose, is raised the fruition of hopes of society for the recovery of physically broken men and women. It is not to be inferred that this is the one bridge of approach to success in placement, but it is decidedly an important one. The placement agent of the rural city must be able to go into the sanctum of the employer and sell his wares to advantage. He must be able to make easy approach in the face of difficulties and establish beyond question the worthwhileness of his cause. He must be a salesman par excellence, just as cheerful in defeat as in victory. One agent recently stepped into a camera photo development shop quite by accident. The proprietor gave him a ready audience by reason of his previous contact with unfortunate humanity through his work as a physician. The result was a contract for placement training On another occasion an agent received a friendly tip from the manager of an employment bureau maintained by business men and employers. The tip led to an out-of-the-way mercantile concern wanting a general utility man. The agent placed his man the following day. Another stepped into a tool manufacturing establishment of exceedingly modest dimensions and capacity and secured for one disabled man the berth of a toolmaker, where he subsequently made good. Still another agent of genial and friendly disposition secured profitable employment for one man in a wicker ware factory, for another in an enamelling shop. Up in the lumbering district of one State was placed a girl whose disability was the outcome of poliomyelitis. Others were restored to places of usefulness in the mining operations from which they had been previously shut out, following serious accidents. Such placements come only through the patient and painstaking effort of an assiduous and conscientious agent. It is noteworthy that the jobs were filled only after careful relations had been built up between agent and employer. Chance acquaintance would not have turned the trick. A first call, then another to cement the first, established good faith and confi dence. The principle of good business that it is well to build so that one may return and transact business again was followed in each instance. There was no question of motive by either side. The feeling of respect by one for the other was mutual. The principle set down in this brief paper, of course, is not peculiar to small towns, villages, and cities beyond the pale of the metropolitan area. The interesting fact remains that in spite of the small numbers and the familiarity due to fewness of people, sound principles of administration do prevail, based upon confidence and good will. The equally interesting fact is that placement in small communities is possible where integrity is the basic principle of procedure. That it works has been demonstrated in every State which rehabilitates its disabled. Chairman FOSTER. Next is "Methods of placement in small towns." This subject was to have been handled by Mr. Fredericks, supervisor of rehabilitation for Montana, who is absent. We will, therefore, pass to the next one, "Methods of placement in large cities," by Helen M. Alvord, of Toledo, Ohio. Miss Alvord. METHODS OF PLACEMENT IN LARGE CITIES HELEN M. ALVORD, Secretary Industrial Bureau Social Service Fed- All who are engaged in vocational rehabilitation are interested in placement. It is in part a measurement of the work, for the ultimate end in each case is to make the disabled person fit into some kind of employment. Placement is not only of immediate concern in individual cases, but it also serves as a medium through which industries may be given some conception of rehabilitation work. This interpretation to industries is far reaching and most significant. In the consideration of placement the necessity of caring for individual cases is subsidiary to extending an understanding of the work. For this reason I wish to stress the importance of placement activities which plan to interpret rehabilitation work to employers. It is impossible to detail definite methods of procedure for placement in individual cases, for each presents a different problem, but rather, it seems logical to provide for possible employment opportunities by convincing employers of the value of rehabilitation work. Probably all of us who are active in the work are familiar with the much used and effective method of securing placement for the physically handicapped by the sympathetic appeal. We influence a susceptible employer to give a job to John Jones. Usually John Jones secures the job, but we may not be so successful when we approach the same employer with a similar request a few weeks later. Emotional reactions are rather uncertain means of placement. However, we can turn usually to another employer who is moved likewise to the extent of offering a job to the person for whom we appeal with such deep feeling. In addition to the injustice to the rehabilitant such a method is only temporary, and quickly exhausts itself. It lacks a permanent basis for placement. I admit that this method is often successful, and at times may be necessary, but how does it help the many persons who may be handicapped in the future or the person who strives to be self reliant? I believe that vocational rehabilitation work has a program so constructive that it does not have to rely upon an appeal to one's emotions for results. It seems that placement is partly the responsibility of the handicapped person. The task of rehabilitation workers is to provide employers with a knowledge of the aims and scope of the work so that when a person applies for a job he is considered by the employer on the same intelligent basis as others who seek employment. Is not that more satisfactory to all? The handicapped person is treated in the normal way, and unnecessary sentiment does not color the situation falsely. Such procedure is feasible when employers have the true conception of the principles of rehabilitation. In interpreting rehabilitation work to industries it is important to give a thorough understanding of its aim and activites to the employment manager and to the foreman. By necessity the foreman is included, for placement alone is not sufficient, it is the retention. of an employee which completes the rehabilitation program, and the latter is usually dependent upon the foreman. Employers should have an understanding of the rehabilitation program which is individual in its application to the disabled person, and which attempts to strengthen him physically, to train him vocationally, and to give him a normal viewpoint in his economic and social relations. With such an interpretation an employer is convinced of the sound policies and the constructive aspect of rehabilitation work, and rationally rather than emotionally can lend his support. Measures which establish the value of vocational rehabilitation in the minds of employers are promoting the work to the extent that industry, which in great part is creating the need for the work, will recognize its duty in the rehabilitation field, and eventually the work may revert to it. Our present purpose is to stimulate the interest of industry in behalf of rehabilitation and the contact for placement furnishes the opportunity. The question arises concerning the means of interpreting the work to industry. In this connection I should like to relate briefly a program in which I am interested. The initial step in the execution of this plan was to select an advisory committee for our local rehabilitation bureau composed of personnel managers of the largest business and industrial concerns. An intensive program was carried out, whereby the committee came in actual contact with indi |