f nillllllSI
It
etting a
3
G
fob' in
Washington:
E?
Because S a Many People TjxCnk. They Gan;Get:Snaps
Vfprking Hor Uncle. Sampan Armyio Unemployed,
IstAlways Storming the Capital Gates
And the Only Situations. Tjficrt GojBeggihgtAr:Hhc
JHouse-to-House Salesmen, and Generaixhlousekeepers
"i
AM a school
tracher," trad ill
letter. "At the cIom
of tliit semester I am
coming to WiiIh
ington. Please be on the lookout
for a nosition for me. I will do
anything, although 1 prrfer teach &
ing or tutoring. But I want to
be in Washington for the in
auguration, ana can afford to
only if 1 set work there."
The superintendent of the
Washington bureau of the
United States employment ser-
vic put tlie letter down with the
comment: "That's the nut one
here so far." t
It was the Cut in her office, but there Ml
a senator, representative of Capitol doorkeeper
who is not beginning to receive his quadteiuaal
quota ol gentle requests for a chanca to do
anything' in Washington in order to witnei
the inauguration of Herbert Hoover.
Well-nigh forgotten acquaintances suddenly
surprise resident Waihingtooians with effusions
of friendliocta and frank requests for aid in get
ting a portion it's always poMlioo, never
job in Washington, so they can be near each
other and take in the) inauguration. Senators
and others who have lived in Washington
through several uuuurural seasons, and who re
call Cleveland and Mckinley, say it is not a
bad lately as it used to be before the present
day scop and power of the classified civil t
vie. But err ploy ment agencies and suddenly
remembered 'i leads seo the straws bending to
the gale, and prcUict that it will be bad enough
this time.
A population of UuU mora than half a Bullion,
besieged by that applications of job hunters.
not only treat an over
the U. 9.. but from
all over the rvorld, is
the perhapr unusual
experience cf Wash,
uigtoa m tna District
or Columbia.
Though the nation'
capital is the test of
Itovernment a-tivitiea,
eis than 1 1 rr cent
of tli 570.0U") gov
ernmental workers are
etujiloyed in We Sing-ton.
The civil service commission has about 3 5 Oft
secretaries in as many cities throughout tht -ja
tion. extending it service to all who ask tor
Information about government employment: jrot.
tliough they deal personally or by letter with
their thousands. Washington never fails Its t:3
thousands at the steady click ol 2000 such Ut
ters a day. .....
In addition to which, the bureau reports, a
an ordinary day' work and daily about
500 men and women present themselves at tna
commission's headquarter for information about
government employment
The five daily newspapers of the city ares
besieged by a steady stream of applicants for
jobs? most of them young men who want work
as reporters where they can be next to the politi
cal big show.
T"NOUGH Job hunters flock to Washington
W, to keep ) duly licensed employment,
agencies thriving, as well as to justify
the maintenance of such bureau as stores,
construction works, and similar Industrie find
necessary to keep their enterprise
adequately manned.
Anrl from and in addition to
these, practically every mamher of
Congress it an employment bureau
all by himself.
Not long ago kind-hearted
clerk of the Hous was threatened
' with nervous prostration by the
demands mad upon bin by such
as seek work about the capitoL
He bad helped a few to temporary
employment with members of Con
gress, merely by having their
name and qualifications hand
upoa inquiry, and vary soon both
tides were referring to him one
side swamping him so overwhelm
ingly that h was obliged to shake
free from the deluge and ask to be
released. It is needless to explain
that the outpouring of requests did
not come from the prospective em
in amazing number ot
stituents who feel that their
tors or representative need hut
wave a wand to establish them in
profitable posts about lha capital
---or in the capital seems to in-
crease yearly. And it must be admitted that So a really sur
prising degree member of Congress do try to gratify the need
os daaire of those whom they represent.
liter are school in Washington fog lb training of secre
taries, soma of whom do maka the capital in torn congress
man's office for a week or two, folding circular and sealing ear
yelopes work which is nearly always available when a member
is running for re-election. And it give a debutants in affair of
state a breath of capital atmosphere.
The majority of job hunter who com to Washington are,
fortunately,, young people who want to take advantage of
the varum schools and universities here. .They approach
their senator and representative with cWidence, and in a sur-
will undertake general housework. Not cooks
per se, nor yet maid with debcalely defined
duties, but women with back and crinds to
take hold of the work of a bouse generally.
The other is for "sales people" of the
home-to-house canvasstnt; variety.
While dozens and even hundreds of cards
bearing applicant' name am at the finger bp of the employ
ment registrar to each call for a stenographer, the exact reverse
is true in the matter of general housework. Also of door-to-door
selling,
I Fortunate is the person who does his job bunting in Wasb-
ingtoo by maiL He may not get the job, but at least be saves
..aiealRGs
coo, . y- i qpr
sen- , y .
prising number of instances really land something which affords
them a living while they study. Whether this fact leads to make
it so much the harder for the older and more responsibihty
htdea person to earn a living waga in Washington Buy not be
clesi. But that of the latter then is no lack among the job
hunrirur throng cannot be denied,
. Especially pathetic is the sight of a man out of work perhaps
for the first time in his life -about tba sge of 40 or, 50. Pe
culiarly enough that age which the nation has determined as
the rip and right one for the most important office in its service
the presidency of the United State is accounted by the civil
service commission as a token for the discasd when adorning an
application blank. At least, so comments the head of the Wash
ington bureau of the United State employment service.
INTO this last mentioned office coma various folk of varied
qualifications and lack of them. To some the fact that they
need a lob issmt, sufficient eauiDment, And sad la relate.
under this elassikatioa comes the erstwhile government employ
who must "look about" for something else to do, Hi years of
training, his education, his experience, seem to stand him in poor
stead against perhaps the very thing which wrought his undoing
in the office he occupied young blood. Thankfully he accepts
a position as watchman, guard or elevator "boy," while he
waits for possible reinstatement, since all employe! laid off for
no fault of their awn are eligible for se-erapiuytneut according
to the policy of the civil service.
Twe vacancies exist in Washington which have never heen
amply filled, and which will perhaps always remain available to
such a would take advantage ot them. Une ss tor women who
(Copyright. ISIS, tlaU Maiin Printed a U. S, a.)
train far and board bill. But
having come, ha is lucky aad
wis if he leaves before he ha
spent his last dollar. To be
sanguine may be well, but to
play safe is better.
One woman came to
Washington so sura of her
own appointment here that
sh actually slid spend her last dollar to teach her. She had
been graduated from a few "lvn-to-be-a-delective-by-mail''
schools, and with her badges and diplomat invaded the civil
service recruiting office. But inasmuch as the, bureau has yearly
more than 3000 inquiries for work in the secret service, the
majority iron graduates like unto herself, she was compelled
to turn, her attention to employment agra
ciea as she- found iheas in tba capital. Sh
was a splendid looking woman, too, and
inasmuch a she was six feet tall and seemed,
proportionately strong, her fitness to. make.
caplara" for which, sh recommended
herself could not be easily flouted.
ORSE things could bappees to a
mortal than to be- "stranded" in
Washington. But it it nowhere a
pleasant thing. Charity is tremendously '
organized in this city. It is hardly possibl
to seek financial help from any source with
out becoming answerable to the central or
ganization of the whole. Tiie first effort
made is to learn all that can be learned of the seeker of
substantial sympathy. His home town folks are inquired of.
If it is. proved and the proving is frequently a long-drawn-out
process that the potential . Washingtoniaa baa.
a family to whom he owes first allegiance, be is not so much,
encouraged to prolong his sojourn in the capital as to return.
and make good where be be
longs. If ha listens to such ad
vice, h is aided in getting
back; but if ha prefer th free
dom of. the streets where they
are at least wide, ha it left to bis
own devices,
Strangely enough, and yet en
couraging to contemplate, polio
records tell nothing of the earnest
job hunter. "The maa, who it look
ins; for work doca not rani afoul
of us," declares,, the uniformed
statistician at lha municipal build
ing. For this be offers no explana
tion; it remain only a fact. ( The
discouraged job hunter may- cod
up at one of the city's missions, it
is true, but here he meets with a
helping hand and sympathetic en
couragement. The other day a prominent,
banker rose to his feet in one of
the nightly prayer meetings of such
a mission and gave brief but
compelling testimony.. Few
know that just a few years ago
he was given a bowl of stew
and. a bed at this raiasioo when
he- wandered, in there broken.,
dlienuTiaeA and even bitter. He swore at the
Undent who offered him kindness. But Use superintendent
applied only a little more kind nets.
A few days later the down-and-outer told, the superin
tendent, a story just a pen scratch acrost a crjejck so
easy to tare all that was left to him in ihia worldr ,
hi dying child. "I've served the law," be added. . , ,
Tbe superintendent took down the telephone, receiver.
He called the president of a bank who wanted to be put
in touch with "hard cases.' Hera was one. Tbe erst
while forger was given a small place in, the bank-, filing. .
doing odd bits about tbe office, and tba "hajd cat made,
good. All he needed was a friend..
"We never try to find a job for a maa primarily,"' saidt
the head of a mission. "We are not ia that liusiisss. W
try to get a maa saved that's our work. And if maa
, will seek first Cod and His kingdom, he never fail to get
a job. It just automatically follows, and never fan.1
TAEY com every year, every month of every year. '
these job hunter. Newspaper men and women, polit
ically inclined favor-seekers, studious youth. Artists
also hope for recognition in the country's center of gov
ernment. Yet most art students who graduate in Wash
ington find employment elsewhere. The same is true of
graduate in other branches of study. " ' '.'
The man or woman who is willing; to do anything, and
thinks thereby to fell the "out-of-work" ogre, it up against
the same sad proposition here as elsewhere.
Take a woman who, though qualified to fill a respon
sible position with the government, fails to get it and,
turns to other fields Library work or research for eat)
of the two or three information bureaus call fog a, trains
ing severe and attenuated, and then "you may leavo
vour name for our files." -
If she be really capable as stenographer, she must be!
content to enter competition with hundreds of other
equally capable. Should she be willing to content herself
with a job as waitress, other handicaps may be here. ,
Employers in Washington, as elsewhere,, select their crews,
with regard to height, weight, color of hair, and general adapta
bihty to chosen uniform, as well as experience. Experience
counts also in store work that is. if the applicant is to get
wages which will make at least shelter and substantial food
possible.
If a woman seeks work as charwoman in one of the office
buildings, she finds a line of applicants in front of her. If she
turns to car cleaning for the railroad, she must qualify as the
widow of an engineer or something of the sort before she, cam
even file application. She would find it difficult to get a job
as dishwasher in a small restaurant, for these calls are confined
to experienced help usually colored applicant being prer
ferred. But a feminine job seeker in Washington can always
Set general housework if she can measure up to all that
tat means. ,
TTi lE, young man who makes tbe round of tbe basks, tht
I automobile concerns, th falling stations ; who tries tbe
navy yard, and qualifies to be entrusted with the driving
of a taxi; who will run an elevator, or clerk at a haberdasheryj
who is. in short, willing to do anything, meets much the same '
problem at each turn as his sister. But he can always join the
army, however, and the navy waits to welcome him.
To the older or middle-aged plodders there is always Is ft
the role cf door-to-door salesman, if they care to engage in
this business.
Washington stresses, as perhaps bo other city does, the vital
necessity for specialized training, coupled with resource fuloeet
and adaptability. Here the job hunter, if he be open-minded,
soon concludes that it is better to know how to do on thing
which may call him to Alaska or Washington, California or
Kentucky, than to select his place of abode first and limit .
himself to its opportunities for the untrained or unwisely
trained.
One man passed the civil service examination for plumber, .
but waa found to be so stout that he could not perform the
simplest task without the assistance of a helper, and therefore
failed to get his coveted job with the government. Perbapt
at a teacher or real estate dealer, that man would hav been, a
bappy success and independent of Washington.
There is only one way to be happy in Washington to be
' independent of it Even tbe trained worker who come un
bidden to the capital it taking a long shot. And th "mki'M
worker it shooting at th moon.
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