sent to Randall's Island; of these seven were over two, and eleven DONATIONS OF OLD CLOTHES, NEW UNDERWEAR, under two years of age. Ninety-five AND RAGS TO be washed and Dyed persons were sent to the city almshouse, and fifty-four to the state almshouse at Flatbush to be cared for by the officers of the State Board of Charities. * * * At the office of the examining physician for outdoor poor in the Department of Public Charities 206 persons were examined in the week ending December 1. Of this number 136 were sent to the City Hospital, fifty-one to the Metropolitan Hospital, fourteen to the Dispensary, fifteen to the superintendent of outdoor poor, thirty-nine to Bellevue Hospital, and one returned to his home. FOR RUGS AND CARPETS ARE DESIRED BY THE WORKROOMS FOR OF THE Charity Organization Society, 516 West 28th Street. (1.)--The only college in the State exclusively for the education of women in medicine. Dr. M. BELLE BROWN, Dean. (2.)-A hospital (medical and surgical) for women and children. Patients charged according to ability HENRY ARDEN, to pay, or free if necessary; supported by board of JAPANESE ART OBJECTS, NOVELTIES IN SILKS FOR LADIES' USE 38 WEST 22D STREET. patients and voluntary contributions. (3.) Dispensary for women and children; open from 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. Women physicians only in attendance. (4.)-Obstetrical out department; staff of 20 women physicians attend the needy poor women in their own homes during confinement. Cards for free attendance may be obtained from the resident physician. Mary Knox Robinson, President. A DIPLOMA OF THE GRAND PRIX........ HIGHEST POSSIBLE AWARD was won by THE SMITH PREMIER TYPEWRITER at the Paris Exposition. This award was made by an International Jury of 25 members, and in competition with 20 other typewriters. The Smith Premier Typewriter Co., 337 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. An Opportunity! ALL THE REVIEW AND (For One Year) LITTLE MASTERPIECES 12 Volumes. and 50 cents per month for eleven months. Only $6 altogether. Twelve Exquisite Volumes of the World's Choicest Productions in English Literature. POE. SELECTIONS In the Masterpiece Library. Fall of the House of Usher-Ligeia- IRVING. Rip Van Winkle; Legend of Sleepy -The Birthmark-Ethan Brand-Wakefield- THACKERAY The Book of Snobs-Round- about Papers--Ballads. LINCOLN Lost Speech." FRANKLIN CARLYLE Autobiography-Poor Richard's MACAULAY LAMB The Two Races of Men-New Year's Each BLISS volume has an Introduction by Yet how many people can say that they have thoroughly assimilated, or even hastily read, each and every one of these immortal works? The binding and printing of the volumes are beautifully executed. The size and shape so convenient that the books fairly invite the reading that every intelligent American would want to have as a part of his or her intellectual culture. Each volume bound in handsome red cloth, contains a really fine and artistic. photogravure frontispiece of the celebrated writer whose masterpiece it contains. A more charming addition to a library, one that will be REALLY READ, or a more tasteful Christmas gift-or twelve Christmas gifts, for the volumes are not numbered-could not be imagined. The publishers of the Masterpiece Library have sold it at the rate of $8.00 for the 12 volumes. and have claimed it was at that rate an exceptional bargain. THE REVIEW OF REVIEWS. Under Dr. Shaw's editorship THE REVIEW OF REVIEWS has come to be considered "indispensable" by thinking Americans. It has monthly 1. Dr. Shaw's comprehensive, impartial history of the current month. 2. Important contributed articles to the amount of an ordinary magazine. 3. The gist of the other notable magazines and reviews of five continents. 4. "Current History in Caricature," "A Record of Current Events," "The New Books," and other always valuable departments. 5. An average of over a hundred timely pictures to the number. The regular price for THE REVIEW OF REVIEWS one year, and The Little Masterpiece Library, is $10.50. and it is an exceedingly low price. By cutting out this offer and sending it with 50 cents in stamps, you will receive The Little Masterpiece Library in its entirety at once, also THE REVIEW OF REVIEWS throughout 1901 and the balance of the payment can be completed by sending 50 cents a month for eleven months. If you desire to make a cash remittance, $5.75 will close the transaction. CHARITIES The Official Organ of the Charity Organization Society of the City of New York. VOL. V. CONTENTS. Cooper Union Labor Bureau JOHN BANCROFT DEVINS... Tenement-House Fire Escapes.. DECEMBER 22, 1900. Annual Meeting State Charities Aid Association....... 5 7 No. 30. meets the pastor, the missionary, the visitor-friendly or paid, the district agent or the settlement worker. Difficult as its solution is for those who are sharing their lives with their brother-men, the real burden falls upon the man out of work, walking the streets in search of employment until he is well-nigh dazed by his failure; upon his wife, often patient and uncomplaining, but not always so; upon the children, considered a blessing when all is well. I know something about the experience about which others write and speak; the sense of loneliness, the feeling that with so much to be done, and you so willing to work, there must be a place somewhere, if only you could find it. Is it strange that sometimes. the suggestion comes: "Just what did the signers of the Declaration of Independence mean by the first sentence of that immortal document?" Sam Walter Foss has well described the feelings of a man out of work: "W'at's the good of blue skies an' of blossoming trees W'en a feller is out of a job; his knees, An' a feller is out of a job? the sky, this city is reported to have urged W'en your boy has large patches on both of that the establishment of labor bureaus is one of the pressing philanthropic needs of large cities; and yet five weeks before that address was given a free labor exchange founded upon the principles that Mr. Reynolds recommended, was closed in this city. The problem of the unemployed is one of the most perplexing that An' the sun can't shine through 'em the best it can try, W'en a feller is out of a job. "Ev'ry man that's a man wants to help push the world, But he can't if he's out of a job; He's left out behind, on the shelf he is curled, W'en a feller is out of a job; Ain't no juice in the world, an' no salt in the sea Ain't no ginger in life in this land of the free, An' the universe ain't what it's cracked up to be, W'en a feller is out of a job." How to resist the tendency to discouragement and deterioration is the question which presses for an`answer. Advice does little good. Money given or loaned may be a curse; at the best it only delays the evil day. The law of supply and demand fails here. Wage earners and wage dispensers must be brought together; vacancies must be filled with as little delay as possible. Intelligence offices are not sufficient, even if conducted honestly, as the men often can neither pay the fee demanded nor promise the commission required. Clergymen, church workers, and other charitable persons are too busy to secure proper references for applicants desiring work, even if their recommendation of men were always taken at face value. They need a central office where thorough inquiries can be made and work secured for those whose records stand the kindly investigation covering several years; special stress being laid upon character and ability. Considerations such as these led to the formation on April 18, 1894, of the New York Employment Society, whose first object was to be the registration of men, the investigation of their references, and, so far as possible, the securing of positions for those whose references for ability and character were satisfactory. In June, 1894, the society was incorporated and offices opened at No. 25 Clinton Place. Among those taking part in the formation of the society, serving as directors or aiding in its work, were clergymen and laymen representing several Protestant bodies, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Hebrew interests. These principles were laid down by the society, differentiating it from all other employment agencies at that time in this city: No man to be 1. Residence. registered who has not been at least six months in this city. Benevolent funds should not be used to attract the unemployed from the country or from other cities to the detriment of those already here. 2. Competency. Qualified workmen in the trade or profession in which they seek employment should alone be recommended. The inefficient and the unwilling should not be pushed ahead of the willing and capable men by the special efforts of this society; personal friends, missionaries, and visitors may properly supplement the individual efforts of the men in this class. 3. Character. Deserving men only should have the influence of the society behind them. No matter how good workmen they may be, or how great their need, it is important from a philanthropic point of view that wages should be diverted from the till of the saloon and the gaming table and directed into the drawer of the grocer, the baker and the butcher, or the pocket of the landlord. To do this, is money clearly gained for society. 4. Dependents. Married men with families or those having other dependents are entitled to greater consideration than single men. While it is true that an unmarried man needs work in order to prevent suffering, or becoming a burden upon society, it is better that the ten dollars, or the fifteen dollars paid for a week's wages should be received by a man having three or five or more people dependent upon him than that the money should go to a single man to be squandered or hoarded. Were there sufficient work for all who are willing and competent and of good character, this principle would be void, but while there are several, sometimes a hundred or more applicants for a single position, discrimination is legitimate. From June, 1894, to September, 1895, there were 1095 positions filled by the society. Believing the benevolent funds could be conserved and the operations of the society extended and thus greater good be accomplished for those temporarily out of work, representatives of the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the poor, Cooper Union, and the New York Employment Society effected a plan which worked admirably for five years. The Cooper Union Labor Bureau Committee was formed with members representing the three cooperating societies. On October 7, 1895, offices were opened in Cooper Union, whose trustees remitted the rent as their financial contribution; the Association assumed the responsibility for salaries, printing, postage, etc., and spent during the five years $19,955, a part of which was given directly for the bureau by members of the Employment Society and friends whom the committee interested in the work. Since the labor bureau was opened in 1895, 23,485 men and boys were registered and their references carefully investigated; 12,646 (forty-five per cent) had satisfactory references; 5,893 (twenty-five per cent) had unsatisfactory references, while 4,946 (twenty-one per cent) were unknown by those to whom they referred. For those found to be qualified for the position which they sought, the bureau has been a great search-light, discovering vacancies in stores, shops, offices and elsewhere, and then a machine filling 9,595 positions; more than seventy-five per cent of the available men being placed at an average expense of $2.08. In spite of these figures and without changing their belief one whit as to the utility of the free labor bureau, the committee last summer recommended the closing of the bureau, and on September 30, the offices in Cooper Union were closed. Among the reasons which led to this decision were these: 1. Improvement of business conditions in the city, lessening the number of the unemployed. While there are still many men out of work, the number is much smaller than when this work was begun. 2. The announcement by some of the intelligence offices that employers may secure help from them without expense. 3. Free labor advertisements published in a daily paper of large circulation. 4. The starting of several similar bureaus for placing men, including one carried on by the State. One of the objects which the committee had in view from the first was the fostering of enterprises that could take up the work and carry it on successfully. 5. The growing belief that the state is able to conduct a free employment office better than a philanthropic society, because of its wider sphere of influence, its ability to ascertain the needs of different sections of the State and also its power to secure legislation tending to decrease the evils of the average intelligence office. Important steps in this latter direction have already been |