Mr. DALLINGER. Why was he not told in the English language that he was discontinued? Mr. BENWAY. He was told. Mr. DALLINGER. He says that he was not. Mr. BENWAY. Communications were sent to his home, to the school, to the War Risk, and to the chief clerk's office on the same day. The War Risk received it and the chief clerk's office received it, showing they were sent in six similar forms all made out at the same time. Mr. DALLINGER. How do you account for the fact that the principal of this school, Mr. Mayman, wrote a letter over his own signature stating that he knew nothing whatever of the termination of this boy's education? Mr. BENWAY. I presume there is some friendly feeling between Kanter and Dr. Mayman. Mr. DALLINGER. Do you think that Mr. Mayman would sign a letter, stating that he did not know anything about it? I will read this letter again: DEAR SIR: At the request of Mr. Irving Kanter, who is a student at this school, I beg to inform you that no notice to discontinue his training has been received by us or by him, as far as we know. Mr. BENWAY. I presume he wrote that in good faith. I presume he did: I have no reason to doubt it. Mr. DALLINGER. Do you think it is a proper way for the Vocational Board to act, not to notify the superintendent or the principal. of the school that a boy in training has been discontinued? Mr. BENWAY. We do notify all the agencies interested. It might not have been brought to his attention. Communications fre quently go astray. The War Risk was notified; the chief clerk's office was notified; they were all notified by the same form which was sent out at the same time. This is the first time that I have ever heard of any institution not being notified. Mr. DALLINGER. Did Mr. Kanter change his first location? Mr. BENWAY. No, sir; in fact, he was notified by the Federal Board employees. Mr. DALLINGER. In your hearing? Mr. BENWAY. Yes, sir; by the D. V. O., Mr. Clark. He was notified at the time that training would be terminated the same day unless he complied with the requirements. Mr. DALLINGER. The fact that the notices were not sent out would seem to be borne out by the fact that the principal of the school did not receive any? Mr. BENWAY. I think that simply indicates that he never received it, but I do not think that it indicates that it was not sent. Two agencies received two copies of the same notification made at the same time on the same typewriter, the same carbons. Mr. DALLINGER. So you think that Mr. Kanter was treated in every way Mr. BENWAY (interposing). With the greatest consideration. Mr. BENWAY. By the officers who handled his case. Mr. DALLINGER. And he has no grounds Mr. BENWAY (interposing). No valid grounds. Mr. DALLINGER. Of complaint against the Federal board? Mr. BENWAY. Not a bit; no, sir. You are excused. The committee will adjourn until 2 o'clock this afternoon. (Thereupon the committee took a recess until 2 o'clock p. m.) AFTER RECESS. The committee reassembled at 2 o'clock p. m., pursuant to recess. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will please come to order. Mr. Boland will you please take the witness chair? STATEMENT OF MR. F. W. BOLAND. (The witness was sworn by the chairman.) The CHAIRMAN. Give your full name and your present address to the stenographer. Mr. BOLAND. F. W. Boland; residence, 5826 Morrowfield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Boland, what is your work at present? Mr. BOLAND. I am director of the Alleghany Vocational School, Pittsburgh. The CHAIRMAN. What is the Alleghany Vocational School? Mr. BOLAND. It is a special school that I started for the purpose of educating the disabled discharged soldiers for the Federal board. The CHAIRMAN. Then, it is of recent origin? Mr. BOLAND. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Did you start it? Mr. BOLAND. Yes, sir; I started it. The CHAIRMAN. When? Mr. BOLAND. September 1. The CHAIRMAN. Of what year? Mr. BOLAND. 1919. The CHAIRMAN. What had you been doing prior to that? Mr. BOLAND. I was supervisor of industrial education in the Pittsburgh schools-that is, in the high schools. The CHAIRMAN. In the public-school system? Mr. BOLAND. Yes, sir; in the public-school system. The CHAIRMAN. How long had you been in that position? Mr. BOLAND. About one year in that position. The CHAIRMAN. What was your salary in that position? The CHAIRMAN. That would amount to, for the school year, how much? Mr. BOLAND. $2,750. That was at the time, of course, that I started this work; that was my salary, but, of course, it would have been considerably more at the present time had I stayed with the board. The CHAIRMAN. You mean by that that there has been an increase of salary? Mr. BOLAND. Quite an increase. The CHAIRMAN. In Pittsburgh? The CHAIRMAN. How long have you been connected with the public-school system of Pittsburgh? Mr. BOLAND. About five years. I can not say the exact number of years in Pittsburgh. The CHAIRMAN. That is sufficient. What was the line of your teaching? Mr. BOLAND. First I had charge of the industrial education; that is, the industrial work at Franklin School; second, the Fifth Avenue School; transferred over to the Schenley High School, and from the Schenley High School to supervisor of high school industrial training. The CHAIRMAN. As supervisor, you had control of all this work throughout the city? Mr. BOLAND. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. What led you to build the special school? Mr. BOLAND. Well, I started in a way before September 1; that is, I started a receiving station or opened a receiving station-in July, 1919, in the Schenley School. Dr. Boland, then district vocational officer, was directed to me. I was supervisor of industrial education, and he was directed to me, because he wished to have the school started in Pittsburgh-or opened in Pittsburgh-and he asked if I would start such a school. The board of education granted me permission to use the Schenley High School and I started there July 1, as I remember. Well, I was interested in the work; that was the reason I started it. I was just asked to do it and I did it. I thought that I was qualified to do that particular kind of work and I just did it. The CHAIRMAN. You began the work in connection with your school work? Mr. BOLAND. No; school was out at the time. I was doing nothing at the time. The CHAIRMAN. You had permission of the Schenley High School? You had permission to use the Schenley High School building? Mr. BOLAND. Yes; I had permission to use the shops in the Schenley High School for this work. The CHAIRMAN. And what you were doing was upon the invitation of the head of the rehabilitation work in Pittsburgh? Was Roland the head of that work? Mr. BOLAND. No; he was district vocational officer? The CHAIRMAN. Located where? Mr. BOLAND. At Philadelphia. The CHAIRMAN. What is this Alleghany Vocation School as to equipment? Mr. BOLAND. Alleghany Vocational School had very little equipment at the time I took it over. It was an old school. It was known as the Alleghany Preparatory School before I leased it. It had not been used for four years. The CHAIRMAN. Was it in shape, so far as equipment is concerned, to go on with the work? Mr. BOLAND. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Who equipped it? Mr. BOLAND. With my own funds; funds I borrowed; and with funds that I have since gotten through my work for the Federal board. The CHAIRMAN. Did you have an contract with the Federal board as to equipment? Mr. BOLAND. No; I had no contract with the Federal board as to equipment. The CHAIRMAN. You have a contract, though, with the board, haven't you, as to training? Mr. BOLAND. Yes; I do have. The CHAIRMAN. What is that contract? Mr. BOLAND. That I am to have a minimum of 50 men per month for one year at $35 per month for all over 150. The CHAIRMAN. That would mean that if you did not have that number the Government would pay for that? Mr. BOLAND. Would pay for that; yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Well, how has that proved out? Have you ever had less than the guaranteed number? Mr. BOLAND. No, sir; I have not. The CHAIRMAN. Have you had many more than the guaranteed number? Mr. BOLAND. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. What number have you had? Mr. BOLAND. I have about 500 men at the present time. The CHAIRMAN. How much of a force do you have with you to do this teaching? Mr. BOLAND. I have 30 teachers. The CHAIRMAN. That overhead expense would run about how much ner month? Mr. BOLAND. You mean for teachers alone? The CHAIRMAN. Well, I am trying to get at the cost of the work you are doing. Mr. BOLAND. The total overhead; would you like that? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Mr. BOLAND. The total overhead for last month was approxi mately $13,500. The CHAIRMAN. For last month? Mr. BOLAND. No; not last month; for the month of April. I can not say for last month. The CHAIRMAN. Last month would be April. Mr. BOLAND. The month of March, I mean. The CHAIRMAN. And the 500 would be something like 350 at $30 a month; the others $35? Mr. BOLAND. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Are you finding that a profitable movement for you? Mr. BOLAND. I haven't made anything-that is, I haven't taken any money from my work for the Federal board up to the present time. The CHAIRMAN. Has the equipment that is necessary to run this school been expensive? Mr. BOLAND. It has been expensive. The CHAIRMAN. Could you give us a statement as to that? Mr. BOLAND. No, sir: I could not give you an exact statement as to the cost of equipment, but as I figure the equipment it has cost approximately, from the time I started, $1,100 a month-that is, an average cost. That would mean that there is likely $7,000 or $8,000 worth of equipment that I purchased up to April 1. The CHAIRMAN. Well, is your equipment large enough to take care of 500 men? Mr. BOLAND. Yes, sir; my equipment is large enough to take care of-well, no; I would say it isn't. My equipment is large enough to take care of men taking the training at the present time, but as they come on ready for training I will add to that equipment. The CHAIRMAN. Do you contemplate a larger attendance than 500? The BOLAND. No, sir; I do not. The CHAIRMAN. Is that the limit? Mr. BOLAND. That would be likely my limit. The CHAIRMAN. What do you teach? How many courses are you giving in that school? Mr. BOLAND. A course in machine shop; electrical work, electrical shop; storage-battery repair work; sheet-metal work; structural layout or templet making; shoe repairing; cabinetmaking and carpentry; mechanical and architectural drawing. And the regular courses in elementary school work; that is, the Americanization courses and elementary bookkeeping courses. The CHAIRMAN. How long is the average course? Mr. BOLAND. I can't answer that question, I think, at the present time; that is, I can't say how long it would take for a course. The CHAIRMAN. Who would determine how long a man should be in the school before he has completed the work? Mr. BOLAND. Well, I think I would determine that, but I usually recommend a man for a long enough period so that he could take or complete a course; that is, if I figure that it will take from one to two years to train certain men, depending upon the man. The CHAIRMAN. You understand the significance of my question? If a student is in the school a short time, judging from the profit standpoint, it would not mean much to the institution; if he is there quite a length of time it might mean considerable, and my question is: Does the board have anything to say as to when that man shall be regarded as having been trained, or is that with you altogether? Mr. BOLAND. Well, since we have not, or I have not, had the men long enough to say, I can not answer that question, but I think the man himself would know. I had not thonght of it just that way. The CHAIRMAN. One thing I am interested in is how long this present work is likely to continue. We have been interested in whether the work will be completed within a certain time. I say, "We"; I mean Members of Congress, seeking the information necessary for appropriations. You have not had the men long enough to indicate? Mr. BOLAND. No; I have not. Now, for instance, there are a number of men taking this course-I call it a course-in elementary bookkeeping. Now, those men are men who have formerly worked as coal miners. They have very little education, some of them; they have been wounded in the arm or in the leg, and they can no longer carry on coal mining. At first, I did not know what to do with those men; I went to the coal company and they told me-or first, they sent me to the mines and I looked into the work around the mines and found that these men could follow such work as timekeepers, weighmen, SO |