(Special District Manager Letter, Rehabilitation Division, No. 27. Canceled by General Order No. 150-A) 1. General Order No. 198, paragraph 5, states: "When it is definitely determined that the trainee will be absent from training because of his physical or mental condition for an indefinite period of time, the trainee shall be notified of such decision and maintenance allowance shall be discontinued 15 days subsequent to notification." 2. General Order No. 150, paragraph 52-B-3, states: "b. Trainees under section 2 of the act will be classified as permanently discontinued when one or more of the following conditions exist: (3) When it is evident that the man's physical condition is such that training is not physically feasible or otherwise practicable and in all probability never will be physically feasible or practicable." 3. It is the opinion of central office that conditions which, under paragraph 5 of General Order No. 198, warrant a trainee's return to compensation status on a "training interrupted" basis, also justify his permanent discontinuance under General Order No. 150, paragraph 52-B-3. You are therefore directed to issue Form 107-B showing as permanently discontinued all men coming under paragraph 5 of General Order No. 198. 4. Central office has taken into consideration the fact that any and all reinductions for men thus discontinued must go through appeal channels. It is felt, however, that as these cases can be handled expeditiously it will not materially increase the work of your board of appeals. This letter is actuated by the desire to prevent the creation of an additional status which would result in carrying men in "instruction interrupted" status as applied to a distinct class of cases, instead of "permanently discontinued" as applied to no particular class. O. W. CLARK, Assistant Director. (Special District Manager Letter, Rehabilitation Division, No. 28. Canceled by General Order No. 150-A) 1. Copies of Agricultural Training Policy, December 14, 1923, are being forwarded to each district for distribution to all personnel concerned. 2. All districts will immediately direct that the foregoing policy be made effective. Any problems that result from putting this policy into effect should be reported to central office without delay. O. W. CLARK, Assistant Director. (Special District Manager Letter, Rehabilitation Division, No. 29. Obsolete) JANUARY 30, 1924. The attached data representing a study of commercial art objectives made by the twelfth district, is submitted for the information of district offices. It is hoped that any district having material of general value will transmit it to central office for broadcasting to the field. O. W. CLARK, Chief of Rehabilitation Division. A SURVEY OF COMMERCIAL ART OBJECTIVES DECEMBER 17, 1923. 1. Poster designer. This objective properly means a man who designs posters for reproduction, such as railroad advertisements and things of that character; but it also is construed to mean a man who makes a high class show card in the form of a poster. Poster designers, strictly speaking, are very few in number and are usually men with long experience and a reputation. Any one may design a poster in competition and sell one or two posters, but that is a far different matter from making a living as a poster designer. Therefore, this objective should not be used. 2. Interior decorator. This objective falls under two clases: (a) The interior decorator (artist) whose duties are to draw designs of the furnishings of rooms, mostly in color, giving a correct idea of the way the room will look when it is decorated. This artist works in conjunction with a salesman who sells the furniture. As a rule the furniture is picked from stock and copied in the picture or sketch, the salesman advising the client as to what to use in the room. (b) The second classification is the interior decorator (salesman). This man is primarily a furniture or drapery salesman who meets the public and who knows the stock of the firm for which he works. He must have an idea of color harmony, usually gained from experience and reading magazines which are sent to the furniture trade. These objectives are good for a limited number of high class men. A large furniture store will employ one or two, or possibly at the outside five, interior decorator salesmen and from one to three artists. 3. Sign painter.-This is an objective which seems to have a fairly good outlet. We have a number of sign painters in training now and the chances for putting them in the trade are good. However, we should use caution and not flood the objective. The sign painters fall under two classes: (a) One we might properly term "sign painter" (advertising) is the man who does work on billboards for outside use. There is a fairly good field for this work in large cities, firms that specialize in billboard work. (b) The other type of sign painter might be called the "sign letterer," is a man who makes signs on cloth, glass, windows, doors, etc. There is a fairly good field for these men. 4228-29 -144 4. Advertising illustrator and commercial artist.—The proper name for this objective should be commercial artist. A commercial artist's duties are to illustrate advertising in such a manner that it will sell or display the product. There are hundreds of people who are at the bottom of the ladder in this business-people who have graduated from art schools, high schools, and colleges and have a small amount of art training. They desire to follow this as an occupation, consequently it puts the commercial artist who is poorly trained or has no exceptional talent, in a very hard position. He is in competition with every Tom, Dick, and Harry, making the price of ordinary work in the commercial art field very unstable and unsatisfactory. We should not train any men in this objective unless we are able to start them high enough that they may really attain something exceptional in this line. In other words, a man to enter the objective of commercial artist should be only a man who has now developed artistry to a considerable degree. 5. Ornamental modeler. The ornamental modeler is a man who works in plaster of Paris for the finished product, using hemp and other binders to hold his work together. The first models are patterned in clay, which may be anything from a human figure to the simplest kind of an egg and dart design. This field is very limited and provides good recompense for those who are thoroughly competent when there is work to do. A great deal of the work comes from florists, advertising, billboards, moving pictures, and temporary designs. We should use this objective very cautiously. 6. Fashion draftsman. The duties of a fashion draftsman are to draw pictures of persons, displaying the latest fashion in clothing. In some cases the fashion draftsman works with the costume designer, but a canvass of the city of Los Angeles failed to find any fashion draftsman who was actually employed as such. A number of girls and commercial artists work in the department stores, but they do not do fashion drafting strictly. It is merely incident to their line, which is actually commercial artist. Therefore we should not use this objective, as it is too limited and is only a part of the commercial artist line. 7. Art title writer.-The objective of art title writer is simply that of a high class show-card writer, who writes titles for the moving pictures. Very few men are employed in this objective and there is an underground tremor that less and less titles will be used in the pictures. Any show-card writer is eligible to enter this field. We should not use this objective at all. 8. Window trimmer.-Window trimmers are employed in larger stores as such. The smaller stores usually have some salesman or stock clerk or other employee who dresses the windows. Occassionally a contract window trimmer goes from store to store taking contracts on dressing the windows. An apprentice window trimmer gets very little money unless he is a show-card writer, because about all he is able to do is to hand the stock to the man who actually dresses the window. This objective should not be used as such on account of the difficulty of rehabilitating men in it. 9. Show-card writer.-A show-card writer is a man who must be able to rapidly write price tickets and display cards to attract customers for the sale of goods. There is a broad field for a man who is able to do showcard writing, as practically every small store in the country uses show cards. The show-card writers are of two classes: (a) The man who works in a large store or a show-card shop; (b) and that of the free lance who may have several small stores on his list. Show-card writing is the best entrée to window trimming, and if a man desires to be a window trimmer he should first become a show-card writer, at which time he can get entrée to a store with an advantage over the ordinary man of the street. He can start in as a show-card writer and work into the window-trimming business. (Special District Manager Letter, Rehabilitation Divisioh, No. 30. Obsolete) FEBRUARY 5, 1924. 1. The following letter from Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, Washington, D. C., is in reply to President Coolidge's appeal for cooperation with the United States Veterans' Bureau in securing employment for its rehabilitated ex-service men and women: WASHINGTON, D. C., January 25, 1924. SIR: As you have been advised, I was absent from the city on official business when your letter of December 14 was received at my office. Referring to the work of the United States Veterans' Bureau you express the hope that the organization affiliated to the American Federation of Labor will cooperate "not only in assisting the Veterans' Bureau in placing these ex-service men in employment immediately following their rehabilitation, but in following up such employment with a view to making it continuous, and in the adoption of rules and regulations which will assist these men in securing employment." In reply thereto permit me to bring to your attention the declaration of the annual convention of the American Federation of Labor, held in Cincinnati, Ohio, June, 1922, as follows: "Employment is the supreme test of 'training.' In this connection the Veterans' Bureau has created an 'employment service' charged with the duties: First. Securing employment opportunities for the rehabilitated disabled veterans. Second. To follow him up on the job to see that he is capable of carrying on. Third. To promote the good will of the public toward the rehabilitated veteran in order that he may not be 'crippled' through adverse public opinion. As regards this feature of the work of the Veterans' Bureau, the committee recommends that all delegates take the steps necessary to have their several organizations appoint committees to cooperate with the local offices of the Veterans' Bureau, 140 in number, in the ‘training' and ‘employment' of the disabled ex-service men. "The Veterans' Bureau is now issuing as provided by law, a 'certificate of graduation' to every rehabilitated veteran who successfully completes the course of training prescribed for him. "The committee recommends, wherever misunderstandings occur as to the work of the rehabilitation division of the Veterans' Bureau, that the specific question or case be referred directly to the assistant director, rehabilitation division, Washington, D. C., through the national or international officers of the organization concerned." This declaration was reaffirmed by the last annual convention, held in Portland, Oreg., October, 1923. It might not be amiss also to call your attention to the fact that at the Portland convention, General Hines, the Director of the United States Veterans' Bureau, was invited to and did address the convention. General Hines was cordially received and his address warmly applauded and made part of the official proceedings of the convention, the delegates declaring by motion that "we give our commendation to General Hines for the effective way in which he is working out rehabilitation of ex-service men through the Veterans' Bureau." The American Federation of Labor and the organizations affiliated thereto will continue to do everything within their power to be helpful. Respectfully yours, 2. It is requested that you give every facility to state organizations of the American Federation of Labor, and the local, district, and State lodges of the various national and international labor organizations affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, in order that the cooperation extended may be continuous and effective. GEORGE E. IJAMS, Assistant Director. (Special District Manager Letter, Rehabilitation Division, No. 31. Canceled by General Order No. 150-A) FOUR MONTHS' FOLLOW-UP PERIOD IN EMPLOYMENT AND ISSUANCE OF FORM 107-C MARCH 24, 1924. 1. Complaints have been received from some districts to the effect that many cases, received by transfer from other districts, of men who have been discontinued from training, and of men who have been rehabilitated for periods running from four months to a year, do not contain a Form 107-C; and that all too often, in the cases of rehabilitated men, their records do not reveal data on the four months' follow up in employment on Form 32. 2. This means that the receiving district is at a very serious disadvantage in securing the necessary data on which to issue Form 107-C, that some of the districts are not following out procedure as regards cases discontinued, and also that they are not following up for four months the cases of men who have been rehabilitated and placed in employment. 3. It is requested that the chief of rehabilitation and the district employment officer pay particular attention to this very important phase of the bureau's work. Without this information it is impossible to preserve an accurate record of the bureau's accomplishments, and equally impossible to issue reliable statistical information on what the bureau has done. O. W. CLARK, Chief of Rehabilitation Division. (Special District Manager Letter, Rehabilitation Division No. 32. Canceled by General Order No. 150-A) COPY OF MEDICAL REPORT MAY BE ATTACHED TO FORM 107-C MAY 1, 1924. With the view of expediting the preparation of Form 107-C, authority is hereby granted for the transmission of a copy of medical report upon which original eligibility was based, in lieu of copying the medical information contained in that report on the reverse side of Form 107-C, as has heretofore been required. In cases where action is taken under this authority, the copy of the medical report will be securely pinned or stapled to Form 107-C when the form is submitted to central office. O. W. CLARK, Chief, Rehabilitation Division. (Special District Manager Letter, Rehabilitation Division No. 33. Canceled by General Order No. 336) ANNUAL NATIONAL CONVENTIONS TO BE HELD ON DATES BETWEEN APRIL 15 AND DECEMBER 31, 1924, BY VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS, DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS OF THE WORLD WAR, THE AMERICAN LEGION MAY 20, 1924. This order is applicable to the annual national conventions of the above-mentioned organizations at such dates as these organizations shall officially designate for their annual national conventions. You are authorized to issue special leaves of absence to trainees who are members of the above organizations to attend the convention of their respective organization. It is provided, however, that their record of standing, progress, and attendance, must be such as to justify the granting of special leave. You are further instructed that no leave shall be granted under this authority to any trainee whose period of training would be lengthened or extended as a result of such leave. You will grant only such leaves as are necessary to cover the actual days of the convention, and sufficient time to travel from residence to convention and return. It is required that a properly authenticated certificate of attendance at the convention be furnished by all trainees to whom leave is granted under this authority. No transportation will be paid by the Government under any circumstances to any trainee attending a convention. O. W. CLARK, Chief, Rehabilitation Division. (Special District Manager Letter, Rehabilitation Division, No. 34. Canceled by General Order No. 336) LEAVE OF ABSENCE TO ATTEND THE THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION, UNITED STATES BLIND VETERANS OF THE WORLD WAR, SEATTLE, WASH., NOVEMBER 10-15, INCLUSIVE OCTOBER 24, 1924. District managers and heads of vocational schools are authorized to issue special leaves of absence, with maintenance and support allowance, to trainees who are members of the United States Blind Veterans of the World War and desire to attend the third annual convention, at Seattle, Wash., November 10-15, 1924, on the condition that their record of standing, progress and attendance is such as to justify the granting of this special leave. Further, no leave shall be granted under this authority to any trainee whose period of training would be lengthened or extended as a result of such leave. The period for which leave is granted will not extend beyond the actual number of days of the convention and sufficient time to travel from residence to the convention and return. No transportation will be paid by the Government under any circumstances to any trainee attending this convention. H. V. STIRLING, Chief of Rehabilitation Division. (Special District Manager Letter, Rehabilitation Division, No. 35. Obsolete) REHABILITATION PERSONNEL SURVEY AS OF NOVEMBER 15, 1924 NOVEMBER 5, 1924. Attached to this letter is a copy of rehabilitation Form 99, individual survey of rehabilitation personnel. It is requested that this form be filled out accurately and in detail by each rehabilitation staff employee. This will include all chiefs of rehabilitation, employment officers, registration officers, vocational specialists including those assigned to rating boards, rehabilitation assistants, coordinators, and members of the rehabilitation survey group. The list will also include all superintendents and teachers assigned to either resident or nonresident vocational schools. It is to be noted that the form specifically requires that the regional office to whom the employee is assigned be included. Care should be taken to be specific as to positions or jobs held prior to the service with the bureau, checking in the appropriate column the type of experience which each particular position afforded you. Under the caption "special qualification" each rehabilitation staff member is to indicate just what he did and state any additional facts which show his special fitness for the work of rehabilitation. This would be consistent with his answers to the preceding questions. This form completely prepared should be received by central office not later than December 1, 1924. District chiefs of rehabilitation will review and sign forms as indicated previous to submission. H. V. STIRLING, Chief of Rehabilitation Division. |