Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 38, Number 23, 6 December 1912 — Page 12

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Preventing "Round Pegs" from Occupying "Square Holes

Interesting, Practical and Valuable Work of Prof. Blumenthal, Vocational Expert, in Telling Young Men and Women What They Are Best Fitted For

ONE of the greatest achievements of applied science, being of direct benefit to all humanity, lies In its demonstration of simple and available means of replacing the "wasters" the misfits In Industrial, business and professional life with Individuals who are contented, prosperous and useful because each has been guided into the vocation for which he is fitted by natural endowment of body, mind and temperament. The centuries have shown that boys and girls, even grown men and women, are unable, without expert aid, to obey the mandate of Socrates, "Know Thyself." So It Is an even chance that each young generation turned loose upon the work-a-day .world would suffer the fatal consequences of "round pegs occupying square holes." In the simple transposition of these human pegs Into vocational holes which fit them lies the secret of replacing failure with success ifc life. The certainty of being able to accomplish this result Is another debt which humanity owes to science, which solves the whole problem with applied psychology. Whatever you may ... be In your physical and mental make-up the practical psychologist who Is a vocational expert will read you unerringly. Inside and out, as readily as you read a page of light fiction, and authoritatively settle the question of the kind of work at which you can make yourself most useful to the rest of humanity and to yourself. The theory of applying psychology to vocational guidance has been demonstrated by laboratory tests In most of the world's great centres. It 13 long past the experimental stage, reaching that of practical. Immediate utility the combining of vocational guidance that is continuous, with opportunities to make It available from the start. Practical Vocational Guidance. For the last five months the spacious quarters of the West Side Young Men's ' Christian Association, in New York City, have contained one of the best organized -vocation bureaus In the world. Here the work of the vocational analyst Is logically supplemented with means of connecting applicants with the right opportunities and encouraging their perseverance. Analysis of ability and Character, of course, comes first it Is the one sure foundation. Give me eight men of the constructive, organizing and administrative ability demonstrated by such men as J. Pierpont Morgan and John D. Rockefeller, who are willing to co-operate with each other and with me, and they can run the world. Such men are supreme, each In his special field of finance or Industry, because they are Infallible Judges of human nature. They know how to select their lieutenants. They cannot themselves do the specific things which they require accomplished, and doubtless would fail as mere executives; but they rarely make mistakes In picking the general officers of their Industrial army. The rest I would guarantee to furnish executives, managers, employes down to the humblest, and not a human wheel, spring or lever misplaced. And that Is no more than any expert In appli'ed psychology could safely promise. The experienced vocational analyst is master of a science as exact as any that deals with the almost Infinite variations of human character. Give him authority to exerefse his knowledge and experience in the publlo schools and the world would soon cease to be thickly sprinkled with malcontents, wasters and paupers. The crying shame of this country, and most others. Is the ' wasteful misuse of , their educational institutions, especially of the publio schools. At about fourteen years of age the average public school graduate stands face to face with , the economlo problem in his home. Hejmust be a wage-earner he must find a "Job." And these boys and girls are literally thrown out of school to swell the ranks Of unskilled labor and trust to chance to place them In some berth for which they are not positively unfitted. Millions Spent to Make "Misfits." i Between the ages . of fourteen and . eighteen the young generation in this country is at the mercy of chance in determining whether they are to smk or swim. Up to the age of fourteen the government has spent millions on them in Instruction that is purely theoretical, and not one cent for practical knowledge "about themselves what their natural vocation is, so that they may escape increasing the multitude of misfits. In the last twenty years I have seen the youth of the large cities of Australia emerge from this shameful, desperate situation into confident and contented young workers in occupations where they naturally belong, by mental and physical constitution, character and temperament They are not wasters, because the publio schools there have ceased to be wasters, , and are imparting the most valuable of aU knowledge knowledge of self. The voca- , tlonal analyst has done his share; the public school graduate is not thrown out to loo'-i for a "Job" any old Job; he goes forth with a clear idea of his own abilities and " limitations, and with a detailed knowledge where the former will be available and put him in the way of making the most of his life. He is spared that most paralyzing of handicaps, discontent consciousness of failure. It is always easier to prevent undesirable conditions than to cure them. Besides, it is the part of common humanity to save the young from the fate of those who come to know themselves only when It Is too late to benefit by that knowledge. Applied psychology should complete the public school course. There should be no graduation until the vocational analyst has done his part. , . Here, In the vocation bureau of the West Side Young Men's Christian Association, a ' tine and humane work Is being undertaken In the redeeming of wasters created In

a negative way by the public schools. In the course of five months nearly six hundred discontented, almost hopeless, misfits have been converted into eager and hopeful members of society. In no case is there any further uncertainty about themselves In the majority of cases a way to the Indicated vocation has been opened. In quite a large number, employers have corroborated the favorable reports of those thus established in their new and logical occupations. A considerable proportion of these practical benefits of vocational analysis is due to the rapidly growing faith of all classes of employers In the practical value of applied psychology In determining specific aptitudes. Heartily co-operating with us are many business and professional men, leaders in their respective callings. These constitute a group of vocational advisers covering practically the whole range of occupations, who are always ready to supplement our vocational prescriptions with definite details, and often to aid us in promptly placing in "round holes' the

A Machine for Measuring the Rapidity with which Colors Are Distinguished If Slow and Uncertain the Subject

round pegs which we have taken out ot their old square ones. These misfits are of all ages, all types and all degrees of discontent and hopelessness. We consider our time and efforts best expended on men under thirty, for up to that age discontent, due to a vague consciousness of etTort misapplied and a very real conviction of failure, have not destroyed the seeds of energy and hope. But in several instances men con siderably above that age have benefited by the new attitude toward themselves in Quite a remarkable way. A man fifty-two years of age, who was earning a salary of $1,600 a year, came to me in a state of the deepest discontent Clerical work had always been his fate and he had always detested it. He felt that his life was wasted. Nothing was plainer than that this man, really energetic and resourceful, should have been his own "boss," instead of a mere wheel in some other man's machine. But he had never been able to wrest himself free from the need of a fixed income, however modest It was impossible for him to give up his bank position, or he would have gladly acted- on my advice to take up some kind of outdoor work on his own account So I suggested that he look about him for that sort of a "side line" which would not clash with his bank duties. Suddenly the man's face brightened. "Bee-keeping!" he exclaimed. His mother owned a farm near the city. It was near enough for him to go in and out every day. He could be his own "boss" of an apiary while continuing to be "bossed'' at his desk in the bank. And he'd soon see which "boss" would win out! Then and there all his appearance of discontent over what he considered his failure in life vanished. He seemed a new man. The other day we received an enthusl-

WHAT A MODERN BATTLE

ByCapt Charles R. Paget, With the Turkish forces at Kirk Kllisse. IMAGINE a battlefield fifty miles long and ten miles wide, with whole brigades fading into the landscape as they come under fire ' and no single pair of eyes able to see more than a detail here and there. From the far front, perhaps, comes a prolonged and irritating rattle like that of an urchin drawing his stick across the area railings; it is the firing line at work, either making way or denying it, accordng as they are on the attack or defence. Deep thuds punctuate the chatter, dull thuds like the falling of heavy boxes; there is nothing brisk or ringing about the discharge of artillery, but on the contrary something heavily ominous and sad, the most mournful of sounds. The rattle increases, it swells almost to a yell, the thuds redouble, coalesce into awful thunders, divide again into the lonely concussions of the beat of a muffled drum. The battle is closing, it Is getting warm at the front.

By GUSTAVE A. BLUMENTHAL, Vocational Analyst of the Vocational Bureau of the West Side Young Men's Christian Association, New York. (In an Interview.)

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Would Make a Bad Artist or Designer Costume ?n i Bminrir0mKhIm- He had started out Ws stock 7 hi Ulhad already increased bees and thl hf ,fl,Ve-fold- He liked the fldtnt thbee8 Uked him. Re was conJSble Mm? mTi ultlmately as would thi m to ault the ban and give his A vitr6,,10..1118 bee mess. ma visited m2Vf' resourceful young wiJJ ? e ln a mood almost frantic nl 5nto, thf ,economi necessity that kept 5 Sp, nfned f,r,long hours to the routins motion Clk- He had business profit ? but no tImo in wblcn to get a mtnV"11 thm' Th,a was a case of at hf, wSSWlD5 lmself pretty wel1- bu at his wits' ends how to Jump out of his fifhim lnt S rUnd one tbat would "Always on your own" I told him. It was perfectly obvious. He took the plunge going to another city. In a month he wrote that he was "getting along famously, and in a week or two would return and start the organization of a business proposition in New York. I could multiply Instances where. In these few months, young men who have presented themaelves here pitiful victims of the hit-or-miss system of finding their proper niche discontented and apathetic and have gone out alert and confident provided with opportunities suited to their mental and physical make-up, and who or their parents for them have reported results far beyond their expectations. But it should be remembered that these immediate and almost certain benefits cannot result from purely theoretical, scientific laboratory methods. Psychical laboratory tests are valuable in analysis. Munsterberg and others in his class have But the correspondent cannot get there. In the first place he is not allowed to. Secondly, even if he succeeded he could see nothing which he would survive to report, for modern battle has the face of Medusa none can look closely into it and live. And the literary Perseus at least would waste his time attacking her with averted head, unaided In these degenerate days by his very own goddess Athene. In the third place he would see little worth reporting nay, much that had much better not be reported. But if war correspondents are to be denied the discharge of their duty by these restrictions, something very much better must be substituted than the pitiable devices now in evidence in the Balkan campaign. From Mustapha Pasha across to Kirk Kilisse, a front of over sixty miles, the great organ of battle Is opening stop by stop, manual by manual, here a fort, there a battery joining the uproar to the musketry slowly swelling from hollows, fields, and ridges which yesterday were as quiet as the grave and to-day are great graves

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Mm prepared the foundation. They have done a great work In establishing working principles. But principles scientifically perfect ln their application to the mass are subject to necessary variations in their successful application to individuals. The kind of individuals in need of vocational analysis and guidance have urgent need of human sympathy; they have to be inspired with confidence, to be shaken out of their lethargy, to be imbued with hope and enthusiasm. This is done by making them feel that while your scientific analysis of them is correct, you also regard them as your brothers or your sisters, whose welfare you have keenly at heart and for whom your solicitude will be continuous. Experienced analysts who have proved the accuracy of their psychic insight over and over again with every type of human being, are beyond the need of laboratory methods and their apparatus. You cannot be mistaken In your analyses. And, having become familiar with classes of occupations in the range of which there is at least one suited to the abilities and temperament of every type analyzed, you are in a position to assist in the immediate redemption of your waster. Recognizing that your attributes are human and sympathetic, they do not resent your going at them hammer and tcngs, for the shaking up that is so often necessary. It is sometimes advantageous for you to greet a particularly despondent applicant immediately on his entrance, thus: "Ah, you are a fool! But we'll see If we can't make a decent fool of you, and Place you where decent fools are useful.'' themselves. Who can spy more than a fraction of a combat so colossal? There stands Adrianople, the hub of a huge wheel with a fort at every spoke-end. Like an iron tire shrinking red-hot around its appointed circumference, the forces of King Ferdinand are at this moment glowing about the city, their fires on every horizon, the flame of their artillery on every hilltop. The thunder of Kuns out at Povadla draws him towards the northern gate; when no further than the mosque door a salvo from the great Bashllk redoubt turns him westward; eastward, now. as a terrified villager from'Tenlje cries out in the street that the enemy is coming over the hills with the rising sun. Eastward, then, for if he comes on too far there the crescent moon must fade. The gunners of a score of forts on that side stand to their pieces. On the Yenije and Kavakli roads dense columns of in fantry trudge northward. Is It Abdullah with bis 200,000 at last? Eastward, then, though the western front bellows louder every moment, and from far Komanova

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Three Kinds of Apparatus for Laboratory Tests in Applied I Psychology. Above Recording Facial Expressions as Different .Words Are Flashed Upon the Subject's Sight To Determine Ability in Vocations Demanding Quick Thought and Action, as Driving an Automobile. Ataxiagraph Teste to Show Direction of the Body Sway Swaying Sideways Is Not Normal and Unfits the Subject for Quick and Precise Physical Acts. Or. "You are a lion. ut youre JolM ! jackal's work. You are a lion, d o you understand? Human lions have useful and nobH attributes but not in a jacaais 3 You've shaken him up. You've got his attention. Go on with your analysis in detail and he ll believ you. More, lie u make almost any sort of sacrifice to at once utilize the knowledge and opportunity you have given him. He cannot do worse than he has been doing this misfit; nine times ln ten he will persist in the naw course, which he Is convinced is the rlgnt one and will be rewarded with prompt improvement in his economic condition, spirits and ambition. Here is a youth cf Intelligence, good mcrals, pleasant address and an ambition to better himself, but who is handicapped by a sensitive, nervous disposition. He Is studying stenography as a means of extricating himself from a menial position be is a valet I go at him something lika this: "You see, you are a dummy, and you are trying to make another sort of dummy 'cf yourself. As a valet, cr even as a butler, you have to keep ducking your head and saying, 'Yes sir,' 'No sir.' And as a stenographer you would still be in much the same fix. But you are not to be a stenographer, do you understand? Cut that out. You're not naturally a dummy, not even a stenographer dummy and for tho latter you are too nervous and you lack concentration. You would go from bad to worse." Then I hearten him up a bit: "The most yaur type could earn as a stenographer would be $12 or 115 a week. Now. IS LIKE auu Ins&tiui comes news which thunders la the ears though only a faint buzzer transmits it. Now, Prophet! leap upon Al Borak, and rush with all thy three swords to the succor of the Faithful, for they are in sore need up the road at Kirk Kilisse. There, so they say, the day has gone against the Sultan, and Abdullah's whole advance guard, thousands strong, is stumbling northward as prisoners! Is it the finish at the very beginning? The times are against the aged; youth will be served. Has the young oak tree already choked the old athlete? Remember Milo's end. Wedged in that timber which he strove to rend.. Folydamas, too, who stopped charging Hons and racing chariots, was felled at last by a falling stone. But, If the Turk must go, let him at least take with him one handshake from another old soldier of a nation who stood bis comrade on the bloody snows of Russia, and let that vet eran look to it that he, too. does not "lag superfluous on the stage-

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5 '4 Prof. Gustave A. Blumenthal, the Celebrated Vocational Analyst. do as I tell you and within three years you should be earning $3,000 a year. Your abilities are mechanical, your talent tor business. Not office work salesman. Not a canvasser, but a demonstrator-salesman. I am going to put you into an automobile shop. When you have learned all about the construction of automobiles, you will go into the salesroom and demonstrate automobiles to prospective customers. "In the meantime you must Improve your physical health with regular exercisemore than walking exercise that will expand your chest and improve your circulation. And you muBt suppress your dislike for meeting people. Get out and meet people, all sorts of people, and pretty soon you will like to meet anybody, and will lose your thin-skinned nervousness ln the presence of strangers. The first thing for you to do is to wake up!" This type is very numerous. It Is mainly a question of waking them up. After that, a chance at their real vocation produces , wonders. Sometimes It helps to prescribe, ' also, an avocation a bobby which satisfies the soul of the man. which his natural vocation, economically considered, will not always do. In the Instance illustrated above I suggested photography as a hobby an avocation which combines mechanical ability with the exercise of considerable Intelligence, and at the same time which is capable of being developed Into a breadwinning occupation. Health is the first duty, the first essential a physical, mental and moral hygienic condition. Vocational misfits nearly always pay the penalty of a certain degree of physical deterioration and a corresponding lapse of mental and moral tone. Restoration of physical health through proper exercise and other hygienic measures is necessary, and usually Is not difficult to accomplish when there Is the inspiration of confidence that at last the real vocation has been entered. As I have already said, the legitimate place for the vocational analyst asic from his professional services to business concerns in passing upon the abilities cf executives and other employes Is In the public schools. His services there will put a stop to the frightful waste of youn? ' energies now compelled to reach out blindly for appropriate niches ln the world's Industrial life. Three Types of School Children. Among public school children the work Is simpler. The types are not so complex as later on, when disappointment and discontent have warped the natural character and' disposition. There are really only three types of school children the coarse type, the fine type and the medium type. With respect to all of these types, physical development should be considered first. Children cf the coarse type are slow, but very sure. They have to be managed with patience, as they can be led only by kindness they will not be driven. They are plodding and steady and are mostly suitable for the coarser mechanical work. When once their minds expand In constructive work, with their dogged determination, they often win financial success In some manufacturing proposition where pluck, energy and patience are required. Children ot the fine type are the most brilliant, but seldom the most valuable to the State. If negative, they become parasites and prey on the other two classes; if positive, they become professional men and leaders all around. Teachers must be careful not to humor their brilliancy la any special line, as most of them become wasters if they get to be automatic only In their work. In music and art and la public life they can become leaders. The medium type Is a mixture of the other two and is generally the most noraerous. They are the better off for the mixture. They naturally go in for business gelling and buying become also superior mechanics. They go into the professions, too, but always for the purpose of making money. The real vocation of the vocational expert should be to see that these childrem do not leave public school without a thorough understanding of their typical char acters and qualifications and of the vocation for which they are individually suited.

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