WOUNDED SOLDIERS AS CRAFTSMEN.

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2986, 25 January 1917, Page 5

WOUNDED SOLDIERS AS CRAFTSMEN.

..... .. P . LORD ROBERTS MEMORIAL _ . WORKSHOPS .^. V The -Lord. Roberts Memorial Workshops,'now being completed by the (Incorporated Soldiers and Saijors' Help iSooiety in Fulham Road, is' ail'extensive factory, which already employs 450 . ta en J and will have room for 1500 when Sit is finished. There is no waiting to breach the wage-earning stago while uu- ' Jdergoing training at the technical schools. The men receive remuneration Sat once, £1 a woek on admission, advancing, according to their proficiency, hmtil some as skilled cabinet-makers ..jrnay reach a weekly income of £8 10s. IBven their sons,"daughters, ; and sisters jjare. afforded an opportunity of contributing to the family funds, for in such fork as.painting toys there is l much lat. childron can imdertako appropriiely, and with a great deal of enjoySment. The organisation is a,striking ((example of commercial efficiency inspired by a philanthropic impulse. f: The_ scheme is carried out on busipess lines, with a 'turn-over of £2G,'000 • smd a wage-bill of £15,000 in fifteen itmonths,; and yet is able to employ {•workers whose physical disabilities, resulting from patriotic sacrifice,' render gtliem incapable of meeting.the reqiiireints of_ an ordinary: trade. The Baptability of the soldier under such verse conditions is abundantly proved gin the various workshops, where many Jdifferent, objects ave iurJieA bri, from and freshly designed playjjthings to architects' plans for interior decorations and buildings. Every man lean do something, and the society is fet pains to discover the fight job for jeach individual, and sympathetically to Sassist him in carrying it out. A most Jsatisfactory result of the work is the Benefit to' health, derived from mental joccupatioh and from the satisfaction of Woine something interesting and useful. The numanitanan efforts of the society !are gjeatly aided by their admirable [machinery and method of standardisaifcion, which, go to : reduce the demand Jon such ability as unskilled and onebiTmed men may possess. In such cases, iiit the: outset, the skill is automatically provided to enable the worker to earn Ais wages: Many puzzling cases come Snto the factory, and the success with : Srchich they are turned to good account ■ ps a triumph for patience and goodwill. . EEhe shell-shook cases, with all their .j effects of nervous breakdown and irrita- ( Wlity, are especially difficult. In one fcase no suitable employment could be found for a former architect who came Sn a nerve-sbattered state, but at .last j yie was encouraged to turn his hand to ] furniture designing, with suoh, good ; Jeffect as to give a. mark of distinction ito the excellent examples produced at ( fthe factory. Her Majesty the Queen, t at may be added, is an appreciative Customer of the institution; rj ; " The visitors were conducted through j frnany interesting departments. They". n (saw the novices naHijig boxes and other j 'articles together as their first task, s Jone-armed men working at lathes, one T Jof the most elaborate of which was T provided at a cost of £120. Examples B tof- basket work and colour printing were d shown. The next enterprise of the f iFulham Road establishment is to be in B fecene-painting, for which frames have h felready been erected. e