THE PHYSICALLY DEFECTIVE
Mrs. Alice W. Solenberger found that two-thirds of her 1,000 cases were either physically or mentally defective. Of these, 627 men and boys were suffering from a total of 722 physical and mental deficiencies.[41]
She tells us that of the 222 more or less permanently handicapped, 106 men had been entirely self-supporting before their injuries while 127 were entirely dependent after injury.
A careful study of 100 homeless men made in the Municipal Lodging House of New York City by F. C. Laubach showed the following defects:[42]
| Tubercular | 7 |
| Venereal | 26 |
| Bronchial | 4 |
| Feeble | 14 |
| Senile | 16 |
| Deformed | 4 |
| Maimed | 14 |
| Malnutrition | 13 |
| Poor sight | 9 |
| Poor hearing | 1 |
| Impediment of speech | 2 |
| Physically sound | 28 |
Laubach’s 100 cases were selected from more than 400 men. They represented the 100 who remained longest to be examined (perhaps the 100 the least able to get away). He found 28 per cent able-bodied while Mrs. Solenberger reported 37.3 per cent without observable defects. That this per cent of defectives is high for more unselected groups will be shown by the following extract from the report of the Municipal Lodging House of New York City for 1915.
... Fifteen hundred men were studied by a staff of fifteen investigators. At the same time a medical examination of two thousand men was conducted by fifteen medical examiners. This investigation represented the first large attempt in America to find out about the men who take refuge in a municipal lodging house....
Of the 2,000 men who were given a medical examination, 1,774, approximately 9 out of every 10, were, according to the adjudgments of the examining physicians, physically able to work. Twelve hundred and forty-seven, or 62 per cent of the total, were considered physically able to do regular hard manual labor; 254, or 18 per cent, to do medium hard work; and 173, or 9 per cent, to do light work only. Two hundred and twenty-six, 1 out of every 10, were adjudged physically unable to work.[43]
This investigation showed that in a lean year, when many men were out of work, a large proportion of the lodging-house population is composed of handicapped men. The physical condition of 400 tramps interviewed by the writer is not so much in contradiction as in supplement to the foregoing studies.[44] Only men in transit were tabulated. Nearly all of them were the typical migratory workers or hobos. Observation was limited to apparent defects that would hinder in a noticeable manner the working capacity of the men.
| Senile | 6 |
| Maimed | 8 |
| Eye lost or partly blind | 5 |
| Eye trouble | 5 |
| Venereal disease | 1 |
| Partly paralyzed | 2 |
| Tuberculosis | 2 |
| Feeble-minded | 7 |
| Chronic poor health | 4 |
| Impediment of speech | 2 |
| Temporarily injured | 4 |
| Oversized or undersized | 4 |
| These 50 defects were distributed among 48 persons |
Subtracting those who could be classed mentally defective, we have but forty-one persons who were apparently physically handicapped. It will be noted that the percentage of the aged is considerably lower than the previous tables show. The same is true of the maimed and injured. They were all men who were able to “get over the road.” One of the maimed men had lost an arm while the two others had each lost a foot.
Eye trouble was listed separately because these were ailments that were passing. Three of the men had weak eyes and this condition had been aggravated by train riding and loss of sleep. One man had been gassed in the army and his eyes suffered from the wind and bright light. Only one man admitted that he was suffering from a venereal disease.
Both men suffering from tuberculosis were miners. Both had been in hospitals for treatment. One of them was in a precarious condition. The men listed as oversized and undersized might be properly considered physically handicapped. Two of them were uncomfortably fat while the other two were conspicuously under weight and height.