Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1865-11-09
Muscular Labor.

! An English stage-horse used to work eight
/ miles per day, which he ran in about one
! hour-the average speed, steps included,
I being seven and d half miles per hour. 4
wagon horse travels 20 miles per day, and
works eight hours. These rates we're found
+ by experience to be the most economical.
An engineer, few years ago, tried the CT
4 feet of increasing the work Of horses from
about 10000 10 $4,000 lbs. lifted ] foot per
minute; the result was that in less than 3
! months out Of 80 horses q died. Watts
/ finding that the best horses working hours
/ per day could lift 35, 900 lbs. l foot per min
ute, adopted that as the horsepower; but
! the general practice is to work hours and
/ lift 22, 900 lbs. i foot per minute; and this
! is all that ordinary horses can do without
wearing out so fast as to make an increase
| of work more costly than this rate.
The rate at which men can work has not
/ been so carefully ascertained but we have
had sensational reports, that III Cuba, slaves
and coolies have been worn out III seven
| years It would be a service 10 science and
humanity if the medical officers of armies
| and navies would keep careful records Of the
I labor of men under their charge, and report
| to the Smithsonian Institute; and if railway
| companies and great industrial establish
ments would employ physicians TO watch
| over the health Of their people, and attend
! gratis, and employ their leisure IN keep
| ing such records, it might help to build
up reliable hygienic science, on which an
improved practice might be founded.
The introduction of machines to relieve
men from the expenditure of muscular pow
| er has already done much to-. Increase the
I IF +h n; "a
/ planning machine is O. man Of leisure com
pared with the man that Clipped and filed
! to produce plane surfaces, within forty years
| or less. The small steam hammers now
coming into use give immense relief to the
muscles of forge-men; and there Is rapid
! increase of machines to substitute the power
| Of steam for that Of muscle.
The fatigue and exhaustion Of power, and
| the wear that tends to shorten life are now
very much less than they were when we
| first saw machine shops. Then men had to
| do work like horses; now they do little
more than superintend the working ma
chine-tools. Then they were more worn
in two hours than they now are IN ten
/ hours, upon he main operations Of finishing
Thus there is a constant diminUtlon o.
/ hard labor. But still we have much more
! to do in this way Men at the vice have
| often hard work with the chisel and file,
| which ought to be done by shaping tools,
and probably will be- Forge-men still work
| hard In fact, some men in a machine
establishment really do three or four times
| as much hard work as others. 4 man at
/ a lathe or planer, on light work, can en-
dure IA hours wogk per day with less effect
on his constitution than G hours at forge
would have.
There is no good reason why men
should not use seats more than they do
when attending machine tools Proprie-
tors would do well 10 provide good seats,
to be used freely when there is no necessity
to stand.
A horse that is run too fast, ortoo much
loaded, is soon worn out, and dies; three
years is the average in stage service; but
one that is moderately worked will last ten
years; 50, if a man works with all lis ener-
gy many hours per day, he will soon wear
out. Laboring men in England, according
to statistics, do not sustain nearly to the age
Of professional men and men Of leisure.
But il too much work shortens life, too lit
tie or insufficient exercise is generally sup
posed to have the like effect. What we do
not yet know is the approximate amount of
labor which is best for health and longevity.
Perhaps it might be six hours for the man
who does very hard work, and twelve for
one who does light work.
But the question is not an distracted one,
applicable to men who can work little OR
much, as they choose; it is practical ques-
tion to men who have to earn their living !;
and in the solution of it we have to consld-
er whether it is best to labor moderately,
and live in an unhealthy tenement house,
or to labor up to the maximum power con-
sistent with health, aaand earn enough to live
! in healthy house and region, and buy good
/ food, clothing, and other means OF health.
| Probably, a man with three or four dollars
additional wages earned by working more
hours, and spent in additional means OF
| health, viii preserve his own health and
that of his family and live longer and have
more enjoyment than he could have had with
less work. This we must consider. We
have constant complaint from the news
papers--which echo the voice Of the people,
so far as we know-the condition Of our
cities and towns is SO bad that vast amount
of time is lost in sickness; and the deaths
in some locations is more than double what
it is in others. Now it will cost extra work
to make this condition better; and we have
to consider whether to lessen the hours Of
WOIh3 uAo Nc OAOS AL AhPAofAuE tAIO O4CohIi~
ness and healthiness of the place we live in,
or to keep up or increase the hours Of work,
so that we may earn means to avoid the
causes of sickness and premature death.
And this is the only way that men can get
only what they earn no coutriyance will
long enable any class to get high wages for
| little work while others are not doing as well,
We have simply to inquire how it will do for
all men to shorten their work, There is
time Of work which will give maximum
product maximum of enjoyment, if men
work less they will, ON the whole, fall short
Of the greatest good.
Some may make up by gambling in va
rious forms, and many more may hope TO do
80 but those who are not gamblers by trade
will be the losers by this method Of making
up for lack Of industry.
But one thing is certain, mechanics that
work twenty hours will earn nearly twice as
as much as those those that work ten hours.
And if we get plenty Of machines, they will
lessen our hard work. In fact, it is by in
vention that we shall lessen our labor
american artisan.