Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-09-13

greatly excited, saying that they might
as well be slaughtered outright as die
in this manner. They paid frequent
visits to their sick shopmate. Intense
indignation was expressed by them
against the Superintendent, Daniel
Sheedy, charging him with duplicity.
The condition of Miss Mcguire last
evening was extremely critical, and lit
tie hopes are entertained of her living
another day. Her head and throat are
swollen up to twice its natural size, and
she is suffering terribly. The Globe re-
porter paid visit to the factory, where
he saw few hands raking the hair
over. Stepping into the office, the at
tention of the proprietor was called to
the diseases developed in his employees,
and a desire expressed not to unneccs-
sarily iniure the standing of the firm
The owner said he did not see any ne
cessity of publishing anything about it,
Hearing that DIR. Silas G. Stone, of
Walpole, had treated the help while the
factory was at Walpole, and was fully
informed about the disease, he having
made a special study of it, Globe re-
porter interviewed him at his residence
in Walpole last evening. He was ex-
tremely affable, and said that he had
treated twenty-five cases of this disease
while the factory was located at Walpole.
Fourteen proved fatal and eleven re-
covered The disease was so malig-
nant and foreign to this country that
DIR. Stone went to Siberia and Poland
and studied it. He found that the
natives cut the hair from diseased
ponies which have died, and send it to
this country for market. In one prov
ince alone 10000 of these diseased ami
mails died in one year. The peasants,
who think more of ten cents than Amer
leans do of five dollars, cut the names
and tails from the bodies after they
have become decomposed, and export
the hair. When the operatives take
this hair to put it through a prelimi-
nary stage of improvement, the disease
is in the roots, and as they shake the
hair dust arises which, being inhaled
by the help, becomes poisonous. The
disease is of two kinds, external and
internal; the external is skin disease,
generally emanating from dust under
the nails, and is manifested in eruptions
commencing about the size of flea
bite and increasing to a large blotch.
1t is a milder type than internal, and
generally can be cured. The internal
is almost incurable. A treatise on this
disease, which is called "charbon fe-
ver," was read before the Massachu-
setts Medical Society in 1870. 1t says
that the hair imported from South
America is perfectly harmless, and that
the manufacturers know all the facts in
the case. The symptoms of the disease
are languor, debility, continued gaping
without any desire to sleep, followed
by high fever, delirium and death.
There is no way to guard against the
disease emanating from the hair except
by process which renders the hair of
much less weight. Upon questioning
DR.. Stone as to the truth of report
that he had refused to take $1,000 and
return certificates of death from natural
causes, and therefore was not en-
ployed in this disease as formerly, he
deftly changed the subject Superin-
tendent Sheedy says there is no danger
from the hair after it passes through
the factory, as the poison becomes neu-
tralized. Boston Globe.