The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1880-04-15
TUNNEL TRicHrS0sIs.
The Terrible Malady Which Attacked the
Miners Of ST. Gothard.
Iaeneya Correspondence London Times.l

tGeneva Correspondence London Times.l
The GGysgfu rienoatess gives some inter-
esting particulars concerning the effects on
the health Of the men employed In The st.
Gothard tunnel OF the unfHvorable conditions
In which they are compelled to work. With
special references to u disease engendered by
the presence In the intestlnes OF aulmaleuB
having certain resemblance TO triehtne.
The general appearances OF the St: Gothard
miners, particularly OF those Of them-nnd
they are the emajority--affeotedb by the malady
In question, Ia described as depiorable In the
extreme Their faces are yellow. their fea-
lures drtswn eyes half closed. lips diseolored,
tho skin Ia humid and the gait difficult. III
they eat with appetite they cannot digest.
and when wine ID taken 1t is invariably re-
jected. Let u Inan be- as strong as he may,
three or four months work In the tunnel
seriously Injuries his health, and at the end of
the year, or little more. no is confirmed
inval d.
Professors Calderini, OF Parma, and Boz
zolu and Pagliaui, Of Turin, have made sew
eral visits to Airolo for the purpose OF study
Ing the disease on the spot. Fhey state that
10 10 80 per cent OF the men are suffering from
this complaint. to which they gave the name
OF anemid n,.lsgtosfomd, O term derived from
the worm found in the intestlnes OF miner
who died In the Turin Hospital last year. A
somewhat similar mnlady, arieiug from the
presence of the a,,lplosioma In the intestines,
10 endemic In Egypt aud Brazil. Thirty per
cent of the cases are classified as "severe,"
| and among the men who have wrought IN the
tunnel year or more, DO per cent are afftct-
cd. For boys from fourteen to sixteen, many
of whom, as / can personally testify, are em-
| ployed IN the tunnel, the professors stigma.
tie II as ''a veritable HE'LL continuous labor
In its pestiferous atmosphere being almost
| certain death for the young. Prof. BozzUlo is
of opinion that ten hours spent In the tunnel
are sufficient to bring about condition OF
body favorable TO the development of dnemia
dnkytost0Ha.
The disease. though IL has probably pre-
vatled more or less for years, has only
shown itself to an alarming extent during the
last SIX months. Several causes have CON-
tiibutsd to produce this result. The distance
OF the points OF attack, as the extremities Of
the galleries where the perforators were at
entrances Ton the north side nearly five
inileA). rendered ventilation extremely dlifi.
eut--an evil which has Increased by the oo-
casiooai freezing OF the compressers. The
air thus insult eientiy renewed was further
viiated by the perpetual explosions Of dy-
namite OF which tue consumption has been
ut the rate OF 661 pounds day, the smoke
from 400 to 500 oil lamps, and the exhniatfons
from tbs bodies OF 400 men and 40 horses. Add
to this that like number OF men and horses
have been working night and day In each SEQ
tion OF the tunnel for years, that there is an
entire absence OF sanitary appliances, and
that the temperature has averaged from 30 to
95' Fahrenheit, aud we have state OF things
1B tUlfntGBl TD lttA Htln HeHttH Hb GiH Wtll DG
conceived. OF this the mortality among the
horses affords ample proof
They are kept In the tunnel only sight
hours out OF the twenty-four, yet they die
generally dropping down dead as II struck by
d bullet-at the rate OF 20 per cent per month
that is. the average duration OF equine life In
the st. Gothard Tunnel has been exactly four
months. AS most OF the miners employed In
the tunnel are Piedmontese, the italian pro-
fessors from whose report L have quoted
some OF the foregoing statements, naturally
enough call the attention OF their government
to the facts disclosed therein, and claim their
interference on behalf Of the men. 1t Is only
fair. however, to mention that the Swiss pa
pers contest the accuracy OF some OF their
conclusions, and while admitting that the
tunnel 10 by no means q pleasant place to
work Ia, they affirm that things are not
nearly so bad as Profs. Boazolo and Pagliani
make out, and that the figures which these
gentlemen give with reference to the preva-
fence of disease among the men require con-
firmatlon. Be that as 1t may you could not
pass seven or eight hours inside the tunnel,
before the boring was corn pleted. without
suffering both at the time and afterward con-
siderable Inconvenience. II not something
worse, and on leaving It your feelings would
not improbably resemble those OF the Aus
trlan journalist. who, after similar expe-
rienee telegraphed to his paper: II have
been In the st. Gothard Tunnel, and am
glad to inform you l have come out alive