Morning journal and courier., 1880-04-08
Funnel Trichinosis-A Strange
 Disease.
The Ee rribIe MaIady which Attacked
 tsae Miners of St. Gotherd.
'sPatient in toll
 Serene amidst alarms, 1ndexible in faith, InVincibIe in arms"

The Ee rrible Malady which Attacked tsae Miners of St. Gotherd. From the London Times
 GENEVA, March 15-The Gazzeta Piemon- tess gives some interesting particulars con- corning the effects on the health of the man employed in the St. Gothard Tunnel of the uufavorable conditions in which they are com pelled to work, with special reference to 8 disease engendered by the presence in the in testines of animalcul@ having pertain resem- blance to trichine. The general appearance of the St. Gothard miners, particularly of those of them-and they are the majority affected by the malady in question, is described as deplorable in the extreme. Their faces are yellow, their features drawn, eyes half closed, lips discolored, the skin is humid and the gait difficult If they eat with appetite they cannotdigest, and when wine is taken it IS invariably rejected. Let man be as strong as he may, three or four months work in the tunnel seriously injures his health, and at the end of a year, or little more, he is a confirm ed invalid.
 Professors Calderini of Pasma and Rozzolo and Pagliani of Turin have made several visits to Alrolo for the purpose of studying the dis ease on the spot. They state that 70 or 80 per cent. Of the men are suffering from this complaint, to which they give tho name of anemia ankylcstome, term deIived from the worm found in the intestines of miner who died in the Turin Hospital last year. A some Wnht S1ullar UalHuy, aT1slnS rom the pres eEce of the ankylostoma ln the intestines, en- epidemic in Egypt and Brazil Thirty per cent. of the cases classified as F'severe" and among the men who have wrought in the tun- nel year or more, 95 per cent. are affected. For boys from fourteen to sixteen, many of whom, as can personally testify, are em- ploySd in the tunnel, the professors stigma tizs it ia veritable he'll" continuous labor in its pestiferous atmosphere being almost sudden death for the young Prof. BoZzolo is of opinion that ten hours spent in the tun- nel are sufficient to bring about condition of body favorable to the development of anemia aukylostoma
 The disease, though it has probably pre- vailed more or less for years, has only shown itself to an alarming extent during the last six months Several causes have contributed to produce this result The distance of the points of attack, as the extremities of the gal leries where the perforators were at work have been called, from the respective entrances Con the north side nearly five miles,) rendered ventilation extremely difficult-an evil which has increased by the constant freezing of the compressors. This air thus insufficiently renewed was further vitated by the perpetual explosions of dynamite, of which the con- sumption has been at the rate of 66O pounds n day, the smoke from 400 to 800 oil lamps, and the exhalations from the bodies of 400 men and 40 horses. Add to this that like nun Der of men and horses have been working night and day in each section of the tunnel for years, that there is an entire absence of sanitary appliances. and that the temperature has averaged from 80 to 95e Fahrenheit and we have state of things as inimical to life and health as can well be conceived. Or this the mortality among the horses affords ample proof.
 They are kept In the tunnel only eight hours out of the twenty-four, yet they die generally dropping down dead as if struck by bullet-at the rate of 25 per csnt. per month; that is, the aberage duration of equine life in the St. Gothard Tunnel has miners employed in the tunnel are Piedmon- have quoted some of the foregoing statements Government to the facts disclosed therein, and claim their interference on behalf of the men. It is only fair, however, to mention that the Swiss papers contest the accuracy of some of their conclusions, and, while admitting that the tunnel is by no means pleasant place to work in, they affirm that things are not nearly so bad as Profs. Bozzolo and Pagliani make out, and that the figures which these gentle men give with reference to the prevalence of disease among the men require confirmation. Be that as it may, you could not pass seven or eight hours inside the tunnel before the bor- ing was completed, without suffering, both at the same time and afterward considerable in convenience, if not something worse, and on leaving it your feelings would not improbably resemble those of the Austrian journalist who, after similar experience, telegraphed to his paper: s'I have been in the St. Gothard Tun- nel. and am glad to inform you have come out alive"