The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-12-22
A Days Work in Pounds Of Force.

we'll convinced, in their own minds, as
to what days work means, but they
will be none the less interested in con-
sidering some of the results of expert
ments which have been made by phys
icists and Psychologists for the sake OF
determining. with as much precision as
possible. how many pounds of force are
really exerted, on the average, in day.
by laboring men. The French physi.
cist, Cou omb, determined, long ago,
that man turning a winch performed
each day an amount of labor equal to
lifting 374 tons to the height Of one foot,
and the English physicist, Haughton,
found. in his turn, that q man habitual-
ly employed in ramming down paving
stones did an amount of work equal TO
lifting 352 tons one foot. Haughton
computes that walking ON q level sur
face at rate of about three miles an
hour is equivalent to raising One-twen-
tieth of the weight of the body through
the distance walked; hence it appears
that a man, of $50 pounds weight, in
walking one mile on level ground, will
do an amount of work equal to lifting
seventeen and half tons one foot. Ten
miles would amount to nearly 1T tons,
and twenty miles to rather more than
353 tons. On going up hill the pedestrian
of course raises his whole weight
through the height assembled. But
even on level ground. soldier carry
ing sixty pounds weig ht will lift nearly
twenty-five tons one foot in marching
single mile. In ten miles he will lift
2474 tons, and in marching twenty
miles thus loaded, which would mani
testify be a very hard days work, he
would lift 495 tons. Most persons will
be ready to admit, with Prot. Haugh-
ton, that, as continuous laboring
effort. walking twenty miles day
without load, six DAYS in the week. is
fairly good work. But, as was just
said, a twenty-m!le walk represents, un-
der the very best conditions. 1853 tons
lifted one foot. DIR. Parkes, in En-
gland, found that an ordinary days
work for peddler was to carry twenty
eight pounds twenty miles, which
would represent an amount of work
equal to about 42O tons lifted one foot
In this case. the load was balanced over
the shoulder, fourteen pounds in front
and fourteen pounds behind. DR..
Parkes met with q laborer in rolling
mill, whose ordinary duty was to raise
a weight of 124 pounds sixteen inches,
5000 or 5000 each day. Taking the
larger number, his work would amount
to nearly 443 tons lifted one foot, and
this was considered very hard work by
. powerful man. This same laborer
asserted that he occasionally raised q
weight Of ninety pounds to a
height of eighteen inches $4,000
times day, working twelve
hours. which would amount to
us tons raised foot. But this is man
ifestly very excessive labor. From all
the data accessible to him, DIR. Parkes
concludes that an amount of work equal
to 800 tons lifted one foot is an average
DAYS work for healthy, strong man;
that 400 tons is hard days work. and
500 tons 30 extremely hard, that per-
haps few men could continue to do it.
All this applies only to external visible
work. using the word in its ordinary
acceptation. But there il performed,
of course, in addition, . large amount
of internal work. through the move
respiration and digestion, which cannot
be SO readily measured. Estimates Of
the work done by the heart alone vary
from 122 to 277 tons lifted . foot. Dr..
Parkes argues that It b fair to assume
that Ut least $50 tons worth Of internal
mechanical work is performed In the
body Of an adult man, while the exter.
nal work ranges from 500 to 500 tons.
It appears, in general, that from one.
seventh to one eighth Of al the force
obtainable from the food eaten ID ex-
pended a. mechanical labor, while the
remainder Of the force leaves the body
inthe form Of hest - A,nsricaS AQricse
tsrist.