Morning journal and courier., 1881-12-13
Doubled Up by the Bend.
The Peculiar Disease that Attacks me who Work i'm Compressed Air.
 

who Work i'm Compressed Air.
 From the New York sun.l
 "What is this disease that is known as sthe ] bend P'n Assistant Engineer CharIesR Ray mond and Superintendent 0. 0. Lovejoy, at the New York side of the Hudson river tun- nel were asked Instantly they looked as if they had drawn blanks in a lottery or revived some unpleasant memory. There WAS unan- imity of feeling and testimony on the subject of | the bend" that bore evidence of sad ex- perience.
 srThe first time heardof the bend, J Mir Lovejoy said, was while was employed in the caissons of the St. Louis bridge piers, where the men worked in compressed air, as we are now working in the Hudson river tun- mel, only in the St. Louis caissons the press ure of air was mnch greater than we now use in the tunnel have seen man doubled up as if he had violent cramps, rheumatism, sci atica, and the toothaehe combined. ssWhy is it called the bend 2'''
 Because some of the workmen thought ! they distinguished resemblance between the position of the sufferers and the then favor ite attitude of fashionable women known as the Grecisn bend.,n
 FDo all the men who work in compressed air have the disease ?"
 'sNo; many never have it. fuH-blooded, \ apoplectic man is most liable to it. A thin, scrawny fellow may escape altogether. The man who drinks Intoxicating liquor is apt to catch it. But anybody who works for very ! long time in strongly compressed air is liable Il to catch the bend.'"
 .How does it affect the sufferer ?n
 Sometimes man is attacked the moment he enters the compressed air. I have seen Q man struck by the bend die in two hours. Oftener the disease approaches gradually. The pain is incessant, excruciating, and un- like any other pain you can imagine. The in motion all the time. The main trouble seems to be that the compressed air operates l with some men to stop the circulation of the blood. Of course the most liability to the
 disease is in the greatest pressure. When the pressure is run up to 45 pounds to the tsquare inch, as is necessary in some subms- rine work, the danger is very great. We are now using about 30 pounds pressure to the tsquAre inch on the Jersey side and 26 pounds
 on the New York side. This is in addition to the usual pressure of the atmosphere, which
 is 15 pounds to the square inch The usual
 time of working in compressed air is twelve hours but some men have been known to l work, in an emergency, twenty-three hours
 There is some difference of opinion as to the
 best method of going out Of the compressed
 air chamber. Some physicians say it is best ! to go out quickly. My own experience IS
 that to go out gradually is best. Sometimes man will go in and out of compressed air | without feeling any touch of the bend.
 Then the next time he enters he may feel it. '' | 'sWhat are the remedies ?"
 II | wrote a pamphlet on the caisson disease at
 the East River bridge, is opposed to baths. F have found them relief. l have also | found that an electric shock will give relief.
 I have battery always ready in case need
 it. Dr. Smith faYors gradual exit from com Ipressed air, and thinks that about fifteen minutes should be occupied in coming out.
 Dr. Jaminet, at the St. Louis bridge, in ! structed the men to get out as fast as they could. We tried some experiments at the St Louis bridge caissons, and found that on the side where they went out quickly they had three men sick with the bend to one on the I side where the exit was made slowly. One plan of cure proposed by Dr. Smith is based , on the fact that often gradual application O
 compressed air will give relief. bed has been designed that can be pushed in or ou of the compressed air. It is not an unusua thing for the men suffering from the bend 1 to go into the compressed air for a shor time"
 ''How long does the bend continue?"
 ''It comes and goes like rheumatism. I , , | usually lasts about twelve hours with acut' pain, and it may wear off in 8 few days have known men to get out of bed howlin. ! with pain and go into the caissons for relief The agony is indescribable. No comparison with other pains is at all adequate. Com : pared with the bend' the toothache is Elysi um. Some compare the sensation to grow ing pains have known men to be affected
 \ W1Gn WnO never T6cOV0r0Q. ltbY6 KuOW1 others to work in compressed air for year
 and find no permanent discomfort from tn
 bend' The men who take proper care 0
 themselves suffer least, and those who do no ;. take proper care of themselves have no busi D ness working in compressed air. So far tn sufferers with the bend in the Hudso D river tunnel are only about one in 8 hur
 dred."
 ''Do you find that fear of the disease de ters men from working or applying for wor ..' in the tunnel?''
 "A few are unable to stand the pressure 10 But generally we have no difficulty in gettin
 more men than we can employ" 'tDoes the bend' always attack the sam 1e 1s part of the body?" n 'tNo. Sometimes it grasps the stomach ss sometimes the back, sometimes the entire k le ~ comotory' system. Sometimes it makes th 70 victim want to walk all etime, and at otht le times he cannot walk a step. I knew man who had the bend,' whose muscl, o would gather in knots and swellings in di IS ferent parts of the body. These swelling le would disappear and reappear in other place 2I There are, in fact, no words in the languaG to ftly describe the feelings of 8 man WI
 has got the bend.' The most you can sa 'e about it is that the bend' is the bend.'