The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1886-03-11
EMPLOYEES DANGERS.
SOME or THE HAZARDS TO WHICH
WoRkMEN ARE EXPOSED.

DEMONSTRATING and It's Eject Upon the
Bowels - steel-Grinders and Rhsun-
atism-cement in the Lungs-Perils Of
Cut-0lass-Tobacco-E
The sanitary inspector Of the New York
board of health has prepared list of in
juries arising from the inhalation OF dust
In his report appears the following:
In demonstrating the amount Of dust
created is small, and yet the occupation
Is very injurious one. The SETTER" pre-
pares the diamond for the cutter by sol
dering it on the end Of a copper rod with
an alloy four parts of lead and one of tin
He does this with a charcoal fire, and Is
exposed to great heat as well as poison
GUS gases The settlers suffer from head
ache, tinnitus aurium, impaired digestion
and irregularity of the bowels
File-cutters work with hammer and cold
chisel, holding the blank on the anvil by
q strap passed under the feet, and putting
sand or other dust on the anvil to keep
the iron from slipping. They have to
bend over their work, keep the eyes
ksenly fixed upon it, are exposed to metal
lie and mineral dust, and, in making
coarse files, to great bodily Oxertion, their
hammers often weighing as much as six
pounds. Phthisis is very common among
them.
DUST OF METAL AND STONE.
Grinders of steel are also liable to in
jury from flying particles Of metal, which
are intensely heated by friction and scat
ter in the form of sparks, producing occa-
sionally severe burns of the cornea-
Grindstones sometimes burst when driven
at a very high velocity, and the fragments
crush everything in their path, as they
fiy OF at tangent. Those who work at
wet grinding, while they are relieved
from the danger of dust, are covered with
the spatterings from the stone, consisting
Of mud and water, and so are kept con-
stantly wet and cold. They are
rheumatism, pneumonia and bronchitis
of an acute form, due to such exposure,
Workmen who make Portland cement
are greatly troubled by the dust caused
by shoveling the mass into sacks, after it
has been burned and ground. They have
a persistent cough and expectorate little
Jumps of cement. Stone-cutters work
with hammer and chisel, and not only in
hale considerable dust, but are liable to
Injury from the flying chips and oc-
casional sparks from the chiseL The in
halation of dust produces in them fire.
uuently the form of phthisis.
To the china-scourers the light flint dust
is terrible irritant. DR.. Greenhow states
that all, sooner or later, become asthma
tical The female operatives are pallid
and chlorotic, and their infants are almost
all scrofulous, with an enormous NOR
tality. The burners are exposed to q
temperature of about 1O4 degrees, and
suffer from sudden changes, which
produce acute pulmonary affections, rheu-
matism and gastro-intestinal disorders.
In the manufacture Of glass the work
men who grind and powder the silicous
material inhale great quantities of very
irritating dust, and suffer from constant
hacking cough and conjunctivitis. 1t Is
rare to find q sound man among them,
and they are not able to continue long at
work.
CUT GLAss-ToBACco-FEA
But the most dangerous work is that OF
the grinders and polishers Of cut glass.
About S5 percent Of them have chronic
pneumonia (phthisis,) and their average
age of death is variously given at from
30 to - years. Putegnat (de Lunneville)
has described q peculiar form Of
gingivtis which he has observed among
glass cutters, and which he says attacks
ninety-five Of every 100 workmen. It at
tacks by preference the upper jaw, and Is
accompanied by the same blue line that
Is found in cases of blood poisoning. The
acid secretion Of the gums destroyes the
enamel of the teeth, which soon become
pointed, DElbb1e, anu DFcek OA1 g4OS1 w tl4S
llveon, leaving q permanent stump. The
gums remain soft and spongy.
When persons first begin to work at
tobacco they almost invariably suffer
from headache and often from nausea
and vomiting. They pass sleepless nights
and are frequently troubled with diarrhea.
These symptoms are more common in
females than in males, and indicate q
slight degree of poisoning by nicotine. In
, week or two the symptoms wear away,
and in the majority of cases no further
trouble Is experience
The makers of, feather ornaments, who
are mostly women, inhale more or less
dust containing PARTICLES of feathers. Ac-
cording to Hirt, the work can only be car
ried on by any one person for three years at
the furthest without great impairment Of
health. The lungs and eyes both suffer.
There Is hardly a woman who, after long
employment at the work, does not have
chronic inflammation Of the eyes.
Hair-picking also raises clouds Of dust
and keeps the workmen constantly cough
ing. The hairs, moreover, are stiff, and
when inhaled tend to create permanent
Irritation of the trachea and bronchi, as
In brush-makers. The dressing of hair
Cor pillows, mattresses, etc., sometimes
gives rise to serious disease. The hair
which comes from Siberia and other parts
Of Russia is particularly dangerous, those
who handle it occasionally contracting
malignant pustu1e.-Compiled.