The Dickinson press., 1889-06-08
DISEASES OF WORKERS.
ILLS WHICH ARE PECULIAR TO
VARIOUS OCCUPATIONS.


VARIOUS OCCUPATIONS.
The Farmers Carelessness Concerning What
He Eats-Maladies of Those Who Work
in Extreme Heat-A6ections of Black
smiths and Engineers.
Those. persons who are engaged in out-of-
door occupations, as a rule, breathe pure
air and have plenty of muscular exercise
They are usually robust and brawny, and the
average duration of their lives is long; but,
being exposed to alterations of heat and cold,
to winds, rain and snow, they are liable to
acute pulmonary affections and rheumatism.
Boatmen and fishermen are quite subject to
chronic bronchial catarrh The latter are
said to suffer greatly from paneris of the
right index finger, due to the rubbing of the
line
Farmers and those occupied in agricultural
pursuits are often attacked with catal'rh and
pneumonia. among the elderly and aged ones
chronic rheumatism prevails The life of an
independent farmer is so free from anxiety
and so heathful in its conditions that if it
were not for the poorness of food set forth on
most farmers tables their lives would be
much longer and more comfortable than they
arc. But in most farm houses the diet is very
much restricted, the meat consisting of plenty
of salt pork. The cooking is bad, SO bad that
dyspepsia is rampant among them. AS the
men lead an altogether out of door life, the
effects of this indigestible stuff appear to af
feet them less than tho female portion, who
work indoors, and being more delicate in
their organization, break down earlier. More
pitiful wrecks of women, by reason of hard
work and poor food, than some of the far
mers' wives of New England it would be
hard to find
RHEUMATISM AND PNEUMONIA.
Drivers of carts, hacks, omnibuses, etc., are
exposed to cold blasts and to tho full sweep
Of rain, snow and sleet They are the only
class of laborers who are exposed to the full
effects OF the weather and consequently suffer
much from rheumatism and pneumonia
They arc often attacked by facial paralysis
According to Hamilton the car drivers OH
city railroads are great sufferers from vari.
cose veins of the legs and spinal congestion,
owing to the constant jarring to which they
are subjected. The 'red nose' SO common
to this class is more often caused by exposure
to the elements than from Incorporate habits.
Laborers furnish large number of deaths
There are occupations in which persons are
exposed to extreme artificial heat, where the
atmosphere of tho workroom is necessarily
kept at high temperature, and where the
ventilation is always poor; for rapid change
of the air would call for an increased con
sumption of fuel Whether the high tenn.
perature or the bad air be the cause, It is GER.
tain that those working under these conditions
nd thni,. ,e
sisting disease is much reduced. Copious
perspiration has great deal to do, no doubt,
with the low state of their vitality, and the
sudden changes of temperature which they
undergo after leaving OFF work and going
out doors render them liable to catarrhal
troubles, both pulmonary and gastric intesti.
nal. They are good subjects for rheumatism
and Bright's disease
Brickmakers are generally robust men.
Those who press the clay into molds by hand
suffer painful crepitation of the tcndons at
tho wrist. They are also exposed to the
smoke and heat from the limo kilns, which
produce disease
Bakers and cooks are exposed to extreme
heat, and are nearly always in badly venti
lated and damp places. Tho former work al
night, and their pale, puffy faces are very
characteristic Both arc subject to rheuma
tism and varicoso veins. The heat of the fire
and tho irritating substances in which they
work produce eruptions of the skin on the
hands and arms and ague on tho face. OF
tho two trades, that of tho baker is tho most
unhealthy. Tho hands Of bakers arc gen
orally large and powerful because Of the
muscular excrtion used in kneading dough
Charcoal burners are exposed to temper
aturo varying from 10S to liz degs Fahrcn
| heit, but do not suffer much, as their " orl
is done in the open air.
DEATH IN THE BOILERS.
Blacksmiths arc strong and healthy men
partly because only robust men could endure
| the hard work of this trade, and partly be
cause constant muscular exercise tends te
increase the natural vigor Of those who
adopt it But the extreme cxertion and ex
posure to the heat of the forge, tho grcal
perspiration and sudden changes of tempera
ture are many sources Of peril to the health
and it is tho universal opinion of writer's OF
hygiene that they age very quickly. Tho
| light and heat from tho forge, as well as tn,
white hot metal, produce many diseases OF
the eyes. Blacksmiths are also said to suffer
greatly from headaches and catarrh Tho
sudden changes of temperature naturally
| produce acute and chronic rheumatism.
Engineers and stokers on railroads. in
steamships, and attending stationary engines
are also exposed to great heat. On steamers
| where their quarters are very small, they are
a most unhealthy class Of men. This is es
pecially true of the stokers. They are alway,
| pale, subject to catarrh, rheumatism and
pneumonia, and frequently die Of phthsis.
| Many writers describe peculiar affection
which attacks men who clean out the boilers
of steam engines. They enter by a manholc
| and after a few minutes emerge with red
faces, lips blue, veins swollen, interrupted
respiration and the heart beat barely percep
| tible. There is peculiar whitencss around
tho lips, as if they had been touched with nj
trate Of silver They are often sick for days
after their work and suffer greatly. These
| work1nen are liable to serious accidents from
bursting boilers, breaking shafts, etc.
The men who work at large forges, iron
puddlers and glass blowers are also exposed
to intense heat Hrt states that iron pud
ders work from eight to ten hours in air Of q
temperature of 100 degs Fair. Such work
men are constantly perspiring profuscly and
drink enormous quantities of water to make
up for their loss. They are subject to all the
diseases incident to such exposure and sadde:
changes Of temperature, viz: bronchitis.
pneumonia, rheumatism and diarrhca. They
also suffer from disease Of the eyes, the effec;
of too vivid light; while the heat produce
many skin eruptions.
Glass blowers take n mass of molten glass
from the furnace on the end of tube and
blow into it while it is soft AS the lung ca
pacity Of one man is insufficient for the pur.
pose, two, three or four stand together, and
the tube is passed quickly from one to another
Sometimes the end Of the tube is rough, Sc
the men suffer from cracking Of the lips.
| Each man should have his own mouth piece
to insert quickly into the common tube, but
many of the workers dislike this. and so leave
themselves liable to catching diseases from
one another. The violent effort of blowing
tends to produce emphysema and heart dis
ease.-Boston Globe.