The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-09-25
UNHEALTHY OCCUPATIONS.
Human vi ality Gives Way Rapidly In
Some of the Trades.
New York World

new Ork world.
My lady, delicately tracing embrofderv
upon fine linen, knows nothing, cares less,
about the men who fashioned the needle
she holds in her tapering fingers But those
men shortened their lives in the making Of
it, perhaps by the infinitesmal fraction of
a second for that particular needle but when
they ground il and polished it they inhaled
into their lungs the Invisible particles of
steel that flew from the whirTing stone.
Consumption is a very common disease
among needle-makers. No need to mold
LEAD into bullets to make it ideally. Workers
OF lead, house painters, artists, gilderS. calico
printers. typefoundeIs and typesetterS, shot
founders, p0tters and bTaZiers will tell you
that. So will the workmen who handle vul-
caniZed rubber, those who wrap goods in
tin foil. even the fshm0ngers who handle
lead counters covered with brine. Lead
poisoning next to alcoholic poisoning Is the
commOnest toxic condition. Aud alcoholic
poisoning" is vulgarly known as a Jag" so
it is easy 10 judge the frequency Of chronic
lead poisoning. Lead collie" s almost as
prevalent as that other collie that rOuses the
happy father and sets him to pacing the
floor with sQualling son and heir
When q man suffers with chronic lead
poisoning his digestion is disturbed. He
has no appetite, and his skin usually takes
on peculiar yellow hue. His gums show
a characteristic blue line, which is sulphide
his joints and oftentlmes paralysis His
paralysis usually affects the eXtensOr mus
Giles of the hands and fingers, and 80 pro-
duces what is popularity called drop wrist"
Once in a while lead poisoning affects the
br ain. A case is recorded where painter
suffering from it thought he saw wind
bags blown up to look like men" and otheI
apparitIonS which made remarks to him
and caused him great deal of anxiety.
With all due Difference to the medical fac
ulty, it would seem doubtful whether talk
about "Wlnd-bags blown up to look like
men" should be taken as an evidence of in
sanity. There surely are such things in
real life
Workmen employed in extracting god
from its ores. those who silver mirrors,
makers Of barometers and thermometers,
nave, OF course, to live IN an atmosphere
more or less impregnated with mercury.
So do those who etch, Who color the finer
sorts of wool and who take part in the
manufacture of felt hats. In these latter
occupations the mercury is in the form of
its nitrate. Mercury is the delight OF every
dentist whose heart is in his work. Too
much of it saiyates man and makes his
teeth drop out, so that mirror slyerer is
extremely apt to 90 mum bling, tooth less,
through life Ike q lean ana slippeTed Pan
taIo0n."
Photographers, makers Of hair dyes and
o. marking ink handle great deal of silver.
That lot might seem to be very enviable,
but in those cases the silver is the nitrate or
one Of its compounds. 1t is extremely liable
to change the color of the man who handles
it, particularly as much OF him as is exposed
to the light. First his nails and fingers,
and then his hands anu face turn from
white to grayish blue and then to black.
That must be extremely annoying. Such a
man like the Prince of Morocco in The
Merchant of Venice" would be "mislked
for his complexion" Besides, he would
suffer from all sorts of constitutional effects
very much like those that follow lead poison