Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-08-27
OCCUPATIONS THAT KILL.
How Human Life, the Cheapest Thing on
Earth, 10 Used Up.

How Human Life, the Cheapest Thing on
Earth, 10 Used Up.
From the New York World.
My lady, delicateiy tracing embroidery upon
hne linen, knows nothing. and 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
inhnitesimai fraction of a second for that par
ticular needle, but when they ground it and
polished it they inhaled into their lungs the in
visible particles of steel that few from the
whirring stone. Consumption il Q very COM
mon disease among needle makers.
No need to mold lead into bullets to make II
deadly. Workers of lead, house painters,
artists, gilders, calico printers, type founders
and typesetters, shot founders, potters and
braziers will tell you that SO will the work.
men who handle vulcanized rubber, those who
wrap goods in tinfoil, even the fishmongers who
handle lead counters covered with brine. Lead
poisoning, next to alcoholic poisoning, is per-
haps the commonest toxic condition. And al
ooholic poisoning" is vulgarly known as q
jag, SO it is easy to judge the frequency Of
chronic lead poisoning. LEAD collie" is almost
as prevalent Us that other collie that rouses the
happy father and sets him to pacing the floor
with squalling son and heir.
When a man suffers with chronic lead poison
ing his digestion is disturbed. He has no appe-
tte and his skin usually takes on a peculiar yell
low hue His gums show a characteristic blue
line. which is sulphide Of lead deposited there
he has pains in his joints and Outlines paraly-
sis. His paralysis usually affects the extensor
muscles Of the hands and fingers and 80 pro-
duces what is popularity called "drop wrist"
Once In awhile lead poisoning affects the brain.
A case ia recorded where a painter suffering
from it thought he saw wind bags blown up to
look like men," and other apparitions which
made remarks to him and caused him a great
deal Of anxiety With all due Difference to the
medical faculty it would seem doubtful whether
talk about wind bags blown up to look like
men" should be taken as an evidence Of insan-
ity. There surely are such things in real life.
Workmen employed at extracting gold from
its ores. those who silver mirrors. makers Of
barometers and Thermometers have. of course
to live i'll an atmosphere more or less impreg-
mated 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 il in the form Of
its nitrate Mercury is the delight Of every
dentist whose heart is really In his work. Too
much of it salivates o man and makes his teeth
drop out. so that a mirror silyerer is extremely
apt to 20 mumbling toothless through life like
"lean and slippered pantaloon."
Photographers, makers of hair DIVES and of
marking ink handle a great deal OF silver. That
lot might seem to be very enyiable. but in those
cases the silver Is the nitrate or one of its yari-
GUS other compounds. 1t is extremely liable
to change the color of the man who handles 1t.
particularly that much of him as Is exposed to
the light. First his nails and fingers. then his
hands and face turn from white to erayish blue
and then to black That must he eItremeIv
annoying. Such man like the Prince of No
rocco in '.The Merchant of Venice would be
'.misliked for his complexion" Besides he
would suffer from all sorts os constitutional
effects very much like those that follow lead
poisoning
Copper Is another metal that Ia MIGHTY
dangerous to handle hnhitually Il hreats
down the health of those who work in II Con
per enters into the comnos,tion Of snv uumber
of allows into the con,mon bron1ing nrocaases
into the lilac and nurple fres of the nvrotech
mist and into many pisments A oreep line an.
pears on the gums Of fhe nnYortnnste noisoned
by conner 60 that IL ono ba, a 6a.;ra 20 orno-
ment his gums he has at least the choice of his
colors-blue with lead, green with conner.
Anthony is another health DESTROYER at least
30 far ar men are concerned "Kermes mineral
contains antimopious acid. II isused in vnl
canizing rubber, Type founders are also ex
posed to the deleterions effects of antimonv
Matchmakers-by which is not meant fortune-
seeking mothers. whose pursrit Ia bovever
sufsiciently hazardous~are engaged in n most
dangerous occupation. So. of course are those
who make phosphorus itself. The fumes OF
phosphorus have a peculiar tendency They
cause necrosis of the bones of the face narticn
larly of the lower law When n matcbmaker ia
coisoned nv nbnsnhorus he m;obt az ,,ou
make ND his mind TO live if he lives nj all on
LIQUID food. His lower iawbone loses ali v}tal-
itv and his teeth decav srd fall ont hes;des tba
most profound Constitutional symntoms mani
fest themselves. Cbronic phosnhnru. noison-
ing is sometimes suddenly fatal.
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