Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1892-12-13
LIFE is VERY CHEAP.
OCCUPATIONS THAT SHORTEN The
LIVES OF TolLERs.

Ny lady delicately tracing embroid.
cry upon ine linen knows nothing and
cares less about the men who fashioned
the needle she holds in her tapering fin
gers. But those men shortened their
lives in the making Of It. Perhaps by
the infinitesimal fraction Of a second for
that particular needle, but when they
they ground It and polished it they in
hailed into their lungs the invisible par
ticles Of steel that few from the whir-
ring stone. Consumption is a very com
mon disease among needle makers.
Human life is the cheapest thing OH
earth. "How many lives win it cost?'
is a question that never enters into the
calculation Of architect, bridge builder,
manufacturer-of n one who supplies
the necessities of the world, forwards
its progress or adds to its comforts.
Human life is the one raw material Of
which the crop never fails, in producing
which there are no strikes. And while
there are a vast number Of trades and
manufactures in their very nature dan
gerous to life, you cannot induce the
men who work at them to take up other
occupations. Not even the offer Of
higher wages viii tempt them, which
goes to show that a man has as little re-
gard for his own life as amy one else has
for it.
No need to mold lead into bullets to
make it deadly. Workers of lead, house
painters, artists, gilders, calico printers.
~typefounders and typesetters shot found
ers, potters and braziers will tell yon
that. SO will the workmen who handle
~vulcanized rubber, those who wrap
goods in tinfOil, even the fshmOngels
who handle lead counters covered with
brine. Lead poisoning, next to alcoholic
poisoning, is perhaps the commonest
toxic condition. Lead collie is almost
as prevalent as that other collie that
rouses the happy father and sets him to
pacing the floor with his 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 a peculiar yellow hue. His
gums show a characteristic blue line.
which is sulphids Of lead deposited
AlEAts A4G nuu HaAAo III AAo IbAAAAo NAANA
ofttimes paralysis. His paralysis usually
affects the ~extensor muscles of the hands
and fingers, and so produces what is
popularity called "drop wrist" Once in
a while lead poisoning affects the brain
A case is recorded where a painter suf.
fering 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 rs
an evidence of insanity. There surely
are such things in real life.
Workmon employed at extracting gold
from its ores, those who silver mirrors,
makers of barometers and thermometers
have 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 de-
light Of every dentist whose heart l.
really in his work. Too much Of it sal
ivates n man and makes his teeth drot
out, so that a mirror silverer is extremely
apt to go mumbliDg, toothless, through
life like a clean and slippered pauta
loon"
Photographers, makers of hair dye.
and of marking ink handle a great doa.
of silver. That lot might seem to bt
very enviable, but in those cases the sill
yer is the nitrate or one of its various
other compounds. 1t is extremely liable
to change the color Of the man who han
dies it, particularly that much Of hin
as is exposed to the light. First hi
l nails and fingers, then his hands an,
| face turn from white to grayish bluI
t and then to black.
| Copper is another metal thatis might
dangerous to handle habitually. |
f breaks down the health of those VIII,
work in it. Copper enters into the com
r position of any number Of alloys, int
r the common bronzing processes, into tn
lilac and purple fbers of the pyrotech
Z mist and into nan pigments. A greer
. line appears on the gums of tho unfortu
+ nate poisoned by copper. So that if on
has a desire TO ornament his gums b
has at least the choice Of his colors-
blue with lead, green with copper. An
timony is another health destroyer, a
least so far as men are concerned
"Kermes mineral" contains antimoniou
acid. 1t is used in vu~lcanizing rubber
Typefounders are also exposed to tn
deleterious effects Of anthony.
But however unhealthfully antlmon.
acts on men there has long prevaile,
an idea, the truth Of which is doubtful
that antimony given to animals i'm
It proves their condition. Says an old aU
I. thor: "a horse that is lean and scrubby
and not to be fatted by any means, vii
become fat on taking adoso Of antimon
for two months together. A boar fe
for bacon, and having an ounce Of ant
mony given him every morning, viii b,
come fat a fortnight sooner than Other
put into the sly at the same time an
red in the same manner, but without Oh
antimony,"
1t is an undoubted fact that in BrunI
wick the breeders of fat geese add
small quantity Of anthony to the geese
food as atraditional custom. New Yor
World.