Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-01-05
OCCUPATIONS THAT KILL
Life Gives Way Rapidly to Some of the
Niece ,sary Trades.

Lie OlNes way Rapidly TO Some of the
Nece ,sary Trades.
My lady, deicately tracing embroid-
cry upon fine liner, 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 III
finiteSimal fraction eff a second for that
particular needle, but when they ground
it and polished it they inhaled into their
lungs the invisible particles of steel that
flew from the whirTing stone. Con-
sumption is a very common disease
among needle makers. No need to mold
lead into bullets to make it 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 Workmen who handle vulcaniZed
rubber, these who wrap goods in tin
foil, even the fishmongers who handle
lead counters covered with brine. Lead
poisoning, next to alcoholic poisoning
is, according to the New Yark World
the cOD1moniSt toxic condition. And
alcoholic poisoning is vulgarly known
as a jag" so it is easy to judge the
frequency of chronic lead poisoning
Lead collie is almost as prevalent as
that other collie that rouses the happy
father and sets him pacing the floor
with squalling son and heir.
When 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 sulphide of lead deposited
there. He has pains in his joints and
Oftentimes paralysis. His paralysis usu-
ally 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 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 reverence
to the medical faculty, it would seem
NACIhC1 Ittlh SlDouL N1uu
bags blown up to look like men, should
be taken as an evidence of insanity
There are surely such things in real life.
Workbench employed in extracting
gold from it's ores, those who silver mir
rOrS, makers of barOmeters and Tier
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 really in his work. Too
much of it salivates man and makes
his teeth drop out, so that a mirror sill
verer is extremely apt to go mumbling,
toothless, through life like lean and
slippered Pantaloon."
Photographers, makers of hair dyes
and of marking ink handle a great deal
of silver. That lot might seem to be
very enviable, but in those cases the
silver is the nitrate or one of it's various
other 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, then his hands and
face turn from white to grayish blue
and then to black. That must be ex-
remely 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 effetcs
very much like those that follow lead
poisoning.