Birmingham age-herald., 1895-08-01

1 largely there is small complaint among
 them from sickness.
 l The hospital Is situated just above the l prison on the hill side and is clean and 1 tidy, but the breathing space and ventila- 1 tion are utterly inadequate. The breath ing space for each sick man when the hospital was well filled. as 1t was on the l most of my visits, did not exceed 700 cubit feet per bed. Not only this, but
 this notable insuflciency exists in the face of the fact that great many of the inmates have tuberculosis and erysipelas. In one hospital ward 45x21xl1 feet, there were fourteen beds, with only four small windows 5X3 feet on one side of the ward and three doors leading into
 the other rooms. The two other wards have windows on each side, but these windows are entirely too small and few an numbers.
 Hospitals should allow 5000 to 4OOO cubit feet of air to each bed besides plenty
 of sunlight through good. generous win dows.
 During the two years ending February 1. 1895, 1926 prisoners were received, but as many of them are serving only short terms and being constantly discharged. the average number in prison was about 570..
 The new men are classified by the state inspector, the size of the task required being proportioned on the physical abili- ty of each convict. After a certain speci- fled time these convictS are again clasSi- fled, and such as are able have their tasks increased until they get to do the full taSk-that is, become firSt-class men. Such as are not able to perform the al lotted tasks are reduced to lower class. Of the 1926 prisoners 1494 were worked within the mines, 432 were worked on the outside. These figures do not convey all they should, for the reason that prlson- CT may be assigned to the mines and then be sent outside or vice versa Average Sick List During the two years the data fur nished by the company show that 15,- 467 days have been lost by sickness in hospitals-an average of twenty-one pa- tients daily. Since March, of this year, the average has been higher, but will probably be. lower now that arrange
 ments have been effected by which broken-down prisoners can be trans
 ferred to the state farm at Speigner. By this arrangement the future reports of deaths will probably be reduced at Coal burg, but increased at Speigner's. fair percentage of this sickness-one that can always be counted on-is caused by what has commonly been character ized as sore-leg, because the legs and feet have furnished the favOrite seat of the troube-in reality by the poison of erysipelas.
 This disease has been present, en- demic, in Coalburg prison for years-has | cost the company great loss of time rom l WOIk-ldS cOSl llle pIISDIlcIS ei NetSi uCeti of suffering and some loss of life and | limb.
 From what was gathered and observed | at the first visit, it was thought that a scorbutie condition of the men might account for it. but upon further inyeS- | tigation the facts emphatically contra | dicated any such opinion, as cases had 1 developed in robust, strong men as well | as debilitated ones, and nothing could 1 be found to indicate that any Of the mels la r.rftt Cfl n h. | servation pointed to the fact that it was l erysipelas we had to contend with. and in | this opinion l am still confirmed. l Course of Cases.
 l The history of these cases are about ] as follows: A miner receives an abrasion | of the skin around the knees or ankle 1 or arm from his awkwardness in the 1 mines, or some slight wound which 1 scarcely attracts his attention. In day l or two inflammation begins to spread l from this abrasion or wound, mani l fested by pain. induration and redness. It may stop and not pass beyond this, | constituting what we might term the | first degree of the trouble In another it 1 may pass on to deeper infiltration, for nation of pus in the areolar Assure, high | septic fever and burrowing of pus along 1 between the planes of muscles. These l latter cases sometimes go on for months, l occasionally killing the patients or de- l blitating them to that degree that their l systems offer a most favorable soil for l the development of the bacili that tu- | bercular patients in adjoining beds fur | nish them in abundance.
 The phlegmonus infiammationS have | been bane and reproach to this prison | for years, but, Musselman like, 1t has | seemed to be considered a dispensation | of Providence and submitted to with be- | coming resignation.
 | That this is a preventable disease and l hpan pafp0 | in the mine or prison for years seems l very evident, As soon as the opinion | was arriveH at that this was an infec-
 tious trouble, the further opinion that it could be prevented was expressed to the | president of the Sloss company, MT. | Thomas Seddon. He immediately l grasped the idea and said he would have | a man or men dress every afternoon any | abrasions or wounds received by the men | during the day with antiseptic dressings | and the wounds secluded as suggested. s After six weeks another interview was | had with Mr. Seddon, and as the sugges-
 tions as to prevention had not been car | red out at the prison he offered to pay
 physician. whose duty it should be to see to the carrying~out of these dressings l and devote all his time towards stamping out this epidemic of erysipelas.
 A physician was engaged, but was at the prison only four days when he was
 forced to leave on account of sickness. | Since then it has seemed to De lmpossl-
 ble to engage the cooperation of the To-
 cal medical staff to carry out plain
 system that had by invitation been pre-
 scribed and written out. partial sys-
 tenn is and has been in use, but is utterly
 inadequate.
 The Mode of Treatment.
 Such men as wish to can have their
 wounds attended to. The attention con-
 sists of spraying with a little bichloride
 of mercury solution from two-ounce
 spray bottle, without previous thorough
 cleansing with soap and water and dress
 ing with iodoform. So long as deter
 mined and thorough effort is pot at
 tempted, so long will the question of the
 possibility of stamping out these troubles
 be unsoved.
 The salts or mineral in the water of the
 mine has been held to be the cause of the
 trouble, but no known salt to be found in this mine will produce any such ef- feet,
 This report has been delayed for two
 months in order to test the effect of
 thorough antesepsis, but as it has been