The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-06-24
JUGGERNAUT.
Of Industry Claims 1000
Lives Every Year.
7r.
PlTTSBURG MILLS,
Factories and Railroads Furnish a
Never Ceasing Harvest of Deaths
from Various Accidents.

Pittsburg, June 24.-"Human lives
sacrificed upon the altar of industry
might well be the title OF the blotter
in the office of the coroner OF Ale
Eheny county, a volume that mutely
proclaims upon its pages what 1t costs
besides money for the Pittsburg de-
trict to maintain its prestige in the
milling mining and mercantile marts
Of the country and retain its title OF
workshop OF the world
This volume. an official record de-
manded by the laws of the common
wealth, shows that almost 30 per cent.
OF the deaths are violent and are the
result directly and indirectly Of the
unceasing rush and grind Of the in
dustries in the Pittsburg district that
are continually driven, night and day,
TO supply the demands Of the worlds
markets Deaths from natural causes,
contagious diseases. suicides, murders
and accidents met in the ordinary
walks OF life are not considered in
this percentage attributed to the in
dustrial juggernsut."
Twenty.six hundred and sixty
deaths were reported to the coroner
in the year 1906, OF which 919 were
the result Of accidents In mills, mines
OF on railroads, the industrials most
essential TO the progress Of Pittsburg.
Many reasons are assigned In the re.
ports OF investigations Of individual
cases. Some OF the victims were
burned by molten metal a blast fur.
mace burst. or a huge ladle was upset
in the steel mills others were caught
in the rollers in a plate mill and some
crushed In the machinery OF the mills.
Many were killed in mines by fall.
ing slate, some by gas explosions and
others by falls from derricks, scafolds
and like structures. Not a few met
their death while working about the
numerous electric cranes, those huge
mechanical arms that almost with hu-
man precision pick mp massive pieces
of structural steel about the plants
and place them wherever may be indi'
Gated. at the simple moving of lever.
While in the aggregate these figures
may seem abnormal, they are record
ed SO regularly that their magnitude
is not realized The average number
OF deaths reported to the coroner is
about 250 a month and there Is little
variation from this from year to year
For the first five months OF the pres
ent year there were 1885 deaths, 344
OF which may be classed as "sacri-
fces." For the same period in the
preceding year there were 1913
deaths, Of which 800 may be put in the
same category.
Not all the violent deaths, however,
can be cassed as accidents In the
workshop" The inordinate demand
for labor necessarily attracts large
percentage of the countrys immi-
grants. Six days in the week supply
Ing the human force and muscular
power TO the integral machinery.
these aliens, surfeited with the free
dom OF their newly adopted country,
resort on their own holiday TO the fes-
tiyitieB of their former homes. Wed.
dings, christenings, balls and parties
are held at which various alcoholic
beverages are used most conspicu.
ously Quarrels result and frequently
knives and firearms are used, and
there are hospital cases tos be cared
for. Deaths not infrequently result
from these sources and so common
place are these reports that II Is
counted a SLOW night" in local news
paper Offices II at least a dozen have
not been reported by Sunday mid
night.
Comparing the loss OF life by the ac.
cidents with the tonnage and produc.
ton =. the Pittsburg district one life
has been snuifed out for every 10000
tons OF coal that is shipped and the
annual shipment Is about $4,000, 600
tons. For every $500 cars that carry
freight out OF or into Pittsburg, some
soul has given up the ghost, This Is
exclusive of cars that are carrying
freight through to other points. By-
cry 1900 tons of the 100000 tons an
nual production of iron and steel has
been put out at the cost Of the life OF
one of the manipulators somewhere
In its manufacture, and Of the So0,0 900
tons annual output OF steel rails,
every $40 tons has been put upon the
market only after some one OF It's pro-
ducers has laid down his life.