The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-15
THE FIGHT OF LABOR
 AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS

| New York. March 14-(SpeciaI )--Nc
 movement Is at the present time more
 deeply stirring the ranks of organized
 labor. throughout the United States l than the campaign against tuberculo- sis. Politics. strikes boycotts. and al
 other issues are being side tracked t.
 make way for the fight which is to save the lives of thousands of laboring men. Meetings are being held and movements started in hundreds of ci-
 ties for the purpose of stimulating the
 labor forces to activity in anti-tuber- | culoHis work.
 This uprising against the worst foe of the workingmen is of such recent growth that in spite of It's present mag,
 nitude and daily development. few peo- pie are aware of its significance and importance. Several years ago som-
 of the larger national and information
 al labor unions. notably the printer
 and cigar makers. began an anti-tuber- culosis movement among their melu bers, which resulted in the establish ment by the printers of g. sanatoriuni
 in Colorado Springs. Two years ago Mir Paul Kennaday, of New York spoke before the American Federation
 of Labor. and stirred many of the othe.
 unions to definite action against tuber- culosis. This movement riDened aboui year ago. when in Albany. N. Y.. tn. laboring men got together and built q
 pavilion chiefly for the benefit of thel afflicted members. The members of tn
 Central Federated Union of that city
 numbering about 6.000. each pay fiv
 cents a month for the maintenance O. this pavilion. But more than the pa
 wilton was the interest they aroused h. the ranks of labor throughout New York Stats and the country in gen eral.
 The results of the movement have been the establishment of a labor de- partment by the State Charities Aid Association and a special lecturer to the unions. and an effort to enlist the aid of laboring men throughout the State in the campaign against tuber- culosis. The American Federation Of Labor.at its recent Denver Convention, adopted resolutions of approval of the called upon its affiliated unions throughout the country to follow this example. Several of the State Fedora tions of Labor have also urged action against tuberculosis. The Information al Tuberculosis Exhibit. held In New York City recently. stirred the work inRmen of that city and Brooklyn to bility, and they, too. recently took def mite action in the warfare against this disease. From here the movement has spread all over the United States until almost every labor union of any inn portance in almost every trade. is be- ginning 60 discuss tuberculosis at It's meetings. Hartford. Conn: Galveston. Tex; Newark. N. J.: St. Louis. Mo-; San Francisco. Cal: Trenton. N. J.; Beading. Pa; Bridgeport, Conn: Bos- ton, Mass. and Philadelphia. Pa. are fau of the cities that are leading in this effort.
 Tn Connecticut, largely through the efforts of John F. GunshannonI move ment has been organized in Hartford Bridgeport, New Haven and several other cities through which the various employers and employees of the facteT les are paying for the treatment of their fellow sc9nsumptives MT Gun shannon's plan Is to interest each fact ory-in an effort to care for its own con- sumptives Subscriptions are taken among the workingmen. and in almost every case the employer contributes sum equal to the total contributed by his men. These various factory unitP are so organized into a central body that the stronger ones are able to help the weaker. The money raised goes for the support of needy consumptive workmen in tuberculosis sanatoria.
 In this way hundreds of factories in almost all of the large cities of Con necticut have been organized. and a large number of sick workinRmen and their families are being cared for.
 That tuberculosis is particularly fatal to the workingmen may be clear ly seen from the fact that at least one third of the deaths during the chief working period of life are caused by pulmonary tuberculosis. Every other vrorikman who beeouaas ineapacitated