Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-12-03

10
Dangers il Match Factories
Nov Sought to Be Overcome

Exclusive Service Tho Survey Press
Burcau.)
of tho $50 billion matches used YER
Is In this country-Inore than seven u
day for every man. woman and child
four-hfths are Of type that practical
ly every nation Of tomnerc!al impor-
lance prohibits, For the head of the
ordinary "double-dip" parlor match is
made8o Il poison worse than deadly to
the workers in inntcll factories. steal
ing insidiously through q tiny crack in
n TOOTH 1t rots the tootii, rota the jaw
bono, requires niutilatihs operations
and often results III Iestth after lin
Scring years OF suffering. Phosphorus
necrosis in inatchliakCra IS so terrible
that 1t would be. good reason for re-
turning to the flint ana steel of our
forbears if there We're no other way OF
making fire.
But there Is a harmless substitute for
the poisonous white phosphorus. II Is
tosour disgrace that The United states
has Jagged bshind other lands in de-
manding its Use. Tho indifference OF biz
business, the tairr, internal revenue
taxes, a trust slncthering harmless
but more expensive material, lack OF
public information on the subject uno
the voicelcss obscur!ty Of the match
workers have all been factor5 IN our
tardy beginning last year to wipe out
this unnecessary industrial disease by
the Esch bill in Congress.
Match manufacturers have struggled
for thren-luartcrs OF n century to mini
inizc the danger. lSrightfu cp:dcmics
Of necrosis ran through the pioneer
shops in south Germany and Austria.
The first steps were to require personal
cleanliness, and good ventilation to do
away with the extra dangerous fumes
from damp phosphorus Separate rooms
were set aside for preparing the match
head. for dipping and drying, ana Tor
packing. Improved machinery was m
vented. Women ana children were cS-
cl,ldcd from many branches of the
work
The laws prevented u recurrence OF
the epidencs but lid not eliminate
necrosis. 1t is impossible for statute
law to make every workor observe
rules and restrict unconscious impulses,
such as picking the teeth, which carries
the poison into the system.
One after another the countries OF
Europe have prescribed poisonous phos-
phorus. Finland and Denmark took
the lead. Switzerland and France fol-
lowed the example. In 1906 France,
Denmark. Luxembourg, Italy Switzer-
land the Netherlands and Germany
signed a treaty by which it Is forbidden.
Great Britain has signed the treaty
more recently.
INVESTIGATION IS MADE.
Tho tardy attitude OF the United
States was in part because we did not
at first have quite MS serious trouble
as the old world. For long time our
factories made more use of machinery.
Though it was generally supposed that
phoaphorous necrosis had been success
fully combatcd, agents of the United
States bureau of labor in 1909 visited 10
match factories and found sixteen cases
of necrosis. Eighty-two cases We're dis
covered in the homes of the working
people of three factories and in one
modern factory they secured records
: OF 40 cases. There Is no way to prevent
necrosis so long as white PHOSPHORUS is
ued.
The investigation resulted in the In
s PRODUCTION of Il bill in Congress by
Representative John Esch for Il pro-
hibtire tax on matches made of white
phosphorus. This will come up again
this month"; p>s free
The history of match making nGthis
country Is interesting. There were once
75 factories but the internal revenue
taxes following the Civil war, drove
many out of business Large makers
We're given a special discount for pur
chasing revenue stamps in big lots. To-
day there are only 16 factories with the
Diamond Match company as the largest
chiefly responsible for the present con-
ditons.
The patent for the most used of the
E harmless substitutes for white pros
phorus. sequisulphide of phosphorus, is
held in this country by the Diamond
Match company. "A few years ago it
advertised Il npn-poisoaous match. but
the jobbers, it Is said returned. 40 per
cent as defective, They cost to make
about per cent more than ordinary
matches and their production was
discontinued. No further step was
taken until last Yearawhen owing to the
investigation, the president OF the Dla-
mond Match company wrote that IL tho
government prohibited white phosphorus
his company WAS willing to allow the
use of scsquisulphidc by other manu-
features on equal terms" with itself.
The terms We're specified last July The
first requirement was that manufacture
ers who. together with the Diamond
company, produced 81 per cent of the
matches In this country should agree
to join in an effort to have the tariff
commission investigate the cost OF man
ufncture of matches at home and
abroad. SD
The Diamond company values the
American patent in scsquisulphide at