El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-24

sibIe for the fatigue which
workers feel is being recognized by
the medical world and efforts are now
being made to get workers to eat the
kind and quantity of food that their
work calls for.
During recent years a deep interest
has been aroused in what are known
as the occupatiOnal diseases, and per
maps nj field, of medical literature IS
more filled with deductions and con-
than this Someone has said that
here perhaps more than anywhere
else are to be found writers who nave
genius for generahzing from slngIe
statistical inquiries that have oeen
broad enough in their scope and thor
ough enough in their execution 10
show exactly what is the truth con-
corning disease in its relation to oc-
equations, and these inquiries form the
basis of the discussions OF the Inter
national Congress of Hygiene ana
Demography upon that subject
Effect OF Heat on Workers.
The congress also will consider the
broad subject of work in all its phases
as related to the health of the individ-
ual and the community The medical
world has come 10 realize that the
working population must be prot;e9Seteo
from oVerfatigue, and study viii De
made of the causes that bring It on
before a-person ought naturally to get
tired. Heat and. humidity also nave
Terson to do a given amount of work
DAY in and day out, and the measure
of this influence is now being. STUDIED
by many laboratory experts II is no
longer regarded as proper to assume
that because some men like the Shade
and cannot do their best In hot, n,Irky
This question of fatigue. studied
scientifically gives the medical pro-
fession a proper idea Of just how much
work a normal person can do per day
cal .OL
his energy and by oYertaXlng them-
rendering himself liable to a deterlora-
ton of his powers. Much of the whole
some legislation restricting hours OF
labor protecting children from over
work, and looking after the welfare OF
women wage earners has been predl-
Gated upon these Investigations
Compressed Air Causes Disease.
Modern occupations have brought in
their train some new diseases Cas-
son disease for instance, was unknown
before compressed air was used IN
construction and other work. Inc
building of underwater tunnels, Ike
calls for hundreds of. workers who
must work under air pressures suffl-
cient to hold out the water. The deep
er the human moles must go, the great
er the pressure they have TO work IN
The caissOn is sort of diving bell on
a large scale. It is provided with an
opening which permits the inEress and
egress of the workers, and which car
ries a series of valves for regulating
the air and through which the workers
must pass from the outside to the in
side and vice versa
POWERFUL air pumps keep the Gals
son chamber full of air under the
proper pressure worker entering a
caisson first goes into little cnamo Der
through an outside door which ne
closes behind him. Then he allows the
air to come into this chamber from the
caisson through a valve, until the pres
sure in the caisson and in the chamber
are the Same Then he opens the door
between the chamber and the caisson,
and goes into the latter. When e
comes out he reverses the process
, The disease which caisson Tork
brings about does not usually appear
VI til a pressure of 20 pounoS Is
reached. It is characterized by head
ache, pain in the ears a fast heart.
sweating, severe pain in the legs ana
back. and often by paralysis of the mo-
complete paralysis follow. Complete
recovery after getting back to nor
NAL life usually follows, but II Is now
recognized that train of other ills may
follow in its wake. and engineers are
giving much attention to the proven
ton of the disease. Thin men are not
as likely to suffer from it as stout
fullblooded ones, and the use of liquor
is a predispOsing cause Short terms
of work and long rest between tasks is
one of the best methods of preventing
workers In Furnace Rooms.
Occupations which expose the " ork-
ers to the extremes OF neat incluQlnS
those of engineers, stokers, roIllng
mill employees, wire mill workers, and
employees in sugar refineries, glass fac
tories and the like, render the v ork-
ers particularly susceptible to catarrhal
troubles, rheumatism, kidney diseases
and skin affections. Perhaps no men
in the world have more strenuous
times than the men down in the fur
nace rooms of big battleships To
climb down to where they are working
and put a few shovelfuls of coal under
the boilers when A battleship is going
at approximately full speed and under
forced draft. makes a civilian feel that
he is somewhere close to the internal
regions.
the men can be protected from the
heat Great ventilator shafts carry
immense Quantities of fresh air down
to the men, but about the only way to
Injurious Gases.
We are prone to regard the occupa-
tions of men engaged in what are
known as offensive trades such as
tanning and, currying. fat rendering,
fertilizer making. bone boiling and glue
making. as injurious to health, and the
odors that arise from such establish
ments as unhealthy. Yet what stalls
tics there are on the subject show that
such workers are rather above the aV-
erage in the. matter of longevity.
Occupations involving exposure to ir-
ritating gases and fumes, such as am
1Onld. chlorine sulphur NlOAlQGs ny
drochlOric acid and the like have been
shown to produce chronic catarrhal
conditions which render the workers
very susceptible to tUbercular trouble
Chlorine is given off in the making and
use of bleaching powder, in the glazing
of brick, and other processes.
Hydrochloric acid fumes are given
off in alkaIi works, in the picking
process to which iron is subjected be-
fore being coated with zinc in the pro-
duction Of galvanized iron. In the gal
Vanizing process the workers are eX-
posed to dense fumes of sal ammoniac,
which from time to time is thrown
upon the molten zinc.
Matchmaking Costs Heavy Toll.
Workers in the India rubber industry
suffer frequently from the fumes of
carbon disulphide. 1t brings on dull
headache, confused sight. vertigo. un-
restrained inclination to talk, which in
turn is followed by moodiness. irrita-
bility, insomnia and insensibiiity to
pain in many parts, of the body
Matchmaking is another industry that
has laid a heavy toll on workers. The
white phosphorus used in making the
common match that will strike on any
surface produces necrosis or decay of
the bones of the jaw. Its use is now
regulated by law in nearly all cOun-
in MANY if is absolutely DrO-