The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-07-08
NOT BULLETS BUT PAINT
Even Dsmantled Batteshps Take Their Toll of Lives Twenty Men Poisoned in One U. s. Navy Yard Danger From Lead Paint Unheeded
 EDWARD EWING PRATT

EDW ANO F. (TTis article is based upon re- port of the New York State Factory Investigating Commission. Not long after the inspection described in this article Conference was held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the facts given here were brought to the att l tention of the commanders.
 (Exclusive Service The Survey Press | Bureau)
 l A battleship in dry dock-stripped of her finery, her engines motionless,
 her decks deserted-seems singularly I futile and harmless as she leans l against the props placed along her l sides. In spite of the seeming harm lessness of the inert monster, the bat
 tlesnip remains, a destroyer of health and life. The danger is an insidious one, deliberately, gradually and slow l ly preying upon the health and life of its victims. The source of the dan ger is lead-not as bullets or cannon l balls but as lead paint.
 On September 1, 1911 there went in to effect in New York a law cona- I polling physicians to report occupa- I tional diseases such as lead poisoning.
 Late in the year Brooklyn physician reported the case of William O'Con-
 nell, who. was employed in the Brook. l lyn Navy yard. Tn order to get the facts of the case it was necessary to see oConnell He proved to be a man below medium statue. thin and emaciated, his clothes sagging about him as he stood up. His teeth were decayed and falling out.
 About four and one half years ago o'Connell got a job in the navy yard as a 1aborer. He was put to work at scaling in the double bottoms of
 the battle ships Tn two months he was troubled with nausea, constipa- l tion and chronic loss of appetite. Within a year he was taken with a severe attack of lead poisoning and
 almost lost the use of his arms. He was out of work for four months. He l then returned to the navy yard and was given outside work and improv- ed raptdly. A month later. however, he was laid off and was unemployed for four months. Then he was called back and sent to work again in the double bottoms. He protested but took the job and went back to sealing and to an absolute certainty of re- newed poisoning. Within two months he was again taken with severe at tack and in September 1911 he quit his job. He has been idle ever since and will not be able to work in the near future as he has almost com | pletely lost the use of his right hand.
 The morning was already far gone when all the formalities demanded by government fred tape'' had been com piled with and was started on an
 inspection of the double bottoms where the men were sealing. My guide led me quickly to the dry docks where a big monitor was docked We entered the turret from which a gun projected. All about us there was a most unearthly din which sounded as l if battery of automatic guns were playing on the steel sides of the ship. I was given candle and followed the foreman down several flights of stairs and through a number of passage ways until we were near the very keel of the ship.
 Most battleships now a days are provided with double bottoms 8 space
 of two and a half to three and half feet between the inner and outer shell. This space is divided into small compartments usually not. more than four or five feet square. Down into the double bottoms we went We crawled along slowly on hands and knees, working our way through sev- | eraI small man-holes until we reach ed compartment where a man was sealing. An electric light attached to a movable wire lighted the compart- ment. The workman, crouched for
 ward on his knees, was operating a
 compressed air chisel called a ham mer," scraping off the paint This paint which is sometimes quarter of an inch thick and is composed of al- most pure red oxide of lead, rose from | the point of contact till the danger
 ous dust filled the air. Often times several men work in one small com
 partment and it is said that the dust sometimes becomes so thick that it is almost impossible to see an; electric I light two feet away.
 When we emerged from the double