The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1912-07-19
OvERWORK POISON
The Toxin of Fatigue Summoned
Into Court.
THE INJURY OF OVERTIME.

) III ilE'Siii ~ ~ ! wv =
I Scientific Investigation Throws a Floo
Of Light on the Havoc Wrought b.
Speed, Pieeework and Like industrial
Requirements.
By JOSEPHINE GoLOMARK. In Sur
Vey
a tired person is literally and actual
.iy "a poisoned person-poisoned by bis
own waste products. But 50 marvel
ously is the body constructed that. like
. a running stream, 1t puriies itself. and
during repoSe the cast of impurities
are normally burned up by the oxygen
brought by the blood, eXcreted by the
Kidneys. destroyed in the liver or elm
mated from the body through the
lungs. So rest repairs fatigue.
This balance IS kept true and fatigue
is repaired just as long as IT remains
within psychological limits; that is, as
long as activity is balanced by repose,
the obnoxious products Of activity are
more quickly eliminated and tissue is
rebuilt
The scientific investigations OF ia
tigue iu its varied aspects throw a
food of light upon the intricate in
/ juries of speed overtime piecework
and the like industrial requirements
/ For If fatigue be due 10 demonstrate
ed chemical action. removable only by
/ proper intervals Of rest; if over fatigue
or exhaustion results from the ac
emulation OF chemical fatigue prod
ucts and the destruction Of energy
yielding material in nerve muscle tbs
sue; If strain or labor carried on after
fatigue has set 10 is proved to be
more exhausting than simple work;
and if muscular training ouruns nerv-
GUS strength, then the need for the
shorter work day rests upon a scien-
tific basis. Science makes out it's case
for the short day in industry
Factory legislation has been founded
on no a priori logic. 1t has been rather
essentially illogical, the result Of half
way measures and opposing forces
Not mans foresight, but the inexor-
able results of labor long carried on
counter to natures laws have been,
on the whole. responsible for the mea-
ger protection which industrial COM
munities have granted their workers.
Self interest on the one side, self de-
Tense and philanthrophy on the other,
hampered by prejudices Of every sort
these for the most part have brought
about such protection as exists today.
But the laws of fatigue furnish a
scientific basis for legislation and an
explanation of the effect Of overwork
on health, output and production. This
is the more important because regula-
ton of the length of working hours has
been so bitterly opposed by those who
fear that the lessening of the hours of
labor means a corresponding economic
loss From the first dawn of protective
legislation in England, over a century
ago, to the present day the rallying
cry for the most diverse minded oppo-
nents of legislation has been the
threatened ruin of industry and manu-
features. Yet the unconscious Consen.
sus of testimony from various states
and countries on the economic benefits
of the short day, recorded in official and
unofficial documents, is in its turn as
impressive as we found the unanimity
of evidence on the physical effects of
the long day.
The essential injury Of overtime is
due to what has been graphically
proved by the ergosraph that effort in
creases with fatigue, that work con-
tinued after fatigue has set in requires
so much more subsequent time for re-
cuperaion. But during a rush or over
time season such time for recuperatiOn
is necessarily lacking. The girl who is
kept in the great department stores
until 10 or j or y o'clock at night
during one or two frenHed weeks be-
fore the holiday which herads the
reign of peace; the gir. who works at
fever heat all evening stitching wom-
ems shirtwaists in January for the .
spring trade is not relieved from the /.
necessity Of reporting for work at 7 or /
8 O'Clock the next morning. She comes /
to work unrepaired. and with each day .
of overtime accumulated fatigue neces. /
sarily grows
In theory, the requirement Of over.
time is supposed TO 1e balanced by the
slack period which often follows. A
short period Of oyerezeruo1 is assumed
to be compensated by subsequent let
rr.