Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-21

Y E. O.
ioi oaAety. en- OH a plan which is
now being considered by the govern
ments health authorities and which calls
ter annual, physical examinations of all
railway engineers. ship pilots, motormen
and perhaps chauffeurs. who work for
any company engaged in the transporta-
ton OF passengers in interstate traffic.
This proposed annual examination will
| include tests for defective eyesight, de-
fective hearing. mental diseases and or
ganic heart trouble. The holding of year.
ly physical tests Of every man who runs
a train or steamship or electric car and
who is often responsible for the safety
| of thousands of lives each day will. 1t is
believed. bring to light one of the prin
| cpal causes OF wrecks. Officers of the
United States public health service be-
lieve that physical unfitness is responsi-
Bile for more wrecks than most people
realize. particularly in the disasters
caused by engineers running heedlessly
past signals
| II will never be known how many
wrecks have been caused by color blind
ness. This peculiar defect in the sense
| OF Sights known to exist In many people
who little suspect that they are affected.
! Reds, green's and browns look almost
!
| health officers point out that it is obvious
/ that an engineer so affected might make
many mistakes every day in passing sig
nails which are usually shown by red and
| green lights. At the present time there
lis no general law which compels engi-
neers to pass sight tests OF any kind. al
though steamship pilots have been re-
| quired for a number of years. under the
navigation laws. to undergo yearly exam
| nations to determine their vision and
1 80 NAH lie
health officers claim, should also be held
at regular periods. for the detection OF
| unusual sounds is considered most inn
portant in guiding man who handles
| either a vessel or railroad train.
4 test for organic heart trouble Will
also be included inethe proposed engineers
| pilots examination. on the theory that
men who are known to suffer from heart
| disease should not be allowed to run a
| railroad train Or to pilot a vessel. There
! hare been cases on record of an engineer
| dying from heart trouble with his hand
+, sn..tlte- throttle Of speeding steam en-
CINE and sitting In his position for a con-
5, siderable period of time before the fire.
| man on the other side of the engine real
ized THAT death had come to his work
! mate
l. Mental troubles arc also counted as a
!, possible cause Of many wrecks, accord
ing to information which has come to
4 4public| health officers in a preliminary
survey of the information which is at
hand. The mental test will include an
examination for paresis which is loss
of power less marked than that to which
| the term paralysis is applied. an exami-
nation for alcoholism and also for cpl
4 lepsy. 1t will interest many people to
know that the public health service now
classes alcoholism as mental disease.
i which endangers mans health whether
he be only moderate drinker who must
have a small portion of intoxicating liquor
each day or heavy drinker who may
approach being; drunkard.
A law to provide a mental examination
for paresis is considered as important
by the public health officers as the sight
and hearing tests. The more skilled an
engineer or pilot might be, the longer his
loss of mental power might go on before
it was detected during the ordinary
course of his work. Yearly examinations
would Immediately in most cases deter
mine the existence of paresis or other
| mental disease
1t may be expected that the announce
ment that the government is planning to
make these yearly examinations OF en-
gineers, pilots and motormen will at srst
| cause some objections from people who
think that many men failing to pass will
| be thrown out of work Those who are
| interested in the proposed legislation to
| insure greater degree OF safety tor
| the travelling public say. however. that II
| is to be expected that the vast majority
| IF engineers. pilots and motormen. are
centage who would fail to pass the an
nual examinations would merely weed
out those who are clearly unqualified.
| Those failing to pass the examination
| might be fully qualified for other kinds
| of employment which are less hazard
Gus, and these men it is believed would
| not want to endanger their own lives
| and others in the dangerous occupations
! in which they are engaged after an ex-
animation had shown them defective in
| any of their senses.
Safety first will be the slogan Of
hundreds of mining men from all parts
| of the United States
Mining Congress who. during the lat
| -, e. ter part of October.
to Plan Safety. will gather in Phila-
delphia at what is expected to be the
largest mining congress ever held in this
| country.
| The governments educational work III
showing mine operators and miners
| themselves how to make conditions less
haz ardous in mining has interested both
| the operators and general public In this
line of human conservation. The gov
eminent. represented by the officials Of
the United States bureau of mines, and
the great coal companies together will
ioin in the preparation of a mining
| show i'm which it is intended to repro
duce all the conditions met in actual
| WORK of mining. This exhibition VIII be
held at the same time that the mining
congress is in progress.
| A number of government mine rescue
cars and their crews which nave zone
pioneer work in the educational cam
/ paign to bring about the almost reVolu-
| tionary changes in behalf OF greater
safety to miners, as well as rendering
effective aid on the scene OF nine as
| asters will be shown. with Uncle sam !;
rescue men on hand to explain the work
of the various pieces of apparatus.
! working mine will be reproduced In The
| ba sement of the building in which the
congress will be held, and realistic
demonstration Of the work OF the rescue
| crews from coal companies and from the
United States bureau of mines Will De
shown daily to visitors.
/ Besides the mining eNhipits, every
modern medium of publicity will pc
brought before the people during the
coming mine congress to impress the
| general public with the significance or
| the movement to cut down the annual
| toll of lives lost through preventabIe
accidents or carelessness In the mines.
, Although the mining industry touches
the life of every person in the country
| because of the wide scope or uses or
coal and iron and other minerals taken
from the ground, experts say that less
is known about mining than any otner
of the great industries Every person
almost has a general idea OF systems
of agriculture which bring about the
production of the country's food supply.
but few people know much ABOUT tne IN
dustry which produces the fuel TO COOK
the food, or the coal from which gas
ro tod