The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-01-17
DOMAIN OF TEMPERANCE.
THE PEAK OF INDUSTRIAL AccI.
DENTS AND DRINK.

1t is an established fact that intoxi-
eating liquors are the cause of many
industrial accidents The reason for
this is not far to seek. Small quanti-
ties of alcohol such as would produce
no visible signs of intoxication are yet
sufficient to interfere with mental
alertness. The effect of these small
doses upon the consumer is that he is
unable to concentrate his mind as
closely on his work as when he is free
from alcohol. He becomes careless and
IS apt to take chances which he would
not think of taking in his natural con-
dltlon. The result is that the wage
Garner who has drink or two on his
way to work is making himself liable
to injury, reducing his efficiency and
exposing others to the possible conse-
quences of his reduced mental eff
cheney
A Well-known French scientist, Gre
Dant, has shown by careful expert
ments upon animals that when alco-
hollc beverages are taken into the
stomach the percentage of alcohol in
the blood supplying the brain in
creases gradually until it reaches it's
maximum from 21a to hours after
the liquor was introduced into the
stomach. Many experiments have
shown us that in human beings also
the brain is most deeply affected by
alcohol from 21a to hours after drink
ing.
In this connection it is of great
significance that in the first bulletin
of the Massachusetts Industrial Acct
dent Board, published in September.
1912, the board reports that in this
state most industrial accidents occur
at 10 o'clock in the morning and at 8
o'clock in the afternoon. This is ex-
actly in accord with the report of the
Bureau of Labor of Minnesota for the
years 1909-1910 which contains a de-
tailed study of industrial accidents in
that state. This report gives chart,
showing at what hour of the day the
accidents occurred. The peak" of the
curve is at 10 o'clock in the morning
and at 3 in the afternoon. In other
words, practically three hours after
the men started in work they were
most liable to get into trouble through
lack of attention and carelessness. If
the mems carelessness were due to
fatigue, the high point of the curve
would be reached at the end of the
morning-betWeen 1870 and IL
o'clock-and again at the close of the
afternoons work. But between 11:3O
and II o'clock in the morning there are
only about one-third as many acct
dents as occur at 10 o'clock, and at 5
in the afternoon about one-fourth as
many as at o'clock. Fatigue, then,
is not satisfactory explanation.
Alcohol is undoubtedly a cause of
many of these 10 o'clock and 8 o'clock
Industrial accidents. They occur from
| 2 to hours after the men begin work
in the morning-that is, at just the
time when the drinks taken on the way
to the factory are having their most
marked influence on the brain. The
same thing happens in the afternoon.
The alcohol taken during the lunch
hour has it's greatest effect at O'Clock
in the afternoon
In view of these facts it seems rea-
sonable to believe that the o'clock
| Opening Bill, proposed in the Massa-
chusetts legislature this winter, if en-
acted, would prevent many of the
morning industrial accidents, by max
ing it possible for the men to go to
work sober. If the employers of labor
would furnish lunch rooms in the fac
tories where the employees could be
supplied with coffee or tea to take with
their lunches, there would be little
| induCement for the men to seek the
saloon during the noon hour. In this
way many of the afternoon accidents
might be prevented.
Scientific Temperance Journal