Evening star., 1914-08-23


Did you put out your camp fire."
Perhaps one of the most interesting
methods Of educating the public on the
danger of forest fires is the use OF cigar
holders which have been issued in one
of the western states. 1t is pasteboard
cigarholder similar to those given away
in tobacco stores. and reads:
protect your cigars by using this
| holder
Protect the forest by extinguishing the
cigars and matches before dropping them.
Forest fires destroy $50,OO0,OO0 worth
year.
Small fires start big ones.
Matches and cigar stubs sometimes
start small fires.
BE careful"
On the reverse side of the holder six
rules are printed on the method Of for
est fire prevention, and as a closing word
of warning campers are told II they dis
cover fire to get word OF 1t to the
nearest United States ranger or fire
warden just as quickly as they can.
The worldwide movement organized to
| help toilers in unhealthful places and to
check occupational dis
0ccupational eases will suffer set
back because Of the war
OAseases' now going on in Europe
The third international congress of occu-
pational diseases, which was scheduled
| to be held in Vienna during the early
| weeks of September, necessarily has been
called of because of the war.
President Wilson is very much interest
ed in the occupational disease problem and
early last February he sent to Congress
! q special message recommending the par
ticipation of the United States IN tne
| Vienna meeting. If the war had not
| broken out it Is probable that the dele
gates of the United States to the Vienna
congress would have been Prof. Royal
Meeker, commissioner OF the bureau OF
labor statistics of the United States De-
partment of Labor; DR.. Alice Hamilton.
one of the bureaus experts on occu-
| pational diseases, and possibly one other
member of the bureau.
The study of occupationa1 diseases and
their prevention has become one OF the
most important phases of the work Of the
Department of Labor. This part OF the
departments work has been assigned TO
the bureau of labor statistics. OF whicn
Prof. Meeker is chief. Two of the most
recent publications Of the bureau on oc-
cupational diseases which have attracted
considerable attention In the trades are
| the report prepared by DR.. Alice Hamil-
! ton on the hygiene of the painters trade
and the study by DIR. William {. Hanson
"
| fumes and methods Of protection. The
study of occupational diseases is one to
which little attention has been given un-
| til comparatively recent years, and ex-
perts say there is much to be learned
about the diseases of many industries.
One branch of the Vienna congress was
to be devoted to addresses on fatigue,
especially with respect to industrial work.
| the action Of Industrial work on the ner-
| vous system, and night work. Another
| IN hn m diGCnS-
sion of the effects of work in hot, damp
| air, while another group Of experts was
| to devote their attention to Injurious ef-
fects of electricity in industrial pursuits
juries to the hearing. infection and
growths caused by working In unhealth-
| full places and the effect of fumes and
| dust on the toiler's health completed the
list Of important subjects to be discussed
] by international authorities.
The work to be carried out by the
| bureau of labor statistics will eventually
cover all phases of the many occupattonal
| diseases. The bureau has listed more
| than half a hundred kinds of industrial
| the way from ''acetaldehyde." colorless
fluid used in both the manufacture of
vinegar and silver mirror manufacture,
!! to turpentine oil. used in the manufac-
| ture of varnish and in many other indus
| tries.
The dangers Of lead poisoning, of
breathing vapors from phosphorus. and
| the harmfulness of fine dust particles on
the lungs are the phases Of the industrial
diseases best known now to the public.
Government experts say that many other
diseases less understood are almost as
dangerous and that conditions in the In
dustries must be made safe If the work.
er's health is to be preserved.
Government experts have at last passed
upon the value Of Rhode Island anthra-
cite coal. which has long
Rhode Island been puzzle to mining
men and to capitalists
@AnsAAAo osAso For more than a century
scores of attempts have been made to
mine the anthracite deposits OF Rhode
Island commercially. but, with one ex-
ception, all of the attempts have been
marked by failure, and most of the mines
have been abandoned within few years
Rhode Island anthracite. according to
George H. Ashley. an expert in the Unit
ed States geological survey. has been ex-
plotted many times merely as an excuse
for selling stock
| For long while it was hoped that the
coal in the Rhode Island field could be
| used successfully at the mine for making
! water gas or producer gas. which could
| be used locally In manufacturing or in
| the generation of electricity by the gas
engine for transmission to Providence
Boston and other neighboring cities and
| towns. It was also thought that the coal
mightebe more valuable for making lin
ings for blast furnaces than for fuel, be-
cause the mineral has the character Of
graphite rather than that Of ordinary
coal.
The Investigations of the Interior De-
partment experts showed that Rhode
| Island anthracite has about two-thirds
the heat value of Pocahontas coal, and
that 1t is also an exceedingly hard coal
| to mine. In a report which has just
been made by Mr. Ashley he says that
| when the extra cost of handling the
Rhode Island coal Is considered along
with its. low heat value it may be esti-
mated that one ton Of Rhode Island an
thracite will yield not over one-half the
! heat value, on the dollar basis. of Poca-
hontas coal. Pocahontas coal can be de-
livered in Providence at about $4 ton,
and Rhode Island anthracite. which the
expert says has about one-half the value.
would cost not less than $3.50 ton.
RAYMOND w. PULLMAN.
OOD PRICES.