Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-21
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING

The most important agency in the
remarkable development of recent
years in the safety
Bureau of Mines first movement the
federal bureau of
SAFETY work. mines is finding it.
self called on more and more as the
acknowledged expert in the field to
play the part of a normal school for
training men to direct newly formed
bureaus of safety that are springing
up in mines and Industrial establish
ments all over the country.
Since the safety-first work had its
beginning in this country with the Gre
| alton of the bureau of mines in 1907,
with the commission ito conduct such
Investigations as would increase safety
and efficiency in mining operations
more than a hundred mining companies
| and industrial plants engaged in the
metal industries have created special
| safety organizations. In the last few
| years dozen or more experts of the
| safety division of the bureau have been
| drafted to fill responsible and high
| salaried positions in large commercial
| concerns in charge of such agencies.
An inquiry by the bureau has shown
| that these expert advisers in the guard
|
known variously as safety engineers.
directors and inspectors. instructors in
| and superintendent of safety, first aid
and educational directors. and rescue
and safety foremen. In spite of the
| varied titles however, the duties of all
| Of these special employees are prac-
| tically the same, and consist in general
| of conferences with the workmen and
examination of physical conditions in
| the plant with the end in view of dis
| covering needed improvements and the
Offering of suggestions to both the en-
ployes and employers for safer meth
DDS, practices and equipment.
| AS the result of this work, the gen
! eral educational and demonstration
| work of the bureau of mines and the
parallel activities of other agencies the
| loss of life in mines has steadily de-
creased. the federal bureau points out
approximately Ave, for each 1000 men
| employed in 1907, when the bureau was
| created. and decreased to less than
three for each 1000 employees in 1915.
| gratifying feature of the reduction
| In the loss OF life among miners, as
| pointed out by Van H. Manning, director
| OF the bureau of mines. is that but for
| the carefully directed safety work the
! natural development of the mining in
dustry in late years would have great
ly increased the proportion of fatal
| accidents. He directs attention to the
| fact that the hazard naturally in
creases as mines become larger, employ
| more men, are worked deeper and leave
more and more abandoned rooms and
| corridors where explosive gas and dust
| may accumulate.
| The existence of several well known
mines where because of special precau-
tons deaths of miners have been re-
duced far below the average for the
industry leads the bureau oficials to
feel confident that a steady extension
| or the safety-frst movement in the
| mining industry will bring the general
death rate much lower Toward this
| first work that have been established
among private companies will be left
to develop in scope and efficiency, the
bureau of mines plans. through it's
mlne.rescue cars. its publications and
its staff of experts, steadily to con-
tinue to spread the gospel of safety
first.
How long will you liveo Uncle Sam
can tell you-almost-in the first life
expectation tables this
Expectation government has ever pre-
e,e pared and which will be
VI issued soon by the census
bureau. The tables are similar to
| those prepared by life insurance COM
lation in the territory covered, while
the company tables relate only to the
insured persons. The population en-
braced by the tables is that of the
Registration area"-New England,
New York. New Jersey, Michigan and
the District of Columbia population
! which is. however. characteristic OF an
important additional portion of the
United States.
MT
the tables is that female whites have
consistently a longer expectation of
life than male whites at all times from
birth to ninety-four years OF age An
healthiest year of life for both male
and female native whites is the
! twelfth. when the death rate, which for
6e rsf oo was more than 900 for
| dnced to 22s and 19s respectively.
At birth it is shown. the average ex-
pectation of life for native white males
is. approximately, fifty and one-half
one-half years. For those who man
age to reach the first milestone, how
ever. the expectation is. respectively.
fiftyseven and sixty years.
A striking difference between expec-
ia ton in city and country is shown.
The average white male at birth in
rural districts has III more years to
live than If born in city. The ex-
creased also. but only six years.
X
To persons not familiar with the
technical side Of cotton grading-and
this means, incidentally,
/ Gradino many men who make their
livings producing the staple
SottoH. such terms as strict good
ordinary" "Iow middling" and mid
ding fair" often encountered In print.
are a meaningless tumble Of words.
Less than three years ago, as matter
Of fact until Uncle Sam came to the
| rescue, the terms meant little enough
| in the most technical phases OF the
cotton trade. Nearly every one Of the
large spot" cotton markets OF the
country-where actual bales OF cotton
| are bought and sold-had different
| scheme of grading; and a still different
system was employed in Liverpool. long
| the chief cotton market of the world.
| The varia tions gave rise to endless
| disputes and the loss of much time and
money Attempts had been made from
| time to time by various associations to
reach an agreement as to standards,
| but had never proved successful. Many
experienced cotton dealers believed that
variations among cotton grown in va
| rious sections of the south was so great
| Dat the formula ton Of a satisfactory
system of grades of universal applica-
| ton would be impossible.
Under authority of Congress. howev-