The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-11-13
10, 900 Compensation Cases
 Reported to Commissioner
 Since LalD Became EfectiUe

commissioner 10000 cases carrying compensation" said Mrs Owen. The
 amount of money paid in these 10000 cases goes up Into big figures, all paid by insurance carriers, not the
 state. The fatal cases for 1920 were | 135, dependents of the deceased be- l ing paid $44,000 compensation. Dur | ing the past 10 months of 1921 there
 have been 5S fatal accidents, the de- | pendents receiving S26, 900. Of these | fatal cases for 1921, 27 were killed
 in mine accidents, nine In steel mills, ii3 in lumber mills (10 of these be- [ ing killed by saws). three in bridge construction, one (drowned) in ship i yards at Mobile, one in railroad ] shops, three electrocutod, and one by
 machinery In bakery. During 1920 there were 7,200 cases of compen- sable accidents reported to the com
 missioner, but in 1921 there have only , been 3,200 cases reported. Whether | the large number of cases for 1920 1 was due to the general recklessness 1 that seemed to prevail following the | World war period. or whether em- ployers are taking greater precau-
 tons with their workmen. or whether i the workmen themselves are becom- ing more careful under the admoni- tions of the employers because of the workmen's compensation act, cannot be said. Of course there is a pos | sibility that employers are not send ing in reports of accidents as con- !, scientiouslys as they did the first l year the law went into effect. but
 the commissioner has no way to
 check up this probability, as there
 are no inspectors provided by law Some Curious Accidents
 The reports that come to the com
 missioner are often heart rending. giving as they must the painful de- tails of accidents that occur to la- torers while engaged in their tasks.
 But on the other hand some of the
 reports show humorous phase. Of the 3,100 fatal accidents reported
 to the commissioner during the past
 10 months of 1921, 2,S76 were of a na-
 ture resulting in temporary total dis-
 ability. Fifty per cent of this num-
 Der show broken bones, 45 per cent show decorations. contusions and
 burns, and per cent resulted from
 hernia. the O10S permanent par tial disabilities 95 per cent lost fin gers or toes, per cent partial loss of cyesight, and one case each of the
 loss of an entire hand and foot.
 One of the insurance companies has NdllGQ IHG IOIlilllSSiOnti dlACIllOH bO the fact that the law does not provide
 compensation for man who may lose
 his ears or nose while engaged in
 work. The suggestion was made that these two members should be listed with those specified In the law as permanent partial disability cases.
 The commissioner replied that the
 purpose of the law was to compensate the man who was injured to such an extent that he was temporarily or to- tally incapacitated for work and that
 while 1t was thought that a maimed ear did not prevent man from get ting work he might become so dis figured by the loss of nose that he
 would be so revolting that he would find it difficult to get employment,
 and for that reason 1t was believed that the loss of a nose did really im- pair the mans opportunities for labor
 and should, therefore be added to the list of employees already on the law.
 Checking Up Reports
 While 1t Is true, as stated above. that 10000 cases have been reported to the commi ssioner of men injured in industries in Alabama in the last two years, 1t is also true that each of these cases carry three reports. mak- ing 30,000 reports that must be re-
 ceived carefully read, analysed and checked up. The final settlement re- ceipts are very important and often
 errors are found in the computations
 of money due the injured man. Dur ing the past week ,disparities of more
 than $500 were found in 20 final set
 clement receipts. The attention of
 the, Insurance carriers in each case was called to these errors and in each
 case corrections will be made. Ac- cording to reports furnished this of flee one man had been underpald
 more than s200 When the attention of the insurance carrier was called to
 this discrepancy the explanation was
 made that later settlement covering
 the amount had been made, but that
 the company had failed to make its report as it should have done to the commissioner. If satisfactory expla-
 nations are not made of the other cases the responsible parties will again be admonished and If satisfac- ton Is not rendered the cases will be turned over to the law enforcement
 branch of the state, backed by proper authority from the governments of-
 flee to see that proper settlement Is made.
 The law requires that the clerks of each circuit court shall, within 10 days after the disposition of any case