Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-11-09

guards, as on circular saws. feed cut
~ Accidents with or from animals
come second in our list of accident
causes, being responsible for 20 per-
cent of farm accidents One would
think that farmer would know how
to handle animals with safety How
ever, we still have with us the man
who doesn't have ring IN the bull s
nose because the bull is gentle. Also
the man who walks UP behind horse
or mule, unseen by the animal, and
touches the animal without first
speaking
for 10 percent of farm accidents. And
what a lot of ways in which TO get
a fall. Holes in floors or in the ground,
loose boards IN floors or on buildings,
weak ladders and Stepladders, kiddie-
cars, sticks Of wood, slippery doorsteps,
wandering pigs at night, garden tools
left lying about, wheelbarrows and
carts where they shouldn't be. Having
a place for each article and being
sure that everybody puts each article
In its right place when through using
it will prevent most accidents OF this
kind.
Do you know that 1t is more dam
gerouS to live in your own home than
it is to ride in airplanes2 Fact. The
home is the scene OF large per-
centage of all accidents. They include
falls, burns, explosions, fires, poison
ing, cuts, infections and even drown
ing. The ladies will insist upon having
rugs on smoothly waxed floors and
as long as they do, we poor males will
have to watch our step. Really, smooth,
slippery floors cause many accidents,
most abundant of which are broken
nf cnlirn QT1H KnTnCnna
ranks high as a cause of accidents.
When you realize that one gallon of
gasoline has in it sufficient power to
propel your 400O-pound automobile,
containing your family, a distance of
Is to 20 miles, uphill and down, you
can begin to visualize what happens
when all of that energy is released
in a tiny fraction Of second. which
is what takes place when gasoline
vapor explodes Gasoline fumes within
a building are always dangerous. They
may be ignited (exploded) IN variety
of ways, as by the flame of a match.
a spark produced when an electric
light is turned on or off, or by a |
spark from a hammer as 1t strikes a
nail. And we still have with us the
woman who pours kerosene into the
kitchen stove to start the fire and, /
outside the house, the boob who lights
q uldGCn 10 SSS HOW bd-oO4Al1C
there is in the tank Of his car.
Strangely enough, firearms do not
seem TO rank among the most frequent |
causes of farm accidents. However, be-
cause such accidents are more often
fatal than not, it behooves us to |
watch out in this direction. Probably |
every farm has one or more firearms |
and there can be no objection to hav-
ing them if they are properly used
and safeguarded. To begin with, a |
gun should never be put away or
left for even few minutes with a |
Dad in it, The second rule Is that /
though he expected 1t to go off any |
second. This applies to the empty gun
Is well as the one that Is loaded. The I
farm boy is going to have gun and
4 dad doesn't let him have 1t, he
will have it anyhow, unbeknownSt to |
lad. Therefore, the sensible thing to |
10 is to properly instruct the boy In
he use of gun. in order that he
will always handle it with safety to
himself and others. He should be
taught, for example, to unload the
yun before crawling through or over
/ fence and not to ever pull the
nuzzle of the gun towards him, as
when taking it out of car or boat
All accidents fall into two classes
The first is the mechanical condition
If things and the physical conditions
which surround us which make pos
ible accidents Everlasting vigilance
and thoughtfulness is necessary in
dealing with this class.
The second class of accident causes
S entirely personal, that is, it lies
With the intelligence, training, skill,
lack of these quail
ties-in the individual. This must be
iealt with by education and training.
Progress Being Made
Can anything be done to reduce &C
;idents? Yes, indeed. In 1913 when
he national safety movement was