'Vy,1"' t ' - , J - 1 f J';
JOUTtK JtLJ2CmDATRAp -DISEASES', ,
BY JOHN ELFRETH "W ATKINS.
MA XT odd "trade diseases' are be
ing discovered by Dr. George M.
Kober, who, for the United States
Bureau of Labor, is investigating the
relation of occupation to health.
"Brass founders' ague," one of the
most interesting of these. Is found to
attack about xhree-fourths of tKp new
employes of brass foundries, and of
those who resume work after an ab
sence of a month or even a fortnight.
The cause of thle malady appears to
be the inhalation of metallic dust or !
vapor of zinc and copper, and its symp
toms are severe pains in the back and
general lassitude, which send the pa
tient at once to bed. immediately after
which he usually suffers a severe chill,
lasting 15 minutes or longer. In an
hour or lese his pulse increases, some
times to 12ft and this is accompanied
by a tormenting cough, bad headache
and soreness in the chest. But after
the lapse of a few hours the victim
suddenly breaks out in a free jerspira
tion, indicating the disappearance of
the fever and the advejit of a deep
sleep, from which he awakens nearly
recovered. English brass founders thus
attacked are told by their elders In
trade to drink freely of milk and thus
promote nausea, esteemed as the swift
est means of relief from these seizures.
Quinine Makers Get Eczema.
"Po Ushers' Itch," an eczema of the
hands, arms and face, found to be com
mon among furniture polishers, is sup
posed to b irritation due to some of
the impure alcohols. A similar dry i
zema is found to attack the hands and
faces of quite a large percentage of
those employed in the manufacture of
quinine, and is believed to be" due to
emanations from the boiling solutions
of this drug. This peculiar disease of
quinine manufacturers disappears as
soon"as their work is given up. Smel
ters, especially in copper works, fre
quently suffer from jaundice, stiffness
of the joints and .anaemia as the result
of inhaling arsenic fumes given off in
the process, while it is noticed that
mercury workers not only suffer from
.salivation, but frequently are attacked
with nervous trembling. Safety equip
ment has practically eliminated these
dangers from the mirror industry, but
fbey are still pronounced in the manu
facture of felt, thermometers, barom
eters, dry electric batteries and bronz
ing. Match factory workers commonly
suffer from rapid decay of the teeth,
followed by swelling of the neck
glands and Inflammation of the Jaw
bones. When white phosphorus was
used from 11 to 12 per cent of the em
ployes were thus attacked, but since
the red has come into vogue for match
manufacture only about 2 per cent are
attacked. Those who work long in ani
line vapors not infrequently suffer
from a chronic poisoning affecting the
central nervous system and causing
lassitude, headache, roaring in the ears
and sometimes eczema, while those at
tacked by the strong vapors sometimes
fall suddenly to the ground, their skin
becoming cold, and pale, their faces
Agriculture Our Unfailing National Resource
Fy Jarnes Withycombe. Director of the
Oregon Experiment Station.
OVR Nation is great, not for Its size,
not altogether for the achievements
of its people, but largely for the im
mensity of ita natural wealth. It is our
purpose at this time to discuss briefly ag
riculture, our unfailing National resource.
Practically all wealth originates In the
soli and the maintenance of soil fertility
is the rightful heritage of posterity. While
the wealth-producing power of the soil of
our country has, reached stupendous pro
portions, yet it falls short of what It is
destined to reach. Last year the farms of
our Nation yielded crops representing in
vlu -V.-llx .OOw.WO. Thirty-six per cent, or
iS0OV, of our people are engaged in ag
ricultural pursuits, and the farm unit of
production was 13S7.0i. The farms of our
own state produced last year $75,000,000.
There is 35 per cent of our population en
gaped in farming for a livelihood, and the
unit of production in this state was 5154S,
much larger than the national average,
due evidently to a greater potentiality of
the soil and to large holdings of land.
Despite the magnitude of our present
agricultural wealth there are great prob
lems confronting the welfare of our Na
tion, foremost among which Is the main
tenance of soil fertility so as to support a
large population. It Is the duty of every
American citizen to conserve so far as
practicable our natural wealth for the use
of generations to follow. The Inadequacy
of our present production Is apparent
when we estimate that at the present
rate of growth thi country will have a
population of 130,000.000 less than 20 years
fcance, and that within iH years w shall
turning bluish, death following In a '
state of profound stupor.
Naphtha and Coal Oil Intoxication.
"Naphtha intoxication" is found to
disable many employes in the dyeing and
cleaning trade and the rubber industry,
symptoms resembling those . of drunken
ness being dizziness, nausea, headache
and hysteria. In rubber factories where
for vulcanizing naphtha has generally
replaced the even more dangerous car
bon dlsulphide, thia form of intoxication
is suffered especially in rooms where
rubber Is spread upon cloth. New hands
are especially susceptible and even old
ones sometimes have to leave their work
at times and seek the fresh air for re
lief. Benzine vapors are quite as dan
gerous. Three laborers in a carpet clean
ing establishment in which large quanti
ties of benzine were being used wera
lately found unconscious upon the floor
and had to be restored by oxygen inhala
tion, and the carbon disulphide gas still
used sometimes in the rubber industry,
but now more especially in the extrac
tion of fats, produces similar symptoms,
as well as impaired vision, pains in the
limbs and a sensation like the creeping
of anU, on the skin. Carbonic acid gas,
another of these trade dangers, not only
occasionally suffocates well sinkers and
miners, but Is held responsible for a
form of anaemia and debility often pe
culiar to brewers, winemakers, distillers
and yeastmakers, who inhale it during
the processes of fermentation necessary
in their trades.
Smelters and employes of gas works or
of coke and charcoal furnaces sometimes
suffer from chronic coal gas poisoning,
whose symptoms are dizziness, slow
pulse, anaemia, general debility, etc.
Even coal oil, in its concentrated va
pors, sometimes produces in refinery
workmen symptoms like those of drunk
enness, as well as chronic bronchial ca
tarrh, while eruptions on the hands are
found to be common among handlers of
paraffin oil, creosote and tar. An obsti
nate eczema of the hands is common also
to cleaners who handle crude turpentine,
and the vapors of this oil, crude or re
fined, sometimes produce catarrhs, roar
ing of the ears and nervousness. Manu
facturers of bromine, now used consid
erably In photography, are discovered to
suffer quite frequently from asthma, diz
ziness and general weakness, the vapors
when becoming too strong sometimes
causing spasms of the upper windpipe.
Brick glazers and bleachers working in
chlorine gas fumes often suffer from
asthma, bronchitis, rapid decay of the
teeth and pimples on the face, while
employes of alkali and galvanizing works
using hydrochloric acid suffer from sores
on the tongue, ulceration of the nose and
throat and even stupor, when the fumes
become too concentrated.
The "Black Lung" of Coal Miners,
"Black lung" or 'coal miners con
sumption," In which the lungs become
coated with black dust, is suffered espe
cially in mines of defective ventilation
but coal miners, charcoal men, firemen
and chimney sweeps, exposed to con
stant inhalation of coal dust and soot,
are none of them found to have a hish
death rate from true consumption, al
though subject to chronic bronchial ca
tarrh. "Grinders' asthma" and "grinders' rot"
are terms found 'to be applied to a form
of consumption frequent in grinding and
polishing departments of the cutlery and
tool industry, where dust is inhaled from
the metal as well as the grindstones and
emery used. Nearly three-fourths of the
deaths among the metal grinders of one
large German cutlery center were dis
covered to be due to consumption, and
very probably have to meet the wants of 1
more than 200,000.0"? people. This will
mean that science must become the hand
maid of toil on the farm. Soil robbing
must cease and systems of husbandry In
augurated which will rejuvenate the worn
out fields.
Less than two decades since one of the
world's most famous scientists deplored
the fact that the soil nitrogen of the
world would be so exhausted within 60
years that the people all over the land
would be crying for bread. This estimate
was made after an exhaustive etudy of
the available supply of nitrogen and the
prediction based upon the loss resulting
from crop production and the complete
exhaustion of the nitrate beds In Chile
and elsewhere. Fortunately, however,
science stepped In and has stayed "the
progress of this terrible calamity through
the discovery that certain plants known
as the legumes possessed the ability of
appropriating atmospheric nitrogen for
their growth and development. Thus the
farmer has a simple means of restoring
nitrogen to his soil. By growing clover,
vetch, alfalfa, peas or other legumes, the
problem of nitrogen supply Is completely
solved. Then again science has recently
discovered that by means of electro-chemical
devices, nitrogen can be taken direct
ly from the atmosphere with the result
that great quantities of artificial nitrogen
fertilizers are supplied to commerce from
this source. '
Our greatest National question la the
conservation of our natural resources.
The greatest of these Is agriculture. Sys
tems of prodigality must cease. The po
tentiality, of the soil should be conserved.
Methods Xor Us complete. uUUiation with
THE SUNDAY
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JBAPCEKS HAVE KHOC&KJ&EES:
in the great cutlery and tool works of j
Northampton, Mass., the same propor- !
tion of death has been found to be due
to "grinders'," "polishers " or "cutlers'
disease" of the lungs. Needle polishers
and file cutters also show a high death
rate from consumption.
"Stonecutters' "consumption," a form of
tuberculosis of the lungs, is discovered to
be common among stonecutters, especially
those operating pneumatic tools, creating
clouds of dry dust, that are breathed into
the lungs. In this disease, too. the lungs
become discolored, but not so dark as in
the case of coal miners so-called con
sumption. A recent investigation In Ger
many showed that S6 per cent of the
deaths among stonepolishers, stonecutters
and quarrymen were due to diseases of
the lungs. Millstone and slate cutting
also are classed by Dr. - Kober among
"dangerous occupations," as . are glass
cutting and polishing, where the em
ployes are not protected by the new
"wet method" now in vogue in Massa
chusetts. He finds gem finishers to have a
higher consumption and sick rate, and
workers in mica dust and bronzing pow
ders to be predisposed to diseases of the
respiratory passages. "Siderosis," a lung
disease of the knife and saw sharpeners'
trade, is due to the locfement of fine par
ticles of steel dust, in the lungs.
Green Sweat of Bronze Workers.
The "green sweat" is a peculiar phe
nomenon found to be manifested by many
bronze workers. In a large lithographing
establishment boys who, while running
souvenir cards through machines which
applied bronze powder, wore handker
chiefs over their noses and mouths to
prevent the inhalation of this dust,' were
found to have such green sweat upon
their skins and to be pale and otherwise
unhealthy looking.
"Lead colic.' and "lead palsy" are
phases of the so-called "lead habit," an
involuntary enslavement due to the in
haling, swallowing, or absorbing through
the skin of particles of lead. These trade
diseases are characterized in the milder
forms by such temporary disorders as
"lead coli," better known as "painters'
colic," anj In the more serious forms by
a peculiar blue lining along the gums, a
sweetish taste and diminished saliva in
the mouth, loss of feeling in spots on the
skin, and a dropping of the hand at the
wrist, due to local paralysis. These symp
toms sometimes attack roasters of lead
ores, workers in factories where' acetate
and chromate of lead, china, pottery and
artificial flowers are made; also painters,
plumbers, varnlshers, type founders, type
setters, file cutters, glass and gem cutters,
storage battery chargers, enamelers,
dyers, printers, paper glaziers and work
ers in rubber goods and weighted silk,
both of which contain large quantities of
lead. In its chronic phase this, one of
the most dreaded of trade diseases, is
known as "plumbism
That compositors, printers and press
men breathe considerable dust of lead,
arsenic and antimony may partly account
for the fact that they show the second
Highest death rate from consumption in
our states where such statistics are reg-
the least exhaustion should be encour
aged. The National Government Is doing
much for the promotion of better systems
of agriculture. Last year the Govern
ment expended J13.879.292 largely for the
betterment of our agriculture. The Influ
ence of this department at Washing
ton are constantly broadening. Bureaus
are strengthened and new scientists
are being added constantly to the al
ready large corps of workers. Agricul
tural explorers are sent to every section
of the globe in search of new forage
plants, cereals and fruits to enrich our
farms and orchards. No government is
putting forth greater efforts in behalf of
a progressive agriculture than is our own.
There is not a more inviting field In the
whole realm of human endeavors than is
presented by agriculture to the young man
skilled In the art and science of the In
dustry. It is a field of endless opportu
nity, for scientific research and reward.
The demand is constantly widening for
more young men trained In the art and
science of agriculture. The hope of our
Nation rests largely with the intelligence
of our husbandmen.
Our own state is doing much for the
betterment of our agriculture and much
more may be done in the line of demon
strating correct principles of husbandry.
A few demonstrations farms wisely locat
ed In the great wheat belt of the Inland
Empire could be made Immensely bene
ficial to the agricultural interests of this
section and Indirectly contribute largely
to the agricultural wealth of the whole
state. Oregon should begin by Intelligent
co-operation, or perhaps through legisla
tion, to preserve her natural wealth and
thus fulfill her part In the support of our
ever-increasing population. The time will
come when she will be called to support
10.000.000 people, when the City of Portland
will be the home of z.000,000 people and be
the Empire City of the coast in commerce
and Unanca. Oregon is mora than capable
OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND.
TTTtT 5 H r-i. SrTrTxT A CT3TT TVTTv TTTT1 1 1 ni I
jmMm
lstered. One gram of dust from a 1yp
case has been found to eontain nearly 6
per cent lead and over 18 per cent anti
mony, besides traces of arsenic.
Women are peculiarly immune from
most of these forms of "plumbism," and
the modern typesetting machine, obviat
ing much handling of type, has reduced
Its dangers among compositors, so long
as they are not exposed to the fumes
from the melting pots.
Millers Have High Pneumonia Rate.
Millers, who constantly inhale flour
dust, show the highest pneumonia rate
listed in states registering. such vital sta
tistics. Bakers are subject to the same
dangers, and other breathers of harmful
vegetable dusts are carpenters, cabinet-,
makers, laborers in grain elevators, to
bacco warehouses and textile mills. Saw
dust of hardwood seems to Be more Injuri
ous to" the lungs than that of soft, and
"cocobole," a hardwood now largely used
in the manufacture of tool handles, .gives
a- very pungent dust which irritates the
eyes and skin, as well as' the lungs. An
African boxwood used In England for the
manufacture of weavers' shuttles was
found to contain a peculiar alkaloid heart
depressent, causing Intermitted pulse,
headache, drowsiness, watery eyes, diffi
cult breathing, weakness and nausea
among the employes. The fact that only
eight out of 6000 resident cigarmakers con
tracted cholera during the great Hamburg
epidemic of 1892 gave rise to the belief
of supporting 10,000,000 people If her re
sources are properly developed and hus
banded. Through the generous support of
experiment stations, farmers' Institutes,
fairs and other educational agepcies, the
state is doing much for the encourage
ment of better agricultural practices. It
can truthfully be said that the influence
of our experiment stations has had a
marked effect in stimulating better meth
ods of husbandry. Dairying, our largest
single agricultural Industry, received Its
first impetus from our experiment sta
tion. The experiment station took the In
itiative for the abandonment of the
wasteful Summer-fallow In Western Ore
gon. Our horticultural development la
largely traceable to the endeavors of the
station. By means of demonstration and
promotion work the general growing of
clover, vetch, alfalfa, kale and other val
uable forage plants has been greatly en
couraged. Aside from the more practical
work many problems of scientific interest
have received exhaustive Investigations.
Plant and animal diseases- have been
given careful thought. The physical and
chemical properties of soils have been
thoroughly studied. It has been known
for some "time that a large proportion of
the surface soil of Western Oregon is se
riously deficient in lime and It is but re
cently that our chemist has discovered
that the subsoil is abundantly supplied
with lime, reaching . in some Instances
nearly 2 per cent. Thus by growing clover
and alfalfa this may be brought to the
surface to be appropriated by shallower
feeding crops.
Let the zeal for sclentiflo study proceed
with even greater intensity and let the
accretions ef human intelligence and sci
entific attainment of the past century be
focused upon problems of vital concern to
the first and most important of all the
sciences and arts, agriculture.
A Direful Threat.
Robert T. Hardy, in Lipplneott's.
"When little crabe are naughty
And pinch and pull and grab.
No doubt their mother threatenst
"Xou'll be a doviled trabl"
. XZZZZZZ-l BREATHW&'
Jla-,'.'v-,.-,.W.- J i- s Vfr tf T" -
p1k
R,. -ri: rJt .THIS CAUS '
JUIF 26, 1908.
IABEWKER
s
among tobacco workers that the dust of
"santa yerba" is a 'protection against
infective diseases. But the breathing of
lint in cotton and linen mills is reported
to be injurious to the lungs, the consump
tion rate of Irish linen mill operatives
being nearly three times higher than nor
mal. Dust from wool Is considered less
Irritating, however, than that of flax or
cotton. But among the "animal dusts"
Investigated that of horn is found more
Irritating than that of bone.
"Rag Man's" Disease.
"Rag man's disease," also called "rag
sorters' " and "wool sorters' " disease,
proves to be In reality anthrax, the dread
scourge of the horse and of other ani
mals, .which Is transmitted to man by
means of infected wool, hide and hair.
Engravers are found to have a low
average duration of life, and to be liable
to eye defects due to the strained atti
tudes In which they work and the strain
ing of their eyes over minute objects.
Constrained attitudes, interfering with
proper breathing and distribution of blood
and causing internal congestion, are held
responsible also for "weavers' dyspepsia."
and various shoemakers', watchmakers',
tailors' and lithographers' diseases.
"Bakers' knock knee" and "flat foot"
and "varicose veins" ai-e due to our
breadmakers' necessary habit of stand
ing too long; but the fact that bakrs
have a low duration of life is attributed
more especially to the fact that, like
Entertaining
New York Press.
HERE Is some English that is seldom
written and some other Interesting
curiosities of Mother English:
Honorlficabllltudlnltatibus is a rather
long word. You cannot find it In the
dictionary, but you will find It used In
Shakespeare and some of the other
early English writers.
The word Is meaningless. The only
Interesting point about tt Is Its length.
Twenty-seven letters In a breath are
quite a few. But our dictionary gives
some almost as long for instance, the
following two of 24 letters each:
' Transsubstantiationallsts.
Inanthropomorphisability.
- Here are some of the other boa-constrictors:
Twenty-three letters:
Disproportionablenesses.
Twenty-two:
Intercommunlcabllitles.
Twenty-one:
Intercoirvertibilities.
Twenty:
Histomorphologlcally.
Interdifferentiation.
Supersensitlvenesses.
Hypersensltlvenesses.
It is safe to say that the ordinary
reader would not run on to one of
these in a hundred years, and If he did
he would run the other way.
It Is Interesting to know that the
entire alphabet can be arranged hi one
Intelligible sentence without the repe
tition of a single letter jus 2 letters
In the following sentence, and no two
alike:
J. Q. Vandz struck my big fox whelp.
' That simple sentence is the hardest
r1. ; ; ;
millers, their lungs inhale large quanti
ties of flour dust, while their hearts be
come affected by exposure to too high
temperatures. Thus the baker's is rated
among the dangerous occupations, as is
also that of the cook, who suffers from
rheumatism, and who. on account of ex
tremes of heat, shares also the - stoker's,
blacksmith's and fireman's low duration
of life. "Fatigue neurosis," a twitching
and local paralysis of the fingers, is the
characteristic disease of telegraphers,
pianists, violinists, engravers, ctgarmak
ers, seamstresses, typewriters and copy
ists, being known among the last named
as "writers' cramp."
Horn-Blowers' Disease Another.
Then there is fotind a horn-blowers'
disease, dignified by the name of "emphy
sema." meaning abnormal collection of
air in the lungs. During the Fall cam
paign there will doubtless be an epidemic
of this dread malady, also of paralysis of
the vocal chords, the pet ailment of pub
lic speakers. Footing Dr. Kober's. cata
logue of these trade diseases, as compiled
thus far are finally, "bollermakers" deaf
ness and chronic thein intoxication,
the latter attacking tea tasters, who,
while in its throes, suffer from distressing
.muscular tremblings.
This hwestigation was desired by Dr.
C. P. Neill, the Commissioner of Labor,
not as an excuse for uttering an official
Jeremiad and tale of woe. but for the
awakening of popular interest in the need
of state legislation affording better pro
tection to workers in the dangerous
trades. Considerable progress has al
ready been made by employers, notably
Uncle Sam himself, who in his new Gov
ernment printing office, the largest in the
world, has devised a model system of in
dustrial hygiene. This, organized by Dr.
Curiosities of Mother English
1 possible one to write on the typewriter.
So many of the letters In the alphabet
are used so seldom that even a good
typist has to study out the combination
before finding some of them. This sen
tence is the only known one that con
tains every letter in the alphabet 1 but
once and make's sense.
Another interesting word group In
which the entire alphabet Is put into
seven words and only 32 letters are
used Is: "Burst, fed, jingle, quip, vim,
hack, zyxomma." This is the smallest
number of words that the alphabet can
be included in.
Two intelligible sentences, however,
of eight words and 32 letters apiece
have been found. They are:
Quick brown fox Jumps over the lazy
dog.
Pack my box with five dozen liquor
Jugs.
The first sentence Is often used In
testing the types on tyewriters on ac
count of the shortness, and the fact
that it Includes every letter and has
the advantage of making sense.
Here Is a list of the longest mono
syllables In English:
Seven letters, through: eight letters,
strength, thoughts, starched, thrilled,
straight, squalled, schnapps;' nine let
ters, strengths, squelched, scratched,
splotched, stretched.
Probably the most Interesting word
curiosity Is the one made up of the
greatest number of other words in the
regular sequence. That word Is Indis
crimination. In-dlsc-rim-in-at-i-on con
tains seven words and is only 16 letters
long. That Is allowing a fraction more
than two letters to each word and only
one word Is repeated.
Here axe two that have six separate
words within the one:
Ass-ass-in-at-l-on Assassination.
"William
Manning, incfudes an excel
lent emergency hospital for prompt atten
tion to accidents to employes.
The general health of the 4550 printers. '
compositors and other employes benefit
also from the complete changing of the
air in each room every ten -minutes, and
by improved arrangements for the dif
fusion of poisonous fumes, such as those
from the electrotype and stereotype foun
dries. Private industrial plants are be
ginning to give their employes greater air
space, light and ventilation, but laws are
needed to make these reforms everywhere
compulsory.
Engineers are also reducing the dan
gers of the dread "caisson disease" by
the more gradual increases and decreases
of air pressure in their tunnels, caissons,
deep mines and diving bells, while grind
ers, polishers and other workers in min
eral dust are having their lungs better
protected by introduction of the "wet
process," wherein the article ground or
polished is constantly sprayed by Jets of
water or some arrangement of the kind.
In the steel foundries of Massachusetts,
which state has taken the lead in theso
remedial measures, operatives are pro
vided with helmets protecting the eyes,
nose and mouth from dust, while In some
of the lead works operatives working un
der spraying apparatus are now required
to wear rubber .gloves and "respirators" ;
protecting their mouths and noses from .
harmful dust and .fumes. But in many
cases where these are supplied, em- ,
ployes refuse to wear them, vanity being -often
the deterrent, the men wearers be
ing sensitive to the jibes of their more
reckless fellow-workers, and the women
being, of course, unable to wear anything,
even a life preserver, if unbecoming.
Washington. D. C, July 18.
In-fln-it-at-i-on. Inflnitatton.
There do not seem to be any that can
be split up into five sensible parts, but
here are several quads:
In-sat-l-ate Insatiate.
Ass-ass-in-ate Assassinate.
In-vest-i-gate Investigate.
In-lt-i-ate Initiate.
Two three-part words that make sens
when the parts are taken separately are:
To-get-her Together.
In-no-cent Innocent.
The dictionary is fujl of funny and
curious things. This is only a small
part of the unusual things that you can
find out about words In an hour's peru
sal of the most wordy book In the Eng
lish language.
Hohokue.
New York Sun.
Of all the places on the map
Whose names are wont to choke us.
There isn't one can run & lap
With happy old Hohokue;
There isn't one whose very name
Is such a sure esrort to fame.
He! he! ho! ho! Hohokus!
Esopus used to have the call.
And Oshkosh used to poke us
Rifht in the rlslbles; but all
Must yield to old Hohokus
A burg, a town, a spot, a space
Whose mention corrugates the face.
He! he! ho! ho! Hohokus!
There's Kankakee and Kalamaxoo,
With which the Jesters Joke us.
And down In Jersey Squankum too
I,les somewhere near Hohokus;
But for a scream, a smirk, a smile.
The latter beats 'em all a mile.
He! he! ho! ho! Hohokus!
Hoboken. take a seat 'way back.
You're common as the crocus:
" Why. even whooplny Hackensack
Is second to Hohokus;
For here's a Joyful Jersey burs;
Whose nomenclature, makes us g-urg.
He I he! ho! hoi Honokusl