XLV. BLANKET STOVING…

XLV. BLANKET STOVING

The men who are employed in this branch of blanket making are a fine, stalwart set of fellows, broad-set, muscular, and well-coloured in complexion, the healthiest-looking workmen, apart from teamers, to be seen in the Heavy Woollen District. It is a hereditary occupation as a rule. Most of the men are connected by ties of kindred, for intermarriage is prevalent. Blanket raisers are, as a rule, long lived, the mean age at death of 28 workmen whom I attended in their last illness was 64.1 years.

In winter-time, blankets are exposed in a stoving house to brimstone fumes. This is intended to bleach the blanket. In summer-time, most of the blankets are dried outside. The fixing of these on the tenter posts involves an immense amount of stretching. There is considerable exertion involved in the raising process, and getting the pile on the fabric. In fine weather, the men are in the open a great part of the day; but in winter, the stoved blankets are taken out to the tenters, when the change from the close, sulphurous atmosphere to a cold and damp tenter field is found to be trying even to a strong constitution. At some mills, fans are inserted in the roofs of the drying houses to take away the fumes; in others, the tenters in the drying house are on wheels, and run on rails. These are ladened with blankets in the open, and then run in to the sulphurous atmosphere, and after being sufficiently dried, are again drawn out to the open, where the blankets are taken off the frames without causing the irritating cough and semi-suffocation which ensues when men have to enter the dry house to remove them. I am informed that, under this last system, it is no uncommon thing for a raiser to cough and sneeze until blood comes from his mouth or lungs.

The question of whether blanket stoving with brimstone is a dangerous trade or not was answered in the negative by the Commissioners appointed by Mr Asquith, Home Secretary, before whom I gave evidence about five years ago.

As there is a considerable number of these men living near me, and I have often conversed with them about the brimstone and the healthiness of their occupation, certain matters of interest have come to my knowledge. Among these is the fact, that the men almost never die from tuberculosis. They seldom, if ever, contract infectious disease. As a rule, they imbibe beer very freely, owing to the dryness of the mouth and throat produced in the drying house, and by the tremendous sweating which results from the enormous loads which they take on their shoulders to the tenter field.

Bronchitis and emphysema are the most common diseases among them. Of the 28 deaths which I certified among raisers, 10 were due to bronchitis; the mean age at death was 64 years. Heart disease accounted for 4 deaths, at a mean age of 69.3 years. Three succumbed to pneumonia, at a mean age of 49. Two died from phthisis, mean age 51.5 years. There were two deaths from senile decay, mean age 72 years. Influenza claimed 2, mean age 68.5. Typhoid caused one death, at 60 years; as did prostatic disease, at 68 years. Apoplexy caused death in two, mean age 75.5 years. Cerebral softening claimed one at 68 years.

The 28 deaths are as follows:--

Bronchitis 10 Heart Disease 4 Pneumonia 3 Senile Decay 2 Phthisis 2 Influenza 2 Apoplexy 2 Typhoid Fever 1 Prostatic Disease 1 Cerebral Softening 1 -- 28 ==

Seeing that the mean age at death at all ages in England is 29 years, and that of blanket raisers is 64.1, one is scarcely justified in regarding it as a trade which is injurious to health.

Efficient ventilation and the establishment of the running tenter described above, and figured in the Blue Book issued by the Commission, are all that is necessary.

JOHN A. E. STUART.

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XLVI. JUTE

The commercial fibre jute is obtained from the following species of Corchorus--Corchorus Capsularis, grown mostly in Northern, Central, and Eastern Bengal, and Corchorus Olitarus, raised in the vicinity of Calcutta. The great bulk of the fibre is obtained, however, from the former variety.

The plant may be described as a long wand, from 8 to 10 feet in height, and of the thickness of one’s finger at the bottom. The stem is smooth, and more or less branched towards the top, bearing vivid green leaves and yellow flowers. It possesses an outside covering of hard bark; underneath this is the commercial fibre, and within the latter a pithy stick.

Jute is an annual, and appears to be capable of cultivation in almost any kind of soil, but is grown to best advantage upon that of a loamy nature, or on rich clay and sand. The coarser and larger plants are cultivated chiefly upon the “churs” or mud banks, and islands formed by the rivers, while others are raised upon submerged lands and in salt-impregnated soils. A hot, damp climate, such as is found in the vast delta of the Ganges, and Brahmapootra, with annual heavy rains and inundations, fulfils the conditions under which jute can be successfully cultivated. In November or December the soil is ploughed over five or six times, the clods broken up, pulverised, and at the final ploughing the weeds are collected, dried, and burned. The seeds are sown during the months of April, May, and June, according to the district, and covered over with a thin sprinkling of earth. Germination takes place in from three to seven days, and when the plants rise a few inches above the ground, the cultivator weeds and thins them out, ultimately leaving a space of, approximately, 6 inches between each.

The crop is considered to be in season for cutting when the flowers appear during August and September. By this time the plants have attained a height of from 8 to 10, or even in some instances, 17 feet. The stems are cut with knives close to the ground, tied up in bundles, and removed to the steeping or “retting” pond.

The system of “retting,” as practised by the natives of India, consists in steeping the plants in stagnant pools or tanks for from two to twenty-five days. Weights are placed above the bundles to ensure that all the material may be submerged. The stagnant water thus used for steeping purposes has a strong and somewhat offensive smell, which, however, is not remarked in the fibre itself, and the fetid liquid is valuable as a manure.

To ascertain that the process is complete, the cultivator has to visit the tank daily, and test the fibre to see that it has begun to separate from the stem or pith. In removing the fibre from the woody portion the operator, standing waist deep in the tank, seizes a bundle of stems in his left hand, beats the ends out flat, turning the bundle deftly meantime, and then breaks the stems about eighteen inches from the point, first one way and then another. A little more manipulation, and the short sticks at the end fall out, leaving the fibre clear. The remaining portion is separated in a somewhat similar manner. The operator then, striking the surface repeatedly with the fibre, and drawing it through towards him, relieves it of any remaining impurities. By a dexterous throw he next spreads it on the surface of the water, and picks off any remaining black spots or hard patches.

It is then wrung out and hung on bamboos to dry in the sun, when it is ready for the market.

The fibre for exportation is bought by dealers, shipped to Calcutta, and made up into hydraulically-compressed bales of about 400 pounds weight, lashed round with ropes made of strong jute, the various qualities being distinguished by different marks affixed to the bales.

Jute is now a source of considerable revenue to the Indian Government, about 3,500,000 bales being exported annually to Europe and America, and over 2,900,000 bales manufactured into cloth and sacks in and around Calcutta. The distribution of the exported material is approximately as follows:--

To the United Kingdom 1,900,000 bales. To the Continent 1,000,000 „ To America 500,000 „

Dundee is the chief seat of jute manufacturing in the United Kingdom, only a very small proportion of the material imported being operated upon elsewhere. According to the latest procurable statistics there are slightly over 43,000 persons employed in the industry, and of this number quite 40,000 are engaged in and around Dundee, almost three-fourths of these being women. The figures do not include several hundreds who make up cloth into bags--a separate industry. Indirectly, the staple trade gives employment to a considerable number of persons, such as shuttle-makers, bobbin-turners, hackle-makers, yarn-bleachers, etc., and practically supports about 1000 sack-sewers who are out-workers.

Jute as imported consists of coils or bundles of fibre of a pale yellowish colour, and possesses a faint yet not unpleasant, though characteristic, smell. It cards and spins easily when properly treated with oil and water, the yarn produced being relatively coarse, fairly strong, and is much sold as twine, the output of this article amounting to hundreds of tons per annum. The bulk of the yarn spun, however, is woven into what are termed “Hessians,” plain jute cloth of various widths up to four yards. This material is seen everywhere, and is constantly used for packing and wrapping goods of all descriptions. A certain amount of cloth is cut up into suitable lengths and sewn into sacks.

Jute sacks are required for holding all kinds of material; they are cheap and strong, and although they rapidly deteriorate if exposed to wet, they are, owing to their low price, easily replaced.

Jute fibre takes kindly to most dyes, and this characteristic allows of its being largely used in the manufacture of carpets and rugs. A large trade has grown up in this department, fabrics being produced of beautiful designs and brilliant colouring. Jute is also interwoven with cotton and other textiles, but it does not readily spin with any fibre of an elastic nature.

The inelasticity of the fibre is a distinct drawback, affecting the utility of the articles manufactured, and although the durability of the fabric is great if kept dry, the colours are fugitive.

The first operation in the process of the manufacture of jute consists in cutting the binding ropes of the bale, and opening out the hard, compressed material. This is invariably done by hand, and immediately afterwards the fibre, still in a compressed state, is passed through between four heavy deeply-fluted rollers intersecting each other, which open the material somewhat and facilitate its disentanglement, before it is placed on the feeding table of the softener. During these processes, while the fibre is in a dry condition, a considerable quantity of dust is shaken out, much of it being of a gritty nature, and consisting largely of fine particles of the sand or mud in which the plant grows. The latter impurities adhere to the rooty portion of the plant, but become dispersed when the fibre is shaken out and disturbed. It is in this dust that tetanus spores have been found in very considerable quantities.

Once placed on the softener, the fibre passes through a long series of spirally fluted rollers, pressure being brought to bear on the top row by means of springs. Hot water and oil are applied to the material during the progress along the machine, care being taken to spread the liquids evenly.

This moistening of the fibre is rendered necessary owing to its inherent brittle nature. Although this application of oil and water is to facilitate the subsequent manipulation of the material, it serves a beneficial purpose in reducing to an enormous extent the quantity of dust which would otherwise be diffused in carding and other processes. As matters at present stand, the preparing operations in jute factories are much more dusty than subsequent processes, but the particles thrown off in carding, drawing, and rove-spinning are more of a light fluffy nature, and prove less irritating to the respiratory organs than the gritty dust evolved in handling the dry jute. After the material has been effectively softened, and while in a slightly moist condition, it is fed into the “breaker” card. Here, owing to the splitting and combing action of the rapidly running card teeth, many rooty particles and other impurities are removed, but the heavier matter falls below the machines, from which it is taken away periodically, so that only the lighter dust rises, and is breathed by the operators.

When delivered from the “breaker” it is passed over the “finisher” card, but less dust if possible is evolved in the second carding. To equalise the thickness of the jute sliver as it emerges from the cards, and to lay the fibres parallel, the material is passed over drawing frames, and, when delivered, is spun by roving machines into “rove,” that is, thick loosely-twisted yarn. The twist given is just sufficient to keep the fibre together during its treatment in the spinning frame, before the actual twist is administered which completes it as finished yarn.

The operations subsequent to carding evolve little dust relatively, but owing to the excessive speed of spinning frame flyers, and the friction on the yarn, very light fluffy particles are continually rising in spinning rooms, so that the atmosphere becomes charged with extremely fine portions of fibre. All horizontal surfaces, and the clothing and hair of the workers in these departments, soon become coated with this dust.

The yarn intended for weft is never dressed, but is wound or built up into solid “cops” for insertion in the shuttle. It is so coiled in the cop as to unwind regularly and easily when in the shuttle, but is still of sufficient firmness to withstand handling without collapsing. The warp yarn is wound into solid balls, or on large bobbins, and thereafter arranged upon angular frames at each end of the dressing machines.

The dressing, the basis of which consists mostly of flour, is contained in troughs affixed to the machines, the yarn passing through the liquid, and then round steam-heated cylinders to ensure its thorough dryness before being wound on the weaving beam. As in the dressing of linen yarn, considerable heat is constantly maintained in the departments of factories apportioned for this purpose. The cylinders, round which the damp yarn passes, radiate heat, and where the ceilings of the rooms are low, or the cubic capacity restricted, much discomfort is occasioned in summer, unless exhaust fans, or wide-opened windows, are arranged for. The beams when filled are removed, and inserted in the looms, the “dressed” or starched yarns constituting the warp of the woven fabric.

The weaving of jute cloth calls for little comment or description, the process being of the simplest character, except where figured carpets are woven. This work is comparatively pleasant and clean. To give finish to the cloth, calendering is necessary. The webs are passed through ponderous machines, known as either calenders or mangles; hot rollers and heavy pressure, combined with the dressing in the yarn, effecting an evenness to the fabric, and, if necessary, a gloss to the surface.

Health Conditions.

The factories in Great Britain engaged in manufacturing jute are, with few exceptions, rather superior. Many of them are on the shed or one-floor system. They were built at a time when the industry was extremely remunerative, and much capital was sunk in substantial and well-designed premises. The shed construction with the saw-tooth roof is advantageous from many standpoints, facilitating the maintenance of an equable temperature, the free ingress of air through roof openings, while providing an abundance of light throughout. The latter advantage is important, when one considers the liability to accident which constant attendance on, and manipulation of, intricate mechanisms necessitate. Jute machinery is very similar to that utilised in the manufacture of flax, the various machines (with the exception of softeners and openers) differing only in small details, necessary owing to the greater length and relative coarseness of the former fibre. The liability to accidents is slightly greater in the manufacture of jute than in any other textile industry, to judge by the annual returns of casualties. This is partially due to the fact that the older types of machines have been fitted with crude and ineffective protections, to improve which requires much careful and systematic supervision, and partially to the proportionately large number of insignificant accidents, hitherto found unpreventable, occasioned by the oscillating slays of looms, which, though slight in themselves, are yet sufficiently serious to bring them just within the category of reportable accidents.

By slight alterations in the construction of certain machines and additions to the existing fencing of spinning, drawing frames and cards, certain kinds of accidents have been completely stamped out. Thus, since the insistence on travelling feed and delivery sheets or webs for jute softeners, a type of accident always severe, and often fatal, has entirely disappeared. Before these safeguards were introduced the operatives were frequently entangled in the long jute fibre in feeding or attending the delivery end of the machine, and instantly drawn forward and mangled by the rapid-running fluted rollers. As might be expected young persons are the commonest victims of factory accidents, owing to their ignorance and indiscretion. A careful note of all such casualties has revealed lurking dangers in certain machines, and where these have been effectually protected, accidents decrease in number and in seriousness. Since shuttle-guards have become universal, the annual return of injuries from flying shuttles has decreased to less than half the former figure. The liability to tetanus of persons injured in jute manufactories makes the adequate and effective protection of all dangerous mechanism, even to the minutest details, of the utmost importance.

The dirtiest and most objectionable processes in the manufacture of the material are undoubtedly those of preparing and spinning. The remuneration of the operatives in these departments is considerably less than that earned by the weavers. Thus a distinctly lower class of employés engage in the former processes, the more self-respecting taking up weaving as a means of livelihood.

Where the finer qualities of fibre are treated, the amount of dust evolved is comparatively small, and the factories fairly clean; but in the coarser varieties it becomes excessive, and the whole premises assume a dirty and objectionable aspect.

It may be of interest to observe here that many women engaged in the preparing and spinning operations of jute manufacture habitually snuff, presumably to rid the nostrils of dust. The custom is rarely observed among women outside Dundee.

The prevention of the dispersal of dust in carding and spinning is extremely difficult, for it appears to rise, more or less, from the fibre, wherever it is sufficiently disturbed, and from any number of points, even in one room. Exhaust fans, however, when placed immediately above the softening machines, and properly erected, undoubtedly remove much of the fine gritty particles shaken out of the raw material, and where a hood is arranged above the exact seat of dust production, and communicates with a fan, there is little to complain of.

This particular dust from the raw material is most irritating to breathe, and is presumably injurious, but fortunately few persons in any one mill come in contact with it.

The ample cubic space of most carding departments greatly counteracts the injurious effects of this ever-present dust; and indeed, in establishments where very fine material is spun, it is scarcely noticeable. The prevailing high temperature of spinning departments, together with the crowded arrangement of the frames and the number of workers congregated in a limited floor space, makes such rooms somewhat disagreeable to work in, and the occupation is increasingly unpopular. The friction of the numerous small bearings, and especially that generated by the temper bands on the bobbins, raises the temperature to 30 or more degrees above that existing outside, and maintains it thus even when the outer air has fairly free ingress. This over-heating of the spinning room is a constant source of trouble, and is difficult to regulate. A temperature of 80° is common in the coldest weather, and persists at times, even when many windows are open. The provision of exhaust fans in premises where high temperatures were hitherto troublesome has, however, effected a distinct improvement. The application of oil, already referred to, reduces the tendency of the material to give off dust, but the subsequent operations disperse fine particles of fibre throughout the workrooms. The oily jute gives to the preparing departments a somewhat peculiar and rather offensive odour, and where the atmosphere is abnormally heated, creates a feeling of closeness.

During the month of March 1900, samples of air were taken from three selected mills in Dundee, at various times, and in different atmospheric conditions. Two of the selected establishments were considered as typical of badly ventilated premises; the third, for contrast, was one of the most modern and airy factories in the city. Although the high winds which prevailed during the period of testing may detract from the assumption that the figures are really representative of the usual conditions, still after making all allowances it must be presumed that they approximately indicate the true condition of the inside atmospheres. Samples were procured from two of the mills on a Sunday about mid-day, a period of about twenty-four hours having elapsed since any workers had been in the premises.

The windows in both cases were all closed, and, on the day in question, a fresh cold wind prevailed.

The result showed a very pure atmosphere--3.1 and 3.3 volumes of CO_{2} respectively per 10,000 volumes of air.

The following day, samples were secured in the two establishments and from a third between 1 and 2 P.M. (the meal hour being from 2 to 3 P.M.), and again just before the factories stopped running, namely, between 5 and 6 P.M.

The following table gives the results:--

+--------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ | | No. of Samples. | | +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | +--------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ |Time |1.30 p.m.|1.40 p.m.|1.55 p.m.|5.15 p.m.|5.30 p.m.|5.50 p.m.| |Selected room |Spinning |Spinning |Spinning | Spinning| Spinning| Spinning| |Total cubic contents| 462,840 | 100,383 | 83,856 | 462,840 | 100,383 | 83,856 | |Number of Persons | | | | | | | | employed | 300 | 150 | 83 | 300 | 150 | 83 | |Cubic space per | | | | | | | | head | 1542 | 669 | 1010 | 1542 | 669 | 1010 | |Temperature:-- | | | | | | | | Inside | 70° | 77° | 77° | 75° | 81.5° | 83° | | Outside | 41° | 41° | 41° | 40° | 40° | 40° | |Ventilation | Natural | Natural | Natural | Natural | Natural | Natural | | | windows | windows | windows | windows | windows | windows | | | ¼ open | ½ open | ⅓ open | ¼ open | ⅓ open | ⅓ open | |No. of Factory | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |Carbonic acid in | | | | | | | | 10,000 vols. of | | | | | | | | air | 5.4 | 7.0 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 9.8 | 9.0 | +--------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+

Factory No. 1 was of modern construction and built on the one-floor system. The relative purity of the sample is noticeable as compared with Nos. 2 and 3, both old premises with low ceilings. There was no artificial lighting in either case, consequently the carbonic acid present must have been entirely due to respiration. Other examinations of samples obtained from both spinning and weaving rooms show almost similar results, except that the weaving sheds were purer, owing to their ample cubic space, and the temperature, as is always the case, considerably lower.

In the instance of factory No. 1, carding, spinning, and winding were all proceeding under one roof, 300 persons being at work, as will be seen from a reference to the table. Had gas as an illuminant been burning for even a short time in any of the premises examined the proportion of CO_{2} would presumably have been higher. This is supported by the analysis of air in a dressmaker’s workroom, selected at 8 P.M. There were ten persons at work, three large gas jets burning (lit for two hours), and 259 cubic feet capacity per head. An examination of the sample showed the proportion of CO_{2} to be 26.4 per 10,000 volumes of air: temperature inside 73°, outside 41°F. Electric light is now the illuminant in almost all the jute factories of any size, and a distinct improvement in the condition of the inside atmospheres has resulted. Unquestionably the high temperatures of spinning rooms are distinctly harmful, perhaps more so than is usually imagined; in fact, the writer from close observation of operatives in various parts of the country and in dissimilar industries, exposed persistently to warm atmospheres, is of opinion that a general lowering of the health (in certain instances marked) very frequently follows such employment. The effects of constantly breathing warm air, quite apart from the liability to chills which such atmospheres engender, are worthy of closer study and scientific investigation. Certainly exposure to great radiated heat, if the air is not particularly warm, does not affect workmen in a similar manner.

As has been already remarked, the weaving of jute is apparently a healthy occupation, judging from the general appearance of the operatives. The wage of the weaver enables her to occupy a comfortable home, and ensures a sufficiency of suitable food. The same may be said of the sack-sewers, who, like the weavers, usually work in premises kept at a reasonable temperature, and present a ruddy and robust appearance.

With reference to the subject of tetanus, no more authoritative statement can be submitted than that of H.M. Medical Inspector of Factories, Dr T. Morison Legge, and his remarks are accordingly quoted from the Annual Report of H.M. Chief Inspectors of Factories for the year 1899:--

“When visiting Dundee in February, my attention was called by the district inspector, Mr Wilson, to the fact that within the preceding twelve months two fatal cases of tetanus had occurred in one jute mill. It occurred to me that possibly the soil of the alluvial land in which the jute was grown in Bengal might be rich in tetanus bacilli, and the incidence of tetanus on jute workers in Dundee therefore be attributable to spores brought over in the mud adhering to the jute fibres.

“In April a woman climbed up upon the travelling feed-sheet of a jute-softening machine while it was in motion. Her foot was caught between the ingathering fluted iron rollers, and was severely crushed and lacerated. Tetanus ensued on about the sixth day after the accident, and proved fatal within twenty-four hours. A sample of dust was collected from under the machine, and was submitted to Dr Andrewes of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, for bacteriological examination. He found tetanus bacilli undoubtedly present in the dust, probably in considerable numbers, and stated that it was unusual to be able to demonstrate tetanus bacilli in such numbers, and with such ease as he had been able to do.

“The point having considerable scientific interest, as showing possibly the same connection between tetanus and jute as is known to exist between anthrax and wool-sorting, and further in emphasising the necessity of careful fencing of machinery, I collected, eight months later, four other samples of jute from factories in Dundee, and one sample of Russian hemp dust to serve as a control. In three of the samples of jute dust, Dr Andrewes reported that tetanus bacilli were present, but that he could not demonstrate their presence in the sample of hemp dust.

“One of the samples in which the bacilli were present was taken from under the same machine where eight months previously the accident had occurred. During the interval the original sample, which Dr Andrewes had retained, appeared to have lost its virulence.

“At the end of December an accident occurred in a jute mill resulting in severe injury to the wrist of a worker. Tetanus developed twenty-six days later, and as has frequently been

noted in cases where the incubation period is prolonged more than three weeks, did not prove fatal. Some dust was collected six weeks after the accident from near the place where it occurred, and was examined with negative results.

“Dr Andrewes’ experiments prove unquestionably that tetanus spores must be present in incredible numbers in much of the dust in jute mills. Fortunately, the disease cannot be brought about like anthrax by inhalation, nor does it develop, as a rule, except as the result of a mixed infection.

“In the ten years 1890–99, 11 fatal cases of traumatic tetanus have been recorded in Dundee. Five of these were workers in jute mills. Of the remaining six, one, aged six, was the son of a yarn-dresser, a second, aged eight, the son of a mill overseer, and a third, aged one, the daughter of a yard-beamer. The possibility of the tetanus in their cases having been brought about by the dust in their parents’ clothing, or in jute material worked at home, is not excluded. In the other three cases there does not appear to have been any connection with jute.

“While not wishing to lay too much stress on the matter, seeing that tetanus germs are to be found in almost every sample of garden mould, I think the figures do show a special incidence of tetanus on jute workers, and I attribute it, as I have said, to the soil in which the jute is grown being particularly rich in the bacilli.

“In India, tetanus is much commoner than it is in this country, and I am informed that one of the most prominent fears before the surgeon’s mind in treating a severe lacerated wound is the possibility of tetanus supervening. Inquiry is being made in India as to the incidence of tetanus among jute workers there.”

Investigations reveal a predisposition among factory workers, and particularly those employed in spinning and preparing rooms, to develop respiratory troubles--broncho-pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, and pulmonary emphysema, being the most prominent. There is also a singularly large number of patients admitted to the local infirmary suffering from lobar pneumonia. Rheumatism is an extremely common ailment, and can be partially accounted for by the great variations of temperature which operatives have frequently to withstand. Multiple tuberculous lesions are frequently observed in the children of the poorer operatives, and thus one finds from time to time young persons at work, with portions of the hands amputated on account of scrofulous or tuberculous diseases of the bones. Slight deafness is widespread among

jute operatives, but other textile workers may be afflicted in a similar degree. The excessive noise of jute-weaving looms, and the persistent loud hum of spinning frames presumably account for much of this. The looms, owing to their large size, and the weight and high speed of the shuttles, are particularly noisy. The possibility of the dust inducing the formation of an obstruction with the waxy secretion of the ear is not excluded; indeed the fine light particles of fibre readily accumulate in the external auditory canal.

A hoarseness or huskiness of voice is met with frequently, and is especially marked in preparing and spinning operatives. Whether this is due to overstraining of the voice, shouting above the noise of the machinery, or to dust irritation of the vocal chords, has never been clearly demonstrated. Anæmia in its commonest forms is a frequent ailment among all the operatives, but doubtless careless and injudicious feeding contributes to this condition of health.

An illness locally known as “mill fever” attacks about one-fourth of the persons who commence labour in factories for the first time. The symptoms make their appearance a few days after work is started, and take the form of one or more of the following: headache, backache, lassitude, thirst, and slight fever. The attack lasts about from three to four days, and yields to antifebrile medicines followed by tonics. It has been observed that the patients are usually young people, and are frequently of weak constitution, or badly nourished.

In drawing definite conclusions as to the incidence of these ailments in jute operatives, one is confronted by the difficulty of differentiating between what is caused by the industry, and what is the natural result of poor feeding and bad housing. No absolutely reliable statistics have yet been compiled relating to the health conditions of the workers; indeed there is much scope for further research in this direction.

The low physical and social condition of a section of the operatives is a marked feature of this industry. The class alluded to is generally distinctly diminutive in appearance, being of light weight as well as of short stature. For the most part they are employed in the relatively disagreeable processes, namely, preparing and spinning, and, as before mentioned, they earn smaller wages than weavers. It is needless to say that most of this class are indifferently housed. At the census return of 1891 there were 22,206 persons living in single-roomed houses in Dundee, an

average of 2.6 per house. Of two-roomed houses there were 17,834, containing 81,488 inmates, an average of 4.56 per house. Generally speaking, the single-roomed abodes shelter the worst paid operatives. These single rooms are at times badly crowded, and the sanitary accommodation, if such exists at all, in spite of extensive improvements effected in recent years, is often an open manure heap, the tenants using pails for house refuse, etc.

Typhus fever is almost constantly prevalent in Dundee, 39 cases occurring in 1899, with 5 deaths, and up to the 13th November 1900, 49 cases, 6 terminating fatally. These figures may indicate to a certain extent the amount of destitution and overcrowding which exists.

The infantile death-rate is high, the figures for the last few years being as follows:--For 1897, 194; 1898, 181; 1899, 169 per 1000 births. The lamentable neglect of young infants leaves its impress on the children who survive, many of them presenting a puny and delicate appearance when applying for employment at twelve years of age.

The poverty or greed of the parents drives these children, the most undersized and least able to withstand the injurious effects of a factory life, to work at the earliest possible age, and the indoor life discourages growth and development.

The reports of the inspectors of jute mills in East India show that the industry is considered there to have no particularly deleterious effects on health. The mills, however, are built with very high roofs, and are largely open to the sky. The climate permits of this, and accordingly the ventilation gives no trouble. Another fact has to be borne in mind in comparing Indian operatives with those employed at home. The former are migratory, only remaining a year or two at the industry, and, presumably, insufficient time is given for any injurious effects to betray themselves; whereas in Scotland, the bulk of a lifetime is spent by a worker in a jute factory.

HARRY J. WILSON.

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XLVII. LAUNDRY WORKERS

Thousands of women and girls are employed every week in the useful office of cleansing and making fresh the garments stained in the daily stress and toil of life, and the impression is probably a correct one--though it is impossible to support it by statistics--that “washing,” in the sense of laundry work, affords occupation to at least as large a number of women as does any other industry in the country.

The industry embraces perhaps as wide a range of methods as any other that could be mentioned. The disparity between that of the woman who “takes in a little washing” and that of the huge “Sanitary Laundry” owned by a Limited Company, and equipped with power-driven machinery which yearly becomes more complicated, is indeed great. But the engine wins, and it seems clear that before long the whole industry will become one of organised factory-labour with some survivals of the other system, just as in the textile trades a few rough wooden hand-looms and picturesque spinning-wheels still linger in the more out-of-way districts.

“To take in washing” has for so long appeared to be an occupation mainly reserved as a resource for the woman bereft of her “breadwinner,” or deprived by circumstances of other means of livelihood, that many people still look on “laundry work” from this point of view. It is perhaps difficult to realise that the radical change which has everywhere transformed industrial conditions has already affected this occupation also, and that for good or for evil the washerwoman is passing under the influences which have so profoundly modified the circumstances of her sister of the spinning-wheel and the sewing needle. When the first washing machine and ironing roller were applied to this occupation, alteration in the conditions became as much a foregone conclusion as it did in the case of the textile or the clothing manufactures, when the spinning frame, the power loom, or the sewing machine appeared.

Meanwhile, few industries afford at the present time a more interesting study. From a simple home occupation it is steadily being transformed by the application of power-driven machinery and by the division of labour into a highly organised factory industry, in which complicated labour-saving contrivances of all kinds play a prominent part. The tremendous impetus in the adoption of machinery, and the consequent modification of the system of employment so striking in the large laundries, is not greater than the less obvious but even more important development in the same direction among small laundries. Indeed the difference is rapidly becoming one of degree only. In the large laundries may be found perhaps more machinery and a greater number of the newest devices, but the fundamental change has affected all alike. “At one time it was only in a few large steam laundries that machinery was to be met with, now it is no uncommon thing to find a row of houses in separate occupation, the back yard of each of which is roofed in and packed with laundry machinery, all driven by an engine installed at one end of the row. The old-fashioned ‘washerwoman’ is fast disappearing, and is superseded by the enterprising young ‘laundry proprietor,’ who, turning the tubs out of the back kitchen, fills their place with ‘washing machines,’ and connecting them with a little gas engine (tightly wedged into the dark broom cupboard under the stairs), blossoms forth as the owner of ‘a factory laundry,’ ready to deal with six times the amount of work that his predecessor could hope to cope with, and to compete feverishly with scores of similarly equipped rivals.”[148]

One result of this haphazard adaptation of old conditions to new circumstances is an undesirable anomaly between the two. The small unsuitable premises, never designed for house machinery, quiver and shake under the unaccustomed strain; and the little rooms, “ventilated” by windows only, are ill suited for operations which produce quantities of steam and an abnormal temperature. Not seldom the ambitious “proprietor” himself is lamentably ignorant of the capacities and possibilities of the machinery of which he is the proud possessor. “Since the guv’nor tied the old box-mangle up to the new engine, she has taken to leapin’ back and forrards that alarmin’ and that sudden-like, that it’s a wonder I’ve not been caught out sooner nor I was.” The remark, which is recorded by the Factory Inspector who investigated the resulting accident, epitomises quaintly the situation in many a small laundry. Everywhere machinery is to be found, even in the smallest hand laundry. The hand-turned washing machine stands among the wash-tubs, and as soon as funds permit will be coupled up to a tiny gas engine, which in time will give place to a larger one.

“Side by side with this development in the smaller laundries is to be found the rapid multiplication of large laundry companies and syndicates, certain of which own as many as a dozen or more fine well-equipped steam laundries fitted up with the latest ingenious inventions in labour-saving machinery, and organised into ‘departments’ in which the division of labour is at least as marked a feature as it is in the majority of non-textile factories. In such places a single shirt will pass through seven or eight different machines in the process of ironing alone. In place of the elderly married woman or widow, we find skilled engineers in charge of a shed full of machinery still called familiarly the ‘wash-house,’ while scores of girls and young women, from thirteen years upwards, tend the various kinds of ironing machines, with exactly the same mechanical precision and routine as in any other factory. Even in those departments where machinery is not required, the labour is organised and regulated as in an ordinary factory, the sorters have their staff of ‘markers,’ and the ‘dryers’ fill and empty with almost automatic regularity the series of drying closets through which hot air is driven by propulsion fans. With this advent of machinery and subdivision of labour, the whole character of the industry has changed. It is becoming more and more evident that, from the smallest to the largest laundry, the industry is passing--has indeed in some respects already passed--out of the peculiar position which it has hitherto occupied, and is taking its place alongside ordinary trades.”[149]

The manufacture of laundry machinery, to which much energy and capital is devoted, is every year increasing. New and ingenious inventions and improvements constantly appear, many of which come from America, whence a considerable amount of this machinery is imported. The adaptation to laundry work of the “hydro-extractor,” a powerful drying machine much used in bleaching and dye-works, has greatly expedited the laundry process. This machine consists of a round perforated metal “cage” or “basket,” which revolves at an enormous speed (500 to over 1500 revolutions a minute) inside an iron or steel case, in shape like a huge round pot standing 2 or 3 feet high; the wet clothes are packed into the “basket,” and during its rapid revolutions the water is driven out of them by centrifugal force through the perforations into the outer casing, on the same principle as water from a mop which is trundled. As may be imagined, the terrific velocity and vibration of such a machine is an element of danger, and in the event of a cast-iron case bursting, the fragments are hurled with a force which will wreck the room or shed in which it stands, and prove fatal to any bystander.

In the same way the “calender machine” has been adapted to laundry work, and is now commonly found in quite small laundries; it consists of huge steam or gas heated cylinders, varying from 4 to 8 or 9 feet long, either revolving singly in a metal bed, as in the case of the “decoudun,” or on each other, as in the case of the multiple-roller calenders. The machine is tended by quite young girls from thirteen years old and upwards, who stand in front to “feed” the edge of the material into the “bite” of the rollers or over the “lip” of the decoudun. The linen is gradually drawn in under the hot, revolving rollers, which thus “iron” it smooth and glossy, a cloud of steam arising as each damp article passes under the roller. Constant care is required to so put the work under the machine that the hands are not also drawn under; want of attention may be followed by an accident, and even where care is exercised the fingers may be entangled in a string or hole in the material and the hand thus drawn in. The heat given off by these machines is sometimes very great; a temperature of over 90° F. may be registered even in winter on the feeding-step in front of this machine, at which little girls stand all day long.

It would be difficult to enumerate in detail all the various machines and appliances now used in laundries; washing machines in endless and bewildering variety, hydro-extractors, mangling and starching machines, calenders, collar and cuff-ironers, shirt-bosom polishers, blouse ironers, skirt ironers, body-linen ironers, curling machines (to give the desired curl to collars), gophering-machines (which give the wave to frills), electric or gas-heated irons and drying closets, through which hot blasts are driven by mechanical “fans,” are some of the contrivances which are in common use.

The change in the nature of the occupation is naturally accompanied by a change in the conditions of work which now assimilate in all but the degree of legislative regulation to those in ordinary factories or workshops. As in other industries, the adoption of machinery has resulted in a large increase in the employment of young and of comparatively unskilled labour, for girls of fourteen or sixteen years can tend machines, the operations of which, if accomplished by hand, could only be undertaken by older or more skilled workers. Where only one girl under eighteen years was employed eight or nine years ago, now dozens are to be found as machine tenders.

In endeavouring to present as saliently as possible the most striking feature of the present position of this trade, namely, its development into a factory industry, and the strides with which it is ranging itself alongside others in this respect, reference has been purposely delayed to that section which, though relatively decreasing, is still of course large, in which only hand labour is employed. Here the interesting feature is the steady decrease in the size of the average hand-laundry. Large hand-laundries are becoming rare, for, unless they do a peculiar class of work, they cannot hope to compete with similar or smaller-sized ones in which mechanical power is employed. On the other hand, the very small hand-laundries, where from one to five or six women are employed, still of course exist in large numbers, and are for the most part carried on in little dwelling-houses. The house-mother who endeavours to support her family by tailoring, shirtmaking, boot-closing, knitting, artificial flower-making, or by handwork of any kind carried on in her own living rooms, may feel assured that, uncomfortable and wretched as her home may in consequence become, it is and must be infinitely less wretched, unhealthy, and disorganised than the home of the woman who in a small town dwelling-house takes in washing as a means of livelihood. The discomforts of the family “wash day” are extended to all the other days in the week, and are increased tenfold. It is impossible to wash without creating steam, which makes the air heavy and condenses on ceilings, walls, and furniture, saturating them with a clammy moisture. It is impossible to “dry” in smoky towns during the greater part of the year except under cover, and the flapping wet material hung all day and all night across the rooms, the passages, or the tiny backyard, excludes air and light, even apart from the other objections. It is impossible to iron without fire or stoves which raise the temperature, until not only the tiny room but the whole house becomes oppressively hot, and the “close” smell, always so noticeable in small town houses, is seriously aggravated when piles of soiled linen are sorted and dealt with.

Sometimes the washing is done in a basement room, to light or ventilate which is practically impossible; and one has only to stand in such a place where, with the best will in the world, proper drainage of the sloppy floor is impossible, where the heat in summer and the damp in winter are alike excessive, to realise vividly that of all industries laundry work is perhaps the least suitable to the home. A common plan in certain crowded parts of London, and one much favoured by foreign immigrants, is to let in lodgings the single rooms on the floors above the ground, and to carry on such a “laundry” below, with the help of one or two other women. The steam, heat, and smell are sometimes overpowering, while the work is continued till far into the night.

The effect of the occupation on the health of those engaged in it is not very easy to gauge, because most of the diseases to which such persons are rendered peculiarly liable by the nature of the occupation are those which might be induced by many other causes. It is much to be hoped that before long the registration of the occupation of women as well as of men, in all hospitals and infirmaries, and in certificates of death, will make the comparison of this with other industries possible in this respect.

It is impossible that the heat and steam, the exhausting manual labour (all of which is done standing), and above all the excessively long hours of work in this ill-regulated industry, can fail to have a marked effect on the health of the workers as a class. In 1893 and 1894, when inquiry as to these conditions preceded the passing of the Act of 1895, the periods of work of women and young girls were found to be excessively long--and they are still not only very long, but extraordinarily irregular. The most immediately obvious effect on health is to be found in the prevalence, among these workers, of ulcers on the legs and varicose veins. It would perhaps be hardly credited by any who are not intimately acquainted with them, to what extent these poor women suffer in this respect. To stand at work all day is the lot of many industrial workers, but in no other woman’s industry is this form of suffering so serious. In certain well-defined laundry districts in West London an inquiry at the Poor Law Infirmaries, to which, and not to the Hospitals, the poor women suffering from this troublesome and painful ailment most naturally resort, demonstrated the peculiar liability of laundry workers in this respect.

The districts to which the following figures (taken from the Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories) relate are those in which industrial workers--although not perhaps employed to the same extent as laundry workers--reside in greater numbers, and to the Poor Law Infirmaries, to which they therefore gravitate to even greater extent.

TABLE A.[150]

Wandsworth: Clapham Infirmary (including Battersea).

+----------------+----+------------+-----------++------------+-----------+ | | | Suffering | || Pulmonary | | | 1899. | No.| from Ulcers|Proportion.||Consumption.|Proportion.| | | | of Legs. | || | | +----------------+----+------------+-----------++------------+-----------+ |Laundresses | 247| 36 | 1 in 6 || 21 | 1 in 11 | |Women other than| | | || | | | Laundresses |1171| 50 | 1 in 23 || 63 | 1 in 19 | | | | | || | | | 1900. | | | || | | |Laundresses | 199| 27 | 1 in 7 || 18 | 1 in 11 | |Women other than| | | || | | | Laundresses |1127| 41 | 1 in 27 || 59 | 1 in 19 | +----------------+----+------------+-----------++------------+-----------+

TABLE B.

Isleworth Infirmary (includes Acton, Chiswick, Brentford).

+----------------+----+------------+-----------++------------+-----------+ | | | Suffering | || Pulmonary | | | 1898. | No.| from Ulcers|Proportion.||Consumption.|Proportion.| | | | of Legs. | || | | +----------------+----+------------+-----------++------------+-----------+ |Laundresses | 58| 9 | 1 in 6 || 6 | 1 in 10 | |Women other than| | | || | | | Laundresses | 179| 7 | 1 in 25 || 7 | 1 in 25 | | | | | || | | | 1899. | | | || | | |Laundresses | 79| 13 | 1 in 6 || 9 | 1 in 9 | |Women other than| | | || | | | Laundresses | 218| 7 | 1 in 31 || 11 | 1 in 20 | +----------------+----+------------+-----------++------------+-----------+

The transference of most of the work in laundries from comparatively elderly women to quite young girls, who are thus at an immature age brought under conditions which no thoughtful or educated person will deny are in every respect trying, is an aspect of the subject to which it is important to direct attention; seventy, seventy-two, seventy-six hours a week, exclusive of meal times, are not uncommonly worked by girls of fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen years of age, and although these long hours are nominally illegal, it is practically impossible to give general effect to the law. This work is not the light and often pleasant occupation of sewing or folding. It is not done sitting down. From morning to night these young girls are constantly standing, they are generally tending machines, the majority of which are specially heated, and they work in an atmosphere in which steam, which is nearly always present, makes the high temperature far more oppressive than would be the case if the air were not thus artificially saturated to an excessive degree with moisture. Steam rises from the calenders and various machines. It is given off also by the damp clothes, which in many laundries, even large ones, hang drying or airing overhead or on “horses” in the room. The conditions in this respect are often at least as trying as in any spinning-mill, and the hours, during which the girls are exposed to them, very much longer.

Ironers suffer from headaches and sore eyes, which result from constantly bending over the gas-heated irons in general use. The fumes from the tiny gas-jets--unless these and the air supply to each iron are very carefully regulated--are disagreeably noticeable on entering the room, and sometimes even the laundry, and are of course worst of all just above the iron so heated. It is to be remembered that the material handled is not new or in the first instance clean, and unless sufficient care is taken to keep the “sorting” room in laundries in proper condition, the result is sure to be insanitary.

In small hand and “factory” laundries, a practice is to be found which cannot be too severely deprecated, of employing as a “drying-room” for the washed linen the same little room in which the foul linen is sorted on its arrival. The room has a stove in the middle of it, and the washed linen is hung on lines drawn across it, and, with door and window closely shut, is left all day and often all night till dry.

It may be taken as an axiom that when on entering the premises the peculiar “close” smell is noticeable, there the conditions are bad. Of all the disagreeable smells that are to be found, the heavy odour of an ill-ventilated laundry or wash-house is one of the worst; “it seems to cling to one’s lips till one tastes it,” was the expression used by one who frequently visits laundries. To this discomfort the “sorters” are peculiarly exposed. As Miss Squire says: “It is hardly perhaps realised how great are the demands that this branch of laundry-work makes upon the physical and mental powers of the workers, usually young women of good education, and the constant standing, the unpleasant, if not the insanitary nature of the work for the first part of the week during the “sorting” process, and the great care and attention required during the latter part, when collecting, checking, and packing separately each customer’s linen.” “I visited,” says Miss Anderson, “one hand laundry in London where a packer and sorter had been driven into a hospital with sores on her legs from long standing; every day in the week she had been working from 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. with indefinite meal-times, and on Sundays the whole morning, giving out parcels to customers. This girl eventually left the hospital on crutches, and at that time I found her successor in a fair way to losing her health also.”[151]

The reply of the women themselves, when questioned on the subject, is nearly always the same, and its reiteration is impressive: “I don’t know that it’s anything particular as carries us off; but we are just wore out in no time.” “There’s nothing like this life for wearing you out.” “We’re old women at forty.” “It’s a harder life than any, is a laundry; it wears you out very soon.” “For one strong one that’ll stand it, there’s a many and many fair wore out by it before they’ve lived half a life.”

It would be interesting to test the accuracy of this general impression which is shared by many medical and philanthropic persons who are interested in laundry-workers, if figures were available on which to base a calculation of the “expectation of life” among these women. “Worn out while still young,” is the expression constantly used by those whose professional work brings them into contact with these women when speaking of the effect of the occupation on health.

It is frequently asserted that laundry women as a class are intemperate and rougher than most industrial workers. That they are peculiarly irregular in their habits it is impossible to deny; and that the long hours, the discomfort and exhaustion due to constant standing in wet and heat, discourage the entrance into the trade of a better class of worker is certain. This latter cause, however, will operate less and less strongly as the environment improves. They may at present be characterised as a hard-working, impulsive, short-tempered body of women, the control of whom, under the existing irregular conditions which have been thoughtlessly and unnecessarily encouraged, is not to be lightly undertaken by a man without a fair amount of physical and moral courage. The prevalence of the drink habit among many of them, of which so much is said, is not difficult to account for: the heat of an atmosphere often laden with particles of soda, ammonia, and other chemicals, has a remarkably thirst-inducing effect; the work is for the most part exhausting, even apart from the conditions, and the pernicious habit of quenching the thirst, and stimulating an overtired physical condition, with beer. The ten minutes or quarter-hour “lunch” of “beer” is common, and the “beerman,” who goes his rounds at 10 A.M. and 6 or 7 P.M. to all the laundries, delivering his cans of beer from the nearest public house, is an institution which is, I believe, unknown in any other trade. Imagine the amazement of the master of a mill or weaving factory if his employés were to stop in a body for a quarter of an hour twice a day between meals to drink beer! Yet in many laundries the beer is kept on the premises for the purpose, and it is certain that as long as time thus wasted (to put it on the lowest grounds) can be made up by each separate woman “working it out” at the end of the day, irregular dawdling and intemperate habits will be encouraged. On the other hand, a woman who is expected on Thursdays or Fridays to be in the laundry from 8 or 8.30 in the morning till 9 or 10 or 11 at night, may claim with some show of reason that only by some kind of spur can she keep her overtired body from flagging.

None deplore this discreditable and unsatisfactory practice more than the better and more progressive among the laundry employers, but the abolition of it rests practically with them.

Little has been said about the legal regulation of hours of work. Were the conditions in this trade to be raised by the exercise of modern ingenuity and wise organisation--above all, by whole-hearted adoption of effectual means of counteracting the very trying conditions, which it is best frankly to own are otherwise an essential accompaniment of the work--there is no reason why it should not rank as one of the best of the non-textile industries.

LUCY A. E. DEANE.

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XLVIII. FISH-CURING AND FRUIT-PRESERVING

It would probably seem to the casual observer that of all industries in which women are employed, none are less likely to cause injury to health than those connected with fish. Visions arise of the fisherman’s wife, who from the minute the fishing-boat grates on the beach relieves her husband of all labour, taking the burden of the active work and the sole responsibility for all connected with the fish and the nets; of the Newhaven fishwife, so familiar in the streets of Edinburgh, as she trudges from door to door bearing with apparent ease the enormous creel of fish, and her almost equally surprising burden of petticoats, and of everything one has heard or read of the fisher lass. These visions and traditions would seem to justify the view that whatever there may be in her life that is hard, and for which the dweller in towns might be found unfit, the woman who has from her infancy been accustomed to an outdoor life and to constant exposure to wind and weather, will, in this work, have fitness and endurance which it would be difficult to overtax.

Yet it is not inappropriate to give some space to this industry in a book on Occupation Diseases, and in order to arrive at the reason for its inclusion, it is necessary to look at the history of the development of the fish-curing industry and the conditions of work.

Far away in remote districts of Scotland and Ireland, there may still be found surviving the hand industry of wool-carding and spinning, carried on often by the crofter’s or shepherd’s wife as she sits, singing no doubt appropriate songs, on the hillside or at her peat fire, but in nothing can this be compared with the great wool-spinning industry of the Yorkshire mills. Similarly in the fish-curing trade, the work of the women who concern themselves only with the catch of one small fishing-boat is totally different from that of those who are centred round a fish market, who go from port to port, and to whom the trawler, the drifter, the steam liner, and a huge fleet of sail boats, bring in daily tons of fish.

In a country with such a coastline as ours, with its shores washed by many seas, it follows as a matter of course that all parts of the United Kingdom are industrially interested in fishing, but in Scotland chiefly it is a staple industry; and the Scots, in some parts of the country, might be called a nation of fisher folk, so large a proportion of the population depend, if not for their entire living, at least for the chief part of it, on the harvest of the sea. The figures given in the last published report of the Scotch Fishery Board show that almost 90,000 Scots were employed in connection with the various branches of the sea fisheries, of whom probably at least a fourth are women, constantly or intermittently engaged in fish-curing.

The industry, leaving out of account the packing of fish for sale fresh, which is done from the market, not the workshop, may be divided roughly into two varieties, the one dealing with herring, the other with haddocks, cod, and other white-fleshed fish. It is with the former I wish to deal chiefly here, although the latter has also a record of injury caused by overwork and bad conditions.

There does not appear to be reason to fear that the demand both at home and abroad for Scotch-cured herrings will diminish. The industry, while fluctuating yearly, both locally and generally, grows as a whole in extent, and is largely in the hands of Scotch workers, even in the ports in England in which it is carried on. There is a huge trade to foreign ports in cured or pickled herrings, for which there is apparently an unlimited demand in Russia and Germany; and an immense quantity are exported also to the Mediterranean ports. The women employed (if we consider, as the English curer does, that Northumberland is part of Scotland as far as the fishing industry is concerned) are practically all Scotch. They are engaged by the curer for the season as long as that lasts in one port, or may be engaged for a longer period, or indeed for the whole “herring” year by the same curer. At any rate, they find little difficulty in securing engagements, and, in May and June, we find them very far north: Stornoway and Thurso being the centres of the industry. In July, there is a move eastwards on the part of the herring, and consequently of the herring curers, and for two months Shetland, Wick, Fraserburgh, and Peterhead are the chief headquarters. Later, the same women may be found doing the same work on the Yorkshire and the Lincolnshire coasts, and in October they move to Lowestoft and Yarmouth, where their season probably ends about Christmas time. A certain number also may be found in Hull, kippering herrings in the early part of the year, before making their way home north for a sight of friends and home, before beginning the work of a new season.

The chief causes of injury to health in the industry are two: (1) long and irregular hours of work; (2) exposure. Uncertainty of supply, both of fish and of wind, are of course important factors in the trade; and, so far, little enterprise has been shown in overcoming the resulting difficulties by adopting even such methods as are known to a careful housekeeper, of keeping the fish, which undoubtedly, when left unprotected and piled in heaps, soon begin to deteriorate. The curer’s object is to have the fish dealt with as soon as possible after they are landed, both to prevent deterioration and in order to be ready for the next supply. Hence the long hours, the night work, the absence of regular hours or of intervals sufficient for meals.

The method of housing the workers adds to the discomforts occasioned by the methods of work. In Scotland it is customary for the curer to utilise for this purpose the sheds used in winter as stores, handing them over unfurnished, save for grates and rough boards put together to form bedsteads, in the proportion of one bedstead for one crew. The workers bring their own furniture, bedding, and cooking utensils, and live as they work, in crews of three; generally six, nine, or twelve in a room according to its size. It is not surprising that the frying-pan and the tea-pot fill a large place in their domestic arrangements, and that their diet is as a rule as expensive as it is indigestible. If they are not so housed, the probability is that their lodging is a long way from their workplace, too far to admit of them returning for meals, and they take these in the wet and unwholesome atmosphere of the fish-house.

The second drawback to this work is the exposure. In early summer in Lewis (where the absence of any real darkness makes it easy to continue work all through the night), with the rain falling softly probably, as is its custom in the west, but none the less effectively; later on in the east, exposed to the scorching mid-day heat; and still later on, on the Norfolk coast in frost, wind, and rain, working far into the night, by the light of flaring torches, such is the yearly experience of the herring curer. The reason given for the present conditions in each place is that the season is short, a month or two out of the year only. True, the season is short for the town, but it is long for the worker, living a nomadic life for eight to ten months out of twelve, either in barracks or in lodgings, too often enduring the maximum of discomfort both in and out of her working hours. Since the work, unlike most of an outdoor nature, can be carried on in bad as in good weather, it is reasonable to expect that some covering should be provided, so that the worker shall not be wetted through and through, and compelled to stand in mud as she works. Should the occupation be ever transformed from an outdoor to an indoor industry, there would necessarily be a loss of those picturesque sights with which many of us have become familiar, but there would be a distinct gain in improved health to the workers, for the unsatisfactory health of many of the women is the direct result of the conditions under which their work is carried on. Rheumatism, bronchitis, and the pulmonary troubles, from which so many of them suffer, are consequent upon exposure to inclement weather, but the derangements of the digestive organs and the tendency for the workers to contract, often too in a severe form, epidemic diseases with which they are brought into contact, are the result of their generally lowered physical condition, due to their unhealthy mode of living. The very ground they stand on is often a menace to health, for in the absence of proper paving and drainage, the earth becomes impregnated with decaying organic matter, which “smells to heaven,” and creates a constantly foul atmosphere not completely counteracted by the open-air surroundings. The long spell of work, the irregular and hastily cooked and eaten meals, and overcrowded rooms, all tend to lower vitality and render the system an easy prey to disease. No one will deny that an allowance of 250 cubic feet of space for each person, in a room which serves as a living room, as well as bedroom, for six to twelve persons, is too small, yet a smaller allowance of space is frequently found.

I have spoken of the workers at the pickling or gutting and packing process, leaving out of account the numbers employed in kippering, who, while also nomadic, yet work on different terms as regards wages, etc. Each worker is engaged separately, not as part of a crew, and as a rule she has to find her own lodgings. The nature of the employment obliges the kipperer to work in a covered place, but she, equally with the “gutter” working outside, is injuriously influenced by the imperfect sanitary conditions dependent upon unpaved or badly-paved floors that cannot be cleansed by simply being flushed with water. Only properly constructed floors with good means of drainage are of value here, and these are seldom seen. Ventilation and daylight are acknowledged to be desirable to maintain health, but the little kippering shop is too frequently without them. As a set-off against the unhealthiness of the trade, it is urged that the season is short, but if we take the interests of the workers into account, the season, as I have shown, is not short, and there can be no justice in depriving the woman who works in a trade which requires her to be in several places in a year, of those privileges to which she would be entitled were she working in one which permitted her to live always at home.

Among the minor ills from which the herring curer suffers, are the severe cuts which it is impossible to avoid, and which are rendered exceedingly painful by the constant use of salt, necessary in her work. This often causes sores which take a long time to heal. Cases of mild forms of blood poisoning are not infrequent, caused chiefly by the sting of the jelly-fish, which is often found with its tentacles wound round the herring.

In considering this question, it must be remembered that this branch of the industry is not one in which young girls work. I am of opinion that not more than 3 per cent. are under eighteen years of age. Were it otherwise, there would undoubtedly be a much darker picture to draw of ill-health, for the adult is able to withstand more than the young undeveloped girl, and the evil effects are not so rapidly apparent. The subject is one on which anything more than general statements are difficult to make, for only a little of the injury is discoverable at any one of the curing stations. When ill-health overtakes her, the thought of the worker turns to home, and it is to the little fishing villages, and among the crofters of the north, that one must go to learn the full record of the fisher woman’s life. It is impossible to doubt that the fish-curing industry has much to answer for, possessing as it does, in addition to the unfavourable surroundings of insanitary districts, evils peculiar to itself. The history of many a worker is one of steady deterioration of health during the time of her employment in this industry.

In the other branches of the trade, such as the curing and smoking of haddocks, cod, ling, etc., and the preserving and tinning of fish, the workers are drawn much more generally from the immediate locality. It is in these that young labour is found, especially and increasingly in the processes in which the hours and conditions are not regulated by law, the period of employment at times abnormally long, and the conditions of the workplaces far from satisfactory. Trying as these are to every one, it is to the young and undeveloped workers that they most often cause lasting injury. The employment of children, too, out of school hours and during school holidays, in these laborious processes, is not to their physical advantage.

The hopeful feature is that the evils are avoidable. The exemptions from Public Health and Factory and Workshop Acts, which the fish-curer has been allowed, have not been for the benefit either of the worker or the consumer. With definite enactment and administration, with regulated hours and sanitary workplaces, impetus would be given, I believe, to better regulation of the industry itself, and there being nothing necessarily unhealthy in the work, we should gradually find our fisher population becoming what with their ancestry and industry they ought to be--worthy successors of those who, in the annals of history, have never been found wanting in strength and endurance.

The Preserving of Fruit.

The preserving of fruit has only of recent years become an industry of any importance. The costliness of sugar made jam formerly a luxury for which the demand was small, and the great bulk of it used was made not in the factory or workshop, but in the domestic kitchen. Few housewives would, in those past days, admit the use of bought jam; now its reduced price has brought it within the reach of all who are without the appliances or knowledge to make it, or space in which to store it. The industry is carried on in all varieties of workplaces, from the large country factory in a fruit-growing district, to the little dingy workshop in a crowded city street, and largely by women and young girls. Jam-making is not an intricate process, whether made outright in the fruit season, or only partially, to be completed as required during the remainder of the year; it is simple and easily carried on, for the most part, by unskilled workers. Still the work is not light, and although there are many appliances which help to render it less hard and exhausting, these are not in general use, and the workers are exposed, as a rule, to danger both to health and limb. Burns and scalds from the boiling mixture, and injury from falls on slippery floors, may not be wholly unavoidable in this trade; but the risk from them can be reduced greatly by using proper means of pouring and conveying jam, and by limiting the amount which a worker shall be allowed or expected to carry. One cannot but view with concern the increasing number of youthful workers now employed, especially during the summer months, when, owing to a relaxation of the Factory Act, the industry is largely outside the sphere of legislative control. Long hours, too, go, as is often the case, hand in hand with bad conditions.

In quite a number of industries among which jam-making may be included, wetness really forms the chief menace to health. In the textile industry the danger from this cause has been so much recognised, that by means of the Cotton Cloth Act and by Special Rules, provision is made for the health of the workers where they are exposed to moisture. In the law relating to steam laundries, the removal of steam is specially provided for. In jam manufacture, there is of necessity the production of moisture. Where the means for removing it are effective, little discomfort or injury may result, but unfortunately in the rapid development of the industry, buildings unsuitable for the purpose have often been chosen; disused factories, intended primarily for quite other purposes, and not easily adaptable to their present use. In these, consequently, the work is done at a risk to health.

When you enter the boiling-room of one of these factories, you are often conscious only of steam, steam which cannot be seen through, which envelopes you, wetting and chilling at the same time. As you penetrate it you find that there are workers there, young girls often, thinly clad, thin and pale, and as you stand and talk to them, the condensed steam drops down on you and them from the roof, so that you are not surprised that the thin cotton dresses they wear are saturated, and even their hair is dripping wet. In the resigned manner characteristic of this class of worker, they admit that it is “a bit steamy,” possibly assuring you at the same time in husky voices, which go far to belie their words, that it has never done them any harm. Under foot there is again wetness, partly due to the steam, partly to the water, hot and cold, which must be used with some lavishness, and which in factories, not constructed with a special view to such an industry as this, lodges in pools, lies between the flags and bricks of the floor in crevices, to which much of the refuse of the factory finds its way. There it lies decomposing, affecting injuriously the health of the workers, and hastening the deterioration of the fresh fruit.

Jam-making is classed as a season trade, and although employment for the permanent workers is usually continuous throughout the year, it is in the summer months that there is the greatest pressure, and large numbers of casual workers are employed. To meet this pressure, the usual limits set by the Factory Acts have been relaxed, and long spells of work, with shortened meal-times, are further elements in rendering the worker less efficient and more liable to contract disease. The effects of these conditions are not seen at once, they are gradual and insidious in their action, but it is only the constitution much above the average which can withstand them. The prevalence of bronchitis and other chest diseases, and of rheumatism and lumbago of a chronic character, although often not of a specially severe type, is due to causes which are, or should be, preventable.

The two industries, fish-curing and fruit-preserving, have many points in common, notably that in both: (1) the material dealt with is of a perishable nature, liable to deterioration; (2) the pressure of work is not continuous throughout the year; (3) the industry is not fully controlled by the Factory Acts. To the effects from these causes all that renders these trades at present dangerous or injurious to health may be attributed. If the economic value of the health of the worker is recognised, it will not be impossible to secure conditions which, being primarily intended for her benefit, shall incidentally tend also to the improvement of the industries.

Note.--This chapter was written before the Factory Bill of 1901 passed into law. It should, owing to the provisions of that Bill, be possible in future for H.M. Inspectors to exercise some control over some of the conditions relating to health in these trades.

MARY M. PATERSON.

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XLIX. WOMEN’S LABOUR IN TINPLATE WORKS

Tinplates, the material of which canisters, tin boxes, etc., are made, are plates of iron or of steel, which have been dipped in baths of molten tin; the tin unites by this process with the iron or steel, and coats it completely. The secret of tinning plates was brought into England from Saxony at the end of the seventeenth century, and the first works were opened at Pontypool. South Wales still retains the chief part of this trade; a few tinplate works are to be found on the banks of the Severn and in the Midlands, but the majority are in Monmouthshire, Glamorgan, and Carmarthen. In these counties great tinplate works, either singly or in groups, or in a long line at intervals of a mile or so down the still beautiful valleys, are to be seen and heard, pouring out volumes of smoke from tall chimneys, and sending up the ceaseless clang and roll of resounding metal--literally ceaseless, for the work goes on night and day, with shifts of men and boys. More unlikely places in which to find women and girls than these iron and steel works where tinplates are made it would be difficult to imagine, yet there are hundreds of them in those of South Wales, and a few in some of the works in England. Before the Factory Acts restricted their hours of labour, women and girls worked all night through in tinplate works with the men and boys, and such employment seems to have lingered long in these out-of-the-way places, for the older women remember the night alarm of the inspector’s visit and the rush from the works out into the darkness, and the quiet stealing home so as not to be caught. Now, boys working in a night-shift take the place of women and girls in the continuous processes. The actual manufacture of the tinplate as distinct from the manufacture of the material is divided into two distinct departments: (1) The preparation of the iron or steel into plates of the required size and thickness, or rather thinness, and the smoothing and cleaning of their surfaces; (2) the tinning of the plates and their subsequent cleaning, polishing, and packing up.

The first set pf processes is carried on in the mills, the second in the tinhouses; the chief part of the work is done by men and boys, but in both the mills and the tinhouses women and girls find occupation. Their labour falls into five main divisions; in some tinhouses there are also found others subsidiary to these five:--

(1) Opening.--Separating the plates which have in the process of rolling been almost welded together.

(2) Washing.--Cleansing the plates in water.

(3) Pickling.--Lading and unlading the cradle with plates for the pickler (a man) to immerse in dilute sulphuric acid.

(4) Rubbing or Dusting.--Rubbing the tinned plates with bran, meal, or mineral powder to remove grease and polish the surface.

(5) Counting and Packing.--Ordinary warehouse processes.

The first three of these processes are carried on in the mills, the last two in the tinhouses and warehouses. Different as are the conditions of occupation in the various processes, all the employés are subject alike to certain conditions: in all departments there is exposure to the weather, the works being more or less open on all sides; everywhere there is noise which in the mills is deafening, danger to life and limb from locomotives and trucks in motion, from red-hot metal, from sharp-edged plates, and scraps strewn about, so that the whole works appears one vast rubbish heap; in all departments alike the lifting and carrying of heavy loads are part of the ordinary work. There is also the association of men and women, lads and girls, working together in these great open works where supervision is impossible, and where, unfortunately, proper provision for women’s convenience, often even for elementary decency, is too often conspicuous by its absence.

In the Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories for 1888, Mr Whymper gives a graphic description of tinplate works and the various processes of manufacture, only touching upon the part taken by women and girls, and time seems to have made little or no change in either works or processes.

A few remarks must now be made on the special conditions of each of the processes in which women are employed.

1. Opening.--Mr Whymper has well described this process as follows: “Holding the plate upright on a stand of the proper height, her right hand fitted with the much-needed guard, she first breaks down the plate’s upper edges with a sort of knife, and starts asunder the tops of the layers which the rolling-mill has pressed together temporarily into one piece. Then having thus got something to take hold of, she wrenches them asunder in their whole lengths, one after another, and lays them flat before her. These at last are the required black plates, the result of so much and such varied labour.” Strength and skill are required for this work; there is some danger of overstrain in lifting the heavy plates, but an opener is more at liberty to suit her load to her strength than are the women and girls in the other departments. The sharp edges of the plates inflict nasty cuts upon the hands in spite of the guards worn, and serious accidents have occurred by women stumbling and falling against the upright plates; one young woman had her arm cut open from wrist to elbow in this way. Fine particles of steel and iron fly off in the forcing open of the layers, and it is surprising that injuries to the eyes are not more frequent. Some doctors well acquainted with these works consider that much injury is caused to the men by inhaling these particles of metal present in the air of the mills, and that the women are more injuriously affected than they themselves know, chest diseases in later life resulting from this cause. The openers are a somewhat superior class to the other women in tinplate works, from whom they hold themselves aloof: their hours, too, are much shorter than those of the others, usually from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M., and they come and go as they like.

2. Washers.--These women wash the metal plates in large tanks of water; they carry loads of these heavy, sharp-edged plates, and immerse them in the tanks, the displaced water splashes over the edge of the tank upon the washer, and falls upon the floor. With sleeves rolled up above the elbow, bending over the tank, the woman raises the plates again, and carries them to stack at a little distance, the water pouring from her load down her dress and into her boots. As the same process is repeated again and again the whole day long, it is not surprising that her clothes are saturated even through the sacking tied on as an apron. Nothing more unsuitable for the occupation than the dress of the washer could well be imagined--several thin articles of clothing hanging wet upon her, the dress and petticoat long enough to draggle in the pools of water on the broken flagged or slushy mud floor, and flapping heavily against her ankles, and upon her feet men’s boots filled with water oozing through the eyelet-holes. Rheumatism, colds, and chills are regarded as inseparable, at any rate in winter, from the work of washing tinplates, and other ills consequent upon this wet condition are complained of. Yet the wearing of a waterproof apron (which should be provided by the employer), and of short skirts, woollen under-garments, and clogs, would prevent nearly all the discomfort and risk to health now endured by all these women. The provision of properly paved and drained floors, such as the Factory Acts require in all laundries, might reasonably be looked for from the occupiers of tinplate works, and were mechanical means employed, as in the bottle-washing departments in aerated water works for, lowering into the tanks and raising from them the articles to be washed, the work would be less unsuitable for women than it is at present.

3. Pickling.--The roughest and dirtiest, and perhaps the most unhealthy occupation for women in the works is that of the “picklers’ assistants.” These girls work in gangs under the man who has the contract for cleaning the plates in dilute sulphuric acid. Their work is to lade and unlade the cradles in which the plates placed in racks are lowered by the pickler into the steaming tanks of acid. Backwards and forwards the girls move with armfuls of plates, carrying each time weights of thirty pounds and upwards, first filling the racks and then removing from them the wet plates fresh from the tanks. The clothing of the girls becomes saturated like that of the washers. It is not only their health that suffers; the girls are “soaked through to the skin” as they say, not with plain water, but with the “pickle,” which rapidly destroys both their upper and under garments, and also the leather of their boots and clogs.

The strength of the solution of sulphuric acid used in different works varies considerably according to the class of plate manufactured, and consequently the degree of discomfort and ill-health to those exposed to its fumes varies also. The peculiar smell of the acid pervades the entire works, and is encountered sometimes at some distance from them. In the pickling department itself it is very strong; here the huge tanks of pickle emit volumes of steam, which only under very favourable conditions of weather and exceptional structural arrangements rises and escapes from the building; usually it hangs about the workers, or blows in clouds across the open shed, irritating throat and eyes. Where the solution used is a strong one, the workers suffer much from running of the eyes, dryness of the throat, and smarting of lips and face, from what they describe as a “stifled feeling,” and from nausea and giddiness; the teeth become black, and the hair is said by the workers to fall out. When the strongest solution is used, the girls tie handkerchiefs across their mouths and cover the hair completely. But in most cases a weaker solution is employed, and very little complaint of ill-health is made; the workers believe that the pickle gives them an appetite and keeps off infectious illness. In Switzerland, by a decree of 1898, pregnant women are forbidden to work where there is any emanation of sulphuric acid, lifting heavy weights, or violent shocks, conditions which are combined in the pickling department of tinplate works.

The only special health provision of the Factory Acts at present applied to tinplate works is the order of the Secretary of State, dated December 1882, prohibiting meals being taken in departments “where metal is dipped in acid solution.” This excludes women and young persons from the pickling department during meal hours, but as no other place is provided where meals can be eaten under shelter by those whose homes are at a far distance, this rule is frequently disregarded.

4. Tin-houses.--Large numbers of quite young girls, young persons from thirteen to eighteen years of age, are employed in this work, which is that of rubbing the tinned plates with bran, meal, or fine mineral dust to remove all grease and polish the surfaces of the plates. This process is largely done by hand, but machines have superseded hand-rubbing in some works. Where they are in use, girls are still employed to tend the machines, but fewer are required than when all the work is done by hand. The girls work in the tinhouses standing, whether at the tables heaped with bran or at the machines, at right angles to the tinning stacks where the tinman and his assistants are working. The plates are passed on hot from the tinning-pot to the girls, who push them backwards and forwards through the heaped “bran” before them; or if this first process has been done by the machine, the girls pass the plates through the power-driven sheepskin rollers. In either case the fine dust rises into the face of the worker, covers her hair and dress, and diffuses through the air of the tinhouse, which frequently is filled as with a fog with this light, floating dust. This being inhaled, produces more or less injurious effects, according to the nature of the dust and the susceptibilities of the individual. In some works the irritation to the throat is so great as to make speech almost impossible, and complaints of cough and “stuffing up” of the chest are numerous, while in others, whatever may be the ultimate result on the lungs, no discomfort, after once the worker has become used to the conditions, seems to be felt.

A most objectionable feature of the employment of young girls in the tinhouse is the carrying of heavy loads. As this is not essential to the work, and could be done by boy or man with a specially constructed truck or trolly, it is greatly to be deplored. The plates which have been rubbed accumulate upon the table, and must be removed to the warehouse to be weighed and packed, and so at frequent intervals the girl, with both her hands (protected by sheepskin gloves), grasps her pile of plates, and supporting them upon her hip, staggers along to the warehouse. To prevent constant journeys and secure more time for wage-earning (for the “rubbers” are paid so much for a box of plates), the girls carry as much at a time as they possibly can, carrying loads men hesitate to lift. These loads, carried by slight girls of thirteen or fourteen, weighed from 40 to 111 lbs. Injuries known, and unknown, are done by this unnecessary use of young girls as “beasts of burden.”

ROSE E. SQUIRE.

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L. WOMEN’S LABOUR IN AERATED WATER WORKS

In the year 1896 the Dangerous Trades Committee appointed by the Home Office reported on the manufacture and bottling of aerated waters. As a result of this report this industry was scheduled as a dangerous trade, and Special Rules were imposed. The danger--for minimising which regulations have been framed--in this manufacture is not, as is the case with the majority of those to which Special Rules are applied, a danger to health, but to life and limb. The danger is the risk of cuts, more or less severe, from the glass fragments of bursting bottles filled under pressure. The number of such accidents is enormous, inflicting every degree of injury from a skin graze to a cut artery, or the loss of an eye. The number of accidents reportable to the Home Office has been greatly reduced by the wearing of faceguards and gauntlets prescribed by the Special Rules, but it is still very large. Four classes of workers are specially mentioned in the Special Rules as requiring protection by wearing guards--these are bottlers, wirers, sighters, and labellers. The first of these four are exposed to most danger; the bottles frequently burst while in the machine, or more often while being removed from it, but if suitable faceguards and gauntlets are worn no serious injury results. Unless the bottling machines are, in accordance with the Special Rules, carefully fenced off, the danger is very great to all persons in the room; the broken glass, sent by the explosion with enormous force to a considerable distance, has been known to rebound with terrible effect from an object struck in its course, and to hit persons who seemed quite safe. Women and girls are largely employed as bottlers in London, Birmingham, and a few other large towns, but elsewhere this work is done almost exclusively by men; boys are generally employed outside London and Birmingham as wirers, sighters, and labellers, in place of girls. Wiring has disappeared from most aerated water works, the patent stoppers having taken the place of corks in all but a few kinds of aerated waters. Sighters, those who examine the filled bottles to detect specks by holding them up to the light, wirers (where these are employed), and labellers, are the classes of workers who most frequently discard the prescribed guards, or wear them under protest as interfering with their work. The sighters complain that the wire mesh of masks or goggles prevents their seeing the specks in the water; wirers and labellers find that the knitted woollen mittens, which are the kind of gauntlet commonly supplied, impede the movements of the hands; in the one case the handles of the pliers used to twist the wire catch in the worsted, and in the other the mitten becomes stiff and hard with the paste with which the labels are smeared. A satisfactory gauntlet has yet to be invented; the conditions required are that they should be of a material impenetrable to flying glass, soft and pliable, close-fitting, of a size and shape to keep in place over the palm of the hand and up above the elbow; these have not yet been found combined. Objection on the part of the women and girls to wearing faceguards is only met with where the guard supplied to them is unsuitable. The faceguards for girls should be of a smaller size and lighter make than those for men, sufficiently bowed out not to press upon the nose, and long enough to cover the whole chin, throat, and neck; they must be clean, and must be provided with buckle and strap, or some other means of keeping them firmly in position on the head. A mask that presses against the face, or weighs heavily on the head, or shifts from side to side with every movement, or of which the wire mesh is clogged with rust and dirt, is sure to be thrown aside whenever supervision is relaxed.

Another class of workers employed in aerated water factories who are mentioned in the Special Rules as needing to be protected from the danger of bursting bottles are the washers. These women, although handling the empty, not the filled bottles, generally work in the bottling rooms, and unless the bottling machines are well guarded, do meet occasionally with serious accidents, such as the loss of an eye, or an arm cut open. But this is a risk quite apart from the nature of their employment, to which it is most unreasonable that washers should be exposed. A far more serious risk, a risk to health, is incidental to their work; it is that of being constantly wet. No special rules are imposed to protect them from such injury to health arising from their employment, as is the case in wet spinning factories, where women are exposed by their occupation to being constantly wetted. In wet spinning factories the occupier must, unless splashboards are provided, supply to all the workers waterproof overalls or aprons, and floors must be kept in a sound condition, so as to prevent retention or accumulation of water. The bottle-washers stand in great need of protection of the kind specified in these rules. They stand at large tanks full of water, in which the bottles, returned empty by customers, are washed before being refilled for sale. From the point of view of the public health, the history of the water used for this purpose would be of interest--its source, the frequency with which it is changed, and the steps taken to cleanse the tanks. The appearance of the water in the tanks is not, as a rule, attractive, and the notices to washers to reject bottles smelling of paraffin suggest strange uses to which the bottles may be put by customers before they are returned empty. But it is the wetness and coldness of the water, and not its purity or impurity, which affect the washer. Bending over the tank to lower into it or raise from it the bottles being washed, she is very early in the day wet to the skin; the water splashes up from the tank and drips from the wet bottles, and it is no wonder that the usual description given by the washers of their condition is, “We are sopped through to the skin soon after we begin in the morning until we get home at night.” As a consequence, rheumatism, colds, coughs, aches and pains, are the bottle-washers’ constant complaints, and not infrequently one and another of them is laid up for some weeks with more serious results of their wet condition. The wearing of a waterproof apron seems such a simple means of protecting the clothing from getting wet that it is surprising how seldom it is adopted, but such aprons are too expensive for the washers to provide for themselves, and in the few cases where the occupier has supplied them, a small sum has been deducted weekly from the wearer’s wages until the article has been paid for. Usually the only kind of protection is a number of old sacks tied on as an apron; these are better than nothing, but they soon get saturated. In the larger aerated water works the bottle-washing tanks are fitted with automatic means of lowering the bottles into the water and raising them again, and with revolving brushes to cleanse the inside. This labour-saving apparatus also reduces the amount of wetting to which the washer is exposed, and if a splash-board is fitted to the tank, as has been done in a few cases, the women need scarcely get wet at all. Where there is no mechanical contrivance to aid the washer, a splash-board is impracticable, as she must bend low over the tank to reach deep down into it. Grids and boards to stand upon are usually provided, but even where the women have these to stand upon it is of importance that the floor should be properly paved and drained, and kept in good condition. Where this is not done the feet are constantly wet in moving backwards and forwards across the pools of water standing in the broken, uneven floor. Clogs should always be worn in aerated water works, and are in most large factories provided by the employers at the expense of the workers, who pay 3d. or 4d. a week towards them. It would be well if occupiers were to supply all such necessary articles as part of the equipment of the works.

ROSE E. SQUIRE.

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LI. FLAX AND LINEN

Historical, Manufacturing, Hygienic, and Medical.

The manufacture of linen cloth from flax was well known to the ancient Egyptians and other Eastern nations. Reference to linen frequently occurs in the Celtic literature of Ireland. The native Irish usually dyed their linen garments of a yellow or saffron colour. The revival of the industry in the North of Ireland is attributed to the French Huguenots who left France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Several of these refugees settled in Belfast, Lurgan, and Lisburn. One name stands out prominently amongst these people, viz., Louis Crommelin.

Crommelin published, in 1705, a short sketch of the Irish linen trade. It may be more or less interesting to give a few extracts from it, thus:--

“The people are entirely ignorant of the mysteries relating to the manufacture ... the flax being managed by women altogether ignorant as to their choice of the seed or soil, for which reason their flax is too short, and unfit for making good yarn; they do not know when or how to pull their flax, whereby their seed degenerates, and their flax wants strength and substance.... They have no judgment when or how to water or grass their flax, so as to give it a natural colour; and what is yet worse than all, they constantly dry their flax by the fire, which makes it impossible to bleach cloth made of their yarns; for let all the skill and judgment in the world be used to bleach cloth made of different sorts of flax, you can never bring it to a good colour; for till such time as it is woven and bleached, the best artist in nature cannot discover the mischief.... They also use, in cleaning their flax, things which they call “breaks,” which I can in no way approve of.... They spin their long and short flax athwart, which is extremely preposterous, as the flax cannot be spun fine, so the linen is cottony.... The wheels used in spinning are turned by the foot, and have two cords, one going round the wheel and the whirl of the spindle, and the other going round the wheel and the whirl of the spool, which overtwists the thread. Their manner of reeling yarn is one of the greatest grievances, as many honest, industrious men are undone by the deceitful methods now used by the crafty and unfair people in this particular; as, for instance, there is no standard for the measure of reels, and everybody uses such reels as they think fit, for which reason a stranger to the market is imposed upon to his ruin. The cuts and hanks are reeled by several threads, through laziness or wickedness, to the utter ruin of the poor dealers who buy yarn, and think they have good and marketable goods for their money, but find that the whole hank ravels together, and becomes entirely unserviceable, or at the best so troublesome to wind that it is as eligible to lose it as it is to spend so much time and pains to wind it. They ought to mark each cut, or six score threads, as they reel them, and not afterwards, as they now do, which they might do without difficulty. They do likewise intermix, in one and the same hank, yarn of several degrees of fineness, which is a cheat intolerable to buyers.... The looms generally employed in this kingdom for the making of all sorts of linen cloth (excepting diaper and damask) are looms properly disposed, and invented for the making of woollen cloth (save only that they changed the gear, and wrought promiscuously linen and woollen therein). Therefore, it is impossible to use one and the same loom to both material with good success.... The reels are uneven and too thick ... and they make a stuff, of water and meal, without judgment, wherewith they stiffen their warps; and the cloth is made too thin and sleazy, and woven where the weather affects it....”

In 1710 a bleach green, on an improved plan, was established at Lisburn, and a Board of Trustees of the Linen and Hempen Manufacture of Ireland was formed by Act of Parliament in 1711.

North of Ireland farmers purchase their flax seed from local merchants, and it is usually either Dutch or Russian. The farmers never save any of their own flax seed, owing to the local custom of “steeping” the flax, as soon as it is “pulled,” in ponds of water for a certain length of time; it is subsequently removed, spread out in a field to dry, then gathered into bundles, stacked, and eventually taken to the scutch mill. Here it is run through rollers so as to remove the outer coat or bark. The farmer next takes his flax to market, which is visited by the flax buyers from the various spinning mills, and after purchase conveyed to the store, examined and sorted, so as to be used for different kinds of yarn. An analysis of Irish flax fibre made by the late Professor Hodges, M.D., of the Queen’s College, Belfast, gave--

In 100 parts of Ash. Potash 20.32 Soda 2.70 Chloride of sodium 9.27 Lime 19.88 Magnesia 4.05 Oxide of iron 2.83 Sulphuric acid 7.13 Carbonic acid 10.72 Phosphoric acid 10.24 Silica 12.80 ----- 99.94 =====

The presence of silica causes linen cloth always to feel cool; moreover it contains no moisture, thus differing from cotton.

In the “roughing shop” the “rougher” examines a “strick” of flax; giving it a quick pull with his right hand, then, swinging his arm, he leaves the disengaged portion of the fibre on his bench. This is called “piecing,” and its object is to have all the flax as near as possible of the same length. After having obtained a sufficient quantity, he takes up a piece of flax, throws it out behind his shoulder, and draws the same through his “heckle” pins, which are attached to a bench in front of the operator. The next process is running the flax through heckling machines of different kinds, but they are all more or less made on the same principle. These machines are attended to by boys, five or six to each machine. Some mills employ “half-timers”; in other mills the lads are over fourteen years of age, but they are all under the control of a “machine master.” In this department the flax is separated into stricks, fastened by means of screws into a clamp called a “holder,” which runs along the upper part of the machine, on vertical fixed combs. Accidents to the machine boys have been frequent, owing to their attempting to remove a “holder” too soon, or in consequence of wearing a loose shirt sleeve, they get caught, and have their hand or forearm pulled in against the pins. The lads in this room were formerly obliged, by the factory authorities, to wear respirators. These were of simple construction, for they were composed of two pieces of flannel sewed together and fastened by a tape. The boys generally suspended them over their chin or neck instead. The respirators were not at all suitable; they did not cover the nose, they became damp with saliva, foul and malodorous. In frosty weather they irritated the lips. The use of respirators has since been abandoned.

The part of the flax taken off by the pins of the machines is known as “tow.” The pins are kept clean by a brush and doffer arrangement connected with the machine. The boys in a machine room are classified into tow-boys, sweepers, oilers, parcel lads, piecers-out, and cutter boys. The last-mentioned attend to the flax-cutting machine, by which the ends of a strick of flax are cut off by the revolving grooved wheels.

The next stage or process in the manufacture is that of “dressing and sorting,” which is performed by hand. The men employed are called hecklers. In the preparing room, flax is made into sliver by being sorted out on the spread-board by a girl, and then drawn through pins and rollers to produce a ribbon-like band, which is finally deposited in sliver cans. When a bell connected with the drawing frame rings, it is the signal for the girl to break off the sliver. Occasionally the sliver breaks short in its passage, and it is the duty of the attendant then to stop her machine and to put up the end, as it is called. Sometimes her hands are injured by doing this while the machine is in motion. The roving frame is the last machine in use in the preparing department, and has flyers and spindles. The sliver, on coming from the boss rollers, goes into the flyer, a small tube of iron like an inverted V, fixed to the top of a spindle that revolves, and passes through its eye on to a bobbin, revolving on the spindle. This gives a twist to the sliver now called by the name of rove.

All small fibres, etc., of the flax that are taken off during the heckling processes are called tow. This is put through a somewhat different preparation, but eventually it becomes tow sliver and tow yarn. The tow from flax scutching mills is also run through a breaker card, which is a machine consisting of a cylinder of iron 4 or 5 feet in diameter, that turns at a rapid rate of speed, and is covered by a quantity of iron pins of varying size. To it the tow is brought by means of feed sheets, and removed from the cards by a doffer knife.

The rove is spun into yarn in the spinning-room. A recent writer remarks that--

“The process is nearly entirely mechanical, brass rollers, fluted and revolving, taking the place of the primitive rock, and manipulation between the fingers, as practised by the spinning-wheel. The fact of spinning as it is now, being mechanical, cannot be better illustrated than by mentioning that as much yarn can now be spun under the supervision of one woman called a spinner, as could be turned off 400 spinning-wheels by 400 women in the older time.”

The spinning frame has been much improved of late years. The spindles have a velocity of 1000 revolutions or more per minute; the yarn as it goes through the eye of the flyer attached to the end of each spindle is thus properly twisted before it is wound on to a bobbin that revolves on a spindle immediately beneath the flyer. There are “wet” and “dry” spinning. In the former, the yarn goes through a trough of hot water (heated by steam pipes) situated on the top of the spinning frame. When the yarn is being twisted round the bobbins, a quantity of spray is thrown off that wets the clothes of the spinners and doffers, who are obliged to wear waterproof aprons and chest protectors. The workers, however, prefer coarse sacking, which they maintain soaks up the spray, and prevents the water running down over their petticoats, making the lower parts of the body more or less wet. The floor of the spinning room is frequently tiled, and is always covered with more or less water. The atmosphere of the room from this cause and steam jets is thoroughly saturated with moisture. When the bobbins have received enough yarn, the doffing mistress stops the spinning frame, and by the assistance of her doffers--boys and girls, usually “half-timers”--the full bobbins are rapidly removed and replaced by others. The temperature of the spinning-room is usually at least 70° F.

The measuring of yarn into hanks is called “reeling.” Some of the reeling machines, always tended by women, are moved by steam-power, others by hand. When the reel is full, the hanks of yarn are taken to the drying-room, and finally to the bundling department, where they are put up in bunches.

Before being woven into linen cloth, some yarn is bleached, but whether bleached or in the brown state it is taken from the mill to the factory, first going to the winders, who put the yarn on spools. These are then carried to the warpers, who transfer it on to the loom beams. It is dressed or sized and is ready for weaving. The stiffening or dressing applied by the tenters to the yarn before weaving is made from Irish Carragheen Moss, which is very mucilaginous but free from starch, and to it flour and tallow are added. The temperature of the room in which this process is conducted is high, generally from 90° to 125° F., so as to dry the yarn as quickly as possible.

At the bleach green, the brown linen is first boiled in water and lye, next put out on grass; after this it receives another boiling to remove any remaining chemicals, dried, and taken to the beetling engines to be beetled. Subsequently it is lapped into parcels, and is then ready for the market.

Belfast is the centre of the linen trade. My father, Dr C. D. Purdon, formerly Certifying Factory Surgeon for Belfast and the surrounding district, wrote several pamphlets on the flax and linen industries. Many of his suggestions have been adopted. In 1873 he published a pamphlet, “On the Mortality of Flax Mill Workers,” etc., accompanied by tables showing the mortality of different classes. In the compilation of his statistics he had the assistance of the late Dr Newett, Dispensary Medical Officer and subsequently Certifying Surgeon of Ligoneill. W. D. Cramp, Esq., at that time H.M. Inspector of Factories for Belfast and the North of Ireland, likewise gave valuable assistance.

“It will be perceived,” he says, “that the flax manufacturing operatives suffer far more from phthisis than the other two classes, nearly three-fifths of those that die annually being taken off by diseases of the respiratory organs, while in the other two classes (artisan and mercantile) the average amounts to about two-fifths. In carrying our investigations into the fatality of the different branches of the manufacture, we will see that the death-rate amongst those employed in the preparing rooms is exceedingly high, and that few of those employed in these rooms live beyond sixty years. The next class that suffers from the same diseases is the ‘hecklers,’ and the rate of mortality among the spinners and weavers is also high. The reason that the ‘machine boys’ appear to suffer so little is that when they become ‘poucey,’ i.e. asthmatic, caused by flax dust, numbers of them leave the mills on account of suffering from chest affections, and go to other trades, where they may linger on, or die from phthisis. This fatality I consider arises from four different causes: 1st, commencing to work when too young; 2nd, the unhealthiness of the employment; 3rd, neglect of sanitary laws; 4th, insufficient and impure diet. A fifth might be added--namely, insufficient clothing for the young.”

My own observations lead me to think that the machine boys are the hardest worked of any employés in the mill. They seldom have a minute’s rest, for they are either charging the holder with flax, or taking it out. Although fans have been introduced into the machine room, the atmosphere is still laden with more or less dust. I have long had the opinion that no boy under at least thirteen years of age should be employed in this department. Many of the machine boys work in the brickfields during summer, so as to be in the open air. Although the half-time doffers in the spinning-room do not suffer from the inhalation of dust, they are exposed to an unnatural heat and humid atmosphere for several hours daily, whereby they become liable to bronchial irritation, especially during cold and frosty weather. The weavers are often similarly affected.

The late Mr Baker, M.R.C.S. Eng., H.M. Chief Inspector of Factories in the year 1874, introduced a respirator which for a time was worn by hecklers in some of the mills, as they derived much benefit from it. Many of the men, however, would not wear it, as it prevented them from expectorating when chewing tobacco. Some of the owners have introduced a new system of ventilating into the hecklers’ shop, whereby all dust is carried away at once from the bench by fans.

The hecklers and roughers suffer from dryness of the throat, which is one of the first symptoms of “mechanical bronchitis.” This is generally followed by cough and dyspnœa, and is occasionally accompanied by vomiting. In order to relieve these distressing symptoms the men often drink whisky. During cold weather, easterly winds or frost, their breathing is worse. Some of the older men are not able to follow their occupation during the winter months. The late Dr C. D. Purdon, in the pamphlet already referred to, makes the following remarks:--

“The consumption of stimulants is also producing sad havoc.... If I may single out a class that injure themselves more than any other, I would mention the ‘hecklers,’ for when they begin to suffer from the effects of dust, they commence to drink, and go on using alcoholic stimulants till at last they die from the effects of drink, or hasten the advance of chest affections by its inordinate consumption.”

At the time this was written, a child under the Factory Act, if ten years of age, could be employed for six hours each day, independent of school attendance of three hours daily, and was obliged each alternate fortnight to commence work at six o’clock in the morning, often travelling bare-footed one or two miles before arriving at the mill. At present no child in Ireland can work as a “half-timer” unless he or she be eleven years of age,[152] and the time of commencing work is in flax mills generally 6.30 A.M. In towns most of the workers live close to the mills.

The “half-time” children who are employed as doffers in the spinning-room do not suffer so much from dust as from the heat and steam from the hot water, through which the flax is passed, also from their clothes becoming wet in spite of the use of overalls. Hygienic rules are ignored in the home. The workers sleep in small overcrowded rooms. Nor is the food of the mill workers as nutritious as it ought to be. Tea and white bread, potato-bread or oaten-meal bread, form their principal food, to which is occasionally added bacon or salt fish. “Tea dyspepsia” is common. The children of the millworkers are, I think, rather degenerating than improving in physical development.

The diseases from which flax millworkers chiefly suffer are those incidental to the preparing and spinning processes. To quote from Dr C. D. Purdon’s pamphlet:--

“In the former (preparing) the lungs chiefly suffer from the constant inhaling of the ‘pouce.’ The irritating quality of the dust is felt on the throat, which soon becomes dry. This irritation creeps to the lungs, which soon manifests its presence by the worker being attacked each morning with a paroxysm of coughing. The dyspnœa is often very severe. Those employed in the roughing and sorting, heckling and preparing of flax suffer from this affection, and in the majority of cases die from phthisis.”

The carders who are employed attending to the carding machines inhale a great deal of vegetable dust. Some physicians maintain that vegetable dust is more irritating to the lungs than mineral. These workers as a matter of precaution wrap round their mouth and nose a lump of tow, which makes a kind of respirator. The introduction of fans--Blackman’s, Davidson’s, and others--has effected an improvement in clearing away the dust of the atmosphere of the carding and machine rooms. A few steam jets in these departments would help still further to allay the dust and purify the atmosphere.

The late Dr Hamilton, Certifying Surgeon for Cookstown, stated that in the scutch mills of Antrim, Down, and Tyrone the workers were very prone to ophthalmia, phthisis, and asthma, all due to dust.

The late Dr Arlidge (Diseases of Occupation, page 255) has remarked:--

“Organic dusts--some vegetable, others mineral--are encountered in the textile manufactures, and include cotton, flax, hemp, silk, wool, and hair. These in a general point of view are obstructive dusts, nevertheless they are not devoid of irritant properties, and differ greatly among themselves in the latter respect. They further exemplify the fact, that besides mechanical form and action, dust operates by inherent qualities; for dust of linen and hemp develops far more serious symptoms. The degree of dyspnœa varies extremely, and is influenced both by individual peculiarities and also by the properties of the dust. Writers generally concur in the belief that a tonic spasm is set up in the bronchial muscles by the irritation and the reflex action just spoken of, and that in co-operating therewith there is turgescence of the mucous membrane of the bronchi, which interposes a mechanical impediment to the free admission and egress of air to and from the air-cells. This hypothesis is sanctioned by the repeated strong efforts made to inspire and expire.”

The workers employed in the spinning-room are sometimes in summer attacked by vertigo and faintness due to excessive heat; also owing to their long standing, especially when bare-footed, on a wet floor, they are liable to varicose veins, and œdema of ankles followed often by an outbreak of eczema. It may be worth while to say that I have occasionally noticed eczema rimosum on the hands of spinners, especially the right hand. A great many of the workers wear a kind of half leather glove on that hand. Heat and moisture may cause the disease. Dr Glibert, of the Ministère de l’Industrie et du Travail at Brussels, has been good enough to send me some photographs showing slight superficial ulceration of skin of palm of hand and fingers in flax spinners.[153] I cannot say that I have ever noticed this in our Belfast workers, either during the 32 years I attended as Physician to the Belfast Skin Hospital, or the 19 years that I have been Certifying Factory Surgeon. Constipation is also common. Enlarged glands are frequent, and the women are of pale complexion.

The doffers, especially if young, are frequently, when first employed in the mills, attacked by “mill fever” a few days after commencing work. The symptoms are nausea and vomiting, followed by pain in the head, thirst, and heat of skin. These continue for three or four days, when the affection subsides. No treatment is required or sought. The cause assigned for its origin is the smell of the oil, along with the heat and vapour of the rooms. Irish flax is said to be less irritating to doffers than either Dutch or Belgian. Egyptian flax, which is occasionally met with, and which has been steeped in a special preparing fluid, gives off in the process of heckling more or less ammonia; this causes irritation of the mucous membrane of the nostrils.

A peculiar eruption also attacks doffers, and which is evidently due to a combination of flax-water and oil. The uncovered parts of the body, as forearms, arms, and face, are the parts attacked by this cutaneous eruption. It never attacks adults, only the doffers. It is a papular rash in the first stage, and is shotty to the touch, like smallpox. The papules become larger, and often contain a central plug of sebum. It is a folliculitis. Some kinds of flax, such as Russian, cause more of the eruption than others.

Various trades are known to cause particular kinds of callosities due to pressure and constant friction; thus hecklers have frequently a thickened or callous condition of the skin of the index finger of the right hand due to pulling the flax out of the “pins.”

Another disease, now rare, owing to the spinners wearing boots or shoes instead of going bare-footed from home to mill and back in all weathers, is onychia, or inflammation of the nail of the great toe. Cases of this were very common at the Belfast Royal Hospital thirty years ago. The late Sir William MacCormac, Bart., then one of the surgeons to the hospital, investigated the origin of the disease and introduced the local treatment by nitrate of lead. It seemed to be due to the action of the hot and contaminated water lying on the floor of the spinning-room, containing flax-water, and probably verdigris, or other matter from the brass in the machinery, some of which, finding its way under the nail, or from some slight injury to the part, caused the painful affection known as onychia.

During late years many improvements have been made in the mills and factories as regards ventilation, by the introduction of fans, so that there is now little more to suggest. During the 19 years that I have been Certifying Factory Surgeon for the city of Belfast, I have always found our merchants and employers of labour ready to adopt any reasonable suggestion towards improvement of the health of their workers. The recommendations I would make are:--

1. That no “half-timers” be employed in machine shops; all to be over, at least, thirteen years of age.

2. That no “half-timers,” who according to the certifying surgeon appear weakly or not well-developed for their age, be allowed to work in the morning set, especially during the winter months.

3. That only the strong and well-developed who are from twelve to thirteen be kept in the morning set, and before being so placed, reported by the surgeon as fit for such work.

4. The wearing of a good respirator to cover nose as well as mouth is necessary in the carding and heckling rooms, and should be made compulsory.

5. An inspection of the “young persons” and “children” by the certifying surgeon, say every three months, to see what the effect of the work is upon the constitution of those employed. If there are signs of suffering they should cease work.

6. That those mills and factories which have not as yet opened a dining-room for use of their workers, do so.

7. That in such departments as the carding and machine rooms, where dust is prevalent, a few steam jets be allowed so as to make the atmosphere moist and allay the dust.

8. That each room in the mill should have connected therewith a small closet heated by steam-pipes, in which workers can deposit part of their clothing, shawls, boots, etc., so that if the day is wet these will be dry for them on going home for meals or leaving work.

9. In conclusion, I quote the following from my father’s pamphlet already mentioned:

“Another subject bearing on the social state of the workers is the employment of mothers in mills and factories. Now, in order to lessen as much as possible the number of deaths that occur amongst children, each mother ought not to be allowed to resume work for at least two months after the birth of her child, and then should be obliged, when going to work each day, to bring her child to a public crèche.... The crèche ought to be visited weekly by the certifying surgeon who is to inspect each child.... The crèche to be under Government inspection.”

I am glad to say that, owing to the efforts of Lady Henderson, two crèches have been opened in Belfast.

HENRY S. PURDON.

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LII. MANUFACTURE OF COTTON

Although the manufacture of cotton goods is or has been carried on under conditions to some extent injurious to health, yet there is no definite disease which can be traced to these conditions. There is no disease produced which corresponds to wool-sorters’ disease in woollen manufacture, or the various forms of tuberculosis of the lungs in trades where dust composed of sharp, hard particles is inhaled. If it were not for the fact that moisture has for trade purposes been artificially introduced into the atmosphere of weaving-sheds, it is doubtful whether the health condition of cotton factories would have received any special attention beyond that devoted to factories and workshops in general. This addition of moisture was carried on in a reckless and unscientific manner, and in consequence Government investigations were made which resulted in special legislation.

Artificial humidity is the condition which has attracted most attention, but it is not by any means the only important factor influencing the health conditions of cotton operatives. It is mainly in weaving-sheds that artificial humidity is used, and this article will be principally devoted to the health conditions of weaving. It will, however, be well, for the sake of the few remarks which will be made with regard to other branches of the cotton industry, to describe very briefly the different processes which the raw material undergoes before it is finally turned out as cotton cloth.

Raw cotton, as it is received in bales, is naturally somewhat impure. The processes that it undergoes before it is made into yarn are somewhat complicated when considered in detail, but they consist roughly of cleansing, combing, and twisting.

Most of the dirt in the raw material is separated in the “blowing-room.” The cotton is drawn by means of a current of air through the blowing machine. The heavier impurities fall out during the process, and the cleaned cotton is formed into a more or less even layer or lap. It is then taken to the card-room, where it is “carded”--a process which combs the fibres so that they are laid parallel, and still further cleans the cotton. Before being delivered to the actual spinning machinery, the cotton passes through other preparatory machines, known as slubbing and roving frames, where it is drawn out and slightly twisted. The cotton “roving,” as it is then termed, is taken to the spinning-room, to be finally attenuated and twisted into the required form of yarn. There are different types of spinning machines, known as mules, throstles, and ring frames. The attendants on the mules are, as a rule, men, and they have a considerable amount of physical exertion in following the movements of the carriage, which is constantly moving backwards and forwards. In ring spinning, on the other hand, women are almost invariably employed. After the yarn has been spun it is wound on to bobbins by “winders,” and from the bobbins on to beams by “warpers.” The warp is then sized and prepared for the looms by “reachers” and “drawers.” The cotton is then ready for the process with which we are mainly concerned, viz., weaving.

The health conditions of these various departments of the cotton industry prior to weaving will be dismissed very briefly. The workpeople in all of them have an ample air-space, rising in mule spinning up to about 10,000 cubic feet per head. In the blowing-room there is a moderate amount of dust, consisting almost entirely of cotton fibre, but at the same time there is a plentiful supply of fresh air. The principal feature with regard to the air of the card-room is the amount of dust. This at times is sufficient to cause a distinct cloudiness of the atmosphere. This dust is certainly serious, and needs special treatment.

Spinning, unlike weaving, is carried on in a many-storied building. The light and fresh air for a spinning-room has consequently to be obtained entirely from the sides. For several reasons very little fresh air is provided. By excluding the outside air, the room can generally be kept at a good spinning temperature simply by the friction of the machinery, and at the same time particles of soot are prevented from entering and damaging the yarn. The result is, that notwithstanding the enormous air-space per head in a spinning-room, the atmosphere is frequently by no means pure, and it is often excessively hot. The temperature is commonly above 90° F., and occasionally above 100° F. As no moisture is, as a rule, added, the air becomes very dry. The artificial moistening of the air of spinning-mills is gaining ground, and there can be little doubt that up to a certain point it will be beneficial to the workpeople. The conditions could also be much improved by the provision of suitable means of ventilation. On account of the large amount of cubic space per head, and the marked difference in the temperature inside the spinning-room and outside, it is possible that natural ventilation would be sufficient to accomplish all that is necessary. In order, however, to obtain a high degree of purity and to thoroughly control the air currents, artificial ventilation must be employed.

The winders and warpers are subjected to no special conditions. They have somewhat less air-space than most other operatives, and there is usually no mechanical ventilation. They are not, however, subjected to great heat or moisture.

Weaving, the industry which will principally be dealt with, is carried on almost entirely in one-storied buildings. In choosing the site of a weaving-shed it is usually borne in mind that dampness conduces to good weaving. Most weaving-sheds are situated in somewhat damp positions, and the floor of the sheds being formed simply of flags laid directly on the earth, dampness is not prevented from rising from the ground. The walls are without windows, and where openings are provided for ventilation, they are usually closed. All the light and most of the fresh air have to gain admittance through the roof, which is formed by a series of bays, usually running from east to west of the shed. The south side of the bay is formed of slate, and the north side of glass, so that little direct sunlight is admitted to the shed. The height of a shed varies considerably, but an average height is about 11 feet to the gutters, and about 15 feet to the top of the bays, and the span of the bays is about 10 feet. There is a small space along the gutters left open to allow the escape of water which condenses on the glass. The roof therefore of a weaving-shed, and usually two or more of the walls, are exposed to outside influences, and fresh air can, if desired, be admitted through them.

The prominent factors which enter into the health conditions of a weaving-shed are:--

(1) Impurity of the atmosphere from: (a) respiration; (b) combustion of gas; (c) dust; (d) emanations from the soil and the sanitary conveniences.

(2) Excessive humidity.

(3) High temperature in summer.

(4) Want of cleanliness.

Although it seems always to have been recognised that a moist atmosphere was advantageous to weaving, yet the introduction of moisture systematically is a growth of comparatively recent years. In the year 1872 Dr Buchanan made a report on certain sizing processes used in the cotton manufacture at Todmorden, and their influence upon health. He described how the practice of sizing had grown and altered much in character owing to the scarcity of cotton during the American Civil War. Ten years later, Dr Bridges and Mr Osborn, H.M. Inspector of Factories, made a report to the Government on “The effects of heavy sizing in cotton weaving upon the health of the operatives employed.” This inquiry was instituted in consequence of a representation by the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress in 1882. The views of the memorialists with regard to the dangers from the infusion of steam are clearly set forth in the following quotation:--“Your memorialists desire to draw your attention to a practice that has of late years become very common, especially in the making of goods known as T-cloths and Indian shirtings. We allude to over-sizing of cotton yarns, out of which arises another evil, especially in dry weather, viz., the infusion of steam into the weaving-sheds in order to soften the stiff, over-sized threads. Your memorialists desire to point out that an addition of about 20 per cent. of size, more or less, in accordance with the class of goods being made, is required for manufacturing purposes; but of late years a practice of adding from 50 to more than 200 per cent. of an admixture of various ingredients, which serve no other purpose than to give a fictitious weight and appearance to the cloth, has become very common. Your memorialists complain that the extraordinary addition to the yarn of the admixture already described, gives off in the process of weaving deleterious effluvia, dust, and flocculent matter, which is inhaled by the weavers, to the injury of their health.... The manufacturers of this kind of cloth in infusing steam into their weaving-sheds have two objects in view, viz., (1) to enable more of the admixture to be woven into the cloth; (2) to soften the stiff, over-sized threads, and thus render them soft and pliable, and less subject to breakages. Your memorialists complain that the clothes of the persons, chiefly women and children, who are employed in those sheds, are so damped by the warm moisture given off by the steam, that, after going out into the open air, coughs, colds, and the whole train of lung diseases are contracted; and rheumatism and many other bodily afflictions which tend to enervate and break up the system at a premature age, follow. Dyspepsia is unhappily very often brought on, particularly in the cases of women and children. Your memorialists therefore earnestly pray that Her Majesty’s Government will adopt some means which in their wisdom may appear best by which the health of the weavers, 80 per cent. of whom are females and young persons, may be preserved.”

Dr Bridges and Mr Osborn found, that although the scarcity of cotton had been completely removed in the years following the American War, yet heavily-sized goods were still manufactured, and in fact that the amount of size used had increased very considerably. The importance of sizing on the health of the operatives is due to two facts: (1) heavy sizing requires a very moist atmosphere; (2) the size contributes considerably to the dust of the shed.

The practice of infusing steam appears to have continued to grow, and in the year 1888 the Health Committee of the Blackburn Corporation instituted a public inquiry on account of a very strong report, made in the year 1887 by the Medical Officer of Health (Dr Stephenson). The Committee came to the following conclusion: “That ventilation in the mills is very ineffectually and inefficiently attended to, particularly in winter; that heavy steaming had been practised in Blackburn, and that the adverse conditions under which the weavers had worked (at any rate during the winter months) had had a material influence upon the undoubtedly high death-rate of the borough: that the statements contained in the last annual report made by Dr Stephenson, as the Medical Officer of Health, are, in the main, true, and have been supported by the evidence; and that heavy or excessive steaming in mills is injurious to the health of those who work in them, but that steaming, if lightly performed, with proper attention to ventilation, is not injurious.”

As a result of these reports, and of further agitation on the part of the operatives, the Cotton Cloth Factories Act, 1889, was passed. By this Act manufacturers were required to maintain two hygrometers in each weaving-shed, and were prohibited from exceeding certain limits of moisture. These limits are shown in the schedule below.

1889 Act. SCHEDULE A.

Maximum Limits of Humidity of the Atmosphere at given Temperatures.

+-------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+ | I. | II. | III. | IV. | | Grains of | Dry Bulb | Wet Bulb | | |Moisture per | Thermometer | Thermometer | Percentage of | | Cubic Foot | Readings. | Readings. | Humidity. | | of Air. | Degrees Fahr. | Degrees Fahr. | | +-------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+ | 5.1 | 60 | 58 | 88 | | 5.2 | 61 | 59 | 88 | | 5.4 | 62 | 60 | 88 | | 5.6 | 63 | 61 | 88 | | 5.8 | 64 | 62 | 88 | | 6.0 | 65 | 63 | 88 | | 6.2 | 66 | 64 | 88 | | 6.4 | 67 | 65 | 88 | | 6.6 | 68 | 66 | 88 | | 6.9 | 69 | 67 | 88 | | 7.1 | 70 | 68 | 88 | | 7.1 | 71 | 68.5 | 85.5 | | 7.1 | 72 | 69 | 84 | | 7.4 | 73 | 70 | 84 | | 7.4 | 74 | 70.5 | 81.5 | | 7.65 | 75 | 71.5 | 81.5 | | 7.7 | 76 | 72 | 79 | | 8.0 | 77 | 73 | 79 | | 8.0 | 78 | 73.5 | 77 | | 8.25 | 79 | 74.5 | 77.5 | | 8.55 | 80 | 75.5 | 77.5 | | 8.6 | 81 | 76 | 76 | | 8.65 | 82 | 76.5 | 74 | | 8.85 | 83 | 77.5 | 74 | | 8.9 | 84 | 78 | 72 | | 9.2 | 85 | 79 | 72 | | 9.5 | 86 | 80 | 72 | | 9.55 | 87 | 80.5 | 71 | | 9.9 | 88 | 81.5 | 71 | | 10.25 | 89 | 82.5 | 71 | | 10.3 | 90 | 83 | 69 | | 10.35 | 91 | 83.5 | 68 | | 10.7 | 92 | 84.5 | 68 | | 11.0 | 93 | 85.5 | 68 | | 11.1 | 94 | 86 | 66 | | 11.5 | 95 | 87 | 66 | +-------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+

The only other section of much importance was one which made it necessary to supply 600 cubic feet of fresh air per person per hour. This Act, although it produced great improvement, did not satisfy the Weavers’ Associations, and a further attempt was made to bring about the total abolition of steaming. The Government in consequence appointed a Committee consisting of Sir H. Roscoe, Sir Wm. Roberts, and Dr Ransome, to inquire into the working of the Act. A very extensive inquiry was made, and the resulting report is one of extreme value. The report was made in 1897, and many of its chief recommendations were embodied in a Statutory Order of the Home Secretary in the year 1898. This Order, although not altering in any way the amount of moisture allowed, contained very important provisions with regard to ventilation, purity of steam, and temperature, etc. It is of such interest and importance, being in many respects a new departure in factory legislation, as to be well worth quoting in full here.

Order of the Secretary of State, dated 2nd February 1898, making regulations for the protection of health in Cotton Cloth Factories.

(1) In every cotton cloth factory to which the Cotton Cloth Factories Act, 1889, applies, the occupier or manager or person for the time being in charge of the factory shall, in addition to taking the two readings of the thermometers required by section 7 of that Act, read each of the thermometers every day between seven o’clock and eight o’clock in the forenoon, and record the reading of each thermometer in the form and in accordance with the regulations in Schedule B. of the said Act as amended by this Order.

(2) Schedules B. and C. of the Act of 1889 shall be altered, and shall be as set out in the schedule to this Order.

(3) In every such cotton cloth factory, when artificial humidity is produced, the water used for the purpose shall either be taken from a public supply of drinking water or other source of pure water, or shall be effectively purified to the satisfaction of the Inspector before being introduced in the form of steam into the factory, and all ducts for the introduction of humidified air shall be kept clean.

(4) The pipes used for the introduction of steam into a cotton cloth factory in which the temperature is 70 degrees Fahrenheit or over shall, so far as they are within the shed, be as small both in diameter and length as is reasonably practicable, and shall be effectively covered with non-conducting material to the satisfaction of the Inspector, so as to minimise the amount of heat thrown off by them into the shed.

(5) The arrangements for ventilation shall be such that during working hours in no part of the cotton cloth factory shall the proportion of carbonic acid (carbon dioxide) in the air be greater than nine volumes of carbonic acid to every ten thousand volumes of air.

(6) Unless some other method, certified by the Inspector to be equally satisfactory, is adopted, the outside of the roof of every cotton cloth factory shall be whitewashed every year before the 31st day of May, and such whitewash shall be effectively maintained until the 31st day of August.

(7) In every cotton cloth factory erected after the date of this Order, a sufficient and suitable cloak-room, or cloakrooms, shall be provided for the use of all persons employed therein, and shall be ventilated and kept at a suitable temperature.

Having briefly described the steps by which the present conditions have been arrived at, we may now consider these conditions in detail. The humidity of the air has, rightly or wrongly, been thought to be the chief factor in the healthiness of weaving-sheds. Moisture is usually added to the air of sheds by means of a number of steam jets. Steam introduced in this manner is known in the trade as “live steam.” The moisture becomes visible almost immediately after escaping from the pipe, and again disappears at a distance of two or three feet. Many other methods of moistening the air of weaving-sheds have been tried. Some of these depend upon the evaporation of water in the shed; others upon evaporation of water outside the shed, the air so moistened being forced in; and others again upon steam being mixed with fresh air, which are forced into the shed together. It is obvious that any system which depends upon the evaporation of water, if efficient in other ways, has a distinct advantage in the summer months, in that it will tend to lower rather than raise the temperature. There are, however, very distinct drawbacks to most of the methods of humidifying by evaporation, and the crude method of watering the floor is probably the most harmful of all forms. The method of humidifying which depends on evaporating water outside and forcing air so moistened into the shed has a very limited application, but it might with benefit be extended in order to lessen the temperature in summer. The way in which moisture is added to the air of a shed is of little consequence except so far as it affects the temperature, and this is affected far more by the length and size of the steam-pipes than by the amount of steam infused. Previous to the Cotton Cloth Factories Act, 1889, there was no legal restriction to the amount of humidity. The writer has no personal knowledge of the condition of the sheds at this time, and he has found it difficult to form a correct opinion. It is certain, however, that sometimes steam was introduced to such an extent that it condensed very freely on the walls, pillars, and floors. The air of the shed became over-saturated and consequently hazy. This raising of humidity was done in a very unworkmanlike manner. No attempt was made to find out what conditions were favourable to weaving. It was known that a very dry air was unfavourable, and if a dry east wind was blowing, a large amount of moisture was introduced. When a favourable condition was reached there was no means of recording what this condition was, for such a thing as a hygrometer was practically unknown in a weaving-shed. It seems strange, considering that the degree of dampness of the atmosphere is so important with regard to weaving, that the use of hygrometers had to be forced upon the manufacturers by an Act of Parliament.

The introduction of moisture artificially does not necessarily mean that the relative humidity of the atmosphere of the shed is being raised above that of the outside air. The temperature of a shed is usually many degrees above the temperature outside, and consequently the air of the shed without any addition of moisture would be much dryer than the air outside. It is not easy to appreciate exactly what the amount of moisture specified by the Act means. It is quite commonly said, on the one hand, that the amount of moisture allowed by it is frequently exceeded under natural conditions in Lancashire, and, on the other hand, that the moisture allowed is greatly in excess of what can possibly be healthy. It may give a clearer idea to compare the average moisture of the air at various temperatures with the moisture allowed by the schedule. For this purpose the readings taken at the Blackburn Observatory for the years 1898 and 1899 have been averaged at the various temperatures.

+-------------+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | | |Figures obtained from the Daily Records of the | | | | Blackburn Observatory for the years 1898 | | | | and 1899. | | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+ | |Percentage of Moisture| | | | | allowed by law in | Average percentage of | Maximum amount of | |Temperatures.| Weaving Sheds at | Moisture at the | Moisture at the | | | these Temperatures. |different Temperatures.|different Temperatures.| +-------------+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | Degrees. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | | 50–55 | 86 | 82.1 | 100 | | 55–60 | 87 | 81.1 | 100 | | 60–65 | 88 | 77.4 | 97 | | 65–70 | 88 | 65.1 | 83 | | 70–75 | 84.6 | 59.9 | 66.5 | +-------------+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

For practical purposes temperatures below 60° may be neglected, as that temperature is generally exceeded in weaving-sheds. At higher temperatures the moisture allowed in weaving-sheds is considerably in excess of the average moisture of the atmosphere outside, and above 65° the legal limit is very considerably in excess of the highest recorded observation.

It is somewhat difficult to estimate the effect upon health of raising the amount of moisture in the air one breathes. In the case before us the problem is complicated by the fact that the humidified air is only breathed during ten hours of the day, and that the workpeople frequently pass from the artificial to the natural atmosphere. Knowledge gained from the distribution of disease in dry and moist climates must be applied with great caution. The dampness of a locality is frequently due to the damp and waterlogged condition of the soil, in which case there are causes of unhealthiness not in the least comparable with the high humidity of a shed produced by the introduction of steam. Speaking generally, however, there can be no doubt that a dry air is invigorating and a moist air enervating. Probably partly for this reason tubercular diseases, which are dependent so much in their spread upon the loss of vigour of those attacked, flourish more in damp climates. The other class of diseases, which presumably would be increased by excessive humidity, are the different forms of rheumatism and their complications. In the various inquiries that have been made into the health of cotton operatives rheumatism has been complained of as the chief ailment produced by artificial humidity. Frequent changes from a warm, moist atmosphere to a dry, cold one without proper precautions are quite sufficient to account for an excessive amount of rheumatism. This danger is greatly enhanced by the unsuitable and inadequate clothes worn by the operatives. There is little or no reason to suppose that working in an atmosphere which, although moist, is considerably removed from saturation, would of itself conduce to rheumatism.

One of the chief complaints of the operatives in these sheds is that their clothes become damp. It is quite impossible that any moisture can condense on their clothes if the law with regard to steaming is observed. There is, however, the possibility that clothes which have been worn for a long time in weaving-sheds may become permeated with size dust. This dust contains a considerable proportion of deliquescent salts, and clothes upon which it has been deposited would become damp on exposure to a moist atmosphere. Whether or not this is a matter of much practical importance could be settled by a few careful experiments. If clothes do absorb moisture in this way to any extent, it is one more argument in favour of cloakrooms. It also suggests the advisability of the careful brushing of clothes, in order to free them from shed dust as much as possible. Where no cloak-room is provided, clothes are usually hung against walls or pillars. If the walls are outside-walls, and if the pillars act, as they frequently do, as rain-water pipes, the clothes become wet from the condensation of water on these walls and pillars. The absorption of moisture by clothes, due to the hygroscopic nature of wool, is small in amount, and may probably with safety be left out of account. For all these reasons it is extremely desirable that all cotton factories in which the air is artificially moistened should be provided with suitable cloak-room accommodation. The cloakrooms should of course be of adequate size, and properly heated and ventilated.

In considering artificial humidity, it must be borne in mind that the steam is frequently raised from very impure water. It is possible that this fact accounts to some extent for the strong feeling against steaming amongst a considerable section of the operatives. Steam raised from filthy water undoubtedly gives a very disagreeable odour to a shed, and there can be no doubt that it is injurious to the health of the workpeople. This matter has, however, been dealt with, so far as legislation is concerned, by Clause 3 of the Order of 1898, and it only remains now to enforce the Order.

Closely associated with the humidity of the atmosphere of the shed is its temperature and impurity. Particularly is it difficult to separate the effects of high temperatures from those of excessive humidity. The peculiar construction of a shed, with its roof exposed the whole day through to the direct rays of the sun, is of itself sufficient in summer to cause a high temperature. To this must be added the heat developed by the friction of the machinery. It is not then to be wondered at that the temperature becomes sometimes almost unbearable when it is still further raised by the infusion of steam, and by the heat from steam-pipes. It is very probable that most of the complaints of steaming have arisen from the excessive temperature that has been at the same time produced. The effect of the heat of a shed cannot be gauged absolutely by the temperature, but the temperature and the humidity must be considered together. The principal reason why working in a hot, moist atmosphere is uncomfortable and oppressive, is that evaporation of perspiration is checked, and one of the chief means of cooling is lessened. What under other conditions would be insensible perspiration becomes sensible, and general discomfort ensues. An operative in this condition going out into a dry, cool air feels a chill at once. It cannot, however, be said that this condition is brought about solely by excessive humidity, as at the lower temperatures no discomfort is felt. Whatever conclusion is come to with regard to the desirability of allowing the introduction of moisture, there can be no question that every reasonable means should be taken to prevent the temperature being unduly raised in summer.

Although the agitation against steaming has not led to its abolition, it has brought about one of the greatest advances in our factories and workshops legislation of recent years.

The Cotton Cloth Factories Act, 1889, insisted that 600 cubic feet of fresh air should be supplied for each operative per hour. The fact that it was made compulsory to supply a definite quantity of fresh air was in itself an advance, but the amount of air specified by the Act fell far short of what was necessary. Not only was the amount of air supplied insufficient, but no adequate steps were taken to ensure that the fresh air was properly diffused. Moreover, there can be no doubt, that in the form of ventilation most commonly in use, viz., extraction by fans through the roof, there is a large amount of short circuiting. The Committee previously mentioned, which was appointed to inquire into the working of the Cotton Cloth Factories Act, investigated this matter very thoroughly. They found that the mechanical ventilation of sheds under this Act had been productive of some good, although not to the extent expected. Mr Williams, H.M. Inspector of Factories, who acted as secretary to the Committee, and to whom I am indebted for much information, examined seventy-two samples of air taken from weaving-sheds for the amount of carbonic acid contained in them. Thirty-four were taken from “dry” sheds, that is, sheds where steam is not infused, and not as a rule mechanically ventilated; thirty-eight were taken from “moist” sheds, which were ventilated according to the Act. The carbonic acid in the air of the dry sheds varied from .55 to 1.94 parts per thousand, the average being 1.168; that of the moist sheds varied from .68 to 1.59, the average being 1.021. Many anemometer tests were also made, and it was found that there was little correspondence between the amount of air supplied and the purity of the air of the shed at the breathing level. From these experiments, two facts were readily deduced, viz., that the amount of air supplied was too small, and that the anemometer test was not to be relied upon as a test of ventilation. The Committee consequently took a new departure, and made a recommendation, that as a measure of respiratory impurity the carbonic acid gas contained in 10,000 volumes of air in humidified sheds should not exceed 9 volumes. This recommendation was embodied in its main feature in the Order previously quoted. It is difficult to over-estimate the importance of this step. It applies a scientific test to the ventilation of the factory, and at the same time it allows the utmost freedom to the manufacturer in selecting means to attain this standard. Hitherto, openings of certain sizes have been specified for the purpose of ventilation, or the introduction of a certain amount of air has been made compulsory, but no legal notice has been taken of the actual condition of the atmosphere. In this order, then, the most satisfactory and the only scientific method of estimating ventilation has been adopted. The difficulties in the way of carrying it out seem to be gradually being surmounted, and already a standard much higher than the legal one has been attained in many factories.[154] .9 parts per thousand may not appear to some a sufficiently high standard. It certainly is not perfect, but it is probably as high a standard as it is practicable to adopt at present. It has been found in practice that it is generally necessary to introduce more than 2000 cubic feet per head per hour to maintain this standard. On account of considerable variation in the amount of carbonic acid in the air of towns, the administration of the Order has been varied to this extent, that .5 parts of carbonic acid are allowed in the air of a shed in excess of that contained in the air outside at the same time.

Although this regulation with regard to ventilation has only been applied to weaving-sheds into which moisture is artificially introduced, there seems to be no good reason why it should not be applied to all weaving-sheds and to other departments of cotton manufacture. A regulation of this kind can only be carried out in buildings where power is available, but in the near future electric power will be available for every workshop, and then the universal enforcement of some similar regulation will be possible, and would be productive of much good. It seems likely that an indirect advantage will also be gained by the greatly increased knowledge of the efficiency of the various systems of artificial ventilation. The useless and inefficient methods of ventilation will be rapidly weeded out, only the good methods will remain, and a truer perception of the principles of ventilation will be produced. The stimulus given by these Acts to ventilating engineers has already brought about great advances. One extremely ingenious apparatus will deliver enormous quantities of fresh air (250,000 cubic feet per hour), warmed and moistened as required, into a room at one single point, and diffuse it over an area of 8000 square feet without causing a draught. By this means one of the principal objections to all other methods of ventilation on the plenum system is overcome, for the air is introduced directly without the interposition of distributing ducts.

Compared with the workrooms of most other trades, cotton-weaving-sheds must be considered to be well ventilated, and when the regulations have been thoroughly enforced, these sheds will have few equals amongst workrooms judged by the amount of respiratory impurity. There are, however, other atmospheric impurities that are not dealt with in so satisfactory a manner. It is found to be quite impossible, with any of the apparatus at present in use, to keep the amount of carbonic acid within the legal limits when the shed is lighted with gas. To do this it would be necessary to increase the amount of fresh air introduced to an enormous extent. The only practical solution of this difficulty, and one that is urgently called for, is the substitution of electricity for gas for lighting purposes. Such a substitution frequently leads to a positive saving of money.

There is one form of atmospheric contamination that mechanical ventilation has in some instances made worse. The sanitary conveniences are frequently built so as to be in direct connection with the shed, and any system of ventilation depending on extraction increases the amount of air supplied to the shed through these offices. The remedy in all such cases is complete disconnection of the sanitary conveniences by means of an open space.

No ventilation is satisfactory which does not reduce the amount of dust as well as the gaseous impurities in the atmosphere. The dust floating in the air of a weaving shed is very variable both in its quantity and in its composition. In a shed where no size is used (very rare) the dust consists entirely of cotton fibre. On the other hand, where size is used, it enters very considerably into the composition of the dust floating in the atmosphere. Size consists mainly of starch, china clay, tallow, and various deliquescent salts, the principal one being magnesium chloride. A certain amount of zinc chloride is put into the size to delay or prevent the growth of mildew. One would anticipate that the different constituents of size would vary considerably in the readiness with which they diffuse through the atmosphere, and this is so to some extent. For instance, analyses made by Dr Dupré showed that zinc chloride, although largely used in sizing, is not found in the dust of sheds. This is of considerable importance, as chloride of zinc is the only constituent of size which is chemically irritating. On the other hand, contrary to expectation, it was found that the insoluble mineral matter (china clay) was present in as large a proportion on the shafting at considerable heights as in the dust on the floor. The composition of the dust examined by Dr Dupré varied somewhat, but roughly speaking, 50 per cent. of the dried dust was insoluble mineral matter (china clay), 30 per cent. insoluble organic matter (cotton), 15 per cent. soluble organic matter (starch), and 5 per cent. soluble mineral matter (principally chloride and sulphate of magnesium).

The amount of dust in the atmosphere of a shed is determined partly by the amount of size used and the quality of the cotton, but also to a great extent on the efficiency of the ventilation and the degree of moisture in the air. That the infusion of steam would lessen the amount of dust in the air was first inferred and afterwards proved by experiment. A large amount of moisture in the air may cause a more ready precipitation of dust, but its principal action is probably in preventing the liberation of dust from the yarn during the process of weaving. Mr Osborn, in his evidence before the Parliamentary Committee previously referred to, said that sheds are now freer from dust than they were, and this he attributed to more careful sizing. Mr Williams made several comparative tests of the amount of dust in sheds when moisture was being introduced and when not. He found invariably that the infusion of steam lessened the amount of dust. The following are the averages of his experiments:

+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ | |No. 1 |No. 2 |No. 3 |No. 4 |No. 5 | | |Position.|Position.|Position.|Position.|Position.| +----------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ |With infusion of steam|26¹¹⁄₁₈ | 25 | 25 | 26½ | 38¼ | |Without „ „ | 43⅙ | 40⅓ | 36½ | 45½ | 43½ | +----------------------+---------+---------+---------|---------+---------+

These figures represent the number of particles of dust deposited on six square millimetres in five minutes.

The dust in the atmosphere is undoubtedly lessened by ventilation, unless this is of such a nature as to disturb the dust that has already settled. The most efficient method of ventilation for reducing the dust in the air would certainly be extraction from beneath the looms. The dust of a weaving-shed is not, however, of a specially irritating nature, and although injurious, is not of sufficient importance for the whole system of ventilation to be devoted to its removal. Apart from the extraction of air downwards, so that the dust is drawn directly away from the breathing level, there does not seem much to choose between the various forms of ventilation in this respect.

The cleanliness of the floors and shed generally must have a considerable effect upon the amount of floating atmospheric impurity. As a general rule, the floors are very dirty. They are never washed (with a few rare but very pleasing exceptions), and are seldom brushed thoroughly. Such a condition of things lends itself readily to the spread of infectious diseases. It seems particularly serious with regard to phthisis. Phthisical sputum must often remain on these floors undestroyed until much of it has become pulverised, and distributed in the air of the shed. It would undoubtedly greatly improve the health conditions of weaving-sheds if proper steps were taken to keep the floors clean. An improvement of this kind is not limited in its benefits to the direct results, but it has a very distinct influence upon the habits of the persons employed.

There is, as the evidence given before the various inquiries shows, a great difference of opinion as to the healthiness of cotton manufacture. It is difficult to come to any absolute conclusion from examination of these opinions, and by examination of the physical conditions to which the workpeople are subjected. One therefore turns naturally to the vital statistics bearing on this question, in the hope that they will afford some absolute and indisputable indications. It must, however, be acknowledged that when all the available statistics have been examined, the inferences that can be drawn are not by any means definite. There are many reasons for looking on trade statistics with some suspicion. Most of these reasons are very carefully reviewed, and allowed for as far as possible by Dr Tatham in the supplement to the Fifty-fifth Annual Report of the Registrar-General. It is only necessary to see the enormous death-rate of the persons classified as unemployed to understand how this class is probably greatly swollen by those who have broken down in their various occupations. It is very doubtful if under any circumstances trade mortality statistics can be altogether relied on. There is always the possibility that the occupation followed at the time of death is not the one that has really hastened or caused death. A person after some years working in an unhealthy trade finds it necessary to change his occupation because his health is failing. At death he is classed in the trade he was last engaged in, although this trade has had no effect in causing his death. Again, arduous and unhealthy occupations act as a selective agency, none but those of a certain physical fitness engaging in them. It is difficult, too, to separate the influence of a trade from that of its surroundings. Whether a trade is carried on in crowded, badly built towns, or in the country, will modify the trade statistics considerably. These facts make it desirable in gauging the healthiness of a trade to look outside trade statistics. It is sometimes possible, where a large proportion of the inhabitants of a district are engaged in one particular branch of industry, to gauge the healthiness of this industry by examining the health statistics of the district as a whole. If the persons employed in this industry have a peculiar age distribution it is possible to get a more accurate estimate. These conditions are fulfilled to a peculiar degree in the town of Blackburn. Out of a population of 120,064 at the 1891 census, no less than 37,755, or 31 per cent., were employed in the cotton industry. Any marked unhealthiness of the trade should show itself, although perhaps not very distinctly, in the general mortality. This of itself would be of little help but for the peculiar distribution of the cotton operatives in age periods. The accompanying table illustrates this point clearly:--

DEATH-RATE FOR ENGLAND AND BLACKBURN, 1889–1898.

+---------+-------------------+------------+-------------------+ | | Males. |Differences | Females. | | Age +--------+----------+expressed as+--------+----------+ | Period. |England.|Blackburn.|percentages.|England.|Blackburn.| | | | | | | | +---------+--------+----------+------------+--------+----------+ | | | | Per cent. | | | | 15–25 | 4.72 | 5.14 | + 8.9 | 4.42 | 4.72 | | 25–35 | 7.05 | 6.71 | - 4.8 | 6.48 | 6.96 | | 35–45 | 11.89 | 14.60 | + 23.6 | 10.03 | 13.05 | | 45–55 | 19.32 | 26.05 | + 34.8 | 14.89 | 18.82 | | 55–65 | 35.47 | 51.42 | + 44.9 | 28.83 | 43.46 | | 65 | | | | | | |& upwards| 98.56 | 117.22 | + 18.9 | 88.88 | 95.08 | +---------+--------+----------+------------+--------+----------+ | At all }| | | | | | | Ages }| 20.58 | 23.82 | + 15.7 | 18.20 | 19.51 | +---------+--------+----------+------------+--------+----------+

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2. of table

+---------+------------+----------------+ | |Differences | Percentage of | | Age +expressed as| population of | | Period. |percentages.|Blackburn in the| | | |Cotton Industry.| +---------+------------+-------+--------+ | | Per cent. | Males.|Females.| | 15–25 | + 6.7 | 48.3 | 70.3 | | 25–35 | + 7.6 | 39.0 | 52.1 | | 35–45 | + 29.1 | 31.4 | 34.8 | | 45–55 | + 27.0 | 27.4 | 19.7 | | 55–65 | + 50.7 | 21.8 | 9.3 | | 65 | | | | |& upwards| + 6.9 | 13.2 | 3 | +---------+------------+-------+--------+ | At all }| | | | | Ages }| + 7.2 | 26.8 | 33.1 | +---------+------------+-------+--------+

Any excessive mortality amongst the cotton operatives should show itself distinctly at those age periods in which the operatives preponderate. It may be argued that the bad effects are not felt until the later age periods, but it is difficult to believe that injurious conditions to which all alike are exposed would produce increased mortality at the later ages, and not affect the mortality of the earlier ages. It will be seen that 82 per cent. of the cotton operatives employed in this town are under the age of thirty-five, and it is at the age periods below 35 that the mortalities compare most favourably with those of the country as a whole. The only conclusion, then, that we can draw from the general mortality figures of Blackburn is, that the cotton industry has no influence in raising the mortality of the town as a whole, at any rate as far as the lower age periods are concerned.

With the reservations previously mentioned the trade statistics may be profitably considered. The trade mortality statistics in this country are compiled almost entirely in the office of the Registrar-General under the supervision of Dr Tatham. Although the statistics published by the Registrar-General are extremely valuable, there are many local problems on which little light is thrown. The Medical Officer of Health and others, to whom these problems are of the greatest importance, have no chance of investigating them, owing to the meagreness of the information published in the census returns. The age distribution of the persons engaged in the various occupations is not given, and many trades very dissimilar in their working conditions are grouped together. The necessary information should be forthcoming in one way or another. If details with regard to the age distribution of the persons engaged in the various occupations would make the census returns too bulky, then any local authority should have access to the census enumeration books, in order to extract whatever information they need. Fortunately the writer has had access to the enumeration books of the town of Blackburn, and in consequence he has been able to prepare special statistics. The following tables have been extracted from the Supplement to the Fifty-fifth Annual Report of the Registrar-General:--

Mean Annual Mortality of Males for the years 1890, 1891, and 1892, engaged in the Cotton, Flax, and Linen Manufacture of Lancashire at successive periods of life.

+---------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+ | | 15 | 20 | 25 | 35 | 45 | 55 | 65 | | | to | to | to | to | to | to | and | | 20. | 25. | 35. | 45. | 55. | 65. | up. | +---------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+ |Cotton, Flax, and | | | | | | | | | Linen Manufacture, | | | | | | | | | Lancashire | 3.73 | 5.96 | 7.13 | 13.38| 25.11| 55.06|168.55| |All Males | 4.14 | 5.55 | 7.67 | 13.01| 21.37| 39.01|103.56| |All Occupied Males | 2.55 | 5.07 | 7.29 | 12.43| 20.66| 36.66|102.32| +---------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+

Mortality Figures of Males, 25 to 65 years of age, for Certain Diseases among the following Groups of People, for the years 1890, 1891, and 1892.

Key to table: A: All Causes. B: Alcoholism. C: Rheumatic Fever. D: Phthisis. E: Valvular Diseases of Heart. F: Other Diseases of Circulatory System. G: Bronchitis. H: Pneumonia. I: Diseases of Liver. J: Other Diseases of Digestive System. K: Nervous Diseases. +----------------------+----+--+--+---+--+---+---+---+--+--+---+ | | A | B| C| D | E| F | G | H | I| J| K | +----------------------+----+--+--+---+--+---+---+---+--+--+---+ |All Males |1000|13| 7|192|24|102| 88|107|29|26|102| |All Occupied Males | 953|13| 7|185|23| 97| 88|105|27|25| 82| |Occupied Males:-- | | | | | | | | | | | | | London |1147|18| 7|277|28| 97|127|110|30|25| 88| | Industrial Districts|1248|19| 8|223|27|122|154|178|32|32|108| | Agricultural „ | 687| 7| 6|135|18| 73| 37| 55|24|21| 63| | Cotton Manufactures,| | | | | | | | | | | | | Lancashire |1176| 9|10|200|32|116|159|172|27|35|123| |Unoccupied Males |2215|23| 2|448|37|191| 84|135|53|39|630| +----------------------+----+--+--+---+--+---+---+---+--+--+---+

It is at once apparent on examining the tables that the death-rates of the cotton operatives at the lower age periods is not excessive, when one considers that the majority of them live in large and crowded centres. The death-rate from phthisis is little above that of all males throughout the country, and is much below that of occupied males in London or in the industrial districts. One striking feature, however, is the high mortality from bronchitis and pneumonia. The mortality from rheumatism and heart disease is also considerably above that of other classes of the population. These are the diseases which one would expect to be increased in persons subjected to sudden changes of temperature and humidity. The mortality figures published by the Registrar-General referring to the two periods, 1880–1882 and 1890–1892, are very instructive when compared. Two of the most striking features of these figures are the decrease of phthisis and the increase of bronchitis and pneumonia in the second period as compared with the first. The phthisis deaths amongst the cotton operatives of Lancashire were 25 per cent. of the total deaths in the years 1880–1882; the percentage had decreased to 19.6 in the years 1890–1892. On the other hand, the percentage of deaths from bronchitis and pneumonia increased from 25 per cent.] to 29.7 in the same period. The inferences that one might draw from these figures are rendered less positive by the fact that a change similar, but not so marked, took place throughout England. The small amount of phthisis amongst the cotton operatives in the second period compared with the first is certainly remarkable, the decrease being much greater than in the whole country. Improved ventilation following on the 1889 Act may have had some effect, but it seems likely that there has been some change in death certification, and that some deaths which formerly were returned as phthisis are now returned as bronchitis and pneumonia.

DEATH-RATE AMONGST THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS OF THE COTTON TRADE IN BLACKBURN, For the Years 1889–1899.

+------------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Weavers. | Spinners. | +-------+---------+----------+-------+---------+----------+-------+ | | | Lung | | | Lung | | | Age |Phthisis.| Diseases | All |Phthisis.| Diseases | All | |Period.| |other than|Causes.| |other than|Causes.| | | |Phthisis. | | |Phthisis. | | +-------+---------+----------+-------+---------+----------+-------+ | 15–25 | 1.14 | .48 | 4.2 | 1.65 | .94 | 6.1 | | 25–35 | 1.72 | .86 | 5.2 | 2.48 | 1.90 | 6.6 | | 35–45 | 2.11 | 2.59 | 11.0 | 3.09 | 2.90 | 11.8 | | 45–55 | 1.88 | 5.29 | 16.1 | 2.94 | 11.78 | 31.5 | | 55–65 | 3.75 | 20.22 | 56.5 | .61 | 21.94 | 43.8 | | 65 and| | | | | | | |upwards| 1.45 | 61.81 | 205.8 | 3.95 | 73.12 | 261.2 | +-------+---------+----------+-------+---------+----------+-------+

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2. of table

+----------------------------+----------------------------+ | Winders and Warpers, etc. | Card-room Hands. | +-------+---------+----------+-------+---------+----------+ | | | Lung | | | Lung | | All |Phthisis.| Diseases | All |Phthisis.| Diseases | |Causes.| |other than|Causes.| |other than| | | |Phthisis. | | |Phthisis. | +-------+---------+----------+-------+---------+----------+ | 1.48 | .84 | 5.3 | 1.28 | .52 | 4.7 | | 2.90 | .65 | 7.4 | 2.03 | .62 | 5.9 | | 2.30 | 3.05 | 11.2 | 2.96 | 2.47 | 12.3 | | 1.64 | 7.28 | 23.4 | 3.95 | 10.37 | 21.7 | | 1.28 | 14.18 | 43.8 | ... | 10.97 | 42.3 | | | | | | | | | 5.92 | 53.35 | 201.6 | ... | 69.93 | 181.8 | +---------+----------+-------+---------+----------+-------+

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3. of table

+----------------------------+ | Whole Borough. | +---------+----------+-------+ | | Lung | | |Phthisis.| Diseases | All | | |other than|Causes.| | |Phthisis. | | +---------+----------+-------+ | 1.19 | .80 | 4.8 | | 1.31 | 1.20 | 6.7 | | 2.21 | 3.10 | 13.6 | | 1.76 | 6.32 | 21.6 | | 1.43 | 14.67 | 45.6 | | | | | | .47 | 27.65 | 105.1 | +---------+----------+-------+

The conclusion to be drawn from the Blackburn figures is that weaving in that town is somewhat healthier than the other cotton occupations, and in this connection it must be remembered that “steaming” is practically confined to weaving-sheds. If one could go more deeply into this subject, it might probably be shown that some of the disparity in the death-rates of weavers and spinners in Blackburn is due to the classes of people from which they are drawn. From all these figures it may be deduced that the cotton trade has little or no harmful effect as compared with most other trades at the earlier age periods. After the age of fifty-five the death-rate becomes enormous. There is, however, only a very small number of cotton operatives over the age of fifty-five. Failure of eyesight generally makes it necessary for them to give up this work and find some other employment before reaching this age. It seems almost certain that the very large death-rates at the ages of fifty-five to sixty-five, and sixty-five and upwards, are due to a great extent to a difference in the manner in which the census returns and the death returns are made.

As this article shows, much has been done by legislation to make the cotton trade healthy. There still, however, remains much to be done, not only by further legislation, but by the operative himself, in shaping his conduct on reasonably healthy lines. For instance, there is nothing more desirable than the provision of good cloakrooms, sufficiently large, well-warmed and ventilated, and constructed in such a way as to be a real convenience; but these are of little use unless the operatives make proper use of them, and provide themselves with clothes sufficiently warm to protect them against the sudden and severe change of temperature that they are subjected to. The cotton operative is extremely neglectful in this matter of clothing, and to this fact is probably due much of the ill effect put down to steaming.

The further improvements that suggest themselves as likely to be most beneficial are:--

(1) The extension of the regulations with regard to ventilation to all weaving-sheds and to other departments of the cotton industry.

(2) The substitution of electricity for gas for lighting purposes.

(3) The enforcement of proper cleanliness, particularly with regard to the floors of weaving-sheds.

(4) The provision of cloakrooms and lavatories.

(5) The complete disconnection of all sanitary conveniences from the workrooms by means of an open space.

JAMES WHEATLEY.

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LIII. RABBIT DOWN

The transformation of rabbit skins into felt hats is one of the most interesting of the many wonderful metamorphoses brought about by the manufacturer. Of a long series of acts and processes by which this transformation is effected, one of the earliest is the removal by the “fur-puller” of the long, coarse hairs from the rabbit skin. What is left after these have been removed is the short close fur which, after it has been separated from the pelt, is alone used by the felt-hatmaker. The hair plucked off by the fur-puller is the RABBIT DOWN, a waste product regarded as of little value, sold for 1½d. to 3d. a pound, to be used principally for stuffing cheap bedding, and largely bought by mining companies for the miners to lie upon while working the coal seams.

The fur-puller plucks off these long hairs by means of a special knife pressed against the thumb, which is protected by an indiarubber shield. She sits on a low bench before a wooden trough, the rabbit skin stretched over her knee, held fast at one end between knee and trough, and grasped at the other by the left hand. A pile of skins is on the floor on either side of her, and very rapidly she “pulls” each skin in succession, passing it over from the “unpulled” to the “pulled” heap. The wooden trough is for the reception of the “down,” and receives the greater part of it, but it is so light that it flies everywhere, covering the worker’s hair and clothing till all is one uniform grey; it floats in the air and rests thickly on every ledge and beam, the floor too, being carpeted with it.

No description can convey any adequate impression of a fur-pulling room, whether it be occupied by 1 or 50 workers--the universal grey, the haze of floating hair, the sickly, disgusting odour of uncleaned skins--it must be seen, felt, and smelt, to be understood.

Not infrequently the pulling-room in a factory or workshop is used at the same time as a drying-room and store-room, and the skins hang in rows suspended from the ceiling, adding an almost overpowering stench to the other unpleasant conditions. The rabbit skins, when delivered to the worker, have usually undergone no preparatory or purifying process, but are as they were received from the dealer. Before they can be pulled, they must be “opened,” that is, smoothed out and dragged into shape, scraps of fat or clotted blood cut and scraped off, and the skin turned fur side out and laid flat. In some of the larger works, women are employed as “openers” only, and from them the skins pass to the “pullers.” In most cases the pullers open the skins themselves. Fur-pullers and openers belong to the poorest class of women. The dirty and repulsive nature of the work, and the low scale of wages, attract none but those who, for one reason or another, can get no other employment. The trade is dying out, very few young women and girls are found in it, and none will learn it; they go rather to the jam or fancy box factories, or any of the numerous unskilled occupations open now to girls. The fur-pullers are chiefly old women, or middle-aged women in distress. The wages vary according to the class of skins, and according to whether the puller works at home or in the workshop, and whether she opens the skins herself; they range from 1s. to 2s. the “turn” of 60 skins. The knife costs 8d., and must be constantly ground: the rubber shield costs 3d. and 4d., and lasts but a few weeks.

Machines are taking the place of hand-pulling to a certain extent, but the chief part of the work is done in Belgium, where men do the pulling for a low wage. The manufacturer here finds it cheaper to pay the carriage of British rabbit skins to Belgium and back, than to have them pulled in England. Fur-pullers are, as a class, irregular workers; and being paid by the piece, the employer has no hold upon them. They seldom work more than four days in a week; not because there is no work for them, but because intemperate habits prevail, and home cares provide other occupations on Monday and Saturday. When the workers in any industry are drawn only from that class whose standard of life is the very lowest, when insufficient food and clothing and all the other sad accompaniments of deep poverty have made their mark upon them, it is almost impossible to point to any one physical condition as a result of their occupation. Hoarseness, cough, and a bronchitic condition are common among fur-pullers; such are also observed in the old and middle-aged women of the same class who are not fur-pullers. One would certainly expect to find evidence among them of suffering caused by inhaling the down present in the air of the workrooms; but, except for occasional complaints that “it stuffs up the chest,” most of the workers consider fur-pulling a healthy occupation. It may be that the fur being so fine and light is not inhaled; the danger is probably more to be found in swallowing it, and symptoms of ill-health arising from this are, from their nature, not easily discoverable, and must be related by the sufferer; but the poor fur-pullers look with suspicion on any inquiry touching their health, fearing that they may be deprived of their work, which, although they say it is not worth the doing, is all they have.

If the occupation is dirty and disgusting even in a factory and workshop where rooms are specially set apart for it, it is, when carried on at home in a little living room, indescribably offensive and horrible. In 1897 the terrible condition of the homes of the fur-pullers in South London was described in the Press. Since then matters both inside and outside the factories and workshops have been improved, although much remains still to be done. In consequence of recommendations made in 1897 by the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the conditions of work in wool-sorting and other kindred trades, fur-pulling was added by Order of the Secretary of State in March 1898 to the Schedule of Trades in which occupiers must keep lists of out-workers’ names and addresses; and by another Order the taking of meals in fur-pulling workrooms, or remaining during the time allowed for meals in such places, was prohibited. By these means greater control has been exercised by sanitary authorities and the Factory Department over fur-pulling, both as a home industry and in factories and workshops, and one of the greatest risks to health, the taking of meals in the workrooms, removed. In the absence, however, of any legal obligation upon an employer to provide other accommodation for employés whom he is bound to exclude from their workroom during their dinner hour, those poor creatures whose homes are at a distance are turned out into the streets, and in bad weather run a risk scarcely less than that from which the legislature sought to preserve them--the risk to health of cold and wet.

Much more than has yet been attempted might be done to improve, by specially applied ventilation, the condition of fur-pulling rooms in factories and workshops. The drawing away of the pulled hair from the worker in a downward direction by means of a properly constructed flue under the troughs, and an extracting fan, would seem to be practicable, and the down could be collected outside in a receptacle for the purpose. But pulling is not a process that pays; and although many occupiers have provided better rooms than formerly, and more attention is paid to general ventilation, to sweeping and cleaning, to warming in winter, and other matters affecting the health and comfort of the workers, a pioneer has yet to be found who will revolutionise the industry by applying to it a really effective dust-extracting system of ventilation--and this will require some considerable sum expended on it.[155]

ROSE E. SQUIRE.

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