Report of the State Board of Health Upon the Sanitary Condition of Factories, Workshops and Other Establishments Where Persons Are Employed (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907 Excerpt: ...as would naturally be surmised from their many different places of origin. Some of the employees state that while at first they suffered from sore throat, cough and loss of sleep, after a time they became so habituated that only an occasional bale causes any discomfort. In some mills it was observed that the dust was far more irritating than that met with in others; especially is this true of those in which burlap is used. Some men assert that the dust from rags of one color may be worse than that from the same kind of cloth differently dyed. Some say that some bales are sickening in their effects, even to old hands. Of the thrashing rooms visited, a very small number, in which the machines were exceptionally good and where the cleanest grade of rags were being handled, showed no dust; somewhat more, equipped with the same grade of machines and working on the same kind of material, showed but little dust; and the remainder showed considerable to much. About 11 per cent. of the sorting rooms were dustless, about 25 per cent. were not very dusty and the balance showed considerable to much. Of the cutting rooms. about 7 per cent. showed little or none and the remainder considerable to much. In a number of establishments sorting is conducted in large, airy, well-lighted, mechanically ventilated rooms; but in some of these cutting machines have been installed, and they create considerable dust. Indeed, in the matter of separation of the several processes mills vary; in some the duster and cutter machines are installed in separate rooms, in some they are in the same room. In a majority of the mills visited a portion of the employees are exposed to an excessive quantity of dirt, dust and lint; and in most of this majority the persons so exposed show not a few who ...