This table shows that miners, as a class_Dangerous trades

their mortality directly attributed to alcoholism being less than

one-third, and that from liver disease being only two-thirds, of that

of occupied males generally. In this respect they scarcely differ from

farm labourers; their mortality from alcoholism is the same, and that

from liver disease is only slightly higher.

Miners, as a class, suffer less than other occupied males from

phthisis, as well as from cancer and diabetes, their mortality from the

first-mentioned disease being below the average by 41 per cent., from

the second by 16 per cent., and from the last by 29 per cent. Among

miners, diseases of the nervous, circulatory, and urinary systems are

less fatal than the average, but, with few exceptions, respiratory

diseases are more fatal.

_Coal Miners._--As a class, colliers compare favourably with men

in most other occupations on the score of health. During the first

thirty years of the main working period of life their mortality is

substantially lower than is the mortality in other industries, although

at ages under twenty and over fifty-five they die faster than the

average.

The excessive mortality of colliers under twenty years of age may be

accounted for by the fact that from 40 to 50 per cent. of the total

deaths are due to violence, caused by the waggons and “tubs” in which

coals are conveyed from the underground workings to the shafts. This

form of accident falls mainly to the lot of the younger and less

experienced colliers who are employed in “tramming” and “hurrying” the

coals. When their mortality from accident is deducted, the residual

death-rate of colliers under twenty years of age does not greatly

differ from the average.

The comparative mortality figure of colliers, without distinction of

age, from all causes including accidents, averages 925; but whilst on

the one hand it does not exceed 727 among the colliers of Derbyshire

and Nottingham, and 774 among those of Durham and Northumberland, on

the other hand it ranges upwards to 1069 among colliers in Lancashire

and 1145 in Monmouthshire and South Wales.

It is not easy to explain why it is that colliers in the several

coalfields, working as they do in the same material, and spending an

equal portion of the day underground, should differ so widely from

one another in their mortality. For example, on reference to the

accompanying table we see, with regard to miners under twenty years

of age, that whilst on the one hand, among colliers in the counties

of Derby and Nottingham, and also in Stafford, the mortality is lower

than among “occupied males” by 7 and 5 per cent. respectively; on the

other hand, among colliers in Durham and Northumberland, the mortality

exceeds that standard by 54 per cent., in Lancashire by 63 per cent.,

and in Monmouthshire and South Wales by not less than 127 per cent.

Again, in the counties of Derby and Nottingham colliers between their

fifty-fifth and sixty-fifth years die less rapidly than the average

by 4 per cent., but colliers of the same age in Staffordshire die

more rapidly than the average by 35 per cent., and in Lancashire and

Monmouthshire more rapidly by 40 per cent.

Various theories have been advanced to account for the great disparity

just alluded to in the local death-rates among colliers. In the first

place, we know that coal-pits differ greatly in geological character,

in depth, in the grittiness or dustiness of the rock which has to be

worked in order to get at the coal, in the amount and composition

of gas present, in the quantity of water permeating the strata, in

the thickness of the coal seams, in the temperature of the workings;

and last, but most important, in the perfection or otherwise of the

ventilation of the coal-pit. Again, it is known that the habits and

consequently the health and comfort of coal miners vary extremely

according as the colliery is situate in a country district, or, as is

frequently the case especially in the Lancashire coalfields, in what is

practically an urban district, perhaps bordering on a large town. These

variations in the circumstances of life are certainly sufficient to

account for wide differences in the health and longevity of coal miners.

Aged colliers, wherever they are employed, sustain a mortality which

is considerably in excess of the standard; yet even among them the

mortality varies greatly with locality. For whereas in the counties of

Derby and Nottingham the mortality of colliers aged sixty-five years

and upwards exceeds that of occupied males by 18 per cent., the excess

amounts to 50 per cent. in Lancashire, 52 per cent. in Durham and

Northumberland, and 80 per cent. in Staffordshire.

In the list of principal causes of death amongst colliers there are two

diseases which have been the subject of exceptional comment, both in

this country and abroad--namely, pulmonary phthisis on the one hand,

and ordinary inflammatory diseases of the lung on the other. Almost all

writers on the subject, whether in recent or in earlier years, agree

in attributing to colliers an unusually low mortality from tubercular,

and a correspondingly high mortality from non-tubercular, disease of

the lungs. The accompanying table, which gives statistics for the years

1890–92, confirms the general opinion. Thus, taking coal miners in the

aggregate we find that their mortality ascribed to phthisis is only

about half of that to which other occupied males are subject, whilst

their mortality from respiratory diseases exceeds the same standard

by 21 per cent. If we take farm labourers as a standard by which the

mortality of colliers should be judged, we find that whilst colliers

suffer from fatal phthisis in the proportion of 97 as against 115 for

farm labourers, colliers die rather more than twice as rapidly from

diseases of the respiratory system other than phthisis. Although, as

has already been stated, colliers as a class enjoy special immunity

from pulmonary phthisis, nevertheless the disease prevails amongst

them very unequally. The highest mortality figures from phthisis

among colliers are 123 in the West Riding of Yorkshire and 107 in

Monmouthshire, whilst the figures do not exceed 83 in Staffordshire and

69 in Derbyshire. In no English county does the mortality of colliers

from phthisis even approach 185, which is the figure for occupied males

in the aggregate.

In the West Riding of Yorkshire the mortality of colliers from phthisis

has increased since 1881 by one-fifth part; but in other counties it

has decreased by proportions in some cases as high as one-third of its

former amount. Non-tubercular diseases of the lungs are excessively

fatal to the colliers of Monmouthshire and South Wales, and still more

so to those of Lancashire, where the mortality from these diseases is

76 per cent. above that of occupied males generally, and is more than

double of what it is among the colliers of Northumberland, Durham,

Derby, and Nottingham. These diseases have very considerably increased

in fatality since 1881 in all the coalfields of England: the increase

being equal to two-thirds of the former amount among the colliers of

Lancashire, and to more than one-half among those of the West Riding

of Yorkshire. Colliers nowhere appear to readily fall victims to

intemperance. In Derby and Nottingham, as well as in Staffordshire,

the colliers are especially free from that vice, their mortality from

alcoholism being only half the low figure for colliers generally. Even

in Monmouthshire and South Wales, where the figure for alcoholism is

the highest, only 7 of the colliers die of this disease for every

13 that die from it in other occupations. Since 1881 the mortality

due to intemperance has slightly increased among the coal miners of

Lancashire, but has decreased in all other counties respecting which

comparison is possible.

_Ironstone mining._--This is one of the industries that are

declining in this country. Miners of ironstone numbered barely 18,000

at the last census, and were fewer by nearly one-third part than at

the census of 1881. More than half of these workers are to be found

in the counties of Cumberland and York, and about an eighth part more

are scattered over the counties of Stafford and Northampton. Speaking

generally, iron-workers are a healthy body of men. They experience

rates of mortality which are lower than those of “occupied males” at

all periods of life between twenty years and sixty-five, and also

lower than the rates for coal miners at the same ages. Both ironstone

miners and colliers, however, suffer a much higher mortality than other

workers at ages under twenty and over fifty-five years; the reason for

this has not as yet been satisfactorily explained. It has been shown

by Dr Ogle and other writers that the vital statistics of ironstone

miners bear a general resemblance to those of coal miners. Recent

investigations confirm this statement thus far, that in both cases

the mortality from tubercular phthisis and from all other diseases

except those of the respiratory system are below the average, and even

this reservation does not apply to the statistics of 1890–2. Their

comparative mortality figure from all causes is 774, and therefore

considerably below that of coal miners in the aggregate. From disease

alone (excluding accident) their mortality is slightly higher than that

of colliers in Northumberland and Durham, but they suffer somewhat less

severely from accident. Ironstone miners are a temperate body of men,

their mortality figure from alcoholism being practically the same as

that of colliers.

The extended tables of causes of death in my larger work show that

ironstone miners suffer more severely than the average from influenza

and from accident, but that under all other headings their mortality is

below that of other occupations.

As compared with miners generally, the only diseases which show an

excess among these workers are influenza, cancer, diseases of the

liver, and suicide. Since 1881, the mortality of ironstone miners

has decreased; but, as in the case of many other occupations, the

improvement is limited to the lower ages, the rate having slightly

increased at ages above forty-five years. Since 1881 the mortality of

ironstone miners from alcoholism has decreased by more than half. There

has also been a substantial decrease in their mortality from pulmonary

consumption, and a slight decrease in that from other diseases of

the lungs and air passages. Diseases of the nervous, circulatory,

digestive, and urinary systems are, however, more fatal than formerly

amongst these workers, and they are now more addicted than they were to

suicide.

_Copper Miners._--The number of men engaged in this industry is

so small that it is scarcely safe to express an opinion as to their

healthiness or otherwise, especially when, as in the present case, the

period covered by the statistics does not exceed three years. At the

last census scarcely more than 1000 copper miners above fifteen years

were enumerated, their number having dwindled to less than a third part

of what it had been at the preceding census.

If one may hazard an opinion from so small a number of deaths, it

would appear that copper miners are an unhealthy body of men: their

comparative mortality figure is 1230, or 295 above that of miners in

the aggregate. Pulmonary consumption and other lung diseases appear to

be very destructive to these workers, and the survivors certainly do

wisely in endeavouring to find a healthier field for their labour by

emigrating to other and more prosperous regions. At the next census

it is probable that the copper-mining industry in England will have

practically ceased to exist.

_Tin Miners._--This is another unhealthy occupation; it is limited

almost exclusively to the counties of Devon and Cornwall. The miners

of tin at the last census numbered rather fewer than 10,000, and as

the deaths in the course of three years did not exceed 336 in all, no

very detailed observations on their mortality would be profitable. In

consequence of the very general emigration of tin miners in recent

years to South Africa and elsewhere, the age constitution of tin miners

as a class has become exceedingly abnormal. Adults in the prime of

life having left their homes in search of more profitable work abroad,

the tin miners who are left at home are the least robust and healthy

of their tribe, and this fact has a considerable effect on their

mortality. Reference to the table on page 156 shows that tin miners

sustain rates of mortality which are excessive at all ages. Their

comparative mortality figure is 1409, or nearly half as high again as

the average. Tin miners die two and three-quarter times as fast from

phthisis, and one and three-quarter times as fast from other lung

diseases as do occupied males generally; their mortality from cancer

and from diseases of the nervous and urinary systems is also in excess

of the average.

MORTALITY OF UNOCCUPIED AND OCCUPIED MEN.

In my previous work on occupational mortality, the death-rates of

unoccupied men were compared, in considerable detail, with those of

men following various occupations, in different parts of the country.

A brief summary of what was then advanced at much greater length may

fitly close the present section.

At the census of 1891 the number of unoccupied males living between

the ages of twenty-five and sixty-five years was returned as 208,857.

Of these, 35 per cent. were classed as “retired from business,” 6 per

cent. as pensioners, and 23 per cent. as “living on their own means,”

whilst 21 per cent. were referred to the class of “unoccupied persons,”

including an unknown proportion of paupers and prisoners. Careful

investigation of the facts leads to the surmise that somewhere between

one-third and one-half of the unoccupied males, as above defined,

experience a mortality which probably does not exceed that of occupied

males at the same ages. If this be so, it follows that the mortality of

the remaining two-thirds, or one-half, as the case may be, must greatly

exceed even the high rates of unoccupied males in the aggregate. In the

following table the rates of unoccupied males are contrasted with those

of occupied males at the several stages of life.

+--------------+----------+------------+-------------------+

+--------------+----------+------------+-------------------+

| 15–20 | 2.55 | 35.86 | 1406 |

| 20–25 | 5.07 | 29.58 | 583 |

| 25–35 | 7.29 | 27.05 | 371 |

| 35–45 | 12.43 | 35.71 | 287 |

| 45–55 | 20.66 | 37.77 | 183 |

| 55–65 | 36.66 | 59.44 | 162 |

|Over 65 years | 102.32 | 105.86 | 103 |

+--------------+----------+------------+-------------------+

The comparative mortality figures of occupied and of unoccupied males

between twenty-five and sixty-five years of age are 953 and 2215

respectively. In other words, the number of males of definite age

constitution, within these limits, that would give 1000 deaths among

the general population, and 679 deaths in the healthy districts, would

give 953 deaths among occupied, and 2215 among unoccupied, males. The

comparative mortality figure of unoccupied males, therefore, exceeds

that of occupied males by 132 per cent. The following table shows the

chief causes of death that go to make up the comparative mortality

figures for occupied males and unoccupied males respectively.

+------------------------------+--------+----------+-------------------+

+------------------------------+--------+----------+-------------------+

|All Causes | 953 | 2215 | 1262 |

|Diseases of Nervous System | 82 | 630 | 548 |

|Phthisis | 185 | 448 | 263 |

|Diseases of Heart | 126 | 240 | 114 |

| Diseases | 254 | 350 | 96 |

|Cancer | 44 | 96 | 52 |

|Diseases of Urinary Organs | 41 | 82 | 41 |

|Alcoholism and Liver Diseases | 40 | 76 | 36 |

| Poisoning | 57 | 81 | 24 |

|Suicide | 14 | 28 | 14 |

+------------------------------+--------+----------+-------------------+

It thus appears that nearly two-thirds of the enormous excess in

the mortality of unoccupied as compared with occupied men is due

either to diseases of the nervous system, or to phthisis. The heavy

mortality from both these diseases would appear to partly depend on

the circumstance that the unoccupied class includes a large proportion

of insane persons who are exceptionally prone to phthisis. Among other

causes of death, diseases of the heart account for 114, and influenza

(with respiratory diseases) accounts for 96 of the excess in the

mortality figure of unoccupied men.

The mortality attributed to cancer is double, and that attributed to

intemperance and liver disease, to diseases of the urinary system, and

to suicide, is about double as heavy among the unoccupied as it is

among the occupied class. The excess of mortality from accident among

unoccupied males possibly results from the addition to their ranks of

men who, having been permanently disabled whilst at work, drift into

the unoccupied class, and finally die from their injuries.

At the census of 1891 London contained 1,230,010 occupied males aged

fifteen years and upwards, while the industrial districts contained

1,833,295, and the agricultural districts contained 1,246,156 at the

same ages. More than half of the occupied males in England and Wales

are therefore included in these three sections of the population.

The mortality of _occupied males_ exhibits very wide variations

in different parts of the country. These variations are exemplified

severally by London, by the group of districts representing Industrial

England, and by the areas representing Agricultural England.

At each of the seven age-groups, between fifteen and sixty-five years,

the highest death-rates occur in the industrial, and the lowest in the

agricultural, districts, London occupying an intermediate position.

The comparative mortality figure among occupied males, at ages from

twenty-five to sixty-five years, is 1147 in London, 1248 in the

industrial districts, and 687 in the agricultural districts; these

figures being respectively 20 per cent. above, 31 per cent. above, and

28 per cent. below, the figure for all occupied males.

Phthisis and respiratory diseases are more fatal than any other causes

of death to occupied males, both in London and in the industrial

districts. In London these two headings contributed almost equally to

the mortality figure. The industrial districts, on the other hand, show

less mortality than does London from phthisis, but the difference is

more than made up by the heavy death-roll from respiratory diseases.

In the agricultural districts the mortality figure for phthisis is

less than half of that of London, and the figure for respiratory

diseases is still lower. After due correction for age constitution,

these two classes of disease in the aggregate cause 48 per cent. of the

total mortality among occupied males in London, 47 per cent. in the

industrial districts, and 36 per cent. in the agricultural districts,

against 43 per cent. for all occupied males within the same age limits.

JOHN TATHAM.

CHAPTER XI

THE DISEASES OF SOLDIERS AT HOME AND ABROAD

The soldier is liable, like other members of the community, to various

diseases due to his occupation and surroundings, although at the

present day the hygienic conditions of barracks and military duties are

so carefully supervised that he is, when on home service, placed under

much more favourable circumstances than men of his own class in civil

life. It is, therefore, somewhat disappointing to find that under these

circumstances, knowing soldiers to be more or less picked men, they are

not, judging from tables of mortality, more healthy than their civilian

brethren of the same age. It is a matter of common observation that the

army ages a man quickly; the old soldier of a regiment, who is looked

upon more or less as a privileged individual, and generally given some

sort of employment which relieves him from “sentry go” and the more

arduous duties of his profession, is seldom over forty years of age,

and ought to be therefore at his best; but partly from the monotony of

his existence, and partly from excessive smoking, drinking, and night

duty, the private of twenty years’ service is, as a rule, a worn-out

machine, his mental faculties blunted, and his body, if not the seat of

actual disease, aged and almost useless. These effects are still more

marked when a man, as is generally the case, has spent a great part of

his service abroad, for to the effects of hot climates and the diseases

incidental thereto must be added, in a greatly enhanced degree, the

enforced ennui and idleness which are the bane of the soldier’s

existence in all stations in times of peace, and especially in the

tropics. We all know how much more likely we are to rust out than wear

out, and the enforced idleness which the soldier, especially in the

infantry, has to encounter, leads to sluggishness of the functions of

the body, while in many, drunkenness, increased smoking and debauchery,

exercise an injurious influence upon health, apart altogether from

the actual diseases to which they may give rise. An old soldier, for

these reasons, can seldom eat his rations, and his system seems to be

in that receptive condition that he readily falls a victim to epidemic

disease prevalent in the neighbourhood, and this the more owing to his

tendency to haunt the lowest and most insanitary parts of the town near

which he may be quartered. This is seen more particularly abroad, where

the native quarters are in marked contrast to the clean and sanitary

military cantonments, so that medical officers have come to regard it

as almost certain that the soldiers will soon suffer when an epidemic

breaks out among the civil population. Statistics prove that the longer

soldiers serve, the greater is the proportional mortality among them.

After these preliminary remarks we will proceed to discuss the peculiar

health conditions under which soldiers exist, and their effects as

regards their duties, habits, surroundings, and dress: firstly, at

home; secondly, abroad, with special reference to hot climates, both

dry and damp, and the diseases from which they suffer in such climates;

thirdly, the special dangers to health incidental to active service.

The peculiar conditions of military as contrasted with civil life are

that the soldier must perforce (in most cases) remain unmarried, that

his daily wants are all provided for by the State, so that his pay,

though small, is practically all pocket money, which may, if he is

so inclined, be all spent on drink and debauchery; that his personal

liberty is a good deal restricted, tending to irritability and low

spirits in many temperaments; that he has no privacy, living as he does

in rooms common to him and many others; that he has to dress in clothes

in which hygienic principles are sometimes overruled by the necessity

for ornamentation and smartness; and that his duties frequently entail

great exposure to varieties of temperature and loss of sleep.

As regards the first of these points, it is known from statistics

that married men, as a rule, live longer than the unmarried, apart

altogether from the dangers of venereal diseases. This is not difficult

to understand, seeing that the married man has more solid comforts,

and is not tempted to spend his evenings abroad, also that he has

that incentive to steady work and moderation in all things which

the celibate has not. Again, the average soldier has undoubtedly

more pocket money than the average civilian of his class; he has no

incentive to save; he is tempted by numerous companions of both

sexes to excess of all kinds, and spends most of his evenings abroad,

consuming more drink and tobacco than is good for him. Vanity and

desire to be smart frequently cause him to dress in garments much too

thin for the state of the weather. Discipline has, no doubt, a very

depressing effect upon the health of some men. Restraint and the petty

tyranny of superiors exercise a bad effect upon their spirits, causing

loss of sleep, and often leading to drinking. In spite of the great

improvement in the treatment of the men which has been effected in our

army in recent years, suicides are still too common, though not nearly

so frequent as formerly, or as they are in other armies.

As regards the herding together of men in barrack rooms, this is an

evil which is almost unavoidable without great increase of expense, but

if it could be altered it would certainly make the army more attractive

to the better class of men. Formerly there was great overcrowding and

consequent sickness, but at the present day, in almost all barracks,

each man has at least 600 cubic feet of space, a larger amount than men

of that class usually enjoy in civil life. Before the need for fresh

air was so fully recognised as it is now, there was great mortality in

the army from chest complaints, especially from consumption, as also

in the navy; but now the regulations are very strict, the number of

men to be accommodated in each room, so as to give each his 600 cubic

feet, is painted on the barrack-room doors, and any overcrowding,

beyond the regulated numbers, must be reported upon and explained by

the officers, regimental and medical. The public are now, generally

speaking, fully alive to the need for fresh air and ventilation, but

disregard of the necessity is still a very fertile cause of disease

in civil life, especially when to lack of fresh air is added the fact

that such air as there is is laden with dust or other solid matter,

as in mines or workshops. In former years the large amount of lung

disease in the army and navy was in exact proportion to the amount of

overcrowding, but now the soldier and the sailor do not suffer more

from these diseases than do the civil population. In the first ten

years of the late Queen’s reign, the deaths from lung diseases in the

army per 1000 of strength were at the rate of 7.82, but in 1898 there

were only 2.5 cases per 1000 admitted to hospital, of whom a very small

proportion died, the majority being invalided or cured. Apropos of this

I need only remark that the latest plan of treating consumptives is to

keep them day and night in the open air. Cold fresh air is no longer so

much dreaded as formerly. That it is not the cause of consumption can

be abundantly proved from army statistics. From these statistics one

may learn how, in the old days of overcrowding, pulmonary consumption

was much more prevalent among the troops serving in the delightful

climate of the West Indies than in England, or in Canada, owing to

the scandalous manner in which the barracks in those islands used to

be kept overfilled. Now, except when yellow fever appears and carries

off the men, the West Indian station is the healthiest quarter of the

British army, not excepting even the home stations.

As regards the dress of the soldier, there was formerly in the

army a good deal of disease of the heart and great blood-vessels.

This was undoubtedly caused by restriction to the circulation from

tight clothing, and from the pressure on the chest of the straps

which supported the knapsack and accoutrements. At the present day

the tendency is to do away with everything tight: the stock has

disappeared, the tunic is made to fit more loosely, and the weight to

be carried is so arranged that there is no pressure on the chest. The

dress for hard work is made of light material, serge or drill, allowing

free transpiration from the skin, and even the stick-up collar of the

tunic is being done away with, at all events for the campaigning dress,

and is being replaced by a turned-down collar, as may be noticed in

pictures of officers on active service in South Africa. One wonders

that any men survived the active service in India in the old days of

the tightly-fitting, thick cloth clothes, insufficient head-dress, and

straps supporting the knapsack and ammunition pouches crossing over the

chest. The fighting at the Alma was in full-dress uniform, and there

is no doubt that there was a great deal of unnecessary suffering and

mortality from this cause. Instinct and common sense alike urge against

doing hard work and long marches in tight clothes, which overstrain

the heart. We still hear every now and then of serious consequences,

both in England and on the Continent, from holding fatiguing field

days in hot weather. Doubtless we must attribute part of the trouble

to excessive smoking and drinking. “Soldier’s irritable heart” is

attributed to the uniform and to men having to stand for long periods

in a constrained attitude; but I am disposed to blame beer and tobacco

for part of the mischief: tobacco especially, I believe to be a cause

of heart trouble among soldiers, though many authorities doubt it,

seeing that Continental soldiers smoke more than ours do and suffer

less. Our men, however, as a rule, smoke and chew much stronger tobacco

than other people; they indulge in it in the early morning on an

empty stomach, and at all other times, and I have known a man who was

anxious to be invalided out of the army produce the most marked cardiac

symptoms by the surreptitious use of strong cake tobacco. The men of

the navy, who have always had a looser and more workmanlike dress than

the army men, do not suffer to the same extent from heart troubles.

Such complaints are more prevalent in that corps of the army which

has the hardest work and the tightest clothes, viz., the Artillery.

With more rational ideas prevailing at the present time, the amount

of heart complaint has diminished, and there is now proportionally

only one-third the amount which existed about the time of the Indian

Mutiny. In making this statement we must, however, bear in mind that

our soldiers are younger than the men of those days, and in such the

effects of these diseases are less likely to manifest themselves.

However, there is no doubt that not only in respect of cardiac, but

of all other maladies, the army is much healthier than it used to be

since reforms in dress and the general treatment of the soldier have

been instituted. Old medical officers say that they never see the same

class of diseases they used to. Walks round military burial-grounds,

especially abroad, tell terrible tales of mortality among troops in

former years. In the “Happy Valley” in Hong Kong may be seen a monument

erected to over 500 men of one regiment who perished there from disease.

Of the duties of the soldier that have a prejudicial effect upon his

health, the most injurious is night guard. The medical authorities are

charged to make representations to the authorities whenever in their

opinion the turn of men for this duty is becoming so frequent as to be

liable to cause illness. To the civilian mind it may seem a trifle that

each man should come on guard not oftener than say once in five days,

but when we consider the long hours of monotonous standing or walking

about in the cold and darkness, perhaps too in rain, which this duty

entails, one can understand how this prematurely ages the soldier, and

can sympathise with the latter’s ambition to get a billet which gives

him all his nights “in bed.” This is altogether apart from the great

risks of inflammation of the lungs or rheumatic fever caught in this

way, especially as the intervals of “sentry go” are, in the winter,

usually spent in a superheated guardroom, from which the soldier passes

to his cold and solitary vigil. I have known among cavalry in cold

weather an immense amount of sickness caused by the men, after getting

very hot while grooming their horses in the hot stables, leading them

out to water in their shirt sleeves. Either from lack of time, desire

to save their clothes, carelessness or reluctance to appear “molly

coddles,” the neglect to put on their jackets frequently resulted in

attacks of pneumonia, quinsy, etc., etc., which the distribution of

woollen jerseys subsequently did much to prevent. Those who imagine

that soldiers lead a lazy life little realise how hard a young cavalry

or horse artillery soldier has to work before he becomes master of his

craft. What with learning to use his weapons, his drill, riding and the

care of his horse, clothes, and accoutrements, the recruit, if not well

fed and cared for, is very prone to break down under hardships.

To turn now to causes of sickness among soldiers abroad. This is so

largely a consideration of the whole question of the effect of hot

climates on the European constitution, that I can only briefly treat of

it here. The first points to note are that, owing to the impossibility

of the troops working in the sun, and to the provision of native

servants to do many of the things which the soldier does himself at

home, the men have much more spare time; the climate causes a great

craving for drink, and the great activity of the skin renders the

system more liable to sudden chills. It is a curious and remarkable

fact that whereas most severe illnesses at home are due to chest

troubles, the abdomen is that part of the body which suffers most

severely in the tropics; hence it has been well said that tropical

disease generally “hits below the belt.”

Let us consider first the conditions of life in a hot, dry climate,

such as Egypt and India in the warm weather, and next, in a moist

climate like Ceylon or the West Coast of Africa. The great difference

between Egypt and India is in that in the former the nights are

comparatively cool owing to the rapid radiation of heat from the sand

as soon as the sun goes down in the cloudless sky, while in Northern

India in hot weather, the nights are almost as hot as the days. Only

those who have had experience can realise the power of the sun in

those climates; to go out into the sunlight without a hat, even for a

few minutes, is to be struck down, or to get a splitting headache for

the remainder of the day; the skin is burned, and the lips cracked by

the hot wind, so that even when driving at midnight one turns away

his face as from the open door of a furnace; while to sleep, except

under a constantly waving punkah, is almost an impossibility for most

Europeans. Bungalows are kept closed up to exclude the hot wind except

at one or two windows, where it is allowed to enter through grass

mats kept constantly saturated with water. The air is only changed by

throwing the house open for an hour or so at dead of night, after which

all openings are again closed so as to bottle up, as it were, a supply

of comparatively cool air before sunrise. Hence exercise in the open

air is an impossibility except before sunrise and after sunset. In the

military stations in India soldiers can be seen sitting all night about

the cantonments, unable to sleep in their beds on account of the heat

of the barrack bungalows, which, like all buildings, retain the heat of

the sun far into the night. When we think of the effect of such a life

on the private soldiers, without a taste for reading or other resources

within themselves, can we wonder that their health suffers, and their

spirits become depressed, or that the raging thirst such heat engenders

should lead to drinking? If the temptation to indulge in alcohol be

yielded to, the liver, already in an irritable condition from the

heat, and from the digestion of a diet of meat much too heating for

the climate, soon becomes congested, or even suppurates; or the nerve

centres which control the temperature of the body, already over-worked,

break down completely, and heat apoplexy supervenes. It is a remarkable

fact that a temperate man rarely suffers from heat apoplexy, for the

body in health can adapt itself to enormously high temperatures. On the

other hand, I have been much struck by the distress caused by the heat

among beer-drinking soldiers, compared with the immunity experienced

by the more temperate officer, doing the same work on a march. The

measures to mitigate the effects of such a climate are to get as much

exercise as possible during the comparatively cool hours of the morning

and evening, and to be as much in the open air as possible at night; to

have a diet as cooling as possible--fruit, vegetables, fish, etc. (all

of which are unfortunately very difficult to procure at that season),

and to try to interest the men with books, lectures, and indoor

occupations, such as woodcarving, bootmaking, etc. Also to let them

have plenty of temperance drinks--tea, lemon juice, etc., etc. Sleeping

in the open air is the pleasantest at these times, but unfortunately

sudden storms are apt to arise in the night which cause annoying

breaks in one’s rest, and again one has to retire indoors at break

of day, just when the air is coolest and sleep most refreshing. The

alternative is to sleep under a punkah indoors, but the punkah-pulling

in soldiers’ barracks is frequently most unsatisfactory, and the broken

rest from the heat and mosquitoes is a serious cause of deterioration

of health in the soldier. To the educated officer with books, and

perhaps music and painting to while away the long, hot hours, the

life in the hot weather is not unpleasant, dinner is not taken till

perhaps 9 P.M., and social intercourse passes the time till

long past midnight, then a few hours of sleep in the coolest time of

the twenty-four hours, supplemented by a siesta in the daytime. All

open-air work is over by 9 A.M. The more closely the life of

the soldier is made to resemble that of his officers, the better will

be his health. A word of warning is necessary about the swimming-bath,

which, though it gives the most delightful form of exercise, is

somewhat dangerous, for the bath being generally under cover, the water

is much colder than the outer air, and lengthened immersion is very

apt to cause liver and other internal congestions, the commencement of

grave tropical disease.

Contrast with the above description that of a moist, hot climate.

The air, instead of being hot and dry, is ladened with moisture, the

slightest exertion causes profuse perspiration, which renders all the

garments damp and clinging; the moisture of the atmosphere renders

evaporation from the body and consequent lowering of the temperature

much slower; there is experienced a total lack of energy, but as there

is no hot wind, the houses can be kept open all day long; there are

frequent showers, and vegetation is abundant, and affords plenty of

shade for those who care to remain out-of-doors all day. There is

not, therefore, in a climate like this the same amount of confinement

indoors, but the constant heat and perspiration are very enervating,

and soon lead to marked pallor in Europeans. The great danger in such a

climate is from the damp clothing; the skin being so active is full of

blood, and a sudden cooling from sitting in a draught in damp clothes

drives the blood to the internal organs, causing congestion of the

liver and spleen, dysentery, etc. To avoid this it is most important

always to wear flannel next the skin and to change after exercise.

By doing this the risks of such a climate are much mitigated. In two

years in Ceylon I never had a day’s illness, and the good health of

the army in the Ashanti expedition of 1895–96 must in a great measure

be attributed to making the men carry a dry shirt on the march, into

which they changed at once on arriving at the halting place. The

most important disease of those climates is malaria, due to a minute

organism in the blood, now proved to be generally communicated by the

bites of mosquitoes. The obvious preventatives are to avoid being

bitten by mosquitoes, to destroy the breeding places of these insects

by draining the pools in which their larvæ develop, to avoid going out

at night, when these insects are most active, and to keep them off by

mosquito curtains. Smearing the exposed parts of the body with carbolic

oil will repel these pests. There is no reason why soldiers in tropical

barracks should not be supplied with mosquito curtains, when it is

not hot enough to demand the use of punkahs, which also keep off the

insects; and I have no doubt this will be done in all feverish stations

as the result of recent teaching.

In sleeping under a punkah, and in fact at all times in the tropics,

where the individual retires to bed bathed in perspiration, one of the

best means of avoiding chill of the abdominal organs is to wear a long

silk scarf (kummerbund) or a flannel “cholera belt” round the body.

One of the older theories about malaria was that it was due to some

miasma arising from the ground, and especially from ground which

had been recently disturbed. However erroneous this idea may be in

theory, in practice many instances are on record of its apparent

truth. I can never forget the results of sending men to a so-called

sanitorium which had been made in the far East by levelling the top of

a mountain and building barracks thereon. Almost every man who went

got an attack of malarial fever, and this is in accordance with the

experience and superstition of the Chinese. They say that the “Fung

Shui,” or genius loci, of a place is a dragon who lives in the ground,

and if you disturb the soil you irritate him, with the result that he

avenges himself by spreading fever among his aggressors. Therefore the

soil about barracks and encampments should be disturbed as little as

possible, and all shallow pools of water should be drained or treated

with a small quantity of paraffin oil to kill the larvæ of mosquitoes.

Other scourges of the tropics which cause sickness and mortality among

our soldiers are liver disease and dysentery (generally due to chill

as above described); and those diseases due to contaminated water,

_e.g._, enteric or typhoid fever, cholera, and some forms of

dysentery. This is so large a subject that I cannot say more on it than

to indicate that the germs of the disease may, while almost invariably

matured in water, be taken into the system with milk, water, or food,

and the best precautions are rigid prevention of adulteration of the

milk (to be secured, if necessary, by having the cows milked before a

responsible European), boiling suspected drinking water, and the most

perfect cleanliness in the preparation of all food. Notwithstanding

the greatest care and expenditure in obtaining the best water for our

large Indian stations, enteric fever seems rather to increase than

diminish, but that is due, I fear, to the carelessness of the soldiers

in drinking from contaminated sources in the bazaars, or in their walks

abroad. The well-water of India and the native made aerated waters are

almost invariably open to suspicion, and ordinary filters are, I fear,

only a delusion and a snare. I am acquainted with at least one terrible

outbreak of cholera distinctly traced to the use of filters. The

bacterial filters of Berkfeld and Pasteur-Chamberland are reliable, but

are so difficult to work and keep in order that it is much better to

trust to boiling the water. In a tropical climate, when soldiers on the

march acquire an intense thirst, it is practically impossible to make

them wait till water can be boiled and cooled before quenching their

thirst, and we have had recently a terrible example of the effects of

foul drinking water in the outbreak of enteric fever among our troops

in South Africa. My own practice in India when out shooting was to

carry boiled water or cold tea, but to slake my thirst as much as

possible by sucking a lemon or lime, a practice which most travellers

and (generally) soldiers also could follow with advantage. Another use

of these fruits is to squeeze a little of the juice into water which

is not above suspicion, as it is known that acids kill the germs of

cholera, and also possibly of enteric fever. I may add that limes are

very abundant and cheap in most tropical climates, and could generally

be served out to the troops.

I have already stated that heat apoplexy is most likely to attack those

addicted to alcoholic excess, and is not likely to be prevalent among

temperate men in the airy dwellings of Europeans in the tropics; but

any great overcrowding, such as occurred in the Black Hole of Calcutta,

would be likely to cause fearful mortality. Great and sustained

exertion in the hot sun of Egypt or India might cause heat apoplexy

or sunstroke in the most temperate. It is marvellous, however, what

an amount of exercise temperate men can take when “pig-sticking,” for

instance, in the hottest weather in India, with impunity.

The Europeans in India, who live in roomy and clean dwellings, suffer

remarkably little from the plague, which is now threatening our

shores, but has so far not obtained a foothold owing to rigid sanitary

precautions.

A very troublesome complaint among soldiers in the tropics is “Dhobie

itch,” a form of ringworm locating itself under the arms and between

the legs, where the skin is always moist from perspiration. In one

regiment I had charge of, about 75 per cent. of the men had it, causing

a considerable amount of suffering and inefficiency. The disease is

spread by inoculation from dirty clothes, or such as have been washed

in impure water, and the best preventative is the use of clean and

frequently changed underwear.

By the adoption of the measures above indicated it is possible for

Europeans to enjoy good health in the tropics, but in war it is

impossible to observe many of these precautions. It is well known

that in all climates the ravages of disease are infinitely more fatal

than the weapons of the enemy. The existence of hostilities, with the

hard work and privations thereby entailed, usually puts all health

considerations into the background. In the Crimean war three times

as many of our men died of sickness as at the hands of the Russians,

and the proportion will be found even greater in the present war in

South Africa, in spite of the deadly accuracy of modern weapons and of

the fact that the theatre of operations is one of the most salubrious

regions in the world. And it is not difficult to understand why this

should be so when we reflect upon what active service means--the

prolonged and intense exertion, the loss of rest, deficiency of food,

which at the best is coarse, unpalatable, and badly cooked--in a word,

starvation; the bad water, the fouling of the camping grounds by the

excreta of thousands of men and animals, the heat by day and the cold

by night, the clothes alternately saturated by perspiration and frozen

by the bitter night wind, also the clothes becoming dirty and infested

by vermin owing to their wearers being unable to change them for weeks.

In the stress of campaigning men have become ill from want of time and

opportunity to secure the daily evacuation of the bowels, which is so

necessary to health. These are a few of the conditions incidental to

active service, and when we reflect it is not difficult to understand

that not only are there many diseases induced by campaigning proper,

but that if a man have one weak point about him, such hardships are

bound to find it out. We have only to glance at the casualty lists

published in the newspapers every morning, to see how various are

the causes of death among our men at the front. So well is this

recognised that every man is medically examined before going on active

service, and all with any defect of constitution are rejected. Here

I may incidentally remark that the prevention of venereal diseases

in the army is a matter of national importance, for the men who are

thereby unfitted to endure the privation of a campaign are many, and

all reasonable measures for the prevention of such diseases should

therefore have the support of patriotic people.

It is well known that excessive fatigue alone will cause a feverish

condition of the body, leading to weakness and loss of appetite,

and when that is induced the body is in a favourable condition for

the reception of the germs of specific diseases. Service conditions

obviously predispose to such diseases as pneumonia, rheumatism, quinsy,

frost-bite, etc., etc., and in hot countries to heat apoplexy and

sunstroke.

The commonest specific diseases of campaigns are dysentery, enteric

fever, cholera, and malarial fevers. Dysentery has always been the

great scourge of armies in the field in almost all climates, and the

causes may be briefly summed up as bad food, bad air, bad water, and

chills. The unwholesome food may cause disease in two ways: owing to

its coarseness and being badly cooked, it may give rise to inflammation

and irritation of the bowels, or it may be deficient in those still

imperfectly understood constituents which are necessary to prevent

scurvy. It is unnecessary to dilate further on the food question, the

points of which are obvious, but as regards scorbutic dysentery I may

say that it is very liable to appear among soldiers in the field, and

our authorities endeavour to ward it off by giving, whenever possible,

rations of fruit, vegetables, jam, and lime juice. As regards bad air,

the condition of camping-grounds whereon large numbers of men and

animals have lived even for a few days must be seen to be realised, and

when to that is added the stench of dead bodies of men, horses, and

cattle, as on a battlefield, it can be easily understood how frequently

the air which men have to breathe on active service must be such as

to give rise to bowel complaints. Again, in some countries where our

troops have to operate, such as in the West African jungles, the air

reeks with the smell of decaying vegetation in the stagnant depths of

the primeval forest, and such air is most unwholesome.

Bad water is the principal cause of dysentery, but whether a man can

acquire true dysentery thus, unless the water has been fouled by the

discharges of a previous case of the disease, is not quite certain.

Generally, such fouling is not difficult to establish. The drinking

of water in which are immersed the rotting carcases of men and

animals, and other nameless abominations--such water as our soldiers

drunk at Paardeberg--is, as might naturally be expected, likely to

cause diarrhœa running into dysentery, especially when all the other

causes of that disease exist also. Chill I hold to be an exceedingly

common cause of dysentery, having contracted the disease myself from

that cause alone after leaving the tropics. It is most important to

avoid sudden cooling of the surface of the abdomen by changing into

dry flannels immediately on halting, and keeping that region warm,

especially at night, by a thick woollen or silk covering. Unfortunately

such precautions are generally impracticable on active service.

Enteric or typhoid fever has only been recognised as a distinct disease

apart from typhus fever since the researches of Sir Wm. Jenner in the

late Queen’s reign, and therefore, whether it used formerly to be as

great a scourge in the past as it is now, it is impossible to say. At

the present day it is without doubt by far the most fatal disease to

which our soldiers are liable either in peace or war, and experience in

Egypt, India, and South Africa, where it seems to become more and more

fatal in spite of all that science can do to check it, almost causes us

to despair.

Protective inoculation on the same principle as vaccination is the

latest plan, tried extensively in South Africa, but the reports to

hand so far do not show that it has had any marked success as a

preventative, though it is hoped that it will prove to mitigate the

severity of the attack. The disease is most prevalent and fatal among

young men, which is a strong argument against the employment of very

young soldiers; but on the other hand many middle-aged men, whose

deaths the country is even now deploring, have lately succumbed. There

is little doubt that in England and other temperate climates this

disease is almost invariably due to bad water, but in India and other

very dry climates, where it has continued to spread in spite of the

most rigid precautions, the opinion is gaining ground that the germs

may often be spread by the wind carrying them about into food and drink

from the dry excreta of previous sufferers, deposited on the ground.

Flies also are suspected of bringing about the same effect. Even in

India and South Africa, however, it is remarkable how often epidemics

are associated with contaminated water--for instance, Paardeberg and

Bloemfontein (where the enemy cut off the regular water supply),

and when one has had experience of the way in which the ground is

fouled by the natives of Africa and India, there is little wonder

that the water supply suffers. It seems certain that people can drink

sewage contaminated water with comparative impunity, but the germs of

enteric once admitted into the water, an epidemic is almost certain.

The Hindoos always wash their buttocks after defecation, and hence

generally perform that act near water, and in the hills in India often

when I have been tempted to drink from an apparently pure mountain

stream, I have noticed, just in time, the evidence of this disgusting

practice. Again natives generally build their huts near a water supply,

and hence nearly every rivulet is contaminated. In a hot country it is

therefore most difficult to prevent men quenching their raging thirst

with obviously polluted water. The Boers are reported to be very filthy

in their habits, and as enteric fever is rife among them, it is not

difficult for us to understand how so many of our men have contracted

the disease in such a thirsty land, where I am informed even doctors,

well aware of the risks, could not resist the temptation of drinking

the dirty water by the roadside. The only safeguard with suspicious

water is to boil it; filters only give a false sense of security, but

wells can be purified with Condy’s fluid and acids, and of course rain

water, if carefully collected and stored, or a stream, if guarded from

its source, may be trusted, as also wells sunk at the time by the Royal

Engineers. Many observers think that enteric fever may be caused by

excessive fatigue and exposure to the sun, with absorption of poisons

from the bowels, especially if they are overloaded with decomposing

excreta due to constipation from heat, hard work, unwholesome food,

and want of time and opportunity to secure a regular evacuation. In

the navy, where condensed water is largely used for drinking purposes,

enteric fever is rare, except when contracted ashore; but as soldiers

cannot, as a rule, be supplied with condensed water, we must rely on

the above precautions as regards water, cleanliness in the preparation

of food, care in the disposal of excreta (and it is important to

remember that enteric urine is as dangerous as stools), and constant

supervision of natives and camp followers.

Cholera is like enteric fever, generally a water-borne disease, and

much the same remarks apply to both. On active service, tea, coffee,

and cocoa should be drunk in preference to water, as far as time and

the supply of fuel will allow, and all drinking water should, if

possible, be boiled. When green cocoanuts can be procured each will

furnish nearly a pint of deliciously cool and perfectly wholesome

“milk.”

I have said enough to show what a vital point the water question is

on active service, how the health of an army in the field is largely

dependent upon obtaining pure drinking water; and while all officers,

regimental and medical, must never weary in their endeavours to secure

such a supply, the men themselves ought to be instructed and exhorted

to exercise the necessary vigilance and self-restraint, and, if

necessary, punished when they fail to do so.

Malaria is always a great danger to soldiers on active service, not

only in tropical regions, but also at times in our own latitudes, as

was seen in the Walcheren Expedition. Though our theories as to the

cause of the disease have lately been altered by the discovery as to

the agency of mosquitoes in disseminating it, the old rules of not

disturbing the ground, sleeping on raised platforms (as was done in the

Ashanti Expedition of 1895–96), avoiding the neighbourhood of marshes

and jungly ravines, preventing chill by changing into dry flannels on

halting, never starting off in the morning without a cup of cocoa or

something of that kind, and taking a daily dose of quinine, should

on account of their proved utility still be followed. To keep off

mosquitoes in the absence of curtains and punkahs, the face and other

exposed parts of the body should be smeared with carbolic oil.

Sunstroke and heat apoplexy are causes of mortality on active service,

and even at home in hot weather we have had lamentable results from

overworking our soldiers in improper clothing and head-dresses. The

obvious precautions are, the avoidance of overcrowding and overloading

the men, the wearing of a suitable head-dress, loose porous clothing,

the provision of plenty of non-alcoholic drinks, and marching in as

open order as possible, so as to give every man enough fresh air. The

greatest precaution of all, viz., avoidance of work in the sun, cannot,

of course, be generally adopted on active service.

Sore and tender feet cause a great deal of inefficiency on active

service, though our army boots are generally very good, with plenty of

room and low heels, but a less rigid sole would be an improvement. The

socks should be woollen and not too thin or loose, the feet should be

kept clean and well soaped immediately before putting on the sock, and

blisters should be carefully treated.

Many of the above suggestions may appear incapable of being carried

out in the stress and hurry of active service, but, of course, anything

which will prevent disease contrives “a double debt to pay”; it keeps

the men in the fighting ranks, and prevents their becoming not only

useless but a burden and trouble to their healthy comrades. Every

soldier is said to cost the country about £150 before he can be placed

in the field as efficient, therefore sickness entails very heavy

pecuniary loss to the country, and all reasonable precautions will

ever receive the earnest attention and support of capable leaders. In

fact, without due regard to many of them it would be impossible in some

countries for white men to remain in the field at all, and the Ashanti

Expeditions of 1873 and 1895 have well been called “doctors’ wars.”

In conclusion, if my remarks have given rise to the impression that

the soldier is a drunken or unreliable creature, such is far from

my intention. He only presents, and that in a degree mitigated by

discipline and respect for authority, the faults of his class. My

experience of the average working man, which is large, is that the

majority cannot refrain from drinking so long as they have money

in their pockets, regardless of the consequences to themselves and

their families, and that to offer a man drink is their ordinary way

of showing kindness and good-fellowship; while their general want of

self-restraint is very disappointing, considering the educational

advantages they have enjoyed compared with their fathers.

J. R. DODD.

CHAPTER XII

HEALTH IN THE MARINE SERVICE

Although from time to time there have been energetic workers in the

cause of marine sanitation, there is probably no other department in

which the great advances in hygiene have produced so little good result.

It must be conceded at the outset that the seamen’s lot is by no means

an enviable one, and that his sanitary environment falls considerably

short of modern requirements. Legislation is slow, and the lack of

knowledge by the public of the requirements of the Mercantile Marine

is no doubt in great measure responsible for this. At a first glance

it might naturally be supposed that a life at sea was a healthy one;

living in fresh air, and removed from the unhealthy conditions of

large towns, it might be expected that the general health of seamen

would bear favourable comparison with the corresponding class of the

community on shore. But there is another side to this picture. In the

first place there is practically always _local_ overcrowding on board

ship, and in dealing with this question the hands of port sanitary

authorities and their officers are tied by the Shipping Acts. By the

Merchant Shipping Act, the minimum space allowed per head is only 72

cubic feet, and in this space a man has not only to sleep, but to feed

and live when not engaged on duty. It has been contended that inasmuch

as one-half of the crew is always at work, the forecastle provides

double this amount of space. But this is entirely a fallacy, for while

half the men are always off duty, there is practically continuous

occupation, and therefore no opportunity of opening doors, skylights,

and other ventilators, to admit of free perflation. Another serious

difficulty to contend with is the presence of moisture. Nearly all

forecastles are badly ventilated, and the greatly increased use of

steel and iron in modern vessels leads to the condensation of moisture,

or “sweating” due to change of temperature. It is no uncommon thing to

find the bunks and bedding in the crew’s quarters saturated with water

from this cause.

While it can scarcely be stated that any special diseases are

associated with the sailor’s calling, there are undoubtedly many which

are caused by the conditions under which he performs his duty. His

work is intermittent, consequently his intervals of rest, broken by

sudden and severe exertion, throw undue and violent strain upon the

circulatory and respiratory organs. In steam vessels the changes of

climate are rapid, and their influence trying to the system. In spite

of all the improved methods of storing and preserving food for long

periods, there is still much to be desired both in the actual dietary

of the sailor, and still more in the rough and inefficient manner in

which it is cooked for him. The loss of life from drowning and other

accidents connected with casualties to the vessel is large. Again,

the habits of the seaman must be taken into account. From the mere

fact of his being for long periods confined on shipboard, without

any amusements except those provided by his fellows, it is perhaps

not surprising that on arrival in port he should give way to full

indulgence in pleasure. Unfortunately, moreover, the parts of sea towns

frequented by sailors are generally the lowest, and the temptations of

the worst kind. This explains the frequency of alcoholism and venereal

disease among our Mercantile Marine, and in addition the tendency to

contract the diseases to be met with in such localities.

The principal diseases to which seamen are liable are:--

1. Those due to the special character of their employment,

such as aneurism, emphysema, hernia, and heart disease, and in

steam-ships, heat apoplexy (stokers).

2. Those due to their habits, viz., venereal disease and

alcoholism.

3. Diseases of climate, liver disease, malaria, yellow fever,

dysentery, cholera, plague, etc.

4. Diseases influenced mainly by immediate environment and

insanitary conditions, such as rheumatism, phthisis, bronchitis,

and various forms of lung disease, under which must also be

included scurvy and beriberi.

There is unfortunately no reliable record of sickness in the Mercantile

Marine.

The returns of the Board of Trade show the mortality rate from all

causes in 1898–99 to have been 9.60 per 1000 in the Merchant Service,

while the corresponding rate in the Royal Navy was, for the year 1899,

4.91 per 1000, or practically one-half.

The returns of the Mercantile Marine show that of the 9.6 per 1000, 7.4

were from injury, and 2.2 from disease; the 4.91 per 1000 of the Royal

Navy being made up of 3.56 from disease, and 1.35 from injury.

The following table shows the disease and accident mortality incidence

in sailing-vessels as compared with steam-vessels.

+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+-----------+

+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+-----------+

| Wrecks and Casualties | 425 | 607 | 1032 | .58 |

| and Casualties | 129 | 157 | 286 | .16 |

| Disease | 149 | 249 | 398 | .22 |

+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+-----------+

| Total | 703 |1013 | 1716 | .96 |

+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+-----------+

1. _Diseases due to Employment._--The violent exertions called

for at times of emergency fully account for the frequency of heart

disease, especially of cardiac hypertrophy, and also of hernia, while

the occurrence of aneurism may be assigned to the same cause, though

doubtless greatly aided by the influence of syphilis. With the large

increase in size of sailing-vessels and the consequent introduction of

labour-saving appliances, this class of disease is showing a decided

tendency to decrease.

Injuries are more common on sailing-vessels than on steam-ships, owing

to the greater amount of work aloft, and the more laborious efforts

involved in working the sails.

The “heat stroke” of stokers requires special notice. It is far more

common in vessels of the Merchant Service than in those of the Royal

Navy. Stokeholds in the navy are better ventilated, and forced draught,

if necessary, tends to a freer supply of air. The “fireman’s frenzy”

appears to be caused by the continued high temperature, coupled with

insufficient ventilation, and often associated with alcoholism. Much

can be done to diminish heat stroke by due attention to the ventilation

of stokeholds and confined spaces in connection with them. The utmost

advantage should be taken of the up-draught caused by the heat of the

furnaces to remove foul and vitiated air. Men engaged in this class of

work should be freely supplied with oatmeal water, as this is the most

wholesome method of replacing the large quantities of fluid lost by

perspiration. The same class of men are, moreover, specially liable

to diseases of the eye caused by the glare of the furnaces, and the

constant irritation produced by particles of coal and dust.

2. _Diseases caused by the Habits of Seamen._--Of these the two

most common are alcoholism and the various forms of venereal disease.

The irregularity of a sailor’s life, especially in these days of rapid

transport, sufficiently explain without justifying his failings. A man

whose home life is interrupted by voyages across the sea, who is thrown

upon his own resources in foreign ports, and who is from the nature

of his calling almost of necessity confined to the shipping quarters

(invariably the lowest) of the towns he reaches, is not unlikely to

seek for amusement where it is most easily obtained, and wine, women,

and music occupy a considerable part of his spare time under such

circumstances. Much has been done by the Board of Trade and voluntary

associations to protect the sailor, by taking care of his money when

first paid off (when the temptation to squander it is strongest), and

enabling him to draw it at his own home, by arranging for his being

sent by rail to his destination, by protecting him from “crimps” and

unauthorised agents, and by providing Sailors’ Homes, where he can live

at a reasonable cost, without being plundered by unscrupulous persons,

but there is still much to be desired in this direction.

3. _Diseases of Climate._--To a great extent these can scarcely

be avoided. Seamen suffer much from tropical diseases. No doubt their

careless habits and unwillingness to take reasonable precautions in

unhealthy climates are in some measure responsible for this. Simple

rules for the preservation of health, greater care in dieting, and,

above all, limitation of indulgence in alcohol, would be of undoubted

value, and a recent suggestion to afford information on such subjects

to seamen through the medium of Sailors’ Institutes and Homes would

doubtless lead to good results. Diarrhœa, so common a disease in hot

climates, is mainly caused by the ingestion of improper articles of

food and drink. Seamen do not realise the importance of the source

and purity of drinking water. One common cause of this disease is the

carriage of water in casks and tanks on deck, or in places where it is

easily affected by the temperature of the sun. Any simple arrangement

for reducing by evaporation or other method the temperature of the

water supply has considerable effect in this direction. Dysentery, so

far as prevention is concerned, can be guarded against in the same

manner as diarrhœa--water, however, being the main agent in causation.

Cholera, yellow fever, and plague call for no special comment. Where

these diseases are known to exist, shipmasters should be careful to

warn their crews as to the danger, and explain how best to avoid them.

Men should be kept on board as much as possible during the stay of the

vessel in an infected port, and especially should they be required to

return at night. A careful watch should be kept for any suspicious

sickness, and medical advice sought at an early stage of any illness.

The sanitary condition of the vessel itself must be the special care

of the master. Malaria, now known to be due to a specific organism,

conveyed by means of the bite of a species of mosquito, is much under

the control of the master of a vessel, who should prevent his crew from

remaining on shore in a malarial country during the night, or in the

evening, when special danger exists.

4. _Diseases due to Insanitary Conditions and Environment_ form a

long and important series. These are essentially the diseases which can

be controlled, if not altogether prevented.

Rheumatism and its allies are mainly due to cold and exposure, and

still more to the difficulty of obtaining dry clothing on board ship,

and the constantly wet condition of bedding, etc., from the sweating

of iron vessels. These causes can be avoided. The condensation can be

prevented by the universal use of sheathing over iron decks and of

a non-conducting lining over and around bunks, the proper provision

of heating stoves, and the free ventilation of forecastles. There is

further no reason (especially in steam-vessels) for not providing

facilities for dry clothing, and preventing it being taken into the

sleeping bunks. These two precautions, together with the free use of

woollen underclothing, would tend to greatly reduce the “sailors’

curse,” rheumatism. Lung diseases are very common, and are caused

chiefly by the close aggregation of men in confined and ill-ventilated

quarters. The difficulty of the system of watches prevents the proper

airing of a forecastle, and men coming off duty enter an atmosphere

already fouled and polluted by those who have previously occupied

it. The cubic space per head should be largely augmented. The Royal

Commission on Labour has recommended that 120 cubic feet should be the

minimum, and bearing in mind the special difficulties, this would seem

to be a moderate figure. The present 72 cubic feet is ridiculously

inadequate, and only remains the legal minimum by reason of the

proverbial ignorant conservatism of the sailor.

Scurvy happily, under ordinary circumstances, is almost unknown in

its acute form. During the last twenty years our ideas as to its

causation have undergone considerable change, and it is no longer

possible to assert that the one essential for its production is the

use of salt meat, and the absence of vegetable food. In one of the

recent Arctic expeditions, owing to the loss of all the stores, the

crew lived for more than twelve months exclusively on fresh meat, and

no symptoms of scurvy made their appearance. There is little doubt that

the condition of the blood producing the symptoms we call scurvy is

caused by the ingestion of food in an incipient stage of decomposition,

although a free supply of natural vegetable acids will tend to delay

its appearance. Slight manifestations of scurvy are still common

among sailors, and there is one point of great practical importance

in connection with this. More care is required in the examination

of tinned meats, the date of packing should in all cases be stamped

or indelibly marked upon the tin, and those tins that are found on

examination to be in any degree defective, should be destroyed under

official supervision, and not be allowed to pass into the hands of

unscrupulous dealers.

Beriberi is a common disease among certain natives on board ship.

The disease has the habit of remaining dormant in a vessel, also

of recurring from time to time when conditions for its development

are favourable. Though it has been ascribed at different times to

malarial influences, to a deficiency of nitrogenous food, and to a

definite microbe, these explanations have failed to satisfy all the

requirements of the conditions under which it appears. Manson believes

that it is due to a toxine, produced by a saprophyte living outside the

body, and that as the soil or ship becomes infected, man is poisoned

therefrom. It occurs invariably on board ship in connection with moist,

overcrowded, and heated forecastles, where ventilation is deficient,

and may therefore in this sense be said to be a disease caused by

want of sanitation. Further, as favouring this view is the fact that

patients removed to hygienic surroundings, and properly fed, rapidly

recover. To prevent beriberi all that is necessary is to keep a vessel

clean and dry; to see that there is no accumulation of bilge water or

foul matter under the flooring of the crew’s quarters, and that these

are properly ventilated and not overcrowded.[46]

Enteric fever is undoubtedly the most common disease to which seamen

are liable. Thus in the port of London, out of 791 cases of infectious

disease occurring on board ship from 1895 to June 1900, no fewer than

290 were enteric fever. The figures are as follows:--

---------------------+----------------+---------------+---------------

| Cases of | No. of Cases | Percentage

Year. | Enteric Fever. | of Infectious | of

| | Diseases. | Enteric Fever.

---------------------+----------------+---------------+---------------

1895 | 31 | 129 | 24.0

1896 | 53 | 145 | 35.1

1897 | 54 | 179 | 30.1

1898 | 55 | 121 | 45.4

1899 | 66 | 160 | 41.2

1900 (6 months only) | 114 | 187 | 60.31

---------------------+----------------+---------------+---------------

Total | 373 | 921 | 40.49

---------------------+----------------+---------------+---------------

The large proportion during 1900 is due to the number of cases brought

from South Africa.

The causes of the large number of cases of enteric fever are three:--

1. The congregation of seamen in the unhealthy quarters of foreign

ports.

2. Want of care in the selection of sources of water supply.

3. Improper methods of carriage and storage of water.

Most of the infected or dangerous sources of water supply are known,

and great benefit would result if consuls and other representatives of

this country abroad were instructed to warn shipmasters of the special

danger. Water should always be stored on board ship in galvanised

iron water tanks, which should be carried in such places that they

can be easily reached for cleaning purposes. They should be provided

with large manholes so situated that where possible natural light can

penetrate to the bottom of the tanks when the covers are removed. They

should be periodically emptied, cleaned, and coated with a cement wash.

Lastly must be mentioned the digestive troubles so common in seamen.

The insufficient and monotonous dietary is of itself sufficient to

cause this, and when one further considers the unsatisfactory way

in which such food is ofttimes cooked, it will be at once seen how

serious a matter this may become. There is no compulsory diet scale,

nor theoretically is it wise that there should be. It is felt that if

such were laid down by law it would speedily become a minimum beyond

which the owner or master would not care to go. The Merchant Shipping

Act requires that a diet scale shall be produced when men are engaged,

and shall form an essential part of the contract, any departure from

which shall constitute a breach of the agreement on the part of the

employer. Several improvements on the old scale (still usually in

vogue) have been made, but in practice these are scarcely ever adopted.

In the present day there are far better opportunities for giving men

fresh meat and vegetables, while the use of preserved foods should

obviate to a large extent the necessity for salt meat. It can be

clearly shown that a reasonable dietary can be provided at a less cost

than the antiquated one generally in use, while the advantages from the

improved health of the crews and the consequent increased discipline

and work are beyond dispute. But even if the dietary be good, the

cooking is generally bad. Here legislation is needed. At the present

time the master and certain other officers of a ship are required to

hold certificates, granted after training and examination, and it is

equally necessary that in the case of the cook, some definite standard

of knowledge of the work he undertakes should be required before

appointment. In the majority of cases a man is rated as “cook” because

he so describes himself, or has acted in a similar capacity before.

There is no difficulty in organising a system of instruction and

examination for ships’ cooks in large centres, and the result of such

would be to the advantage of shipowners as regards economy of food, as

well as increased efficiency on the part of their crews. This work has

already been initiated in several ports, notably London, Liverpool,

North Shields, and Glasgow, but the question still demands the most

careful attention.

Much ill-health and disease would be avoided if more care were

exercised in the selection of men for the Mercantile Marine. The

Merchant Shipping Act (sect. 10) provides for the medical inspection

of seamen if required, but as a matter of fact, this provision is

practically a dead letter, and men are allowed to “sign on” without any

inquiry as to their physical fitness for their occupation.

W. COLLINGRIDGE.

CHAPTER XIII

RAILWAYS

There is not much to be said respecting the nature of the injuries

sustained by those at work on railways. The occupation cannot be

described as unhealthy. A very large proportion of the work is done in

the open air, and the normal lives of the men appear in every way up to

the average.

The accidents that occur are mainly what would be called surgical.

A large proportion consists of crushed hands and fingers. Instead,

therefore, of entering into details respecting the character of these

injuries and the manner in which they are received, it will be more

useful to give a short account of the progress of legislation in

respect to accidents upon railways.

The Mines and Factories Acts had their origin in the desire to preserve

children from overwork and bodily injury. The protection thus accorded

was gradually extended to women. The next stage was the inclusion of

men in many of the factory provisions, and finally the Acts which had

originally been intended only for the protection of health began to

be timidly and cautiously extended to other and wider objects. But

the movement for the prevention of accidents on railways commenced by

aiming at the safety of passengers, and it was only in the last year

of the nineteenth century that railway servants were included in the

category of protected trades. Limits of space prevent my attempting

to trace the movement in detail, nor indeed is it necessary. I shall

therefore only mention certain epochs which have marked its progress.

As most people are aware, the railway movement began about the year

1830, the year Huskisson was killed, and proceeded until in 1840,

there were nearly 1000 miles of railways in the United Kingdom. But

about this time the importance of railways became so recognised that

in 1840 they were placed under Government supervision. In 1841 a Bill

was brought into Parliament to give the Board of Trade powers to issue

regulations for the prevention of accidents upon railways, and referred

to a Special Committee, presided over by Lord Seymour, and with Sir

Robert Peel, Sir James Graham, and others as members.

The arguments for and against the proposal were exactly the same as

they have always been upon the subject of State interference in matters

of trade. On the one hand, the Board of Trade Inspector-General, Sir

Frederick Smith, contended that the power was necessary. The railway

companies said that by interfering with the responsibility of railway

officials more harm than good would be done. Those who are acquainted

with the general trend of public opinion upon factory questions in

those days will not be surprised to learn that the proposal was

considered likely to “disturb the amicable spirit which then existed

between the Board of Trade and the railway companies,” and “to engender

on the part of the railway companies a desire of concealment and

feelings of jealousy which would not otherwise arise.” The Committee

therefore limited its recommendations to empowering the Board of Trade

to suggest improvements. These recommendations were carried into

effect by an Act known as Lord Seymour’s Act, which provided for the

appointment of inspectors of railways, the reporting of accidents, and

the punishment of engine-drivers, guards, porters, or other servants

of the company who were guilty of negligence. It was urged against the

railway companies that expense was no object where life was concerned;

to which Mr Brunel, the celebrated engineer, retorted on behalf of

the railway companies by asking why the Government did not have a

large force of men on the Serpentine when it was frozen, to prevent

accidents to skaters. He submitted that in considering the question

of safety it might be considered as a question of cost also. On the

other hand, it is interesting to note that George Stephenson considered

it would be advantageous that the Board of Trade should have power

to make regulations. Coming from such a man, himself a large railway

proprietor, the opinion is of great weight.

The next time the question came before Parliament was in 1857, during

Lord Derby’s administration, when the matter was referred to a Select

Committee. The Committee was against interference with railway

companies, except as regards the times of trains, with respect to which

they thought that the public should have some means of obtaining

prompt and cheap redress in the recovery of penalties in every case of

want of punctuality. They also made a few minor recommendations. The

subject was again discussed by a Royal Commission appointed in 1865.

But the times were not ripe for the adoption of State interference.

The _laissez faire_ system was in full force, and the Committee

recommended that the railway companies should not be interfered with.

Meantime the management of the railway companies seems steadily to

have deteriorated. The year 1872 was a year of considerable commercial

activity, marked by a great rise in the price of coal, and by an

increase in the number of railway accidents. In those days it was

estimated that several railway accidents to trains took place every

week, sometimes as many as four were reported on a single morning.

In fact, as stated in the Annual Register for 11th September 1872,

“Railway accidents are now becoming of such frequent occurrence that,

unless a number of people are killed or seriously injured, no notice is

taken of them.” The number of accidents to individuals was also very

great. In that year no less than 1145 persons were reported killed, and

3038 were injured. Some of the accidents, too, were of an appalling

character. At Wigan in August 1873 a portion of a railway carriage,

with a lady in it, was hurled over a wall and through the slated roof

of a foundry. The rest of the carriage was smashed to pieces.

In order to secure more precise returns of accidents by checking

those made by the railway companies, it was provided in the Railways

Regulation Act of 1873 that coroners should make returns to the

Secretary of State of all deaths occurring on railways.

The public feeling which these accidents excited led to the

appointment of another Royal Commission in 1874, during Mr Disraeli’s

administration. It was presided over by the Duke of Buckingham. The

Committee sat for three years and heard evidence at great length. They

ended by recommending that the Board of Trade should have power to

make requirements as to siding and station accommodation, and as to

defects in rolling stock, permanent way, and works. They declined to

recommend that general powers should be given to the Board of Trade to

make general changes calculated to secure the safety of the railway

servants, but they thought that servants ought to receive compensation

for injuries in all cases of negligence of the companies’ officials,

but not for the negligence of their fellow-servants.

In the evidence that was given it seems to have been admitted that

overwork was not universal or even general on railway lines, but a good

many remarkable instances of overwork were adduced. Thus Captain Tyler,

a Board of Trade Inspecting Officer, gave evidence that at Wakefield in

1864, a man had been regularly on duty as a signalman 25 hours a day

every third week, and 37 hours every thirteenth week. The man had made

this arrangement in order to get extra time off duty; and in another

case, in 1874, a signalman had actually averaged 17 hours work a day

regularly.

Nearly all the witnesses complained of the couplings as a fruitful

source of danger. Captain Tyler recommended automatic couplings as then

used in America.

The next Act of importance regarding accidents upon railways was that

passed in 1889, when Sir Michael Hicks-Beach was President of the Board

of Trade. The principal objects of the Act were to secure the adoption

of the block system of running trains, to cause points and signals

to be interlocked, and to enforce the use of an improved brake. The

principal object of the Bill was to promote the safety of passengers;

there was a clause dealing with automatic couplings, but the clause was

ultimately withdrawn from the Act.

During all these years, however, repeated recommendations were made by

the Board of Trade officials to the railway companies to adopt various

means of saving life. The companies were not obdurate or unreasonable;

in particular instances and small points they repeatedly gave way

and adopted suggestions. But in the main they declined to introduce

automatic couplings, or other life-saving appliances on a large scale.

Their refusal was based chiefly on the ground of expense; but they also

defended their action on the ground that the proposed appliances were

not suitable or practicable, and that if adopted they would not produce

beneficial results.

Before narrating the next steps which were made in the direction of

securing safety when Mr Ritchie became President of the Board of Trade,

it will be of use to examine in outline the condition of railway

service as regards accidents, and the means by which the number of

deaths and other injuries is ascertained. Reports of accidents on

railways exist from the year 1848 onwards; but in forms which render

them very difficult to compare with accidents in more recent times. It

was not until the passing of the Regulation of Railways Act of 1871

that the reporting of accidents was placed on its present footing. By

section 6 of that Act it was provided that accidents should be reported

to the Board of Trade, in such form and with such particulars as the

Board of Trade should prescribe. In earlier years the reporting of

accidents was not very systematically done, and in 1872 the inspector

reported that “accidents to servants do not appear in many cases to

have been reported by certain of the railway companies; and their

numbers would, if the whole truth could be ascertained, be very

considerably increased.” Moreover, no uniform standard of injury was

prescribed, so that various companies adopted various standards of

reporting. Some reported all accidents, even trivial ones; others

reported only the serious ones. But in the year 1895 an order of the

Board of Trade was made during the permanent Secretaryship of Sir

Courtenay Boyle, by which the standard of accident to be reported was

assimilated to the standard already in force for the reporting of

accidents in factories and workshops, namely, that all fatal accidents

should be reported, and all non-fatal, whenever they incapacitated a

man from work for five hours on any one of three days next after the

accident. The advantage of this order was that it at once established

a basis of comparison between the dangers of work in factories and in

railways. But there is ground for thinking that the standard was a

little low. A trifling finger cut may prevent a man from working in

some trades for an afternoon. The reporting of every trivial accident

tends also to obscure the graver ones, and in some cases to make

dangerous trades appear less dangerous than they really relatively

are. In any case, however, it is desirable to have one standard of

reporting, and it is a matter for regret that there is no standard of

reporting non-fatal accidents in mines, so that it is still impossible

to compare mines with factories or railways as to the non-fatal

accidents that occur in them.

The numbers of persons employed on railways largely increases from year

to year. Returns of these numbers are now furnished every three years.

We have therefore not at hand the means of working out the percentage

of accidents in every year exactly; but without the danger of grave

inaccuracy we may assume that the increase in the numbers employed is

uniform during each period of three years, and thus we may by a process

of proportion arrive very nearly at the numbers of men employed at any

particular period. On looking at the figures for any year, say for

the year 1898, we find them set out in two tables, one showing those

due to the movement of trains and vehicles, the other to those which

occurred otherwise than by moving trains. They are divided up so as

to show 41 different occupations of the persons killed and injured.

From these tables we find that, in 1898, 522 railway servants were

killed and 12,826 injured, out of a total of 534,000. This would give

1 in 1000 killed, and 24 in 1000 injured each year. When we reflect

that this figure is about the same as the numbers killed and injured

in mines, it might perhaps be argued that the figures are not very

large, for it must be admitted that service on railways must always be

considered rather a dangerous occupation. But an analysis of the risks

to various branches of railway labour dispels this illusion.[47] For

in these figures are reckoned numbers of men whose duties are not of

a manual character, such as 53,000 clerks, who hardly ever meet with

death or accident except from causes common to the whole community.

Besides, about 70,000 mechanics are employed in building engines

and locomotives, and work in factories, which are under the Home

Department, and, strictly speaking, are not railway servants at all.

In railway service there are three occupations which from the number

of accidents reported appear to present special dangers, namely,

plate-laying and repairing of lines, shunting and managing goods

trains. When plate-layers (of whom there are 63,000) sustain an

accident, it is generally by being run over, and in more than one case

out of every three they are killed outright. Out of every thousand

2 yearly meet their death, and 3 are injured. Of goods guards and

brakesmen, nearly 15,000 in number, 3 out of 1000 are yearly killed,

and 48 of 1000 are injured. But the business of a shunter presents the

gravest dangers. The number of shunters is 9244, and with the exception

of the calling of a seaman it is the most perilous trade known. For

no less than 5 men are yearly killed and 66 are injured out of every

1000 employed. And from this it follows that if the average duration

of a man’s service be from the age of twenty to forty, the balance of

probability is against his leaving the trade without a violent death

or injury. This is not satisfactory. It has been pointed out that this

yearly death risk of 5 in 1000 per annum is greater on the average

than that to which soldiers are exposed, taking one year with another,

and war with peace. This is probably true, but the risk is far less

than that of soldiers in a campaign. It has been estimated that the

year’s loss from October 1899 to October 1900, of the troops serving in

South Africa, has been 19 per thousand privates, and 72 per thousand

officers killed, in addition to 30 per cent. of officers and privates

who have died of disease. Thus of the officers engaged about 1 in 10

has died, and of the men 1 in 20.

But any figures of deaths due to accidents in industry are too large if

they are preventable, and it is too much that in ten years a railway

servant should run the same risk as a private in a year of a campaign.

The work of shunting is necessary to rearrange, or, as it is called,

to marshal the trains. At a large goods depôt a number of trains laden

with trucks come in destined for various localities. The trains have

to be dissected, and all the trucks resorted, and made up into fresh

trains to be sent off in various directions. Hence, therefore, it is

necessary for an engine to draw the waggons on to a line of rails, and

then to shunt or direct them on to sidings in different directions in

order to sort them into their right places. This involves the coupling

and uncoupling of the waggons. Passenger waggons have a screw coupling

by means of which they are screwed up together, so that the buffers

press firmly together, and thus jolting is avoided. But goods waggons

have no such luxurious appliances, nor have they in all cases spring

buffers. The coupling is simply a ring hitched into a hook at the end

of a three-link chain, and on the starting or stopping of a goods train

any one may hear the succession of slams with which the waggons clash

together. When it is necessary to shunt, an engine pulls the waggons

along to the place where they are to be detached. While the tension

is on, of course, it would be impossible to unhook, therefore the

engine stops suddenly. For an instant the waggons by their momentum

go forward, bumping up against the engine and one another. For that

instant, and until the rebound takes place, the hooks are free, and a

skilful man, generally with a pole, and but rarely running in between

the waggons, neatly slips the ring off the hook. This is all done

while the waggons are in motion, so that he has to run alongside the

train, skipping over the signal wires and hopping over the cross rails,

keeping his eye always on the coupling, and sometimes encumbered with

a pole in one hand, and at night with a lamp in the other. If he does

not look out he may fall between the wheels, or be run down by the

engine. And while engaged in his work express and other trains come

tearing down the main line, exposing every one to the risk of being run

over. Therefore in all goods sidings it is desirable in the interests

of safety that the through traffic should be as small as possible, that

there should be plenty of room between the lines of rails, that wires

and other obstacles should be boarded over where possible, and that

there should be a good light at night. But many sidings are greatly

crowded; the work has to be got through rapidly, and accidents are

the result. On the other hand, in the private sidings of collieries

operations are leisurely; no express trains come along the line, there

is no night labour, and consequently the accidents are very few. In

America until lately the means of coupling waggons were more imperfect

than those in England; many accidents therefore occurred, and the

trains frequently broke asunder.

In order to expedite work and promote safety, experiments were made

in 1868 with automatic couplings which should close like a snap-lock.

American waggons differ from those in use in England, in that they

are longer and larger, and have a central buffer. In 1874 the public

attention was called to the great number of railway accidents, and in

the more civilised states, such as Massachusetts, a movement arose for

the compulsory employment of automatic couplings. Finally a coupling

was devised, very like a hand with the fingers bent, and a hinge at

the knuckles. When two waggons were brought together the hand caught

automatically into a similar hand on another waggon, and could be

released by withdrawing a pin. At first these couplings were badly

made; gradually, however, they improved, and are now on the fair road

to perfection. They were gradually introduced upon one railway after

another. The rich eastern States took the lead, the wild west was more

slow; but curiously in proportion as the couplings were adopted, so

did railway accidents become less. It would be wrong to conclude that

therefore the whole of the diminution of accidents was due to the

adoption of couplings. But it is a fair inference from the state of

railway management in the east and west of America to conclude that

with careful management and State-imposed regulations, accidents can be

very materially reduced.

This was the state of the problem in 1898, in which year Mr Ritchie,

then President of the Board of Trade, determined to make an effort

in favour of safety. For this purpose he commissioned Mr Hopwood,

the Assistant Secretary of the Railway Department, to visit America

and examine the system of coupling there in use, and its effects

in preventing accidents. In December 1898 Mr Hopwood presented his

memorandum. He says (quoting the _Railway Times_), “Our Railway

Companies’ Association still lacks the moral force, to say nothing

of the initiation which characterises its sister body across the

Atlantic.... This view fairly reflects the opinion I formed that the

progress made in the United States is greatly due to the fact that the

American Association has taken great trouble, and the railroads have

not spared expense in order to give a trial to promising inventors,”

and he concludes by recommending that Parliament should be asked

for powers to be given to the Board of Trade to order the use of a

suitable coupling. In accordance with the recommendations in this very

able report, the President of the Board of Trade introduced a Bill

providing for the compulsory use of steam brakes for engines, and

automatic couplings for carriages and waggons, also brakes on both

sides of waggons, and labels on both sides of waggons, but giving to

the companies two years and five years respectively to introduce these

improvements.

The Bill was introduced by Mr Ritchie on 27th February 1899. He said,

“I am afraid that whatever we do, a number of accidents amongst railway

servants will continue to happen. They are engaged in extremely

dangerous operations, and necessarily many accidents must and will

continue to occur. But, sir, if it is possible by legislation or

otherwise to take means to reduce the number of accidents, I think

it is the bounden duty of Parliament to take those means.” Of course

this announcement caused considerable agitation in the railway world,

and on 16th March a deputation of the private waggon owners of the

United Kingdom pressed upon the President of the Board of Trade the

necessity for further inquiry. Mr Ritchie endeavoured to meet the

current of opposition which his proposals had aroused, by offering

to make it clear that the portion of the Bill dealing with automatic

couplings should not come into operation until a satisfactory coupling

was found, but he ultimately decided to withdraw the Bill and refer

the whole question to a Royal Commission. He determined, however, that

the inquiry should be an effective one, and therefore he enlarged

its scope, and referred to the Commission not merely the question of

coupling, but the whole question of accidents to railway servants

and the means of preventing them. This action had very important

consequences, as will presently be seen. He selected as Chairman

Lord James of Hereford, who had already done excellent work as the

mutually-accepted arbitrator in various disputes between capital and

labour, and whose disinterestedness and fairness could be relied on.

The Commission was composed of members of the House of Lords and

Commons, representatives of the railway companies, private waggon

owners, and railway servants, experts and Government officials. It

was supposed in some quarters that the question had been comfortably

shelved for at least three or four years. But the Chairman took a very

different view of the position. With almost unexampled energy, he

assembled the first meeting on 16th June 1899, a fortnight after the

warrant appointing the Commission had been signed. The last witness was

heard on 3rd August, and the report was presented to Her late Majesty

the Queen on 20th January 1900.

From the very mixed character of the Commission, it might have been

expected that views would differ, and that it would have been difficult

to draw a report that would be signed both by the railway companies’

representatives and by the representatives of the men. But the report

was unanimous, and what was more remarkable still, it went far beyond

the proposals of Mr Ritchie for couplings, and dealt not only with

these, but proposed a means of preventing all accidents whatever. The

principle that lay at the whole root of the report was the assimilation

of means to prevent railway accidents to those already adapted for the

prevention of similar accidents in factories and mines.

In the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1860, a procedure had been adopted

of special rules in mines. The rules were to be agreed upon by the

Secretary of State and the mine owners. If they could not agree, then

arbitrators were to be named who were finally to settle them. This

procedure was adopted in all successive Acts relating to coal mines.

Being found useful, it was adopted into the Factory Acts in 1891 in

all cases of specially dangerous trades, among others the cases of

industries where lead poisoning, phosphorus poisoning, and other

dangers are experienced. But by the Factories Act, 1901, an order of

the Secretary of State, after hearing the parties, is now substituted

for arbitration.

When the Royal Commission sat, the first question that arose was

whether the accidents to railway servants were so numerous as to

constitute it a dangerous trade. Figures soon settled this point, and

appear from the following table:--

-----------------------------------------+---------------+----------------

|Killed from all|Injured from all

Description of Labour. | Causes per | Causes per

|1000 employed. | 1000 employed.

-----------------------------------------+---------------+----------------

Railway Servants in general, excluding | |

Contractors’ Men, Clerks, and Mechanics| 1.24 | 31.0

Goods Guards and Brakesmen | 2.92 | 61.0

Permanent-way Men or Platelayers | 1.9 | 16.0

Shunters | 5.08 | 78.0

Men Porters (railways) | 1.15 | 63.0

Seamen (merchant service) | 5.2 | Not known.

Coal Miners (underground) | 1.37 | No figures

| | available

| | for purpose

| | of comparison.

Coal Miners (surface) | 0.92 | Ditto

Metalliferous Mines (underground) | 1.34 | Ditto

Metalliferous Mines (surface) | 0.43 | Ditto

Factories--Textile (males) | 0.1 | 6.2

„ Textile (females) | ... | 2.7

„ Non-textile (males) | 0.2 | 13.8

„ Non-textile (females) | ... | 2.0

„ Extraction of Metals (males) | 1.1 | 16.4

„ Shipbuilding (males) | 0.5 | 39.3

„ Dock Labourers | 1.4 | 57.0

-----------------------------------------+---------------+----------------

From this it will be seen that while on the average work on railways is

almost as dangerous as mining, yet where particular branches of it are

considered, such as shunting, it is far more dangerous, and those who

advocated a policy of non-interference found it impossible to explain

their position consistently with the admission of the expediency of

the existing factory and mine laws. It is impossible to put the matter

more clearly than in the following short interrogation of one of the

principal witnesses on behalf of the railway companies by the Chairman.

Q. 6374. Do you approve of a dangerous trade being inspected?--Yes.

All dangerous trades?--Yes. For instance, merchant-shipping?--Yes.

Mines?--Yes. Factories?--Yes. Textile and non-textile?--Yes. Machine

shops on your railway?--Yes. The witness, however, contended that

the case of railways was different from that of mines and factories,

because railways were more amenable to public opinion.

Another witness who held these views was compelled to admit that the

force of public opinion had not on all lines secured punctuality of

trains. On the other hand, an argument was brought forward by Mr Gibb,

the General Manager of the North Eastern Railway Company, which

deserves attention, because it exhibits a phenomenon that is frequently

observed in industries. By a table he showed that the accidents on

railways since 1872 had been decreasing in a ratio almost as fast as

the decrease in mining and factory accidents. At first sight this would

appear to show that accidents decrease as fast without legislation as

with it. But it must be remembered that the Mines and Factories Acts

had been some years in operation, and had already before this date

effected their principal results, and that the accidents were far

fewer than in the dangerous branches of railway service. Moreover, the

reports of previous Royal Commissions on Railways had been followed by

legislation, and by increased vigilance on the part of the companies.

It was proved also that this decrease had not taken place in the

dangerous branches, and that the number of deaths of men engaged in

shunting had actually increased.

The position taken up by the railway companies deserves attention.

Their representatives were confronted with a vista of increased

wages, increased cost of coal, and a fall in profits. It was asking

much to expect them to apply the knife to their own throats and vote

that restrictions should be imposed upon them. As a rule, although we

all believe in the necessity of compelling others to do right, few

people can be brought to believe that it is needful that the same

principle should be applied to themselves. And yet, to the everlasting

credit of the railway companies, it must be said that as soon as they

were convinced that a case for intervention had been made out, they

acquiesced in it. And the waggon owners, although the accidents on

private lines were exceedingly few, withdrew their objections. In the

result a report was unanimously signed, recommending that in the case

of all dangerous trades of railway service the Board of Trade should

have power to propose regulations which in case of dispute were to be

settled by the Railway Commissioners.

The question of the possibility of automatic couplings was discussed

before the Commission. If it had been fully gone into, the question

would have taken years to consider, and, without experiments, no

conclusions could ever have been arrived at. But with great tact

Lord James determined that unimportant issues should be eliminated.

He referred the question to a strong subcommittee, and before the

Commission had gone far it was seen that it was quite possible to deal

practically with railway accidents, without first determining whether

or no there was a practical automatic coupling. No definite opinion on

this question was expressed by the Commission.

To give effect to these recommendations Mr Ritchie introduced a Bill

into the House of Commons. It was taken charge of by Lord James of

Hereford in the House of Lords, and with some amendments it passed

both Houses without opposition. The effect of this Bill is to bring

dangerous processes on railways under regulations similar to those

which can be made in the case of dangerous processes in factories and

mines. No particular operations are specified; there are powers to meet

all dangers as they arise. It is too much to say that this Bill will

not need amendment, but it must be a source of satisfaction to the late

President of the Board of Trade and his officials to have inaugurated,

and successfully carried through with the unanimous consent of all

interested parties, a scheme of legislation which brings railway labour

within the circle of protected industries, and which establishes

a fundamental principle so wide as probably to dispense with the

necessity for further legislation upon the subject for many years.

HENRY CUNYNGHAME.

CHAPTER XIV

SAFE-GUARDING OF MACHINERY

Amidst the variety of dangers which attend those who are employed in

factories none occupies so prominent a position as that arising from

machinery moved by mechanical power; others, such, for instance, as

periodical outbreaks of industrial poisoning or the occurrence of

disastrous explosions, may from time to time attract public attention

more vividly, but we have only to refer to the statistics issued

annually by the Home Office to perceive how ever present and ever

recurrent are the risks incurred by factory workers from machinery.

From these statistics it appears that during the year 1899 there

occurred in factories 301 fatal and 19,321 non-fatal accidents, all

attributable to machinery moved by mechanical power. Beyond, however,

stating that the numbers are the highest yet recorded in any one year,

no useful purpose would be served by comparison with former years, or

by inquiry as to the reasons of the increase in spite of legislative

and executive requirements for safe-guarding. The Factory and Workshop

Act of 1895 introduced such an entirely new element by the inclusion

of every dock, wharf, warehouse, laundry, etc., in the definition of

the term “factory,” that any comparison would be entirely misleading,

whilst the facilities afforded in recent years by the introduction of,

and improvements in, gas engines have added largely to the number of

small factories using mechanical power, and therefore to the number

of persons brought into direct contact with machinery. The statistics

quoted are, however, in themselves sufficient to establish the

importance of the subject of safeguards and the prevention of accidents.

In searching for the causes of such a large number of annually

occurring accidents they are found to be various, but after

enumerating several, such as carelessness on the part of operatives,

unsuitable clothing, insufficient lighting, etc., there remains a very

considerable proportion directly attributable to the absence of proper

safeguards. It is with this cause that this paper proposes chiefly to

deal.

With a view to prevention of such a distressing number of accidents,

Parliament has, from time to time, passed enactments requiring certain

steps to be taken for safe-guarding machinery, and the appointment

of Inspectors has been made for the purpose of seeing that these

provisions are duly carried out. Much, however, still remains to be

done, not only through further legislation, but also by enforcing the

requirements of the law as it at present stands. The latter course at

first sight might appear to be feasible enough, but in reality it is

a Herculean task, as difficult to accomplish as the destruction of

the many-headed hydra of ancient fable, and is due to the fact that

as fast as the requirements of the law are insisted upon and carried

out in the case of machinery already existing in factories, so fast

do makers of machinery send out new machines in a similarly defective

condition. If the desired finality is to be arrived at, it must be by

pressure brought to bear upon machine makers. At present machinery does

not come within the provisions of the law as to safety till it is in

actual use, when the attention of the user is perhaps first drawn to

its defects by the occurrence of an accident. Much, no doubt, could be

done were purchasers in all cases to insist on due regard being paid

to this point by makers, but experience shows that this is done in

very few instances. Whilst some parts of prime movers and mill-gearing

must necessarily be fenced after being placed in position, there is

no reason whatever why the effectual guarding of cog-wheels, the

countersinking of set-screws, the provision of loose pulleys and strap

forks, and the substitution of plate wheels for exposed arm wheels,

which are all intrinsic parts of machines, absolutely necessary for

ordinary safety, should not be dealt with in the first instance by

makers who can provide more effective and neater guards at a much less

cost than the user.

The subject of safe-guarding machinery is such a wide one that it will

be impossible, within the limits of this paper, to do more than briefly

touch upon the more salient points which naturally present themselves

to one accustomed to inquire into the causes of machinery accidents.

For this purpose it will be most convenient to deal with machinery

under the four following headings:--

1. Prime movers.

2. Mill-gearing and belts.

3. Machines for manufacturing purposes.

4. Hoists and other lifting tackle.

Each of these divisions is separately dealt with by the provisions of

the Factory Acts, but it should be pointed out that whereas belts have

herein been coupled with mill-gearing, yet by Section 37 of the Factory

Act of 1891, all “driving straps and bands” are expressly included

in the term “machinery” and are therefore subject to the provisions

laid down for the third division.[48] They are, however, so intimately

connected with mill-gearing as more properly to belong to that class,

and they will therefore be more conveniently dealt with in connection

with mill-gearing, between which and the machine tools themselves they

are the connecting link.

_Prime Movers._--Prime movers are of various kinds, consisting

of heat engines, such as steam, gas, and oil engines, electric and

hydraulic motors, water-wheels, turbines, and wind-mills. Of these,

those most commonly found in factories are steam and gas engines. The

provisions of the Factory Acts as to safe-guarding prime movers are

absolute. No matter what its position, every part of an engine moved by

mechanical power is required to be securely fenced, and such fencing

must be constantly maintained. Thus:--

Factory Act, 1901, Sec. 10.--“Every fly-wheel directly connected

with the steam, water, or other mechanical power, whether in the

engine-house or not, and every part of any water-wheel or engine

worked by any such power, shall be securely fenced.”

“Every wheel-race, not otherwise secured, shall be securely

fenced close to the edge of the wheel-race.”

Such absolute provisions, if strictly carried out, should be amply

sufficient to prevent almost all accidents arising from prime movers;

but the danger lies in the fencing being in the first instance

insufficient, or not properly and constantly maintained, in accordance

with Sec. 10 (_d_) of the Factory Act of 1901. Accidents caused by

prime movers are, of course, restricted in number, partly owing to the

fact that they are usually in the sole charge of one man, and partly

because, in the case of steam engines at least, they are generally

placed in a house or compartment set apart for them, but it will be

noted that the words “whether in the engine-house or not” are expressly

used for the protection of the engine attendant himself.

Occupiers of factories, owing to their absolute obligation to fence

securely every part of a prime mover, and to their liabilities for

any neglect to do so, should be specially careful to see that the law

is fully carried out before an engine is put into use; whilst no

exception should be tolerated for a moment by those whose duty it is to

enforce the requirements of the law.

The necessity of fencing being thus absolutely enjoined for every

portion of a prime mover, the only point that remains is as to what

constitutes secure fencing. Types of engines, however, are of so

various a character, and the local surroundings so distinct, that it

must suffice for the purposes of this paper to point out what parts of

an engine are most liable to cause accidents, and, generally, the most

approved steps which should be taken for their prevention.

_Steam Engines._--As regards steam engines, all parts on the floor

or platform level, such as fly-wheels and fly-wheel pits, crank and

crank-pits, crank shafts, connecting rods, cross-heads, etc., should be

securely fenced by means of rail fencing, whilst in the case of large

vertical or beam engines, all stairs, platforms, and stagings should

be efficiently guarded in similar manner. The fencing adopted should

consist of double rails, the upper one being not less than 3 feet in

height, whilst in many instances a skirting board 5 to 6 inches in

depth should be added; single rails are either so high that persons may

slip under them, or so low that they may fall over them. Care should

also be taken that no railing be placed within a foot of the moving

parts, the placing of such rails too close thereto being a source of

great danger; whilst, on the other hand, the practice of leaving so

much space between any moving part and the guard as to allow of a

passage between them is equally to be condemned; moreover, the keeping

of oil-cans, tools, etc., or the hanging up of clothes within the space

fenced in accordance with statutory obligations should be absolutely

forbidden. Other parts of steam engines requiring fencing which may

be mentioned are piston rods prolonged through the end covers of

cylinders, governor balls encroaching on a passage, and pinion wheels

operating the governors.

_Gas and Oil Engines._--The use of prime movers of the gas engine

type has enormously increased of late years, adding greatly to the

number of small factories as distinct from workshops. The safe-guarding

of these, though they are relatively much smaller than the generality

of steam engines, is none the less essential, for whereas the latter

are usually placed in an engine-house specially built and separated

from the factory itself, the former are in numerous instances placed

within the factory, in some cases with a wooden compartment erected

round them, and in others with nothing but the statutory fencing

separating them from the rest of the works. Where these compartments

are large enough, similar railing to that described above for steam

engines will be found sufficient, but in many instances they are so

confined as to necessitate more complete fencing in order to comply

with the requirements of the Acts as to fencing securely any fly-wheel,

whether in the engine-house or not.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Strong’s “Standard Guard”

for engine fly-wheels.]

Wherever possible gas engines should be placed in a room set apart for

them, so as to be isolated from the approach of unauthorised persons;

those situated in the machine room of a factory are not only a source

of danger to those employed therein, but so contaminate the atmosphere

as to necessitate the provision of a fan to remove the fumes. In many

cases, owing to the confined space of the engine compartment, or to

the fact that the fly-wheel is in an exposed position facing into the

machine room, a complete wire-work guard should be provided; these can

be made either to slide, swing, or to be lifted so as to suit local

surroundings; an illustration of such guards is shown in Fig. 1. Shaft

ends projecting into passages should be fitted with metal caps so as

to avoid the danger of clothing being caught. The common practice of

starting a gas engine by hand, by pulling round the fly-wheel, is also

attended with risk, but this can be avoided by the use of a starting

handle, Fig. 2.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Safety starting-gear for gas

and oil engines. The gear can be attached to either end of

the shaft.]

_Other Prime Movers._--Very similar rail-fencing to that described

above for steam and gas engines may be applied in the case of other

prime movers where electricity or water provide the moving power. As

regards water-wheels, it should be noted that, although situated in a

wheel-house, the same obligation to guard securely prevails as in the

case of a steam engine, and in every instance the wheel-race must be

fenced close to its edge.

As for turbines and wind-mills, the most dangerous parts requiring to

be fenced will be found to be toothed gearing and shafting.

_Electrical Generators._--The special risks attendant on

electrical generators from shocks scarcely perhaps come within the

scope of this paper. Ordinary rail-fencing may be relied upon for

protection of moving parts, though the railings should be made of some

non-conducting material such as wood.

_Mill-Gearing._--Mill-gearing is defined by Section 156 of the

Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, as comprehending--

Factory Act, 1901, Sec. 156.--“Every shaft, whether upright,

oblique, or horizontal, and every wheel, drum, or pulley, by

which the motion of the first moving power is communicated to

any machine appertaining to a manufacturing process.”

The provisions of the Factory Acts bearing on mill-gearing enact that:--

Factory Act, 1901, Sec. 10 (_c_).--“Every part of the

mill-gearing shall either be securely fenced, or be in such a

position, or of such construction, as to be equally safe to

every person employed or working in the factory, as it would be

if it were securely fenced.”

Factory Act, 1901, Sec. 13 (3).--“The cleaning of mill-gearing

whilst in motion is, moreover, prohibited for women, young

persons, and children.”

Accidents caused by mill-gearing and belts are not only amongst the

most numerous, but certainly amongst the most serious of all those to

which persons employed in factories are subject, and yet nearly all

such may be avoided by strict observance of the precautions proposed to

be set forth herein.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Coupling with dangerous

projecting bolt-heads.]

[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Safety Coupling with

countersunk bolt-heads.]

[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Collar with dangerous

projecting set-screw.]

[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Collar with countersunk

set-screw.]

_Mill-Gearing._--First, as to construction and position, whilst

the distance between the bearings which support a shaft must vary

with the weight of the shaft and pulleys, and tension of the belts,

it should never exceed 13 feet, and in order to comply with the

requirement of the law quoted above, both shafting and pulleys should,

wherever possible, be not less than 7 feet above the floor, otherwise

the obligation to fence prevails. Shafting of considerable length is

composed of separate parts connected by couplings. These couplings

should always be near a pedestal and not in the middle of a span,

and should invariably present a perfectly smooth surface, free from

bolts or screws, which are liable to catch the clothes of workmen--the

old-fashioned couplings with projecting heads of bolts and screws

(Fig. 3) are the worst possible form; there are many kinds without any

projections whatever (Fig. 4). Ends of keys fixing the pulleys or bevel

wheels on to the shafting should either be cut off or protected by a

key cover. All set-screws fastening collars to the shafting should be

countersunk (Figs. 5 and 6). In fact it should be an absolute rule

that projections of every kind should be removed from shafting. The

dangers of shafting, however, do not cease with projections: it is an

established fact that perfectly smooth shafting is highly dangerous;

should the shaft be greasy or his clothing damp, a workman may be

caught by a perfectly smooth shaft. That being so, no one should

ever be allowed to come into direct contact with shafting in motion:

cleaning or lubricating should only be done when it is at a standstill.

_Access to Shafting._--Where shafting is of the requisite height

named above, no further protection is required round the shafting

itself, but seeing that it is necessary at times to reach it, proper

and secure means of access should be provided. This can be done either

by a service platform, when the shafting is very high, or by ladders

adapted for the purpose. A service platform, whilst providing easy

access to shafting, should keep the attendant at a safe distance from

it, and at the same time guard against his falling. With a view to this

it should be provided with a hand-rail not less than 3 feet in height,

and a skirting board of 5 to 6 inches in depth to stop the foot in case

of slipping. Ladders should invariably be supplied with hooks at the

upper ends and spikes at the lower, the latter where the nature of the

flooring permits. In no case, however, should an attendant be allowed

to fix a ladder against a wall so as to place himself between the

shafting and the wall.

_Fencing of Low Shafting, etc._--Where, however, shafting and

pulleys are not of the desired height above the floor, the obligation

to fence both arises. When shafting is near the floor it should be

completely covered by a sheet-iron or wooden casing, and the pulleys

fenced so as to afford a safe passage for workmen by either stepping

over the casing or crossing it by means of steps according to the

height from the floor. Shafting from 3 to 6 feet above the floor

should be protected by a secure rail preventing access to it except

by passages so arranged and boarded as to prevent any contact with

the shafting. Vertical shafts should in every case be surrounded by a

sheet-iron or wooden sheath firmly fixed.

_Pulleys._--Whenever driving pulleys are so situated that a

workman has reason to pass near them, they should be securely fenced

by means of boards or metallic netting, and it is desirable to fill up

the pulleys with a disc of wood or sheet-iron fastened to the arms by

means of screws. Loose pulleys should not be placed on the shafting

itself; lest they grip the shaft and carry the belts round with them,

but should be mounted independently.

_Driving Belts._--Driving belts are a constant source of

accidents. When a belt has been thrown off its pulley it should never

be allowed to rest upon the shaft; when in that position it is liable

to be wound rapidly round the shaft, carrying with it anything with

which it comes into contact. This danger is easily avoided by means

of a belt rest or hook fixed according to available surroundings.

Another fruitful source of accidents through belting is the method in

which they are joined; one should always be selected which presents

no projections capable of catching clothing or dealing severe blows.

Accidents have frequently occurred in both ways; hence the necessity of

avoiding all projections on belting.

_Shipping of Belts._--Accidents constantly occur during the

shipping of belts. Workmen should be absolutely forbidden to put a

belt on to a pulley by hand whilst the shaft is in motion at its full

speed. It should be stopped altogether, or at least be greatly reduced

in speed, in which latter case a man should be ready to complete the

stoppage at once in case of danger occurring.

_Belt Poles._--Where it is desired to avoid stoppage of the engine

or shafting, belts should in all cases where possible be put on to

the pulleys by means of a belt pole. It should be carefully borne in

mind, however, that a short belt pole is in itself a source of danger,

owing to its liability to deal a severe blow in case of the pin of the

pole becoming in any way entangled; fatal accidents have occurred in

this way, and therefore it is most important that the length of the

pole should be nearly equal to the distance of the shafting from the

floor, thus forcing the workman to hold it at his side instead of in

front of him. In cases where, for some reason or other, a belt pole

cannot be used, the necessity of stopping the shafting in order to put

on the belt by hand may be avoided by means of an appliance termed a

belt shipper, of which there are a number of types, and which enable

a workman to ship a belt with the shafting in motion whilst he is

standing on the floor.

_Protection of Belts._--Owing to the danger arising from clothing

being caught by belts, it is desirable in many cases to protect them;

thus belts passing through floors should in all cases be surrounded

with a casing of wood; oblique or horizontal belts should be protected

by a railing preventing access to them, or by a trough below the belt

securely fixed; the same remarks will apply to driving ropes, whilst

the splicings of the latter should be frequently examined, owing to

their liability to break and cause serious accidents in falling.

_Bevel Wheels._--Bevel wheels on shafting should be encased with

sheet-iron cover, with one of its faces opening for purposes of oiling.

_Means of Stopping Machinery._--Many of the most serious accidents

through mill-gearing and belts might be avoided if means existed for

stopping the machinery quickly. When it is necessary to go to the

engine-house to warn the engine driver to stop the engine, the mischief

is done before this can be effected; some means, therefore, should be

at hand to stop the machinery at once. In choice of the method by which

disconnection is to be accomplished, preference should be given to one

which brings it into play from many parts of the factory by mechanical

or electrical means, whilst in some cases a brake acting upon a special

pulley is provided and brought into play at the same time by the same

means. The stoppage of the engine or the disconnection of the main

shaft is attended by the disadvantage of stopping the whole of the

machinery in the factory, and it is better, therefore, to disconnect

each driving shaft individually, thus stopping the machinery in one

room only. The disconnecting arrangements which are open to selection

are numerous, but mainly consist of two classes, viz., toothed and

friction clutches; of these preference may be given to friction

clutches for various reasons.

Lastly, with regard to mill-gearing, its care should be entrusted to

special and experienced men, and no one else should be allowed to

interfere with it. Attendants should, as far as possible, only approach

it when it is at a standstill, and their clothing should invariably

consist of tight-fitting jackets or jerseys, with nothing whatever

loose about them.

_Machine Tools._--Having thus disposed of the two first main

branches of our subject, viz., prime movers which supply the motive

power, and mill-gearing and belts which transmit it, it remains for us

to deal with the vast number of machines to which the motive power is

communicated and by which the manufacturing processes are carried out.

These are so numerous that it would be useless to attempt to deal with

them individually in this paper. It will, however, be possible to set

forth certain rules which should invariably be observed in order to

minimise the risks which at present unnecessarily present themselves to

those whose duty it is to attend to machine tools. Whilst the danger

of accidents from prime movers and mill-gearing is greatly restricted

owing to the fact that they are, or ought invariably to be, in the

sole charge of a limited number of experienced persons, the machines

themselves are attended to by large numbers of men, women, young

persons, and even children. There is, therefore, the greater necessity

for taking every precaution possible to prevent the occurrence of

accident thereby.

The provisions of the Factory Acts with regard to machine tools are as

follows:--

Factory Act, 1901, Sec. 10 (_c_).--“All dangerous parts of

the machinery shall either be securely fenced, or be in such a

position, or of such construction as to be equally safe to every

person employed or working in the factory, as it would be if it

were securely fenced.”

Factory Act, 1901, Sec. 10 (_d_).--“All fencing shall be

constantly maintained in an efficient state whilst the parts

required to be fenced are in motion or use.”

By these provisions it will be observed that machine tools are placed

on the same footing as mill-gearing, but with the additional precaution

that--

Factory Act, 1901, Sec. 13.--“A child shall not be allowed to

clean any part of the machinery in a factory while the same is

in motion by the aid of steam, water, or other mechanical power.”

In connection with this latter provision it is important to notice

that in the case of Pearson _v._ Belgian Mills Co., (1896), 1 Q.

B. 244, it was held that the words “the same” in the section, refer to

the machinery as a whole, whether fixed or in motion, and not merely

to such parts of it as are in motion; the employment, therefore, of a

child to clean the fixed part of machinery in motion constitutes an

infringement of the Act.

Further enactments for safety in connection with machines are that--

Factory Act, 1901, Sec. 12 (3).--“A child, young person, or

woman shall not be allowed to work between the fixed and

traversing part of any self-acting machine while the machine is

in motion by the action of steam, water, or other mechanical

power.”

Factory Act, 1901, Sec. 12 (1).--“In a factory erected after the

commencement of 1896, the traversing carriage of any self-acting

machine shall not be allowed to run out within a distance of

eighteen inches from any fixed structure, not being part of the

machine, if the space over which it so runs out is a space over

which any person is liable to pass, whether in the course of his

employment or otherwise.”

This table shows that miners, as a class, are a temperate body of men;