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trade diseases.
furious Facts Gathered From
Different Employments.
Special Ailments Arising From
Various Occupations*
pi? cases p eculiur to different trades
ui;e common now, and are getting
are q year. Those who
t0 be more so every
have trie d to do delicate work by arti
ficial light are very often afflicted with
bad eyes, the result of overstraining.
Engravers, lapidaries, watchmakers
8D d sewing girls are subject to affec
ts of the eyes due to the above-men
tioned cau es. They lead a sedentary
]jfe sitting at work in constrained at
titude, with, body bent forward and
shoulders rounded, so that the thoracic
movements are interfered with. This
produces consumption, the cases of this
disease among engravers and seam
stresses being very numerous. En
gravers are also subject to , spasms in
their fingers, with diseases of the skin
"fiTthe hands and forearm?.
Watchmakers who do the repairing
have the nail on the right thumb thick
ened and scaly from their manner of
opening watches, The nails on the
thumb and index finger of the left hand
show at the point where they approach
each other “in order to hold delicate
pieces” a worn appearance, and almost
complete destruction produced by the
constant rubbing of the file. Seam
stresses are sometimes poisoned by the
stuffs they work upon. Many instances
have occurred of arsenical poisoning in
those who sewed green goods, which is
colored with arsenical salts. A physi
cian of Boston found 8.21 grains of it
in one square foot of goods. An itch
ing, eczematous eruption has been pro
duced by tissues colored with the
I bright, aniline dyes.
Silk thread is also soaked in the aco
tate of lead to increase its weight, and
persons who pass it through the mouth
in threading needles, then bite it off
with the teeth, have suffered from lead
[poisoning. The influence of sewing
machines on the health of women has
often been discussed by eminent men
with conflicting arguments and evidence.
[The most elaborate investigation is by
Duchesne. He found that women suf
fered from muscular pains and great fa
tigue of the lower limbs, with dispep
sia and other evils, while other writers
(agree that moderate work on the sewing
(machine is rather beneficial than other
wise, kight and only where women work from
to ten hours at the treadle evil re
sults are apparent. It seems clear, there
fore, that the chief source of their
.roubles is fatigue, which with their
aabits of life, food, association, etc.,
fully accounts for the symptoms.
Persons performing delicate opera
tions with their fingers, requiring long
practice to learn and frequently repeat
ed, sometimes suffer from what is called
writers cramp,” because it was first no
ticed in penmen. It occurs in all classes
'f writers, pianists, violinists, telegraph
•perators, and others.
Musicians who play on wind instru
cts contract emphysema, on account
<
>f the strain, brought to bear the
on
m S % by thoracic muscles, while the ex
>u ' slon of air is hindered, Those who
tse their voices n great deal and who
we obliged to speak in loud tones for a
lon Stimo, often in impure atmos
pbere, an
6uffcr greatly from the constant
ram of tl re vocal organs, Such is the
asc .i nong actors, teachers, singers and
Fakers. The most common disease
m °ng them is pharyngitis, known
11 to
due as “clergyman’s sore throat.” This
8 la r gely to improper
aQ t of knowledge breathing and
in giving forth the
Voice > Such persons cannot know too
Cla *'°ut that beautiful organ, the
° 1 ^ and shou ^ study
with those who
a e it a great consideration.
the best This is
tlie "ay of warding off disease of
th r °at an 1 loss f voice.
People 0
run away with the idea that
'masts, athletes, wrestlers are perfect
Ew.cuies, ’ an a cannot know disease.
Tis a mistake. They undergo
8evere tests at times
of muscular exertion, and
as a " ult of these,
Regular combined with their
hort-lived manner of living, are usually
8 dying
heart dis men, of phthisis and
ease.
Railroad employes are exposed to
Hdcnts, ac
the as 'veil as various disorders of
nervous and circulatory systems,
prod uced by the constant
which th < y jarring to
‘““““Ur*, are subjected; in the case of
bv the suddcu
SCHLEY COUNTY NEWS.
changes of weather, according to
Duchesne, their health for the first few
years improves and some gain flesh, but, to
use his expression, they are, as a rule,
tired out at 10 years’ service, sufferers at
the end of 15, and after 20 years rarely
are able to continue in the service.
Many lose their eyesight, their hearing
becomes dull and pains iu the lower
limbs render walking or standing up
right tiresome aud difficult. He at
tributes these symptoms to an affection
o the spinal cord, produced by long
standing and constant vibration of the
locomotives. —New York News.
Beauties of the Cotton Flower.
We made the suggestion recently
that papers in search of a flower f tho
0 r
national emblem would find all the re
quirements in the bloom of the cotton
plant. It has merits that may well bo
enlargcd upon. The flower t ikes on all
the hues that constitute the national
colors; it is pretty, and though not
fragrant, is inodorous. But it possesses
in its utility what it may lack in fra
grance. Its product clothes the civil
ized world and gives employment to
millions of its most useful and indus
trious people, not only in its culture,
but aiso in its manufacture.
Its pure white is emblematic of pence,
but it may when necessary bo converted
into one of the most powerful warlike
projectiles and explosives yet known to
science—both emblematic of the peace
ful policy of the United States and its
military power when roused to war.
Without it the commerce as well as the
industry of the world would greatly suf
fer. It is the chief money bringing
commodity of export of this country_
always in steady demand abroad and
good as gold in the making of interna
tional exchanges. Without it the ag
ricutture of the South would languish,
and many thousands of spindles and
looms at the North would cease their
merry hum.
Is there any other flower of tho
country whose product is so essential to
the thrift of millions of people, and
which is every way so well fitted for
Uncle Sum to wear in his button hole?
Pisa’s Leaning Tower.
Pisa’s famous marble tower, with its
circular front of over 200 columns, and
its upper story overhanging the lower
by a difference of thirteen feet, is a
puzzle to philosophers and antiquarians.
Whether its singular leaning attitude
was the result of design or of accident
never has been ascertained. One of the
many interesting things connected with
the leaning tower is the fact that Gali
leo, as remarkable a mind—certainly as
great an experimental philosopher—as
any within the Christian era, demon
strated, by experiments conducted from
the top of that structure, the error of
Aristotle’s theorem, that the velocity of
falling bodies is proportioned to their
weight. The learned but angry scien
fists of Italy confidently gathered in
front of the tower to witness the crush
ing and silencing of the pestilent philos.
opher whose reasoning they had been
unable to confute, but whose audacious
blundering was now to be exhibited
and demonstrated in the shape of an
object-lesson of his own foolish propos
ing. But the philosopher, instead of
being flattened out by the proofs, con
founded his learned and highly scientific
eneffiies, who, however, like so mauy of
their illustrious successors of today, de
clined to be convinced by the facts, and
Galileo found it for the interest of his
health to get right out of that vineyard,
and he left—without standing on the
order of his going.
A Doomed Island.
On the Island of Heligoland a stormy
sea recently toppled over a largo cliff,
together with its top, stratum of pas
tures and cottages, and at the same
time revealed tho existence of a tliff
undermining at least one-third of the
remaining scant area, which has now
been reduced to a little less than one
third of an English square mile, Year
after year the sea encroaches upon tho
rocks of the wc3t shore, but the full ex
tent of its ravages was only lately ascer
tained by the disoovery of an old map,
showing not less than eighteen different
villages, with castles, forts and monas
teries, where the water now covers the
submarine rocks to a depth of half a
hundred fathoms. Like the island of
St. Helena, tho cliffs of Heligoland rise
abruptly from an ocean abyss, which
more than probably will swallow up the
last breakwater beforo tho middle of
the next century.
A FATAL RAVINE.
_
APlaCe * ni in • v Yellowstone yi i Park ^ ,
Where the Air is PoiSOnOUS
The Bones of Many Animals
Found in the Deadly Gulch,
“In Yellowstone Park there is a ra
vine that proves as deadly to animal life
as that Death Valley of Java, where wild
beasts perish by the score,” said Henry
W. McIntyre at the Palace Hotel the
other night. The gentleman was con
nected with the party who surveyed the
reservation, under the leadership of Ar
nold Hague, the park geologist. While
following the streams to trace the ex
tiuct hot springs the explorers reached a
ravine in which the bones of many ani
mals, bears, deer, rabbits, and squirrels,
Were found. The presence of the re
mains caused the party much wonder,
aQ d a solution of the strange affair was
found only when a crow that had been
seen to fly from the side of the valley to
a Cfl rcass that was yet fresh lit on its
P'ey, and almost immediately fell to the
ground,
“The death of the bird,” continued
Mr. Mcln'yrc, “was caused by gaseous
exhalations, whose presence in the park
^ a cl been before unsuspected, The
larger game also met its death by inhal
the deadly gas. The ravine is in
tlie northeastern part of the park, in the
vicinity oj the mining camp of Cooke
creek, and not far from the line of the
mail route. All about this region gas
ecus exhalations are given off, which
form sulphurous deposits. In the al
most extinct hot spring a r eas of Soda
Butte, Lamar River, and Cache and
Miller creeks the ravine was found,
This region is rarely visited, although
– I s aa admirable spot for game, which,
however, goes unmolested by man, the
laws against hunting being very severe.
The road to the valley has few afctrac
tions, and the visitors to tho fossil
forests and Hindoo basin seldom make
the trip.
“In the centre of a meadow, reached
by an old elk trail, is a shallow de
pression that was once the bed of a hot
spring pool. This is now dry and is
covered with a slight deposit of salt,
and that is a bait that attracts the elk
and other game of that region. The
‘lick’ extends for seventy-five yards up
the ravine, and is thicker and more
palpable toward the upper end. The
creek runs past along the side of the
valley and boils and bubbles as if it
were the outlet of a hot spring. But
the water is cold, and tho disturbance
on its surface is caused by tho emission
of gas, mainly carbonic acid. It also
contains sulphur, as particles of that are
seen on the sides of the creek. As we
went up the stream the odor of
sulphur became very strong and caused
irritation of the bronchial passages,
About eighty yards above Cache Creek
were the bones of a large berfr, and
near by was a smaller grizzly decom
P°sed, but with the skin and hair yet
fresh. Only a short distance farther
on were tho skeletons of many more
animals, such as elk and deer and other
I ar g° game, bquirrels, rabbits, birds,
and insects were lying about in quanti
Hes, and the ravine looked as if it had
been the 'scoop of a drive into which
Die animals of the parit had been hunt
e< l an( ^ keen left there to die of
hunger out of mere wantonness, There
were no wounds apparent on the bodies
before us; all the animals had been as
phyxiated by the deadly gases that
hung a few feet from the surface of the
gulch.
“The first bear wo saw was a good
way down the gulch, where a neck is
formed. To that point the gas must
have been driven by the wind, and its
deadly nature may be easily- guessed
when it is remembered that tho slight
est motion causes a diffusion of ether
that would tend to decrease its noxious
properties. Here is the explanation of
the oft-repeated assertion that game was
being exterminated by hunters in the
Yellowstone, notwithstanding the strin
gent laws that had been passed for the
protection of animals there. 1 had seen
it noted that each year bears, deer,
mountain tigers and other wild animals
were disappearing from tho reservation,
and it was asserted that friends of the
people who had charge of the park were
allowed to hunt there in defiance of the
law. There were probably 150 bodies
of wild animals in the gulch when I was
there. But, although there were skele
tons entire and single bones, it must not
be supposed these were the remains of
all the game that had found death in the
ravine. They had accumulated only
since the last rain storm. Through this
gulch a mountain torrent runs when the
snows have melted from the mountains
or after a hard rain. Then all things,
stones, bones, and bodies, nre tumbled
together on their way to the mouth of
the gulch, whence they are carried away
in the creeks or are left to mark the
course of the stream and bleach on tho
table lands. I had noticed near the
Mammoth Hot Springs the bodies of
mice and bugs, but had never attributed
their presence to the deadly gases that
were so rapidly killing off the large
game of the park.
The Man Who Lost the Race.
I was hoofing it along a highway in
Arkansas, my horse having gone dead
lame and being left with a farmer when
a man driving a horse and buggy over
took me and invited me to ride. I was
only too thankful for the offer and when
I got in beside him I liked his looks.
He offered me a cigar. We exchanged
names. He was informed on politics
and current events. It wms a spanking
horse he had and he kept a steady gait
for mile after mile. The only thing
about the man that puzzled me was the
way he had of looking behind every
few minutes and I finally inquired:
“Are you expecting some friend to
overtake you?”
“Well, no—not a friend,” he re
plied.
“Enemies?”
“It may be that the sheriff and his
posse will be fools enough to try and
overtake me.”
“My friend,” I said, after swallow
ing the lump which suddenly gathered in
my throat, “Is there any good reason
why the Sheriff should want to overtake
you? This is rather blunt, I’ll admit,
but if 1 hurt your feelings I am ready to
beg pardon.” *
“Oh, no harm done,” he laughed. “I
borrowed this horse and rig about two
hours ago without the formality of ask
ing, and the owner may hope to recover
it. Don’t give yourself any uneasiness,
however. I run to horses and not to
highway robbery.”
Three miles further on, as wo rose a
hill, he looked back and then pulled up
and said:
“We must part here. The Sheriff
and half a dozen others are in pursuit,
and every pound of weight will now
tell.”
“I am very much obliged for your
kindness.”
“Oh, not at all. Your society has
been reward enough. I would suggest
that you enter that thicket and lie close
until the party gets by. When an Ar
kansas Sheriff gets after a stolen horse
he means to hurt somebody, and his
crowd isn’t particular who it shoots at.
And, say, you needn’t make any special
effort to report that you have seen me.
Savey?”
“I won’t.”
“Then good-by.”
He put the horse on a dead run, and
was out of sight in two minutes. I se
creted myself a3 directed, and in a few
minutes the posse thundered by in a
cloud of dust. I followed at a leisurely
gait, and at the end of two hours came
upon them, grouped around a tree.
Hanging from a limb was the lifeless
body of my friend of the road, and
they were now waiting for the blown
and exhau-ted horses to recuperate.
Luminous Paint.
An article in a French paper #a this
subject explains that a phosphorescent
powder may bo obtained by calcining
together in a closed vessel sulphur and
pure carbonate of calcium, yet the pres
ence of impurities of extremely minute
portions of 6ome other substance will
often greatly enhance the lighting pow
ers. This explains why marine shells
give such good results, as they contain
traces of rubidium, and it has been
proved that salts of this metal have a
powerful effect in increasing luminosity.
About four years ago an attempt was
made in New York city to introduce
luminous paint, and great were the ex
pectations raised. We attendel an ex
hibition m Fulton street, where very in
teresting effects were shown in a dark
ened room. But it never becamo popu
lar or was used to any great extent.
Onc of (he novelties to bo scon at tho
Paris exhibition is a drop-a-coin-in-the
slot machine which takes photographs
“while you wait.” It is operated by
electricity and is said to do good work.
The Cowboy in the East.
The Indians he slashed and gashed and
slapped and slew and slaughtered;
He’d boot and shoot tne howling Ute, who
squ aled and reeled and tottered;
He'd bang and whang at every gang of rob
ber and marauder,
The horse thief strung on the limb he hung,
and thus kept law and order.
1 every fight big luck he struck and never
inet disaster;
In glen and den, ’mid brutes and men, he
never found a master;
No gash or slash could ever dash against his
front terrific,
foe could stand his red right hand that
slugged so scientific.
The rattlesnake he punched and crunched;
he overthrew the bison;
He sought and fought an awful lot each
beast ’neath the horizon.
No scar or jar could ever mar, no harm
could ever get him,
But want of breath and speedy death o’er
took all things that met him.
But to the town he came for fame, he moved
into the city;
He fell, ah well! I grieve to tell—the pity 1—
oh, the pity!
He’d hit and split his head, and get a bruise
at every crossing,
And the herdic man and the moving van his
mangled form was tossing.
Whene’er he crossed the street his feot with
wheels and things were tangled;
And his frame became a bloody shame, all
maimed and mussed and mangled;
He’d fall and sprawl right thro’ it all, his
bones all dislocated,
"With most of his face stuck on the wrong
place, and both of his feet mismated.
And soon it came to pass the gas the big gas
house exploded— *
And he—ah me !—was hit, you see, he didn’t
know it was loaded.
«jh, my 1 in the sky ho shot as high as war
contractor’s bounties,
id bis scattered frame wa3 found, they
claim, in nineteen different counties!
— S. W. Foss, in Yankee Blade.
HUMOROUS,
of thousand—993. 1
One out a
Once more in our midst—The water
melon.
Out on a fly—The dove when it left
the Ark.
Marriage may not be a failure, but
there are lots of Mrs. made m matri
mony.
Jones, who is engaged to an heiress,
ca ls her Economy, because she is the
road to wealth.
There is a good deal of difference be
tween the scum and the upper crust,
though both are at the top.
Some people eat more than they need
so that it “won’t go to waste." But
that’s just where it does go—to waste.
There is a good deal of humor writ
ten on the subject of marriage; but
after all matrimonial matches should not
be made light of.
Norah—“An’ has your mistress good
taste?’’ Bridget—“Good taste, is it?
Faith, her dres es look better on me
than do mo own.”
Detective—“Was your cashier right
or left-handed?" Bank President—
“Right, I should say; nothing he could
get his hands on is left."
“I had once a dog that was so clever
that he could easily distinguish rogue 3
from honest people; bttf I had 4o give
him away, for one day he bit me.”
It is a singular fact that the “seeker
after truth,” wherever found, is always
a person who never allows any one else
to tell him anything. He knows it all.
Mr. Magnus—I think travel broadens
one; don’t you think so, Mrs. Lofty?
Mrs. Lofty—Oh, la! yes. Why, I gain
ten or fifteen pounds every time I go to
Yurrup.
A little girl in Piedmont, W. Va.,
who was given a drink of fizzing min
eral water the other day, took a sup of
it and then exclaimed: “It tastes like
your foot’s asleep 1"
Bjones—“You and Giles have become
great friends of late.” Merritt—“I
should say so. When we meet now
he doesn’t tap me on the shoulder; he
thumps me in the back.”
Smith— “Say, Jones, your wife is a
graduate of Vassar, isn’t she?” Jone3—
“Yes.” Smith—“How many tongues
is she mistress of?” Jones—“Only one,
but by Jove that’s a rustler!”
“I am from St. Louis,” said a ycung
man, as he registered at a Chicago hotel.
“Oh, well,” replied the clerk compas
sionately, “put your address down as
New York. Your awful secret will be
safe with me.
Clarissa (the bride-to-be)—“O, I am
so afraid I shall blush like anytliingl"
Adelia (who wanted him herself)—Never
fear, dear; even if you do it will never
show through all the paint you’ve got
on your face.