In the table following the accidents reported to certifying surgeons are shown by degree of injury and by sex and age:

NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS REPORTED TO CERTIFYING SURGEONS AS OCCURRING TO ADULTS, YOUNG PERSONS, AND CHILDREN, OF BOTH SEXES, BY DEGREE OF INJURY, 1908.

a Young persons are persons 14 and under 18 years of age, but may include persons 13 years of age who have obtained from the board of education a certificate of proficiency or attendance at school.

The following table shows the number of cases of industrial poisoning reported in the year 1908, by disease and industry, as well as the number which resulted fatally. All but 3 of the fatal accidents were among male adults.

NUMBER OF CASES OF INDUSTRIAL POISONING REPORTED TO CERTIFYING SURGEONS AS OCCURRING TO ADULTS, YOUNG PERSONS, AND CHILDREN, OF BOTH SEXES, BY DISEASE AND INDUSTRY, 1908.

The report of the inspector for dangerous trades shows that during 1908 there were in the United Kingdom, where particular dangers arise and special precautions are necessary, 19,688 industrial establishments operating under special rules and regulations.

With the consent of all the interested parties an act was passed December 21, 1908, prohibiting the manufacture of white phosphorus matches after January 1, 1910, or the offering of the same for sale after the first of the following year.

Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories on the Administration of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, by Local Authorities in respect of Workshops, Outwork, etc., in the year 1907. Report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department. iii, 14 pp.

This document is a summary of the reports made to the chief inspector of factories by the local health officers who have in charge the administration of certain features of the Factory and Workshop Act, especially those provisions which apply to home workers. Out of 2,942 reports due from the various localities of the United Kingdom, 2,341 were received and are included in this report.

During the year 1907 there were 498,084 inspections of factories, workshops, laundries, and work places other than those of home workers, made by the local authorities. Defects were found in such work places in 65,225 cases, 24,918 being due to want of cleanliness, 13,875 to insufficient or unsuitable sanitary accommodations, and 2,867 to overcrowding and want of ventilation. These defects were remedied in 61,449 cases, 352 cases were referred to the factory inspectors, and in 76 cases prosecutions were instituted.

Lists are required to be sent twice in each year to the local authorities containing the names, addresses, and places of employment of all persons employed outside of the factory or workshop of the employer. From those employers who complied strictly with this regulation, 16,982 lists of outworkers were received, and from those who made but one report, 4,084 lists.

The approximate number of work people included in the lists of outworkers reported by employers is shown for each specified industry in the following table:

APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF OUTWORKERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM INCLUDED IN LISTS RECEIVED FROM EMPLOYERS, BY COUNTRIES AND BY INDUSTRIES, 1907.

During the year 102,549 inspections were made of outworkers' premises. In 3,298 instances outwork was found to be carried on in unwholesome premises. In 1,948 such cases notice of the conditions was given the employer in writing, and in 3 cases prosecutions were instituted. In 1,658 instances outwork was found to be carried on in premises in which persons were found to be suffering from infectious diseases, and in 640 cases orders were issued forbidding any work to be given out to persons living or working in such premises. The authorities in several localities were able to secure improved conditions in respect to unwholesome or infected premises by means of verbal instructions.

ITALY.

Inchiesta sul Lavoro Festivo in Italia e Studi sulla Legislazione Estera. Ufficio del Lavoro, Ministero di Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio. 1906. x, 218 pp.

This volume presents the results of an inquiry undertaken by the Italian Labor Office into the question of employment on Sundays and holidays. The movement originated in the desire of the Italian Government to secure the necessary information for reaching conclusions as to the kinds of Sunday and holiday labor required by technical and economic reasons and by the interests of the public with a view to the restriction of unnecessary labor of this sort.

The two general divisions of the inquiry relate to productive industry and to commerce and service, under which latter term are included transportation, news service, restaurants, drug stores, theaters, etc. The extent, nature, frequency, and causes of such labor were inquired into for each industry in the various provinces, the presentation being by industries. No summaries are presented.

An investigation by the Belgian Government on the same subject receives considerable attention, and the laws of various European countries and of the United States are presented, as well as drafts of laws proposed for enactment by the Italian Parliament.

It may be added that an act of July 7, 1907, provided for a weekly day of rest, to fall normally on the Sabbath, with exceptions for necessity, and provisions for the allowance of another day where the Sabbath can not for any reason be allowed.

DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

[Except in cases of special interest, the decisions here presented are restricted to those rendered by the federal courts and the higher courts of the States and Territories. Only material portions of such decisions are reproduced, introductory and explanatory matter being given in the words of the editor.]

DECISIONS UNDER STATUTE LAW.

ASSIGNMENTS of Wages-RIGHTS OF ASSIGNEES-PRIORITY OF Wage CLAIMS OVER CLAIMS OF MORTGAGEES-CONSTRUCTION OF STATUTE— Union Trust Company v. Southern Sawmills and Lumber Company, United States Circuit Court of Appeals, 166 Federal Reporter, page 193. This was a case involving a receivership of the property of a corporation and the rights of mortgagees as against other claimants. The Union Trust Company was a claimant on the grounds of having advanced money for the payment of wages, to secure which it had accepted assignments of the claims of laborers. These were held to be superior to the claims of a mortgagee, in accordance with the statutes of the State of North Carolina, within whose boundaries the property involved was situated. The opinion of the court was delivered by Judge Waddill, the portion relating to the assignee's rights reading in the main as follows:

Considering the claims above set forth in this subdivision, they consist of three items aggregating $6,407.50, and are for obligations incurred by the defendant company, prior to the receivership, to laborers, on account of which claims the amounts thereof were advanced to the laborers by the assignors of the present holders of the claims, who hold the assignments by the laborers who did the work, and to whom the company's obligations were given, and for these claims receiver's certificates were likewise issued shortly after the receivership. The holders of these claims insist that, irrespective of their receiver's certificates, they are entitled to be paid the amounts due under the statute of North Carolina hereinafter recited, and that they stand in the place and stead of the laborers who assigned the claims, under the statute in question. Appellees, on the other hand, say that the statute under which they claim has no application, and that in any event the claimants are not entitled to the benefit of such statute because the advancements were to and upon the credit of the company, and not to the laborers themselves. The facts under which these several labor claims were acquired by the holders thereof were substantially these: The Southern Sawmills and Lumber Company executed notes to Edmund & White for $2,957.50 and $982.50, respectively, which were indorsed by Edmund & White to the Bank of Lumberton, and upon their indorsement the bank loaned the money