E. S. CHAPIN, Safety Inspector, Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Philadelphia. There were two things brought up in discussion here upon which I may be able to shed a little light. One, the use of pictures to centralize the interest of the men in precaution. Psychologists tell us that the mind retains permanently about forty per cent. of what the ears take in; whereas the percentage is over sixty of what the eyes take in. That may be the explanation of the value of pictures, whether motion pictures or still pictures. The other point which has been mentioned is the industrial army. It has been mentioned in co-ordination with the military army. Now, the size of the industrial army has not been touched upon. The results from the European experiences have shown that it takes five men behind the line in the industries to keep one man going at the front; so that if we send one million men to the army, as the papers say now, it means five million men must be kept working, kept safe, kept in good condition, to keep that million men at the front. J. C. WRIGHT, Order of Railway Conductors, Harrisburg, Pa. Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I would like to say a word. In the name of the labor organizations and in the name of the soldiers we have at the front now, I want to appeal to you to send your magazines or your journals to any of the Y. M. C. A.'s and they will be forwarded directly to our soldiers. H. G. DAVIS: In looking over this program it is very evident that the mining industry of the State was not considered when the same was made or formed. It was not my intention to say anything at this conference, but I fail to see why or how the remarks made by my honored friend, Mr. Maurer, fit in at the meeting this afternoon. First he described an old man at the age of forty in a decrepit condition, and so on. I have worked in and about the coal mines for forty-five years and I am not old yet. I have a daughter who, by the way, now in the City of Harrisburg and who was present here at some of these meetings, who, for seven long weeks was unable to walk on account of rheumatism. She never saw the inside of a coal mine in her life. I simply state that in order to let you know that all miners do not get stiffened up and crippled by their work or don't all have to lie down in water. I also want to touch upon another thing that Mr. Maurer said. He took particular pains to slap the safety committees. I have been connected with the D. L. & W. Railroad Company's Coal Department for thirty-six years in various capacities, from mule driver to a superintendent, and during some of those years we endeavored to organize and maintain safety committees, and I want to tell you that we did everything that lay in our power to encourage the organization of those committees and I am very sorry to say that many of the men who were appointed on those committees were abused because they volunteered to act in that capacity. I simply say that to refute what Mr. Maurer said here today in reference to the mining industry. While we I do not take very kindly either to the slap he made on the bosses. have, perhaps, had in connection with coal mining some very small men in that capacity, yet I believe all of them are not so small. Some of them are some of the biggest men you could find in a day's travel. I want to say to you gentlemen that this conference, in which every one of you have taken part, is a great credit to the members of the Department of Labor and Industry and I cannot say an unkind word with regard to any member of it. Most of them, particularly the new Commissioner, I consider a personal friend of mine, connected with the National Safety Organization as I am, of which Council he has had the honor of being President. Those men are doing good work, but I think this organization wants to broaden out and bring in something of the mining industry. It is surely the greatest industry in this State. CHAIRMAN EMERSON: I might say that the speaker's remarks have a great deal of truth in them, but I am informed that the law creating the Department of Labor and Industry does not provide in its activities for the mining industries of the State; so that was one of the reasons why the program is a little light on the mining side. CHARLES H. SPOTTS, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Harrisburg, Pa. I want to say today that I have been studying ideas on how to educate the foreigner. I was four years educating one and I sat today and listened to Professor Roberts doing in about fifteen minutes what I know I was nine months in doing, getting them started. I think that is a wonderful idea. But the one thing I want to say that each and every one of you can do is the smallest thing in the world. Say, "How do you do," to him when you meet him or say "Good morning;" treat him as a friend. They are so accustomed to being downtrodden that if you don't treat them as friends you will never make citizens of them. The one I helped to educate became naturalized and is a good American today. We have got to do as God tells us; do whatever little thing we can to help the other fellow along. It is an easy thing to say, "How do you do" to these foreigners and treat them decently and they will then think that the American people are ready to help them. It is a hard lot they have when they come to this country and are not able to speak our language. If you had been in my position sitting up here looking in the faces of these foreigners this morning you would have seen how pleased they were to get an idea of the American language, it was well worth while to sit and look at them. And here we all have opportunities but we do not take advantage of them. In the "safety first" work that I am busy in on the railroad some call me a "nut", maybe I am; but I don't care whether it is a boss or an employe, if I see him doing anything he should not do I tell him about it. Once a train master came walking up the track in the middle of the ladder when there was a six foot space outside where there are no tracks. I said to him; "Don't you know trains are no respectors of persons and would just as soon kill you as anybody? Why don't you get over where you belong?" He said, "Do you mean that for an insult?" I said, "No; but you have a six foot space there, where you could walk in safety and if you walk on the track you are likely to get killed." Some times the best way to get a fellow to be a "safety first" man is to insult him. I remember one fellow on the railroad who did not care much and one day he came out to work as reckless as ever and I said to him: "What's the matter? Did you and your wife have a fight today?" He said, "No." I said to him then: "Don't you like your children any more?" He said, "Sure". I said to him: "Then what the devil are you trying to kill yourself for." You have got to get in under their skin any way you can to make them realize and think seriously. I think we must all take a personal and individual interest in the matters that have been brought before this conference and we will then all be successful in our endeavors and so will these conferences. CHAIRMAN EMERSON: Is there any further discussion on any of the papers? It has not been my pleasure to attend all of these meetings. I think they covered the field and have been a credit to the Department of Labor and Industry considering how hard it has been this year to get speakers when every one is so busy. I believe I am safe in saying that these conferences have become an institution and that no matter how much they may have to be curtailed during the war, nevertheless, they will be kept up in some shape or other annually and with the hope that any policies which were started here, and movements put into being, will go on reaping benefits wherever used and that after the war,-that happy time we are all looking forward to,-after the war, they will be resumed with far greater strength. But, in the meantime, the Department of Labor and Industry is going to do everything possible to keep up these conferences annually. REPORT OF CONFERENCE OF INDUSTRIAL PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. On November 20, 1917, the day before the opening of the Annual Welfare and Efficiency Conference, there was held in the Hall of the House of Representatives at Harrisburg the most successful of all the Conferences of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons thus far convened under the direction of the Department of Labor and Industry. The following program was presented: PROGRAM. Chairman: DR. FRANCIS D. PATTERSON, Chief, Division of Industrial Hygiene and Engineering, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Some Medical and Surgical Problems and Their Solution, From the Point of View of the Mining Surgeon, DR. S. P. MENGEL, Lehigh Valley Coal Company, Wilkes- From the Point of View of the Public Service Corporation Sur geon, DR. N. M. JONES, East Ohio Gas Company, Cleveland, Ohio. From the Point of View of the Surgeon in the Chemical Industry, General Discussion. The Health Hazards of the Cigar Industry with Suggestions for Obviating Them, DR. T. GRIER MILLER, Occupational Disease Clinic, University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. DR. HENRY F. SMYTH, Laboratory of Hygiene, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. A Preliminary Report Upon Dust Studies in Various Industries, DR. HENRY F. SMITH, Laboratory of Hygiene, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. DR. T. GRIER MILLER, Occupational Disease Clinic, University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. Afternoon Session. Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of the Disabled Soldier, MAJOR HARRY E. MOCK, Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Discussion. MAJOR R. TAIT MCKENZIE, British Medical Corps. The Fight Against Industrial Diseases-The Opportunities and DR. ALICE HAMILTON, United States Bureau of Labor The Treatment of Infections and Infected Wounds by Dichloramine-T, DR. ROBERT PERRY CUMMINS, Chief Surgeon, Midvale Lantern Demonstration of the Treatment of Infections and Infected LIEUTENANT WALTER E. LEE, Medical Reserve Corps, The War Crisis and the Industrial Surgeon, DR. WILLIAM A. EVANS, Ex-President, American Public The hazards of various occupations were discussed, as much in their relation to the health of the worker as in relation to accidents, and a great many new and valuable ideas were brought out. It is not possible to summarize here all the addresses delivered, but each one presented so many valuable thoughts that they may all be read in their entirety with great profit. The full report of this Conference is published in the March, 1918, number of The Pennsylvania Medical Journal. Reprints of these proceedings have been procured by the Department of Labor and Industry for free distribution among those interested in any of the subjects discussed. Until this supply is exhausted, copies of these reprints may be obtained, on requeest, from Dr. Francis D. Patterson, Chief, Division of Industrial Hygiene and Engineering, Third and North streets, Harrisburg, Pa. Attention may advantageously be given to the papers by Doctors Miller and Smyth. These papers are the direct results of studies made in the Clinic for Diseases of Occupation which is conducted at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in co-operation with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. These papers show only the beginning of what will be accomplished for the workers of this state, by pointing out the causes of their ill health and removing these causes. For the manufacturer of the State, the service is equally as great, as by the assistance of the numerous trained workers connected with this clinic, the health hazards in the various industries are studied and recommendations offered for their elimination. Just as at the Fourth Conference of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons the epoch-making treatment of infected wounds by the Carrel-Dakin method was described and discussed, so at this Conference the remarkable results obtained by the use of Dichloramine-T, together with its tremendous saving in dressings and in the time of applying the dressings were set forth. The motion pictures showing the use of this method, as explained by Lieutenant Lee were especially illuminating. The problem of the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the disabled soldier as presented by Major Mock and Major McKenzie brought before the Conference one of the most vital problems of the war, and one, the influence of which is going to be felt many years after the war is over. Mr. Lightner presented the proposed plans of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, for aiding in the placement in industry of the trained reconstructed soldier. |