Report to the Local Government Board on proposed changes in hours and ages of employment in textile factories / by J.H. Bridges and T. Holmes.

  • John Henry Bridges
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report to the Local Government Board on proposed changes in hours and ages of employment in textile factories / by J.H. Bridges and T. Holmes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    “ desired dampness were adopted. These means consist in the injection of steam into “ the shed from perforations in the heating-pipes, and in £ digging5 or keeping the <£ floor of the shed damp with water, the sheds in either case being kept closed as much ££ as possible, and these practices are adopted, in part at least, as the corollary of a ££ system of sizing not indeed identical with that in nse at Todmorden, hut not ££ differing from it in any such essential respects as to need record in this connection. ££ In the course of my inquiry at Todmorden, I visited 17 weaving sheds on the “ premises of 12 manufacturers. In four sheds, belonging to two manufacturers, ££ there was, in daylight, no perceptible haze in the atmosphere. In all the others ££ there was more or less of haze, caused by very fine particles of dust. In all the “ sheds there was more or less dust on every surface where it could settle, and this ££ though the floors and rooms had been cleaned of the dust on the previous evening, “ or in the course of the same day. This dust was generally loose, hut in one or two ££ establishments it tended to adhere to the floor. These were places where sizing tc was done in the establishment, and where fatty material hut no e antiseptic ’ was ££ used. The looms were in all cases covered with opaque dust, varying in amount ££ from a slight bloom, in the sheds of the just-mentioned establishments, to a thick ££ layer in some other sheds. The quantity of dust was found to depend, in part, upon ££ the sort of cloth that was being made. In the most dusty sheds the clothes and hair ££ of the weavers were seen covered with fine white dust. [Further, the strange visitor ££ experienced, in all the more dusty sheds, and roughly in proportion to the amount ££ of visible dust, very great irritation in the nose, and in a less degree to the eyes and ££ throat. To this irritating effect of the dust, a frequent visitor, and still more a ££ weaver, gets speedily accustomed; though there is a certain number, apparently a ££ minority, of weavers who remain incommoded by it whenever their work is more ££ than usually dusty. I need hardly say that there is no cause for satisfaction in “ the deadening of sensations that should he sentinels against irritating matter ££ entering the throat and lungs. ££ [Respecting the matters composing the dust of weaving sheds in Todmorden, ££ particulars will he found in the appended analyses, made for the purposes of this ££ report by Dr. Dupre. I have only to observe upon them, that there is a good deal ££ of agreement in the general composition of the dust; the chief difference con- ££ sisting in the proportions of the several substances composing it. None of the ££ more poisonous minerals were found in any of the specimens examined. Speaking ££ of £ clay ’ in its ordinary sense (i.e., anhydrous clay, with the addition of about ££ one eighth its weight of moisture), it is seen that from one third to one half the ££ dust consisted of this substance. ££ As for the China clay, against which especially the representations of the ££ memorialists are directed, the statement is confidently made by manufacturers that, ££ through its weight, the particles must fall directly downwards from the looms, and ££ cannot reach the face-level of the workers who stand over them. This statement is ££ little less than absurd to any one who goes, without preconceived notions, into an ££ average Todmorden weaving shed. Wherever dust can lodge, at all levels of the ££ shed, on the hair and cap of the workers, on the heating-pipes, eight feet from the ££ ground, everywhere the dust is of the same opaque white kind. When the gas is ££ lighted, the spaces between the lights are white in the weaving sheds, while in the ££ adjacent throstle room the spaces between the gas jets are perfectly black. That ££ this dust is, in effect, the China clay, quite as much as other matters, has been ££ proved by direct experiment. ££ In the dust taken from the top of a warming-pipe, two feet above the weavers’ ££ heads, Dr. Dupre finds 43 per cent, of clay ; while the floor-dust of the same shed ££ contained 35 per cent, of it; and in the dust taken from a board placed just under ££ a ventilator of another weaving shed 47 per cent, of clay, the dust from the floor of “ this last shed consisting of 38 per cent, only of the same substance. The actually ££ larger proportion of clay in the dust of the higher levels probably comes from the £c dust there being more exposed to such currents of air as exist in the shed, and £c which fan away some of the lighter (i.e., cotton) particles. <c It is alleged by some of the manufacturers that men employed at the extremely ££ dusty works in Devonshire and Cornwall, where this clay is obtained, are healthy “ and long-lived; to which statement I think it enough to oppose the high mortality “ from lung diseases among potters, employed under indoor conditions much more ££ nearly resembling those of these cotton weavers.”* * [Dr. Buchanan’s Report on Certain Sizing Processes used in the Cotton Manufactures at Todmorden, and their influence upon Health, Returns to an Order of House of Commons, 13th May 1872.]