themadrambler reblogged your post Protip: Four-year-olds are generally k... and added:

Also point all rockets at your younger siblings.

Safety First!...or maybe second.

Inventive Genius. Popular Science, October 1925.

It's plain horse sense! Or something!

Whatever! Don't blow off your appendages today, denizens of the USA!

WPA Public Safety poster, circulated in Chicago, 1936. "Horse Sense" Poster from the War Production Council, ca. 1941.

By the way - just over two years ago, I started this blog - the WPA poster was one of my first posts after I started regularly blogging (it took me a good month to convince myself I really wanted to do this, so I started the blog earlier than I really did much posting).

Thanks to everyone who's joined me on this adventure, especially those of you who have been there from the beginning, and those of you who have encouraged me not to stop along the way! I may take breaks, and I may not be the most regular blogger, but I love history and science too much to ever stop writing about it - and hopefully y'all will stick around and have some fun learning about it, too. :3

<3 Arallyn

.50 BMG incendiary round embedded in man's skull

This man was passing time by attempting to make an ashtray out of a .50 caliber Browning machine gun round. This apparently involved taking a blowtorch to the live round, which ended up triggering the cartridge (as ammunition is wont to do around fire).

The cartridge wound up directly adjacent to several nerves and two arteries. Due to swelling, it could not be immediately removed, and had to be left in place during recovery. However, the damage to the man's blood vessels was too great, and on the ninth day of recovery he died of a massive hemorrhage.

[From the Otis Archives of the Army Medical Center]

Many people never heard of anthrax before the bio-terrorist attacks after 9/11, when the powdered spores were sent through the US Mail to several people.

However, it's a disease that has an incredibly long and storied history, that I'll go in to detail about soon. As an occupational disease, anyone working with animal hides, wool, or any other unprocessed/partially-processed animal parts was at risk. There was also a risk to anyone working with soil that animals (especially herbivores) lived on. 

Anthrax lives in hardy spores in the soil. It's very rare (since requirement of vaccine use), but people do occasionally still contract it from the environment, like a patient in Minnesota did last week.

Uniforms worn while researching plague bacteria.

These plague researchers were working with the bacillus in the Philippines in 1912. The Third Pandemic was the last major pandemic of plague, which began in Yunnan Province in China, in 1855. It was considered an active pandemic by the World Health Organization until 1959, when cases dropped below 200/year. 

Unlike the Black Death, which is believed to have been at least equal parts pneumonic plague and bubonic plague (though pneumonic contributed to more deaths), the Third Pandemic was mostly bubonic plague (far less deadly, though still dangerous and highly virulent). Despite this, it still contributed to over 12 million deaths in China and India alone, and spread to all inhabited continents.

1914 - WWI Gas Masks - Human and Horse.

I heard that the WWI horse gas masks had these odd blinder-like goggles, but I've yet to see a picture of one. It would make sense that you wouldn't want your horse going blind, but it seems pretty difficult to make functional goggles that you could put on a horse in short order. The gas mask, though, you just slip over the nose and tighten the cinch. Much easier.

Major Frederick F. Russell is one of the most unknown significant figures in medicine. He was the curator of the Army Medical Museum, but also a significant bacteriologist. 

In the early 1900s, he had a room in the museum converted into his personal laboratory, and after hearing about the questionable results of a typhoid vaccine used during the Boer War, he decided to develop his own, starting from scratch.

Over the course of about 5 years, his research using rabbits and bacterial cultures resulted in a promising new vaccine against typhoid fever. Animal tests went very well. In an interesting optimism about the vaccine, the workers at the Army Medical Museum (almost all of them; there were exhibit workers down to janitors) volunteered to have it tested on themselves. Luckily, it was a success, without any of the problems that the British vaccine had.

In 1910 (or 1908, depending on the source), the vaccine was available for anyone joining the military on a voluntary basis. In 1911 (or 1913, again depending on source), it was made compulsory. 

In the US Civil War, over 80,000 Union soldiers died from typhoid fever or dysentery (which had very similar symptoms and were hard to differentiate before bacteriology; more soldiers are believed to have succumbed to typhoid fever than dysentery). In 1891, typhoid fever deaths were all the way up to 174 per 100,000 people. That resulted in over 130,000 civilian deaths in one year.

Within two years of the introduction of the vaccine (the second year implementing drastic sanitation regulation changes), both branches of the military were free of typhoid fever. United States deaths from typhoid fever in WWI were 80% lower than in non-vaccinated countries (France, Germany, etc...most British soldiers were vaccinated).

Major F.F. Russell eventually went on to do significant work on the Yellow Fever problem, and to win the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences, in 1935.

How To Die at Work: 1875 edition.

Thanks again to Antiquus Morbis for the inspiration; many of these terms can also be found over there, in addition to hundreds of other causes of death. -------------------------------------------------

Though the Occupational Safety and Health Act as we [in the US] know it has only existed since 1970, there have been differing levels of federal oversight in the workplace since the Bureau of Labor was created as part of the Department of the Interior in 1888, and the Department of Labor was established in 1913. Though their oversight may not have been as stringent as what we have now, and laws may not have protected people as they do today, it was certainly better than nothing.

So what was working before ANY oversight like? Well, here are a few ways you could have died from your occupation, assuming you didn't get killed by falling, getting crushed, getting impaled, or straight up getting ripped apart by the machinery (read: I'm not covering industrial disasters today; they're coming later):

Aluminosis/Kaolinosis - Fibriod phthisis caused by the inhalation of clay dust.

Brass Founder's Ague - A debilitating fever (often cyclical, like ague) caused by inhalation of the fumes of burned-down zinc, copper, or magnesium, in brass foundries.

Byssinosis - A lung disease caused by inhalation of cotton fiber dust or other vegetable fiber dust (flax, hemp, sissal). Leads to coughing, wheezing, progressive lung scarring and narrowing of the airways, and eventually death. Death isn't so much due to the scarring, but more because of the highly reduced ability to fight pulmonary infections. Was particularly common in young girls and women, especially those in thread factories.

Caisson Disease - Spinal affection caused by either moving from a condensed atmosphere underground or a pressurized diving apparatus into the ground-level atmosphere again. Often occurs in conjunction with "The Bends". Known as Diver's Paralysis.

Cancer Scroti - ...this is an awful one. A cancer noted by Percival Potts, affecting primarily chimney sweeps. Scrotal cancer, often appearing around puberty. Unfortunately was often treated as if it was a venereal disease, which wouldn't have helped anything. Often led to the cancer spreading to the lymph nodes, leading to death before 18. Also known as Soot wart.

Danbury Shakes/Hatter's Shakes - Symptoms of inhalation mercury poisoning exhibited by the hat-makers in Danbury, CT (the hat capital of the world in the 1800s). Often involved shaking, delirium, slurring speech, twitching, and a lurching gait. Sometimes these guys were mistaken for drunks.

Lacemaker's Disease - Lead poisoning sometimes found in lace-makers.

Mad Hatter's Syndrome - Differs from Danbury Shakes in that it more often leads to death, and is more often caused by unintentional ingestion of mercury (rather than inhalation). Involves severe ataxia, gastrointestinal symptoms, and emotional instability, in addition to the symptoms of Hatter's Shakes. 

Matches Disease - Oh god. Phossy jaw. Will do a full post on this and radium jaw soon. Caused by working with and inhaling the dust of white/yellow phosphorous, which was the primary ingredient in matches for a long time. Young girls and unmarried women were the primary makers of matches, and ended up the most affected by this disease. In the end, your jaw basically rots off and you go crazy and then you die. Also known as Phosphorus necrosis.

Potter's Rot - Known as silicosis today. Caused by inhalation of silica particles often found in clay. Silica embeds itself deep in the alveolar sacs (meaning that it cant be coughed out), and the body, trying to get rid of the irritant, becomes inflamed and deposits collagen around the silica. This causes fibrotic nodules in the lungs, respiratory insufficiency, severe cough, fever, right ventricle heart disease, weight loss, and cyanosis. Silicosis leads to a significantly increased risk of tuberculosis and cancer, as well as mycobacterial infections. Also known as slate-worker's lung/sandblaster's asthma.

Ptilosis - Another form of fibroid phthisis, caused by inhalation of feather dust and down dust. In the ostrich feather industry of South Africa (which aside from pen quills, had a huge boom around 1880 thanks to the fashions of the time - feathers were prominent for over a decade, and came back in style frequently), this was particularly prevalent.

Rag Sorter's/Rag-Picker's Disease - Anthrax. Should do a post on the history of anthrax soon. Really interesting topic. Rag sorters were the women who sorted rags in the paper factories. Rag sorter's disease often manifested itself as cutaneous anthrax, but pulmonary (inhalation) anthrax was not uncommon.

Sailor's Fever - Yellow Fever. Almost always acquired in the tropics.

Silo-Filler's Lung - Acute bronchiolitis fibrosa obliterans, caused by inhaling high levels of nitrogen oxides. Recently-filled silos have very high levels of nitrogen dioxide (which is one reason why you never want to be in a poorly-ventilated silo). Nitrous fume intoxication causes cough and shortness of breath, followed by high fever, chills, and a more serious shortness of breath. Death from pulmonary edema following the second phase was not uncommon.

Woolsorter's "Pneumonia" - Inhalation anthrax. Anthrax spores are soil-borne, and when wool is sorted, it still carries the environmental dirt and grime that the sheep (who largely live outdoors) pick up. As the dirt is knocked free, soil-borne spores are also released. The sheep didn't necessarily have to be infected itself to pick up anthrax spores as it lay on the ground. Though mortality rates from pulmonary anthrax hover around 45% these days thanks to early diagnosis, improved treatment, and (most of all) Pasteur's anthrax vaccine for livestock, historic mortality rates were ~92%. Pretty awful thing to catch in the workplace.

Ways to die from your occupation:

Work in a flour mill with massive airborne dust buildup. 

In 1878, the Washburn 'A' Mill - the largest flour mill in the United States - was destroyed in a fiery explosion, largely due to very limited ventilation and a high level of flour dust in the air. Eighteen workers were killed.

This was far from an isolated incident. All industries that deal with fine particulate matter and limited oversight have at one point or another dealt with these explosion hazards. While a series of 1970s explosions in feed mills led to the passing regulations and laws regarding grain handling facilities, other industries still are only subject to federal recommendations and suggestions, and in limited cases, state-level laws. 

Because of the complacency that's so easy to fall into when it comes to dust, and the non-binding federal recommendations, one of the most recent incidents involving dust build-up wasn't even 5 years ago. In 2008, the Imperial Sugar mill in Port Wentworth, GA, was destroyed in a violent double explosion (and subsequent four-day-long fire of molten sugar), directly attributable to airborne particles from non-compliance to recommendations. Thirteen workers died, and fifteen were seriously burned.

Washburn Mill Historic Info

Mill City Museum

Imperial Sugar Explosion

National Academies on Grain Elevator and Mill Explosions

March 25, 1911. New York, New York. 4:40 PM. 

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.

A small fire is sparked in an 8th floor waste cloth bin, filled with over two months of small fabric scraps. It spreads quickly, and a bookkeeper calls to the tenth floor offices to warn employees. There is no way to warn the production line workers on the ninth floor. The first indication of trouble to the floor is not until the fire has already reached it. Though the fire department is notified and arrives soon after the fire breaks out, their tallest ladder only reaches six stories high. Panic breaks out among the workers, who are mostly recently immigrated Jewish and Italian young ladies.

There are two freight elevators, two stairways, and a poorly maintained fire-escape. One stairway is blocked by the fire, and the other is locked, to prevent theft by the workers. The freight elevator operators, Joseph Zito and Gaspar Mortillalo, save over a hundred lives by risking their own.They make three trips each to the ninth floor, until the heat of the fire and the bodies of workers hurling themselves down the elevator shafts warp the cables beyond usability. Terrified workers crowd out onto the fire escape, overloading the already ill-upkept metal. It buckles and twists, breaking away from the building, and dozens of women fall over 100 feet to the unforgiving pavement below. The crushing impact from falling so far leaves them no more than mangled bloody pulps.

No other escape routes remain, and the firefighters' nets have been torn by the momentum of those they tried to save from falling. A man jumps out of a ninth-floor window. Another appears in a window on the floor above, holding the hand of one of the women. They kiss, and jump to their death. Fifty-nine more workers jump out of the eighth, ninth, and tenth floor windows. Some women hesitate when they appear at the windows; the pervasive flames lick at their hair and skirts long enough to set them ablaze, and they fall to the pavement as shrieking, flailing torches. On the east side of the building, there are over forty bodies piled up. Women on the street are hysterical; men are fainting, and going into frenzied fits. The din of the horror is deafening blocks away.

At the end of the day 129 women and 17 men were dead of blunt force trauma or asphyxiation. Two of the women were only fourteen years old.

The trial of the two owners of the company acquits them of all criminal charges. A later civil trial forces them to pay $75 per victim of the fire. The event drew attention to the lack of safety standards and regulation in factories, and the exploitation of young immigrant women. It was the most deadly disaster in New York City until the destruction of the World Trade Center, and was one of the most poignant focal points of the labor rights movement. 

In February of this year, one hundred years after the disaster, the identities of the last six unknown victims were published.