Chapter XV: Part 2: of Table

+----------------+---------------------------------------+
| | |
| | Mortality Figure. |
| | |
| Occupation. |-----------+-------------+-------------+
| | Phthisis. | Respiratory | Circulatory |
| | | Diseases. | Diseases. |
+----------------+-----------+-------------+-------------+
|Agriculturists | 106 | 115 | 88 |
| | | | |
|Bookbinder | 325 | 218 | 115 |
|Printer | 326 | 214 | 133 |
|Musician | 322 | 200 | 191 |
|Hatter | 301 | 210 | 141 |
|Hairdresser | 276 | 213 | 179 |
|Tailor | 271 | 195 | 121 |
|Draper | 260 | 181 | 135 |
|Shoemaker | 256 | 181 | 121 |
+----------------+-----------+-------------+-------------+

From this table it will be seen that, roughly speaking, the combined mortality from phthisis and respiratory diseases varies from twice to two and a half times that of agriculturists. It may further be stated (although the figures are not given in the table) that the workers in four of the above-mentioned occupations die from these diseases alone more rapidly than farmers in the agricultural districts die from all causes put together. Contrary to the experience of two-thirds of the occupied male population of England and Wales, tubercular phthisis is more fatal than are diseases of the respiratory organs other than phthisis, to all the workers in the table, except agriculturists.

_Bookbinders, Printers._--Writing in 1881 of the sanitary condition of these workers, Dr Ogle speaks of both of them in common as “carrying on their industries under notoriously unhealthy conditions, in ill-ventilated rooms, and in an atmosphere unduly heated by engines, stoves, and flaring gas-lights.” The decline in the death-rates, as compared with the earlier records, he attributes to the improvements effected by the Factory Inspectors since these trades came under their supervision. Further on he writes, with respect to their mortality: “Excepting costermongers ... and those industries in which the workman is exposed to the inhalation of dusts, such as file-makers, potters, and Cornish miners, there is no industry in the table in which the mortality from phthisis approaches to that of printers.” “As for bookbinders,” he writes, “so far as can be judged from the 77 deaths of which the causes are recorded, in this industry also the high mortality is due to phthisis, for of the 77 deaths no less than 30 were caused by this disease.”[45]

In both of these trades the conditions of work have still further improved under the supervision of H.M. Factory Inspectors since the above was written. Taking _bookbinders_ first--The returns show that their death-rates are still considerably above those of agriculturists, and, indeed, above those of other occupied males at most of the ages in the working period of life, their comparative mortality figure being above the firstnamed standard by 76 per cent. Bookbinders still die very rapidly from pulmonary consumption, their mortality figure from that disease being no less than 325, or more than three times as high as that of agriculturists. Their mortality from cancer and from diseases of the respiratory, circulatory, and urinary systems also shows excess. Bookbinders are more addicted to suicide than are agriculturists, in the proportion of 26 to 10. Ever since 1871 the mortality of bookbinders has steadily decreased, and there has been a fall in the death-rates at ages under as well as above the forty-fifth year.

_Printers_ experience a death-rate at the various age-groups which is above the standard at all the age-groups dealt with in the table. Their mortality figure is 1096, as against 953 for all occupied males, and 602 for agriculturists. Like bookbinders, printers die very rapidly from phthisis, and probably for a similar reason--namely, because of the excessively unhealthy conditions under which their work is carried on--their mortality from diseases of the respiratory organs other than phthisis is, however, below the average, but from diseases of the nervous, circulatory, digestive, and urinary systems it is above the average. Printers suffer only about one-third as much from fatal accident as do other workers, but they are somewhat more addicted to suicide. Their mortality figure from lead poisoning is represented by 3. In the course of the last twenty years the mortality of printers from all causes together has decreased considerably. Both the age divisions in the main work time of life have shared in the fall, but in unequal proportions. As compared with that of 1881, the mortality of these workers from alcoholism in 1891 has fully trebled, and that from suicide has more than doubled. The most important decrease occurs in the case of phthisis, the mortality from which has fallen, since 1891, by one-sixth part of the former rate.

_Musicians._--The mortality of the class of men who, by a euphemism, are styled “musicians,” is very high. At all ages in the working period of life it greatly exceeds that of agriculturists, and also exceeds that of the working population in the aggregate. Their comparative mortality figure amounts to 1214, or more than double the figure for agriculturists, and is about one-third part in excess of that of occupied males generally. Compared with both these standards, musicians die more rapidly from alcoholism and from diseases of the liver. Their mortality figure from phthisis is enormous, amounting to not less than 322, or fully three times that of agriculturists, and almost double that of male workers in the aggregate.

In addition to the above, musicians sustain very heavy mortality from diseases of the nervous, circulatory, digestive, and urinary systems, and their mortality figure from suicide is 23, as compared with 10 for agriculturists and 14 for other occupied males. From these statistics it is certain that many of those who are included in this class are sadly addicted to intemperance, whilst others suffer from want of the bare necessaries of life. “It must be remembered,” writes Dr Ogle in 1881, with reference to the mortality of this class, “that under this heading are comprised all sorts and conditions of men, and that a large portion of them are organ-grinders, ballad-singers, and street musicians generally, many of whom are of intemperate habits, and exposed by their mode of life to cold and want, while no few have merely taken to the occupation as a refuge, after their health has broken down in more regular occupations.”

Within the last twenty years the mortality of musicians has declined very considerably, both at the earlier and at the later ages. Their comparative mortality figure in 1891 was lower than it had been in 1871 by more than one-fifth part: nevertheless, their vital statistics still continue to be very unsatisfactory, and their nomadic habits are a serious hindrance to improvement.

_Hatters._--As compared with agriculturists, the mortality of hatters is enormously greater at all stages of the working period of life, and their comparative mortality figure from all causes is in excess of that standard by 84 per cent. At ages under thirty-five years, hatters experience a death-rate which barely exceeds the average among occupied males, but at each subsequent age-group their mortality is greatly in excess. As far as we know there is little in the employment of hat-makers which of necessity acts prejudicially to their health. Their work, however, like that of too many other trades, is frequently carried on in overcrowded and ill-ventilated apartments, and the men suffer accordingly. Thus we find from the tables that hatters die from tubercular phthisis about three times as rapidly as do agriculturists, and that their mortality from this complaint considerably exceeds the average in other occupations. Hatters appear to be much addicted to intemperance, their mortality figure from alcoholism, and also from liver disease, showing serious excess. Their mortality from suicide stands at 28, as compared with 10 for agriculturists and 14 for other occupied males. Among hatters under the age of forty-five years there has been a decline in mortality within the last twenty years, but at ages from forty-five to sixty-five there has been but little change.

_Hairdressers._--The mortality of hairdressers is higher than that of other occupied males at each of the age-groups of the working period; it is, consequently, greatly in excess of that of agriculturists. Their mortality figure from all causes at ages twenty-five to sixty-five is 1099, and, therefore, exceeds that of the standard last mentioned by 82 per cent. The life of a hair-dresser is for the most part a town, or at least a village, life; the work being carried on indoors for long hours together, in an atmosphere heated and polluted by gas. In addition to this, the occupation is a dusty one, and the men are exposed to the effects of particles of hair and other irritants which find their way into the lungs. Their mortality figure from alcoholism, liver diseases, and gout, as well as from pulmonary tuberculosis, shows serious excess; it therefore appears that hairdressers, as was the case in 1881 also, are still excessively addicted to intemperance. They fall victims to suicide almost as rapidly as do even the least fortunate workers included in the list of occupations. Hairdressers experienced almost the same rate of general mortality at the census periods of 1871 and 1881, but since the latter year there has been a fall in their mortality to the extent of about one-seventh part.

_Tailors._--The occupation of tailors is a typically sedentary one. The men work for the most part in overcrowded, ill-ventilated, and overheated rooms, and consequently suffer in general physique and appearance, as well as in health. In recent years the introduction of machinery, whilst in some respects an advantage, has produced its counterbalancing ill-effects by rendering it possible for any man or woman who can work a sewing machine to take the place of the regularly skilled tailor, and thus to depreciate the market value of his labour. In consequence of this the tailor and his family are only too frequently reduced to great poverty, if not to a state approaching starvation. The mortality of tailors at the several age-groups does not greatly differ from that of other occupied males. Tailors die more rapidly than agriculturists at ages between twenty-five and sixty-five, but at ages below and above these limits their mortality does not greatly exceed this standard.

Although in past times tailors have been considered an intemperate class, the figures for 1890–92 lend little support to that opinion. Their mortality figure from alcoholism as well as from liver disease scarcely differs from that of occupied males generally, although, of course, it considerably exceeds the low figure of agriculturists.

The mortality of tailors from tubercular phthisis is greatly in excess of that of other occupied males, and is more than two and a half times as high as the mortality of agriculturists; it is also worth mention that they die more rapidly than other workers from diseases of the nervous system. On the other hand their mortality from influenza and from diseases of the respiratory organs, and of the heart, is in each case below the average. During the last twenty years there has been a notable increase in the mortality of tailors at ages from forty-five to sixty-five years, and an equally notable decrease at ages from twenty-five to forty-five. Although the mortality directly ascribed to alcoholism is now slightly higher than it was in 1881, nevertheless the mortality from diseases of the liver and other digestive organs has undergone a more than equivalent reduction, so that the total mischief caused by intemperance has probably decreased since 1881. The mortality of tailors from gout as well as from phthisis, and from diseases of the nervous system, has fallen since the same year.

_Drapers, Manchester Warehousemen._--The large body of men included under this heading appear to enjoy but poor health, when allowance is made for the fact that the greater part of them are under twenty-five years of age. Drapers and Manchester warehousemen, who are here grouped together because of the similarity of their occupation and mode of life, are credited with a mortality which is higher than that of any other occupation save one in the category of shopkeepers. Their comparative mortality figure from all causes is 1014, which, as compared with that of agriculturists, is in excess by 68 per cent. Even when compared with the low standard of “occupied males,” drapers are subject to a mortality which is considerably above the average. Confinement in close, ill-ventilated shops for very long hours together, and an almost exclusively indoor life, is the unlucky fate of these workers. They are exposed to the heat and fumes of gas and cotton “fluff” and dust which escapes from the bales of goods in process of sale, and their health suffers accordingly. Their death-rate from tubercular phthisis exceeds that of other occupations by not less than 41 per cent., and is more than two and a half times as high as that of agriculturists; but the fact previously mentioned, that drapers’ assistants are for the most part youths or young men, may account to some extent for their exceptional liability to this scourge. Drapers die faster than the average from influenza, rheumatic fever, and diabetes, as well as from alcoholism, diseases of the liver and nervous system, and from suicide. During the main working period of life, the mortality of drapers has decreased somewhat since the earliest record. In the first twenty years of this period, _i.e._, from twenty-five to forty-five years of age, their death-rate has fallen considerably since 1871; whilst at ages from forty-five to sixty-five years, although it had fallen between 1871 and 1881, it has since returned to its former level. Since 1881 the mortality of drapers from all causes has increased by 18 per cent. Between 1881 and 1891 their mortality from phthisis remained stationary, whilst that from other lung disease and heart disease showed a considerable increase. Their mortality from suicide has increased threefold since 1881, and that from alcoholism has increased by nearly two-thirds.

_Shoemakers._--Although the contrary is generally held to be the fact, shoemakers are shown by the figures now at our disposal to enjoy a degree of health which is at least equal to that of the average working man.

As the occupation of shoemaking is an indoor one, involving sedentary labour for many hours together, in closely confined and ill-ventilated apartments, the workers suffer inordinately from those ailments which are commonly associated with such environment. Up to the thirty-fifth year of age shoemakers die faster than other occupied males, but more slowly at later ages. Compared with agriculturists the mortality of shoemakers at all ages is in excess by 53 per cent.

Shoemakers die much less rapidly than the average from lung diseases (except phthisis) as well as from accident, and their mortality from intemperance is remarkably low. Cancer and pulmonary consumption, however, play sad havoc among shoemakers, their mortality from the first-mentioned disease being in excess of the average by 14 per cent., and from the last-mentioned, by 38 per cent. Throughout the three decennia, commencing with 1861, the mortality of shoemakers above the age of forty-five years has steadily increased, whilst below that age it has steadily decreased; the balance showing a slight increase in the total mortality figure. Under the head of alcoholism their mortality has increased since the earlier record, although that from liver disease has decreased. Shoemakers die as rapidly as ever from pulmonary consumption, and more rapidly than ever from diseases of the lungs and heart. Their mortality from diseases of the nervous system has, however, shown a decided improvement, and they are at the present time less addicted to suicide than was formerly the case.

THE MINING INDUSTRY.

At the census of 1891 more than half a million men above the age of fifteen years were returned as miners, their number having increased since the previous census by more than a fourth part. As the proportion is still probably increasing, we may safely calculate that at the present time one in every 17 males between the ages of twenty-five and sixty-five years is a miner. In round numbers it may be stated that of the 524,000 miners in England and Wales, 482,000 work in coal, 18,000 in ironstone, 9000 in tin, 6000 in lead, 2000 in other minerals, and 1000 in copper; whilst the remaining 6000 are classed under the head of “mine service.” With a few noteworthy exceptions, miners are not, as a whole, an unhealthy body of men, but from the nature of their employment they are necessarily more exposed than are other workers to certain forms of violent death. The various groups of miners, however, have, of course, this feature in common, that most of their time, for a great part of their life, is spent underground. Accordingly their work is carried on under conditions of heat, moisture, etc., which are exceptionally artificial, and for this reason it is desirable that their mortality should be studied with especial care. The following table shows the death-rates of miners at several ages, compared with the corresponding rates of occupied males. The figures in each column represent proportions of the standard figure, the latter taken in each case at 100.

+-------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------+
| | 15 | 20 | 25 | 35 | 45 |55 | 65 and|
| | | | | | | |upwards|
+-------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------+
| Occupied Males. |100 |100 |100 |100 |100 |100 | 100 |
| | | | | | | | |
|Mining Industry |148 |112 | 87 | 78 | 95 |121 | 147 |
| | | | | | | | |
|Coal miner |150 |111 | 86 | 77 | 94 |119 | 143 |
|C M {Durham and Northumberland |154 |111 | 75 | 66 | 79 | 97 | 152 |
|o i {Lancashire |163 |107 | 88 | 94 |110 |140 | 150 |
|a n {West Riding |115 | 92 | 76 | 77 | 89 |126 | 138 |
|l e {Derby and Notts | 93 | 68 | 69 | 59 | 73 | 96 | 118 |
| r {Staffordshire | 95 |109 | 82 | 70 | 95 |135 | 180 |
| s {Monmouth and Wales |227 |141 |118 | 97 |117 |140 | 129 |
|Ironstone miner |134 | 90 | 82 | 66 | 83 | 91 | 144 |
|Copper miner |... |158 |129 |146 |118 |127 | 170 |
|Tin miner |116 |139 |111 |115 |161 |180 | 178 |
|Lead miner |118 |127 |130 |109 |116 |182 | 240 |
|Mine service |127 |264 |129 | 98 | 95 |113 | 155 |
+-------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------+

The table shows that at ages from fifteen to twenty, and from twenty to twenty-five, as well as at both the age-groups above fifty-five years, miners in the aggregate die more rapidly than do other occupied males, whilst at intervening ages they die less rapidly. Miners, however, are a picked class of men in a more especial sense than are the toilers in most other industries. Their labour is so arduous that those only who possess exceptional physical endurance are able to continue it, and this may account for the fact that when they are barely past the prime of life many of them become enfeebled, and subject to a mortality which is considerably in excess of that incidental to other occupations.

On attempting to trace the causes of mortality in the various groups of miners, and to compare those industries, in this respect, with one another and with other occupations, it readily appears that a large, though very inconstant, proportion of the total mortality is contributed by “accident.” It is accordingly desirable to isolate this factor, so that we may arrive at a fair judgment as to the loss of life by disease alone occurring amongst these workers in their several fields of labour. This has been done in the following table, where the comparative mortality of the various groups of miners is given (_a_) from all causes except accident, (_b_) from certain prevalent diseases, (_c_) from accident or violence, and (_d_) from disease and accident together.

+---------------------------+-------------------+-------------+
| | All Causes | Alcoholism. |
| | except Accidents. | |
+---------------------------+-------------------+-------------+
| =Mining Industry= | =800= | =4= |
| Coal miners | 784 | 4 |
| Durham & Northumberland | 678 | 5 |
| Lancashire | 914 | 5 |
| West Riding | 798 | 4 |
| Derby and Notts | 638 | 2 |
| Staffordshire | 817 | 2 |
| Monmouth and Wales | 902 | 7 |
| Ironstone miners | 688 | 4 |
| Copper miners | 1195 | |
| Tin miners | 1361 | 4 |
| Lead miners | 1267 | 5 |
| Mine service | 946 | 6 |
| Farm labourer | 590 | 4 |
| Occupied males | 897 | 13 |
+---------------------------+-------------------+-------------+