Chapter XXVI: Steel Grinding

The process of grinding cutlery and other steel implements is conducted by a class of workmen known as “grinders.” Their trade is a highly specialised one, necessitating a long apprentice-ship before proficiency is attained; and in the majority of instances the calling has been handed down through many generations. The trade is quite free from the adulteration of casual labour, and consequently statistical data respecting “grinders” possess a relatively high value. For the most part they earn good wages, and being keen sportsmen, get a fair amount of outdoor recreation. Their hours of work are seldom excessive, and their homes and mode of living are up to the average standard of comfort obtaining in the artisan class of the population.

Grinding is done on circular stones turned either by steam or water power. The stones vary in diameter from an inch up to several feet, and are of different degrees of hardness according to the work required of them. On the stones, articles of cutlery are reduced to their proper shape and thickness, and are given their cutting edge, while many other steel implements are ground to remove the roughness of their surfaces. For the most part “grinders” sit astride the grinding stone on a saddle, leaning forward, more or less according to the size of the stone. The position is not an ideally healthy one, but the assertion that it interferes with the free expansion of the lungs is only to a very slight extent true. The attitude, however, renders the workmen peculiarly vulnerable to accident when a stone breaks.

Grinders are divided into two classes, known respectively as “dry grinders” and “wet grinders.” The former are engaged in grinding steel forks, augers, gimlets, needles, and a few other articles; while the latter grind the blades of knives, scissors, razors, and most other cutting implements.

Certain articles of cutlery are ground partly on a wet and partly on a dry stone. Thus the backs of razors and scissors and the bolsters of table-knives are ground dry, while the rest of the blade is wet ground.

Dry grinders form a comparatively small class of workmen, but owing to the excessive mortality which formerly obtained among them they have long attracted the attention of the trade sanitarian. The attrition of the steel against the dry grinding stone gives rise to enormous quantities of steel and stone dust, which renders the atmosphere of the workshop very irritating to the lungs, and produces a pathological condition known as grinders’ phthisis.

The following account of the pathology and symptomatology of the disease has been very kindly written for this article by Dr Duncan Burgess, Senior Physician to the Sheffield Royal Hospital:--

“Grinders’ Phthisis, Grinders’ Asthma, Grinders’ Rot.--This disease is due to the inhalation of dust composed for the most part of gritty particles from the grinding-stone, but also containing fine particles of steel from the implement ground. It has been asserted that steel particles are not found in the grinders’ lung, but a very beautiful microscopical section of an affected lung, appropriately stained, in the possession of Dr Arthur Hall, shows unmistakably traces of iron. Steel dust, however, constitutes only a minute fraction of the foreign pigment in the diseased lung, and its effects compared with those of stone dust may be neglected.

“The frightful mortality among dry grinders before the introduction of fans made the lung diseases of this class of workmen so notorious that the name ‘grinders’ phthisis’ still signifies outside Sheffield the very severe indurated broncho-pneumonia, which past generations of fork grinders were subject to. This extreme form of grinders’ phthisis is now practically extinct, but a modified form of the disease is still very prevalent among Sheffield grinders and cutlers. The whole respiratory tract is exposed to the action of the dust, but its effects on the larger passages are comparatively unimportant. The disease usually manifests itself in the first instance in the form of chronic bronchitis with emphysema. Immunity from symptoms may continue for decades, then in the winter or during foggy weather cough with some expectoration in the morning may be noticed. The cough gradually gets worse, and it may last more or less throughout the winter. Shortness of breath is now complained of, and the grinder may have to leave off work for weeks together from time to time. Finally his cough persists through the summer, and his shortness of breath on exertion forces him to leave off work altogether, it may be after the age of sixty, or even twenty years earlier. If he be examined now his skin and lips will be dusky, and his chest fixed as at the end of inspiration. The breathing is mainly diaphragmatic, and though the auxiliary muscles of respiration stand out in strong contraction, there is very little expansion of the chest. In addition to the ordinary physical signs of bronchitis there may be areas in which the breath sounds are very feeble or absent, and areas in which they are comparatively loud. The grinder is especially liable to have tuberculosis grafted on to his bronchial lesion, and this may occur quite early, or be deferred until late. Wasting, night sweats, and hæmoptysis mark the onset of the rapid change for the worse which follows tubercular infection. The dyspnœa is naturally greater than in ordinary phthisis, and the emphysematous condition of the lung may mask for a time tubercular infiltration. The sputum is at first very scanty, and consists of mucus with dark spots and patches. Later it is more abundant and becomes muco-purulent, with black spots and patches, and occasionally gritty particles. In the terminal stage tubercular bacilli are present, together with other pathogenic organisms. Grinders suffer inordinately from pleurisy and pneumonia.

“The pathological feature of dry grinders’ phthisis is the presence in the cut section of the lung of groups of dark, hard nodules about ⅓ of an inch in diameter. Under the microscope these nodules are found to consist of dense fibrous tissue arranged more or less in layers. Black amorphous masses may be conspicuous in or near the centre of the nodule. The lung tissue in immediate contact with the nodules is converted into less dense but more deeply pigmented fibrous tissue. This merges into air-cells with thickened and pigmented walls. The apices of the lungs are more frequently the seat of nodules than the bases. In an extreme degree of grinders’ phthisis the entire upper lobe may be replaced by a solid, hard, black mass, which on section presents a mottled appearance from the innumerable nodules, thickened bronchi, and pigmented airless lung tissue. The pleura is irregularly thickened, in places forming a milky or thick yellow layer, which may be adherent to the chest wall. A tubercular cavity of considerable extent may be found at the apex or elsewhere.”

At one time dry grinding was perhaps the most unhealthy trade in the country. The late Dr J. C. Hall of Sheffield, in a paper read before the Social Science Congress in 1865, stated that “excluding boys, the average age of dry grinders was only twenty-nine years;” and there can be little doubt that comparatively few workmen were to be found following their employment after the age of forty years. Of late the introduction of fans for carrying away the dust has greatly improved the conditions under which dry grinders work, and, as I shall presently show, this has been followed by a corresponding improvement in health and length of years, but the trade is still an unhealthy one.

Wet grinding is much the more important branch of the grinding trade, and in Sheffield alone it gives employment to several thousand workmen. In revolving, the grinding-stone passes through a thin layer of water placed in a trough beneath the stone, and is always wet, so that comparatively little dust is produced; but as certain other dust-producing processes are usually conducted in the wet grinding workrooms, the atmosphere is not quite free from dust. The processes referred to are:--

(1) _Glazing._--Most articles of cutlery after having been ground are “glazed.” This is done on a wooden wheel covered with leather which has received a coating of emery and glue. The rim of the wheel is from time to time rubbed with a cake composed of emery, suet, and beeswax. The “glazer” is used for the purpose of removing marks on the blade left by the grinding-stone. Owing to the greasy nature of its surface there is not much dust formed.

(2) _Polishing_ is employed to give a highly-finished appearance to certain blades. The “polisher” is also made of wood, covered with leather, but instead of emery a fine powder containing oxide of iron, and known as “crocus,” is used. The process gives rise to a considerable amount of dust.

(3) _Lapping._--The blades of pen-knives and many razors are subject to a process called “lapping,” which is done on a lead-rimmed wheel called a “lap.” The process is chiefly interesting as being a possible source of lead poisoning, but after careful inquiry I have failed to find any one showing evidence of plumbism from this source.

(4) _Racing the Stone._--The grinding-stones are received from the quarries in a rough condition, and the “grinder,” after mounting the stone on its axle, reduces its circumference to the proper shape and degree of smoothness by applying a steel bar to it while it is revolving slowly. This process, which is known as “racing the stone,” gives rise to enormous volumes of dry dust, so that the air in the immediate neighbourhood of the stone is almost unbreatheable. All stones, whether for wet or dry grinding, require to be “raced” in the first instance.

But while wet grinders cannot be said to suffer much from the irritation of dust, they show an appalling mortality from phthisis and other diseases of the lungs, and there is no room for doubt that the damp, stagnant atmosphere in which they work is the principal cause of these diseases. The grinding-stones are constantly throwing off water, which soddens the floor and saturates the air of the grinding-room until, owing to the absence of efficient ventilation, it becomes very like that of a damp cave.

Another danger to which grinders are exposed is the breaking of the grinding-stone when in motion. These accidents are unfortunately common, and often cause frightful injuries and death. They are due to a variety of causes, such as departure from the circular shape owing to one side of the stone wearing faster than the other; flaws in the stone; allowing the lower part of the stone to remain immersed in the water trough when not in use; fixing the stone on its axle by means of wedges instead of using plates and screws for this purpose; and permitting the stone to revolve too rapidly.

In the hafting of certain classes of knives an emery wheel is used for shaping the knife handles, and it produces dense volumes of dust composed of steel particles from the rivets and tangs, also of emery from the wheel, and of bone or other material of which the knife handles are made. This emery wheel is known as a “cutler’s glazer,” and is a comparatively recent invention, having come into general use only during the last twenty-five years, previous to which all handles were shaped with a file. It is most injurious when used for shaping the handles of knives that have scale tangs.

The cutlery manager of one of the largest firms in Sheffield assures me that cutlers as a class have become much more unhealthy since the introduction of the glazer. This opinion is endorsed by other competent observers, and there is no difficulty in accepting the accuracy of it if we reflect that the modern scale tang cutler who uses a glazer is virtually a “dry grinder.”

Grinding is carried on either in separate buildings, which are known as “grinding wheels,” or on premises where other branches of the cutlery trade are conducted. In either case the grinding of heavy articles is done on the ground floor. The rooms, or “hulls,” as they are called, are sometimes sunk below the level of the ground, and are as a rule bounded on three sides by blank walls without adequate provision for cross ventilation. The windows and doors are in the fourth wall, and the former are usually devoid of glass because the mud from the grinding-stones would speedily obstruct the light if glass were used. The hulls are provided with fires for drying the blades, but the fireplaces are situate in front or in one of the lateral walls, and consequently their utility as ventilating agents is not great. Each hull contains one, two, or more troughs which run from front to back, and in them are placed the grinding, glazing, and polishing wheels in the order mentioned. The floors are wet and dirty, and the atmosphere damp and stagnant, particularly at the back, where it is further defiled by the dust given off from the polishing wheels. The cubical space per worker would as a rule be ample if the ventilation was good.

Dry grinding and the lighter branches of wet grinding are carried on in rooms in the upper stories. Better ventilation exists here, but on the other hand the rooms are often overcrowded, and when dry grinding is done there is of course much dust. In the majority of dry grinding rooms fans for the removal of dust are to be found, but occasionally these are absent. One fan is as a rule sufficient for several workmen. Attached to it is a number of tubes, each of which ends in an expansion or hood in front of the grinding-stone. The tubes are put down by the owner of the factory, who likewise occasionally supplies the fans; but as a rule the fans and hoods belong to the workmen, who are known as “piece workers.” When properly constructed and looked after, the fans act admirably for removing dust, and also aid in ventilating the workshops; but as several workmen commonly occupy one room and share responsibility for its sanitary condition, there is the usual failure to carry out efficiently that which is the duty of one in particular. For this reason the tubes are apt to become choked from not being periodically cleaned out, or a trivial defect which a few minutes would suffice to remedy, is allowed to render the fan inoperative for days together. Again, a careless grinder by neglecting to use a hood will seriously discount the efforts of his more careful shopmates to keep down dust. Hence it happens that in many workshops where dry grinding is done the dust accumulates in large quantities on the floor, to rise in dense clouds each time it is disturbed.

In the manufacture of scale tang cutlery, in which glazers are extensively used, the atmosphere under the most favourable circumstances is charged with fine dust. This is especially noticeable where bone is employed for hafting. Moreover, manufacturers complain bitterly that the workmen will sometimes block up ventilators and dispense with the use of fans unless strict vigilance is maintained. It is almost incredible that any one should pursue so suicidal a policy, yet personal observation compels me to admit that these allegations are not altogether groundless.

Another grave defect is the indiscriminate mixing of various classes of workers. Thus in a shop where a dozen men work, only two or three may be engaged in dust-producing processes, yet all are obliged to inhale the dust-laden atmosphere.

The buildings in which grinding and hafting are done vary widely in their sanitary aspects. Many of these places are as perfect as it is possible to make them, having regard to the nature of the work carried on therein; but not a few are just the reverse. Dilapidated buildings, constructed in the first instance without regard to the requirements of health, are sadly too common. In these overcrowding, defective ventilation, and a dust-laden atmosphere are the rule rather than the exception. Externally the condition of affairs is often no better, the factories being shut in by other buildings which exclude sunlight from the lower rooms, and interfere with the circulation of the air.

Trade mortality tables have been carefully compiled by successive Medical Officers of Health for the city of Sheffield, showing the number of deaths, the principal diseases which cause death, and the age at which death took place in a number of trades. The figures have reference to males over the age of fifteen years, and when contrasted with the corresponding figures of the Registrar-General for the entire male population of the country they indicate fairly accurately the relative unhealthiness or otherwise of the workmen concerned. An examination of the returns for grinders shows an appalling death-rate from phthisis and other diseases of the respiratory organs. Thus in every thousand deaths among grinders phthisis causes 345, and other respiratory diseases 295, or collectively these diseases account for 64 per cent. of the entire mortality, whereas among the entire adult male population of the country phthisis accounts for 144, and other respiratory diseases for 182, in every thousand deaths, or collectively to 32.6 per cent. If we examine the ages at which deaths occur, a similar unsatisfactory contrast obtains. Thus 458 grinders in every thousand die between the ages of thirty-five and fifty-five years, as compared with 261 in every thousand obtaining among the entire male population of the country; while only 140 grinders in every thousand have attained the age of fifty-five years and upwards at death, as compared with 391 in every thousand for the entire adult male community.

The dusty nature of a dry grinder’s occupation prepares us to accept these figures as applied to him; but it must not be lost sight of that dry grinders form a very small minority of those engaged in the grinding industry. Moreover, my investigations lead me to believe that dry grinders, although they still show an enormous mortality from phthisis and other respiratory diseases, live to a much greater age than formerly. Thus I found the average age of twenty-two unselected fork grinders to be forty-three years, which is a marked improvement compared with the late Dr Hall’s estimate of twenty-nine years. Again, during the four years 1889–92 the average age at which fork grinders in Sheffield died was forty-five and a half years.

Owing to the conditions already set forth as existing in many grinding rooms, wet grinders are frequently compelled to inhale dust-laden air, and this no doubt is a factor in producing the high mortality which prevails among them. But important as this evil is, it is altogether overshadowed by the baneful influence of the damp, stagnant atmosphere of the wet grinding “hulls,” an atmosphere which is peculiarly favourable for the propagation of diseases of the lungs.

The legislature of this country has done much to improve the conditions under which workmen pursue their various callings, but local peculiarities and unforeseen contingencies sometimes frustrate the beneficent intentions of our legislators, and this is markedly the case in respect of the grinding industry. With few exceptions grinders are “piece workers,” and pay rent for their “stalls” and the motive power which drives their stones. The grinding wheels and cutlery works are frequently owned by individuals or companies who are not themselves manufacturers, but are merely the landlords of the premises, letting off rooms or portions of rooms to workmen who, in the eyes of the law, are the occupiers, and therefore responsible for carrying out the requirements of the Factory Acts. It follows that the owners of the premises are able to repudiate responsibility for sanitary control and that the Factory Inspector, when he wishes to insist on fans or other needful appliances being provided, must proceed legally against the workmen. The outcome of all this is that it is difficult or impossible to apportion responsibility for sanitary requirements; the Inspector’s work is enormously increased, and often rendered excessively irksome; while the amount of good he can do is proportionally lessened. There is but one remedy for this state of things. Sooner or later the legislature will have to fix on the individual, or company, who lets off rooms and power to workmen, the responsibility for carrying out the provisions of the Factory Acts. We shall be told that an enactment of this kind would disturb long-established trade usages, and be unfair to the manufacturers; but apart from the fact that it is the only feasible way out of the difficulty, it would merely place cutlery manufacturers on the same footing as that occupied by most other employers of labour in the country. Moreover, some of the best cutlery firms already recognise their moral responsibility in this respect, and provide for the use of their workmen fans and all other contrivances of a health-saving nature.

The sanitary condition of the workshops in which grinders, particularly wet grinders, work admits of much improvement. These rooms should always be above the level of the ground, and so situated in regard to surrounding buildings as to allow of free entrance of fresh air and sunlight. The floors should have a fall to the front, and be composed of concrete or some similar impervious material. Better ventilation is urgently required, especially towards the back of the rooms, and the fireplaces might with advantage be placed at the back. The polishing wheels should be provided with hoods connected with a fan for the removal of dust and the better ventilation of the room.

Grinding-stones should not be mounted until they have been inspected by some competent person with the view to detecting flaws, and it should be obligatory to use plates and bolts instead of wedges for fastening the stones on their axles.

Dry grinding should be done in rooms specially set apart for this purpose, and not, as is sometimes the case, in rooms where other processes are carried on. The “racing” of stones should be conducted at a time when there are few workmen present, and those engaged in the process should wear some form of respirator.

SINCLAIR WHITE.