Mercury Poisoning and Deafness—
The Price of a Derby Hat
WHEN you pay five dollars for your fine derby hat do not imagine you have paid the price of the hat. The real price is paid by the unfortunate victims of "hatters' shakes" who contract mercurial poisoning while engaged in preparing the fur and making it into your hat.
There are many trades which are dirty and hazardous but it would be difficult to find one as objectionable as the hatters' fur trade. From the moment the fur receives a scrubbing with a solution of nitrate of mercury until the hat is finally completed, mercurialism is a constant menace to the workers.
Conditions found in various factories differ greatly. In some, every effort is made to protect the workers and in others the welfare of the operatives is neglected. The Department of Health of New York city recognized that thousands of workers in our industries are subjected to conditions which endanger their health. As a means of protecting the workers and raising the standard of the public health, the Department opened an Occupational Clinic and concentrated its energies first of all on the fur and hatters' fur trades.
In the preparation of the hatters' fur used for the manufacture of felt hats, rabbit, coney, nutria, muskrat and hare skins are put through a number of processes. The skins are received in the factories just as they have been stripped from the animals by the trappers. They are stiff and full of natural animal grease and dirt. The skins are first cut open by unskilled laborers. They are then combed and brushed by hand. The brushes used for this purpose have fine wire bristles. With this brush the workman frees the fur from particles of dirt. Anything which is not readily removed by the combing and brushing process is removed with the aid of a very sharp knife. In some cases the skins are brushed by machines supplied with suction devices. Where the work is done by hand the air is full of fine dust and particles of fur. It is the usual practice to have a man employed all day in sweeping up the accumulated dust and dirt from the floor with results that can be imagined.
The occupational clinic where the workers in trades which give rise to occupational diseases are examined by the New York City Department of Health
After the skins are combed, they are dampened and the long hairs are clipped or plucked. In the case of hare skins the plucking is done by machinery; with coney skins it is done by hand. The hand plucking creates an immense amount of dust, hair and fluff in the air.
Frequently the workers stand in a mass of hair, which covers the floor to a depth of several inches. The skin is fastened over a leg stump by means of a loop of clothesline which is held taut by another loop through which the plucker places his foot, as in a stirrup. This causes the worker to assume what would
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