Still another economic cause of poverty is unhealthful and dangerous
occupations. The disease-begetting occupations in modern industry are
very numerous, such as hat making, glass blowing, the grinding of tools,
and the like--any work in which there is a great deal of dust. Among
dangerous occupations must also be included those in which there are
numerous accidents, such as mining and railway occupations. The
accidents in mines and on railways in the United States each year cause
as many deaths and serious injuries as have often resulted in many a
petty war. Thus, on the railways of the United States in 1904 there was
a total of 10,046 persons killed and 84,155 injured, about three fourths
of those injured being employees,--one employee being killed in every
three hundred and fifty-seven and one injured in every seventeen. While
it is improbable that our great industries can be carried on without
some sacrifice of health and life, it seems reasonable to believe that
the number of those who are sacrificed at present is far greater than is
necessary, and that reasonable precautions in industry might greatly
increase the healthfulness of the occupations and diminish the number of
accidents to employees.
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