Document zZXvVoq4YeMbbvQobzXJkL37

FILE NAME: Metropolitan Life (ML) DATE: 1926 Sept 29 DOC#: ML056 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Report - Conditions in Joplin, MO - Dust Affects the Lungs TOi FROM: DATE: -: M E M O R A N D U M : - Dr. Wright Dr. Lansa /^ > r September 29, 1926 SUBJECT: On September 1st I visited Joplin, calling first on Mr. McKee, Metropolitan Manager. In company with Mr. McKee I visited the Golden Rod Mine at Picber, interviewing Mr. Herbert ffallower, Mr. Mills and Dr. Ralston, who is their full tine physician. I called also on Mr. Cadden of. the Vinegar Eill Zinc Company and Mr. Sinclair of the Federal Mining and Smelting Company} Mr. Charles T. Grr of the Athletic Mining and Smelting Company; Mr.Richard Jenkins of the local branch of the American Zinc Institute and Mr. R. B.Ageton of the Tri-State Zinc and Lead Ore Producers Association; as well as Dr. Nunnery of the D. S. Public Health Service, who is running the local clinic for chest diseases among miners for the U. S. Bureau of Mines. . There is attached hereto a detailed report on Joplin mines by Mr. Bassford. It will be noted that for all tie groups the group life premiums amounted to ?825,7257 and the claims tjtt'.$S7,806 - a loss ratio of 116.8. The experience under group health was Iso unfavorable, the' premiums amounting to $19,287, and the claims t^ $21,680,-a loss ratio of 112.4 Before detailing my observations on health conditions in the Joplin district I would like to call attention to'the fact that during the year 1915, while still in the^.S. Public Health service, I made an extended M .- investigation in the pulmonary`d i s e a s e among the Joplin miners whi$h in vestigation lasted for a year. ...The rifaults of this investigation were published in Bulletin #152 of tie U. S. Bureau of Mines, and Technical Paper #105 of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, and in Public Health Bulletin #85 of the U. S. Public Health Service. As I lived in Joplin for a year apd maintained a clinic for pulmonary diseases the greater part of that time (in Webb City) and spent a considerable amount of time underground, I had occasion to become thoroughly familiar both with the working and living conditions of the Joplin miners and to familiarize myself with their health and social problems. Since the time that I investigated the Joplin mines, the scene of mining activities has shifted from Jasper County, Missouri to Ottawa . ik & i County, Oklahoma and the, loser portion of;,Cherokee County,.Kansas. Joplin, is 2 LKSfcsasjf' **&.. - 2- Joplin, Mo. (Cont'd.) Ihe cause of the inordinate amount of pulmonary disease in the J o p U n district is the f a d that mining is done in very hard rock which con tains over free silica. The dust of this rock resulting from mining operations afreets the lungs of the miners and eventually leads to tubercu losis. In 1921 Mr. Howard loung, General Superintendent of Mine3 for the American Zinc, Lead and Smelting Company, called ray attention to the fact that the new mines being opened in Cherokee County and Ottawa County were- very wet and that there was at that time no dust problem and consequently no pulmonary disease problem connected with them. .But Mr. Young pointed out that these mines would gradually become dry and that when they became dry there would be repeated the history of the Joplin district, namely a scandalous in cidence of pulmonary disease among the miners. These observations have al ready begun to be verified. I am familiar with the hard rpek raining' districts of the ,v> # United States and Australia and, through reading and personal acquaintance, with conditions in South Africa and England. Nowhere else in this country nor in the other countries mentioned are there any mining districts with the health conditions that prevail in Joplin. 0 R eturning to Joplin after an absence of 10 years I' find that underground conditions have improved. .The smaller mining companies are gradually being amalgamated by. the larger c o n c e r n s N e w superintendents and managers have been brought in from other mining.districts. Safety is being' well looked after and water drills and other measures are being used to com bat dust in the underground workings. Underground conditions therefore are considerably improved over what they used to be, and are tending to become better all the time. A corresponding improvement in living and social conditions,how ever has not occurred. I had thought that it would be impossible to gejt,any thing worse than the living conditions of tile Jioplin miners in the old Joplin district. My visit to the recent operations in Ottawa Countyrcompels me to admit that they are even worse than the old conditions. It is the more re markable because the Joplin miners, to a a(an, are Americans, the descendents of the hill people who have worked their way westward from the Tennessee and Kentucky mountains to the Ozarks. While often ignorant, they are usually in telligent, highly individualistic and independent. All in all, they are a fine class of people. They live for the`'most part in one or two room shacks made out of boards or powder tins beaten flat. With the exception of a few homes in the center of Picher, there are no sewage facilities and they are supplied .with water by a water wagon which, m^es^daily trips, filling a water^ - s. - Joplin, Mo. (Coni'<3,) to appreciate more decent standards .of living are to a certain extent respon sible for their living conditions, although many who live thus own motor cars. One excuse that is given for the nature of the housing conditions is that ~ much of the lands, especially ln_Gttawa County, are Indian lands which are leased for mining purposes, but which cannot be *sold w ..The temporary nature - of the industry is also quoted as an .excuse._ These difficulties are more rr-r-f f apparent than real.and have-not.prevented the erection.of decent homes f o r . miners in other mining communities-- -- __ r--*. r -*r**.1- */*' ' O -- ..* *v * & .f 3l There.is .still;a great,deal"of.'sillcbsisiCdustdiseaseof t.th.e--^- `T'j.-'i lungs) and tuberculosis among'the miners>=-Hany casesJarejimong men'wh'h a v e -t- worked in the'old Joplin district'and'contracted theirjiiseaae,thereTOiileVn fl. present underground^conditions are bettersthan they were there.is neverthei^ " Venereal..diseaise_is_rampant;to an extent.'which I 'am"relia'b3yJ^ ^ t ^ informed does not.exist'inany other"industrial community in this country Both venereal; disease.and tuberculosis^ are^bound up Iwlthjbhe housing.condi^ ^ ^ tions. , There*are.no, reliableistatisticson^either^.tubejfflilosis.or;y e n e r e a O ^ 6** disease in Ottawa^County,'-'but""the local physicians assure 'me .that venereal disease is .not,.unMmon^among"the""ihildren and^I was aisaTinformed^that prevails to sucbi an ei^ent [among theladultis as: to in^uence* to a marked* ek^ES-Ss tent, the costs of^comp'eMaibn..tyrprolonging th9~perlod:of, disability. accident cases.;. It .is undoubtedly.responsible for-.many, sickness claims under?! our group policies There ar fiye^companies^which represent more than one-half"of-" the total production,- all ofrwhich;are group^policyholders.,,These are the Commerce, the^Golden Rod, the' Federal^the V i n e H i l l ,'jad* the H e w j C h i c h g o ^ ^ v ^ The one other* largjcoopsmy^the EaglPloher',? is not_insured with.ust.(that is, the Eagl^Picher^minea are.not^coverecLby^the"Metropolitan) ;y ll companies arevej^d5sTOttafc?*t>riSgt^X w U C b e ti# endition^fcUt'.'ailjbf them hesitkte"Vo' .taki jtHe, initiative^forIfearthat their^efforts may be"look-^.'. ed upon withtsspioibn by the minor aRd their .'motives qe tlohea* Tfals*~i Tr .`T-T ; a non-union country aH th_mine 'operators.wbid Iife'^o 8oIlt rlSlhJsSI,^ ^ ^ ^ They have.beendebating th9.~p3abl1lty.:~bf-'lagtrtlFgrS^3bint7 central.' ployment office*M^of. introdBig jTcOtt6tinrwitH'tHis-jHy8al' exanih* " tions and - - -- -- " -- - - * expressed .. '|3^8888(2ti3!5jjidi8t8! thF*peopii f Hosexorno' menlioKji above tn a tv if'l t wr tdiiib#:tlbxmihb'tnH..before! hiring them so that moti whoso lungs ,wer#.-already, damagedr ' ware possibleJlt^r4bifamHlthodi .............Sikiit-hei ' - 4- possible, that gradually the diseased miners would c-e eliminated would be brought about a condition of affairs in which pulmonary among the miners would be reduced to what may be termed a decent To this all gave unqualified assent but were more or less afraid tiie iroL-ieni of physical examinations by themselves. and there diseases minimum. to tackle On ay way back *.o Xew York I stopi ed of.' at. a&hin<.*tori and spent the morning at the U. S. Bureau of Mines in conference with Dr. Sayers, the Chief Surgeon, and Mr. Harrington, one of the Chief liir.ir.g Engineers. 'S`4 < I The Bureau of Mines has had for sometime a me ileal officer stationed et .*1 Picber, who examines miners and advises them of their physical condition. This undertaking is primarily investigative and is satisfactory as far as it goes and Dr. Nunnery, (the officer ir. question) is doing good work and is sell liked by the miners. The scope of his efforts, however, fails far short of what is necessary' if continued and permanent improvement is to be secured. Dr. Sayers and myself estimated that if Dr. Nunnery had another physician to work with him and a competent male clerk it would be possible to put the physical examination work on a sound basis and make it possible for the companies to refer men for examination to that office. I strongly recommend that the Metropolitan give.earnest con sideration to the possibility of entering into a formal agreement with the U. S. Bureau of Mines, for a period of not less than ? years, wherein the Bureau of Mines would furnish the services of one physician (Dr. Nunnery, already on the job) and carry the expenses of X-ray films and the like,which amounts to not less than $2,000 a year; while the Metropolitan furnished the services of another physician at ths cost of approximately $3,600 a year, a male clerk at $1,800 a year, and incidental expenses making a total of $6,000 a year. The Bureau of Mines is willing to enter into a formal contract, and has, in its investigative work, carried out similar contracts with other corporations. The work would be under the joint supervision of the Chief Surgeon of the Bureau of Mines and the Metropolitan, ana in this connection I would like to point out that I am a Consulting Surgeon of the Bureau of Mines. The combination of the Metropolitan with the Federal Government would put this work on a plane which would raise it above any suspicion on the part of either mining companies or miners and would be amply justified as far as the Metropolitan is concerned by the large interest which the Metropolitan has in that district. The housing situation may possibly be reached through the Government which, as the leasing agent for the mining lands, may be in a position to control or influence housing. This, too, is & matter which re quires educational work both among the employers and the miners. - 5 - Joplin. M o . of his officers to Ot*ewe County to see what can be done, both directly by the Public Health Service, and in co-operation with the State Department of Health of Oklahoma. I think it is entirely reasonable to assume that H+h the co-operation of the mine operators, the local government, the Federal Government nrd the lietropol Jtan Life Insurance Company working together on a concentrated pro gran real improvement may be made in what is perhaps the r.ost disgraceful industrial ilu&tiuft in title country. All of the people I interviewed in the Joplin district stated that what was primarily needed was someone to take the initiative and act as a uniting influence on the various agencies that were able to bring relief. This initiative, I think, could and should come froo the Metropolitan.