Injuries Within the Mills
Girls Working on the Loom
“Such an atmosphere undoubtedly aggravated the vulnerability of lungs exposed everywhere to tuberculosis, “the white death” that ravaged urban and rural America alike throughout the nineteenth century.” [55] Cotton dust caused another respiratory disease called byssinosis. [56] “In the summer, the high incidence of “bowel complaints” was commonly attributed to the fact that the operatives put in two hours of work before breakfast.” [57] Worst of all, none of the machines had safety guards so in mills where Mary Lou Emmons worked “Sometimes people would get their fingers caught….and sometimes it was dangerous because shuttles used to fly out and sometimes you would hear of somebody that you knew that lost an eye from a shuttle, or it hit them in the head.” [58] Other injuries included children who suffered from knock knees or bow legs from standing up all day [59] or catching pneumonia from working in the factories that had to be kept cold. [60] Aside from all of that, “When the power loom went on, it was very noisy and the whole building use to shake.” [61] which often resulted with workers losing their hearing. Basically, “Till the power loom was introduced the workman was hardly injured.” [62]
