Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 32

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006

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Finally, the buckeye derives its name from the resemblance of its nut to the eye of the buck, the finest organ of our noblest wild animal; while the name itself is compounded of a Welsh and a Saxon word, belonging therefore to the oldest portions of our vernacular tongue, and connecting us with the primitive stocks, of which our fathers were but scions planted in the new world."

OHIO BUCKEYE, OR AMERICAN HORSE CHESTNUT.

[From " The North American Sylva;" by F. Andrew Michaux. PARIS : printed by C. D'Hautel, 1819.] PAVIA OHIOENSIS. P. Foliis quinatis, inæqualiter dentatis ; floribus subflavis ; fruct- ibus muricatis.

" THIS species of horse chestnut, which is mentioned by no author that has hitherto treated of the trees and plants of North America, is unknown in the Atlantic parts of the United States. I have found it only beyond the mountains, and particularly on the banks of the Ohio for an interval of about 100 miles, between Pittsburg and Marietta, where it is extremely common. It is called 'buckeye' by the inhabitants, but as this name has been given to the pavia lutea, I have denominated it 'Ohio buckeye' because it is most abundant on the banks of this river, and have prefixed the synonym of 'American horse chestnut' because it proved to be a proper horse chestnut by its fruit, which is prickly like that of the Asiatic species instead of that of the pavia.

The ordinary stature of the American horse chestnut is ten or twelve feet, but it sometimes equals thirty or thirty-five feet in height and twelve or fifteen inches in diameter. The leaves are palmated and consist of five leaflets parting from a common centre, unequal in size, oval-acuminate and irregularly toothed. The entire length of the leaf is nine or ten inches and its breadth six or eight inches.

The bloom of this tree is brilliant. Its flowers appear early in the spring and are collected in numerous white bunches. The fruit is of the same color with that of the common horse chestnut and of the large buckeye, and of about half the size. It is contained in fleshy, prickly capsules, and is ripe in the beginning of autumn.

On the trunk of the largest trees the bark is blackish and the cellular integ- ument is impregnated with a venomous and disagreeable odor. The wood is white, soft and wholly useless.

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OHIO, THE BUCKEYE STATE.

The value of the Ohio buckeye, or American horse chestnut, consists chiefly in the beauty of its flowers, which, with its rapid vegetation and hardy endurance of cold, will bring it into request both in Europe and America as an ornamental tree."

MICHAUX says he found the large buckeye, or pavia lutea, in its greatest pro- fusion and expansion in the mountains of the Carolinas and Georgia. He first met with it on the Allegheny mountains in Virginia, near latitude 39º. It there towers to the height of sixty or seventy feet, with a diameter of three or four feet, and is considered as a certain proof of the richness of the land. "The wood," he says, " from its softness and want of durability, can subserve no useful purpose. Even in beauty this species is inferior to the common horse chestnut, and can never supplant that magnificent tree." The engraving in this article is copied from that in the superb work of Michaux.

INSPECTION OF WORKSHOPS AND FACTORIES OF OHIO:

Prepared by Frank Henry Howe from the Reports of

HENRY DORN, CHIEF INSPECTOR FOR THE STATE,

ILLUSTRATING HIS PECULIAR AND EFFECTIVE SYSTEM.

HENRY DORN was born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, Feb. 16, 1843, where he attended the public school from the age of six to fourteen years. He learned the trade of machinist, serving as an ap- prentice from 1857 to 1862. During his apprenticeship he attended the night college in his native city and soon became, from natural aptitude and elose applica- tion to his studies, an accomplished draughtsman.

After the completion of his apprenticeship Mr. Doru went to Paris, France, where he obtained employment in the shops of the Northern Railroad Company. He also worked in other shops on stationary engines, tools, telegraphic instruments, and in other branches of inechanism, as well as in the drawing-rooms of differ- ent firms and companies by whom he was employed. He attended college in that city, thereby more readily acquiring a knowledge of the French language. Mr. Dorn now speaks with fluency and accuracy German, French and English.

In 1869 Mr. Dorn left Paris and came to America, landing in Philadelphia, where he soon procured em- ployment as a mechanical engineer. Here, on the 12th of September, 1871, he was married to Miss Emily Dorn (though of the same name, no relation), by whom he has had four children. Shortly after his marriage he removed to Cleveland, where he continued to reside until 1884. While in that city he was employed by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad Com- pany for over six years. He left the employ of this company to accept the position of superintendent of the iron work of the Cleveland viaduct, one of the finest structures of the kind in the world. He was subse- quently employed by the civil engineer of Cleveland to superintend the laying of the block pavement on some of the streets of that city.

HENRY DORN.

In 1880 Mr. Dorn was employed in the erection of the building and in putting up the machinery of the H. P. Wire Nail Company, the largest factory of the kind in the United States. Just as the structure was about completed, in 1881, through the carelessness or ignorance of the general manager of the company, Mr. Dorn met with an accident resulting in an injury to his spine, from which he has never fully recovered, bis right side remaining in a partially paralyzed condition for nearly three years.

On the 11th of April, 1884, Gov. Hoadly tendered Mr. Dorn the position of inspector of workshops and factories, under the law which had just passed the Legislature creating that office. He accepted the position and immediately entered upon the discharge of its duties. In this position he has shown exceptional qualifications and been of incalculable benefit to those for whose protection in health and linh the office was created. His first annual report to the governor showed the importance of the office, and the legislature very wisely provided him with three assistants. His ability as a mechanical engineer and his careful and systematic management of the office have placed it in the front rank of offices of that character in the United States.

Taking a deep interest in the subject of factory inspection generally, Mr. Dorn made an appeal to all officers of that kind in the United States, and by untiring efforts succeeded in getting together the first national convention of factory inspectors ever held in this country. It was held in Philadelphia, Pa., on June 8 and 9, 1887, and Mr. Dorn had the honor of being the first presiding officer of the con- vention, and before the close of the session was unanimously elected permanent secretary and treasurer.

The second convention was held in the city of Boston, Mass., on August 8, 9 and 10, 1888, and Mr. Dorn was unanimously re-elected for a second time.

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WORKSHOPS AND FACTORIES.

On April 4, 1884, an act was passed by the Legislature of Ohio for the inspec- tion of workshops and factories. This was the third legislative act on the part of any State in the Union for such a purpose. Section 2,873a of that act reads as follows :

" The governor of the State shall appoint a suitable person, to be known as the inspector of the sanitary condition, comfort and safety of shops and factories, who shall be a competent and practical mechanic in practice, whose duty it shall be to visit all factories or shops where ten or more persons are employed, and to carefully inspect the sanitary condition of the same, to examine the system of sewerage in connection with said shops and factories, the situation and condition of water-closets or urinals in and about such shops and factories, and also the system of heating, lighting and ventilating all rooms in such factories and shops where persons are employed at daily labor, and also as to the means of exit from such places in case of fire and other disaster, and also all belting, shafting, gear- ing, elevators, drums and machinery of every kind and description in and about such factories and shops, and see that the same are not located so as to be dan- gerous to employees when engaged in their ordinary duties, and that the same, :0 far as practicable, are securely guarded, and that every vat, pan, or structure filled with molten metal or hot liquid shall be surrounded with proper safeguards for preventing accident or injury to those employed at or near them."

In pursuance of the provisions of this act, on April 11, 1884, Mr. Henry Dorn, of Cleveland, Ohio, was appointed inspector, at a salary of $1,500 per year and $600 allowance for travelling expenses. Three days later he took the oath of office and entered upon the discharge of its duties at his office in Cleveland. Owing to the inadequate appropriation of funds, but a comparatively small part of the 20,000 or more workshops and factories throughout the State could be visited. The zeal of Mr. Dorn caused him to be as energetic and economical as possible in order to accomplish the most good with the means at his command.

The success of the entire system of the department is no doubt largely due to his energy and perseverance. His being a practical engineer, draughtsman and machinist and possessing the knowledge necessary for imparting information in relation to improvements on machinery, its preservation, protection, etc., espe- cially adapts him to the highly responsible duties of his office. In his first re- port, covering only the last six months of the year 1884, he says :

" I began my inspection in the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, but finding it impossible to make a proper inspection of all the shops and factories in the city of Cleveland first, without entirely neglecting other parts of the State, I confined my inspection to the leading establishments, and to such less prominent places as my attention was called to by persons employed therein.

Out of nearly 300 establishments in the city of Cleveland I inspected 173 from April 16th to June 16th, out of which I found only twenty-seven complying with the requirements of the law creating the office of State Inspector of Shops and Factories. I ordered important changes in forty-one establishments and minor changes were ordered in most of the others.

On the 17th of June I started on an inspection tour and stopped first in Crest- line, Crawford county, where I inspected two establishments, ordering minor changes in one.

From Crestline I went to Galion, Crawford county, where I inspected five establishments, ordering minor changes in one and very important changes in another.

From Galion I went to Delaware, Delaware county, where I inspected six establishments, two of which were complying with the requirements of the law creating this office, and minor changes were ordered in three establishments.

From Delaware I went direct to Columbus, Franklin county, where my first duty was to notify all establishments in that city of my coming. I found that there were nearly. 200 establishments to be visited, and out of this number I visited seventy-five from June 23d to July 15th, out of which I found only ten that were being operated in accordance with the law creating this office. I ordered important changes in thirteen establishments and minor changes in most of the others.

During the same time I visited also Logan, Hocking county, where I inspected

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WORKSHOPS AND FACTORIES.

seven establishments, out of which I found only one not amenable to the law. Minor changes were ordered in four and very important changes in two establish- ments.

On July 16th I left Columbus and went to Cincinnati, Hamilton county, where I found a great field of labor. An investigation disclosed the fact that Cincin- nati had over 1,000 manufacturing establishments to be visited, which would, if properly inspected, take the inspector over a year, as most of the buildings are from five to seven and even more stories high. The most careful work was required here, as sanitary conditions, safety and comfort and every provision of the law, were found to present a strong claim to attention.

I visited, in the city of Cincinnati, one hundred and seventy-five (175) of the leading establishments, and such others as my attention was called to, from time to time, by persons employed in such shops and factories.

I started out in the same manner, as I did in other cities, by notifying all manufacturers and owners of shops and factories, nearly 1,300 in number, of my coming. Out of the 175 establishments visited, from July 17 to October 11, I found only eleven being operated in accordance with the law creating this office. I ordered important changes in sixty establishments, and minor changes were ordered in most of the others.

During the time I stayed in Cincinnati I made occasional trips to the other cities and revisited shops and factories where I ordered changes with satisfactory results. I found many shops in Cleveland which complied with my requests in regard to important changes, also a number in Columbus and Logan.

Receiving a letter from Akron, Summit county, calling my attention to the shops and factories of that city, I started on October 21 from Cleveland to Akron, where I found nearly fifty (50) establishments to be visited, and, after notifying all owners of shops and factories, I inspected forty-five of them from October 21 to 31.

It is a pleasure to state that, generally speaking, I found the establishments in Akron in better condition and nearer the requirements of the law than any that I have visited.

Out of the forty-five establishments I inspected I found twenty-five working in accordance to law creating the office of Inspector of Shops and Factories.

Minor changes were ordered in nine establishments and very important changes in eleven. Nearly all of the latter changes were in sewer pipe factories and potteries.

In these establishments the greatest danger I found was in the mills where the clay is ground. These mills are started or stopped by means of a cone or fric- tion pulley, and I found the most of these pulleys were not given lift enough or clearance enough to make them safe, as it will sometimes happen that these mills will start up of themselves, either through dirt falling between the two fric- tion pulleys, or through the starting lever slipping from the bolt, which I found in many instances very poorly secured. Most of the levers were only provided with a common iron rod, with an eye in the end, which eye was carelessly hooked on to a common bolt or spike, which was driven in the wall, whereas those eyes should, by all means, be properly provided with hooks securely fast- ened in the wall, so that the jarring of the mill cannot unhook the iron rods and thereby start the mill up suddenly, endangering the lives of persons engaged in shoveling clay out of the mills. Several accidents of that kind happened in Akron, one man being killed and others had their legs broken and were badly maimed.

EMERY POLISHING WHEELS.

I found in polishing establishments, stove foundries and other shops and fac- tories where emery wheels are used continually that those wheels, in a good many instances, were too high-speeded, which is very dangerous and often re- sults in their bursting and consequently in the killing or serious injury of some- body. I herewith present a table for speeding solid emery wheels of different diameters :

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WORKSHOPS AND FACTORIES.

Diameter of Wheels in Inches.

5 6 7

8 1

10+

Number of Revolutions per Minute.

4,500

3,700

3,200

2,700

2,400

2,100

1,800

1,600

1,350

1,200

1,050

950

900

850

750

Wheels which are speeded higher than is shown in the above table are dan- gerons to the operator.

Another danger which arises from emery wheels of all descriptions is that most of them are not provided with exhaust fans, and the persons working at them are compelled to inhale the poisonous dust, which will settle on the lungs, and in most cases consumption will be the result. Providing emery wheels with ex- haust fans is not only beneficial to the person operating such wheels, but also to the owners of establishments where such wheels are used.

An exhaust fan will absorb every bit of emery dust which escapes from the wheel, and therefore all other machinery in such establishments, especially shaft- ing, will be freed from emery dust, and consequently last three times as long. The saving of shafting and boxes alone will pay the cost of the use of an ex- haust fan, and still many proprietors of such establishments are totally blind to these facts.

BUZZ-SAWS.

Another important matter is the use of buzz-saws in planing-mills and other establishments. They are, in fact, the most dangerous tool in use, and although persons operating them know their danger, in the course of time they become careless. Therefore a protection is absolutely necessary, and this also can be done at a small expense, and to the advantage of both operator and owner, by putting a guard or hood over the buzz-saw, which will not in the least interfere with the work of the sawyer, but, on the contrary, will enable him to turn out more work in less time, while protecting his life and limbs.

By investigating the facts about accidents I found through the reports of some accident insurance companies that there are on an average from fifty to fifty- three persons killed or injured daily in the United States alone through accidents occurring by operating buzz-saws.

FLY-WHEELS.

Another prolific source of danger is the non-protection of fly-wheels on sta- tionary engines, which can easily be done by putting an iron or wooden railing or casing around the fly-wheel.

The eccentric of an engine is generally located between the bed-plate of the engine and the fly-wheel, and the engineer is, therefore, compelled to go close to the same to oil either the eccentric or other parts of his engine, and many accidents take place through neglect in not fencing in the fly-wheel properly.

One accident occurred to an employee in Cincinnati which resulted in his death. The deceased, endeavoring to ascertain the time of day from a clock hanging on the wall near the engine, in some unexplained manner passed too near the fly- wheel, was caught by the wheel and held fast, and, being whirled around at a great velocity, was almost instantly killed. Hundreds of similar accidents occur every year and many valuable lives are lost.

Now, all such accidents can be prevented by a small outlay of money, which will, at all events, be less expensive than contesting suits for damages in court. I have and shall in the future enforce the law in regard to these matters to the letter.

ELEVATORS.

Another danger I have discovered-and it is one that I meet everywhere-the very unsafe condition of elevators.

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WORKSHOPS AND FACTORIES.

In many places elevator wells, or shafts, are not properly and in many cases not at all protected. On all floors doors open either directly into the shafts or have no protection or safeguards, and the lives of persons working at their ordinary avocations are endangered.

All these places should be protected by automatic doors or safeguards, so set that they will raise and lower when the elevator is at the floor. I have not yet gone further than to suggest that all elevators be provided with automatic doors, but wherever the necessity for protection exists have insisted upon an adequate safeguard being provided.

FIRE-ESCAPES.

Nothing in the course of my inspection has more strongly impressed me than the necessity of requiring all shops and factories of a greater elevation than two stories to be provided with a safe and efficient system of fire-escapes. The duty of supplying safeguards against casualties always likely to occur in the event of conflagrations in crowded shops and factories is so obvious and imperative that there can be no difference of opinion respecting it. It is of that class of self-as- sertive obligations which admit of no controversy, the only question being as to the best method of adequately meeting it. Nevertheless it is a fact, amply demonstrated in the observation I have had, that very many owners and pro- prietors of shops and factories are wholly indifferent to this important duty, and I have found some so utterly destitute of all concern for the safety of employees as to refuse to provide proper escapes when their attention was called to the ne- cessity for such provision. It is somewhat difficult to speak with calmness of men whose overweening selfishness has excluded from their natures every spark of consideration for their fellow-beings, who, while liberally insuring their prop- erty against fire, so that in case of such a visitation-a danger always imminent -their pockets shall not suffer, will not expend a dollar for the security of the lives of those by whose labor they profit, and it is but simple justice that this class be compelled, by the mandate of inflexible law, to perform a duty which men of ordinary humane instincts accede to without a question. The frequent occurrence of fires which have their most serious result in the loss of human lives furnishes fearful warnings that should not be heedlessly dismissed from at- tention, and I submit that the business of legislation can have few worthier ob- jects than that of diminishing, so far as may be, the possibility of such calamities.

In Cincinnati many of the buildings used for shops and factories are from five to nine stories high, and generally the first three or four floors of the building are used as storerooms, the employés occupying the upper floors, escape from which would in most cases be extremely difficult in the event of a rapidly spread- ing fire, and loss of life or serious bodily injury almost inevitable. Most of the buildings are improperly constructed with reference to means of egress, the ingenuity of the architects having apparently been exerted to secure the greatest possible economy of space in the matter of stairways. Some of these buildings are provided with but a single stairway, and where there are two or more they are generally located so near together that a fire which would render any of them useless as an avenue of escape would be very likely to do so with all. In many cases, also, these stairways are located near elevators, which are most potent aids to the rapid progress of fire. While it is not the province of the State to require that these faults and defects in the construction of buildings shall be remedied, it is unquestionably within the rightful powers of the State to demand that the security which the builders have failed to provide shall be supplied in some other way, and a thorough system of fire-escapes is the only other practicable method. The use of straight ladders, as a substitute for some improved fire-escape, on buildings over two stories high, should not be allowed, since they are worse than useless as a means of escape. Not one in twenty who should attempt to reach the ground in this way would get there in safety. They might escape the fire only to find death or permanent injuries from being precipitated to the earth below.

The great pertinency of these remarks was brought forcibly to the notice of the people of the State by two horrible casualties which occurred in Cincinnati during

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WORKSHOPS AND FACTORIES.

the spring of 1885: one the burning of Dreman & Co.'s rag-factory, by which nine lives were lost, the other the burning of the building on West Sixth street, occupied by the Parisian Dyeing and Scouring Company and the Sullivan steam- printing establishment, by which sixteen lives were sacrificed, and several persons seriously wounded, if not maimed for life. In both these holocausts most if not all of the lives lost could have been saved had the buildings been provided with properly constructed fire-escapes.

In my judgment the most secure and effective plan is that of a balcony on each story, with incline ladders extending from one another between the windows. Persons descending on ladders thus placed avoid the flames that issue from the windows, are in no danger of falling, and by the exercise of the simplest care in their movements may make their escape unscathed. I found Cincinnati to be a great field of labor, and during the necessarily short time that I was there I ordered the erection of about fifty fire-escapes on shops and factories. In most cases these orders were complied with, but in several instances the agents for buildings refused to pay any attention to the demand of the Inspector that fire- escapes should be supplied.

The law relating to this matter would seem to be sufficiently explicit in its requirements, and the penalties for violation ample to insure a universal compli- ance with it, but such is very far from being the fact.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 32

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 1006

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006