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under present conditions, come entirely from outside sources. M a n as a unit is not worth sufficient wage in most cases to give advantages to family and, in far too many cases, would not use money for such purposes when earned. The body of workmen, representing composite labor of an organization, should have, not as charity, but business justice, the best the company can afford to give them. If the industry t o which the laborer belongs is located where he has access to good schools, public libraries and clean recreation places, the corporations’ responsibility is lessened; but it is seldom t h a t large industrial plants are so located t h a t the working men can have these advantages. Therefore, it would seem t h a t the responsibility of providing something above the bare necessities of life is up to the corporation. For in the end, it is from the laborer and to the laborer to whom our great industries have to look for their existence and their prosperity. Before leaving the question of purely welfare work as separate from any question of safety and sanitary work, which is fast becoming a part of the law, I would like to speak of the question of appreciation. We are often asked by visitors who come to the Neighborhood House, “Do the people appreciate all this?” If by appreciation we mean, “DO they come and present their thanks for t h a t which is being offered them,” I would say “very seldom.” B u t if we mean by appreciation, “Do they take advantage of the opportunities offered? Are they glad to come to all the classes and gatherings provided for them? Do they want their children t o profit by the opportunities offered?” I would say “Yes.” B u t let us stop and consider t h a t the last human quality developed is the one of appreciation. We appreciate things after they have passed. How many of us appreciated what our homes did for us when we were children? How many of us appreciated what the school and college did for us? How many of us now appreciate what is offered to us in public museums, public libraries? How many of us appreciate what the State and h’ation offer us? Therefore, do not let us be too quick t o expect the man who needs our help to develop as one of the first qualities this power of appreciation. Will the corporation get its return for the money invested in welfare work? T h a t is a question which cannot be answered in dollars and cents. It is a n output from which the return must come in a n intangible form, but we believe t h a t it does come in the form of better workmen, better citizens and more united organizations. I would like t o state t h a t the foregoing has not been offered as what I once heard said a t the end of a similar talk, “A very pretty picture show.” It stands for something real and something vital. If my words have not been convincing I can only say, “Come and see for yourself what is being done. We have the goods t o show.” PALMERTON. P A .
WELFARE AND SAFETY PROVISIONS AT THE WELSBACH COMPANY’S PLANTS’ B y HOWARD LYON
Some seem not t o be satisfied with an account of the welfare work of corporations unless they are assured t h a t this activity originates from altruistic motives. It may as well be stated at the outset t h a t welfare effort was partly prompted by statutes and further by considerations of profitable business. However, with the work well under way, we are convinced t h a t humane treatment of employees is as good business for corporations as for individuals employing labor. Forgetting the cold term “corporation,” i t is well t o bear in mind the fact that the affairs of corporations are conducted by real men, men of large heart and red blood, who are keenly alive t o sentiments of consideration for co-laborers. 1 Presented at the 6th Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, The Chemists’ Club, New York. December 10-13, 1912.
CHEMISTRY
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U’elfare work now in force with the n’elsbach Company has accomplished in large measure the following results : First. Safe conditions of labor. Second. Fire protection. Third. Measures for the health of employees. Fourth. An Employees’ Relief Association. Provision for aesthetic and cultural betterment. Fifth. I t may be seen a t a glance t h a t these results, in the order named, are increasingly farther and farther removed from justification by purely business considerations. However, the world’s experience has proved that the human machine works efficiently only under the impetus of treatment that is just, kind and considerate. The XYelsbach Company has elected to assume the liability imposed by the S e w Jersey and Ohio State laws relating to injuries ‘incident to service. Saturally the company has sought to minimize its money obligation by providing every possible means of avoiding accidents. Guards, cases, or gratings protect the fingers, arms and clothing from being caught by gears, saws, belts, punch presses, knives and shears. All grinding wheels are encased except a t the point of use to safeguard the body or eyes from flying fragments. Buffers in continuous use have the dust exhausted by suction fans, and workers are supplied with face hocds equipped with wet sponges for the nose. Punch presses are provided with means so t h a t they cannot be operated except with the two hands in positions of safety. Exhaust hoods carry off vapors from noxious acids. Mantles are dried, after collodionizing, in closed chambers from which the heavy vapors of wood alcohol and ether are carried downwards. The eyes are shielded from the intense glare in hardening mantles by plates of blue glass. All stairways, elevator shafts and dangerous passages are guarded by rails. Trenches are guarded by rails and a t night by lanterns. Everywhere the notices read t h a t safety appliances must be used, and that guards must not be removed. nThen a man prepares t o go into a boiler, to clean or inspect it, he draws the fire and closes and locks, in a portable iron case, the outlet steam valve, the inlet hot water valve, the blow-off valve and the flue damper. H e enters the boiler with the locki n g keys i n his own pocket. Rubber gloves, aprons, boots and coats are furnished to operators or workmen who might be injured by chemicals or water. Caps are provided if the hair is liable to be caught. Places subject to fire or explosion from combustible gases are lighted with closed lamps. A Pulmotor is owned by the conipany and is offered for use to all local physicians free of cost. Quite recently by its use a man outside of our works was saved from death by asphyxiation. As a n illustration of good business involved in provision for safe conditions of labor, and further by a policy of self-insurance, I may state t h a t our liahiiity under the law last year amounted to about $700. Without our present safety devices and precautions, insurance covering these risks would have amounted t o $2600. ITe have gained amply by our expenditure and our employees have been able t o earn full pay for a larger proportion of their time and possibly even their lives have been saved. Our company is in sympathy with the liability law. By assuming liability, fees and costs are saved both by the conipany and the injured party. Both parties fare better under the policy of self-protection than through outside insurance. A recent accident case will illustrate this point. Some weeks ago a boy slipped from a n elevator and was forced back against the walls of the shaft and pretty severely mangled. The company had him removed t o a hospital immediately. As the seriousness of his injuries became apparent, he was taken out of the
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Benefits to individuals or their public ward and put into a private room. One and a t times Class TS’eekly pay Weekly fee dependents two special nurses were employed to attend him. He was cared A , . . . . 55.00orless 5 c. 52.50 per week for 13 weeks, or for and operated on by a skilled surgeon not of the house staff. S50.00 a t death. L-nder this treatment the boy has fared splendidly and has now B... . . $5.00 to S10.00 10 c . S5.00 per week for 13 weeks, or been discharged from the hospital. -4n insurance company S i 5 . 0 0 a t death. C . . , . . Over S10.00 15 c. 57.50 per week for 13 weeks, or would undoubtedly have left the boy to the tender mercies of SlOO.00 at death. the public ward where his chances for life would have been much smaller. This humane treatment of the case meant life During the few months t h a t this Association has been in exto the boy and actual ?izoneg saoiizg to the company. istence, i t has paid out in benefits about $2 jo and has a balance In its branch factory a t Columbus, Ohio, the TYelsbach Conion hand of about Sijoo. pany insures with the State Liability Board of A4wards,because Our company has not confined its welfare activity to watchthe board is a humanitarian agent and may thus be espected fulness of the material well-being of employees, but has exto pursue a humanitarian policy. pended and is constantly expending large sums of money to make *\ll buildings occupied by our company are equipped with the plant attractive to the social and aesthetic sense of its automatic sprinklers. A pressure of 80 lbs. is maintained workers. \Ye have large stretches of well kept lawns broken by continuously in all mains and branches by two fire pumps. rare trees and shrubs and beds for a succession of flowers. The There is ample power to maintain this pressure with hose lines artistic gateway, paved driveways, concrete walks, vistas of in use. Our system furthermore is connected with a similar system of the adjacent Argo Cotton Mills and with city mains. beautiful grounds and ivied walls give the appearance of a pubHose houses a t all important points outside the buildings are lic park rather than a place where human toil is turned to profit. An experienced gardener and one or two assistants are employed supplied with hose, ares, bars, wrenches and extra nozzles. All hydrants are inspected weekly and fire drill is carried out continuously in beautifying the grounds. One attractive building serves the double purpose of hospital every Saturday afternoon. In case of fire every man knows his and club house for the women employees. It is comfortably place. There are a t least two exits from all factory rooms. and attractively furnished and has a lunch room in the baseFire danger to operatives is small, as the buildings are not of ment where tea, coffee and milk are supplied a t 2 % cents per over two stories. A night force of a t least ten men is ready glass or cup. The management of the club house is vested in for action a t a moment’s notice. Protection from fire is important not only in the working hours but also at night, for a de- a n organization of women workers. The rooms are open for structive fire would necessarily deprive employees of their em- use during the day and also in the evening by permission conditioned on the presence of some responsible matron. I n the ployment and income. latter case young women are privileged t o entertain their men Provision on the part of the company for safeguarding the friends. A piano bought by the Welsbach Company constihealth of employees is ample and somewhat exceptional in its tutes a part of the furnishing. For a similar provision a t Columscope. A limousine and open car are on call constantly t o conbus a piano is rented. There is a weekly meeting of a girls’ vey any injured or ill person to the hospital or home. This use sewing society in the club house. is the principal object for maintaining cars. We have in our The nurse of the hospital adds the refining influence of a rare own enclosure a hospital with a n attendant trained nurse and personality to the experience of the young women. The nurse all the means for first aid treatment. A salaried physician is in states t h a t young women are constantly coming to her for daily attendance and is in duty bound to respond t o any call a t counsel. any time. Something is beingconsidered in the way of providing a simEmployees whose work subject them to exceptional danger ilar club house for the male employees, with lunch room and are examined to determine their physical fitness for t h a t work. smoking room. A fine tennis court has been laid out for the For instance, where there is danger of injury to the eyes, only use of employees during the day or in the evening, and is largely those whose eyesight is perfect are engaged for the work. In used. one respect our provision for the health of employees is unique. Considerable effort has been made through volunteer in-4ny employee either a t the works, a t the physician’s office or structors to maintain night classes in various subjects, but it a t his own home may get advice, medicine or treatment free of is felt that these classes cannot be in a large sense successful charge. A dispensary a t the hospital supplies free of charge without the prkilege of attendance on company time and the medicines for temporary ailments. All accidents are reported services of a regularly paid instructor. Such a plan has been a t once by the nurse t o the superintendent’s office. considered. I have already mentioned the use of exhaust fans for carryA measure recently put in force is significant and instructive ing off the vapors in the drying process following collodion to those who dwell upon problems of efficiency in industrial dipping. Similar fans are employed to bring cool fresh air into work. At the middle of the morning and afternoon work our hardening rooms, as these rooms are subjrct to excessive periods, 400 or 500 girls and women employed in mantle operatemperatures, or vitiated air by the burning off and hardening tions are given a rest period of j min. for relaxation and fresh air. processes. In these rooms there are also conveyors of fresh This measure means a mathematical loss of service amounting and cool air a t the machines of individual operators. in the aggregate t o about $2000 per year. Experience up to the Shops and other rooms where the ventilation conditions are present time, however, indicates a gain rather than a loss by more nearly normal are provided with roof or ceiling ventila- reason of a fresher spirit for exacting tasks. tors. Reflecting upon the practical operation of the various measures During the past year an Employees’ Relief Association has in force to make our employees more comfortable and happy, been formed with a membership of about seven hundred. The we are led irresistibly t o the conclusion that if we treat our treasurer of this organization, a man who has reached mature workers considerately along the lines indicated, we get a full age in the service of the company, is paid a salary by the com- measure of human toil and promote a t the same time the wellpany to give his extra attention to collections of fees and dis- being of the men and women that render us service. Those who bursement of relief funds. It goes without saying t h a t the plan and those who toil experience a finer spirit of effort and accompany is in no direct way remunerated for this expenditure. compl shment. All other considerations aside, i t is the part of The following table gives the classification of risks as based wisdom t o free the management of a large company from the on earnings and possible benefits in case of sickness or death: depression and anxiety fomented by discontented employees
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t h a t it may give itself t o the larger problems of prosperity and growth. As of old, so i t is true here and now: “Give and i t shall be given unto you.” I have narrated above the prosy details of our provision for the well-being of our employees. I have shown t h a t these provisions have resulted in gain both t o the employees and t o the company responsible for them. I would like t o emphasize more fully the value of beautiful and artistic surroundings. A visitor a t the Bethlehem Steel Works, noting the display of bedded plants about the buildings, asked Mr. Schwab whether the establishment was making steel or raising flowers. bIr. Schwab’s answer was in substance, t h a t the works were primarily intended for the production of steel, but with beautiful surroundings they were able to make better steel and more of it. Our observation confirms the correctness of M r . Schwab’s opinion as applied to our own products. Mr. Schwab said further t h a t the workmen were so impressed that they were beautifying their own homes in the same way. Back of the leather apron or the work-a-day clothing, there is the same fine heart and lively response to every form of expression of beauty possessed by others whose fortune and taste give a larger realization of ideals of loveliness. When the beauty of well-kept grounds greets the workman as he walks toward the machine which he is t o operate, there is a little faster beating of the heart and the morning air is breathed a little deeper. Then comes t h e feeling of pride in work and hope of better days and larger opportunities. And t o those. who experience this feeling better days do come. Best of all the elements of better days is the deep-seated sentiment of appreciation of the finest objects and experiences t h a t life can offer. Light, pure air, clean and artistic surroundings, with attendant good health, are fundamental t o growth and attainment. GLOUCESTER, N. J. ~~
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COTTONSEED FLOUR AS A POSSIBLE FOOD FOR MAN1 By C. A. WELLS
One of the earliest reported cases of the use of cottonseed flour as a food for man was t h a t in which bread and other articles of food. prepared from cottonseed meal were served certain members of the Farmers’ Congress held a t College Station, Texas, about fifteen years ago. Since t h a t time a number of reports have been made of the use of the meal in human diets. Allison2 states t h a t many of the smaller cottonseed oil mills of the country are manufacturing so-called “cottonseed flour ” and t h a t some of the larger mills are producing and disposing of it with profit. I t is not manufactured by any secret process, but is simply cottonseed meal of choice color, taste and odor which has been finely ground and thoroughly bolted. As might be expected, therefore, it contains more protein and less crude fiber than cottonseed meal of similar grade and origin. I n other respects the chemical composition of the two is essentially the same. The terms “cottonseed flour” and “cottonseed meal ” are used synonymously throughout this paper. Cottonseed flour contains little kneading principle and more than twice as mtich protein as meat. I n order, therefore, t o facilitate the making of bread and a t the same time reduce the protein content of the latter, the flour is usually mixed with Some other substance such as wheat flour. Most of the cottonseed flour bakery products found on the market are prepared in this way. One does not know the degree of digestibility of cottonseed flour when eaten by man, but from the known digestibility of cottonseed meal for cattle, Fraps3 concludes t h a t 85 per cent of t h e fat and protein is digestible for man but believes the nitrogenfree extract t o be not so completely digestible. Mendel and 1
Read a t meeting of Section C of the Association for the Advancement
of Science. Atlanta, Georgia, January 2, 1914. Allison. Personal Letter. Fraps. Texas Agric. Exp. Sta., Bull. 128 (1910).
Val. 6 , NO. 4
Morris,’ who recently experimented with dogs, conclude t h a t cottonseed meal is but poorly digested, only 67-75 per cent of the nitrogen in the meal being absorbed as compared to 94 per cent for fresh meat. I n addition to its general fitness as a food for man, Hart2 believes and Moore3, Allison4, and Thompson5 state that, owing t o its freedom from carbohydrate, it has a specific food value for diabetics. FOOD VALUE OF COTTONSEED FLOUR
The total food or energy value of any foodstuff may be conveniently expressed in calories per pound. I t will be interesting to note in the following table the high caloric value and low cost of a pound of cottonseed flodr as compared to that of a pound of steak, especially as regards protein, which is almost always a n expensive constituent of diets. Thus for six cents one can purchase as many protein calories in the form of cottonseed flour as for one dollar in the form of steak. TABLE I-COMPARATIVEEA-ERGY VALUEA N D COSTOF STEAKA N D COTTONSEED
FLOUR
Fuel value per lb. Fat calories Beef-loin. , . . . . . . 5 17 Lean beef flank.. 458 Cottonseed flour, 5 17
Protein calories 417 399 708
Comparative cost of 1000 calories Cottonseed flour a t 2c. and steak a t 20c. per lb.
Total calories 934 857 1619
Protein calories $0.50 0.47 0.026
Total calories $0.245 0.215 0.012
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
I n 1912 there were crushed in the United Statesa 4,921,073 tons of cottonseed equivalent t o about 2,160,000 tons of .meal. If we make the reasonable assumption t h a t cottonseed meal has a digestibility of 70, then on the basis of the food values given in the table above, one ton of meal has a protein calorific food value of $495.60 or a total calorific food value of $555.37.’ Until 1898 nearly one-half of the annual production was exported, the remaining half was fed t o stock or used in making fertilizers. The Interstate Cottonseed Crushers Association arbitrarily classifies cottonseed meal into three grades : choice, prime and off grades. Choice meal is from choice cottonseed finely ground. It must be perfectly sound, sweet, and of a light yellow color, free from excess of lint and hulls. It might be inferred that meal of this grade would be suitable for human consumption. Unfortunately, however, we have no record of the quantity of each grade of meal manufactured, so that one has no,accurate data upon which t o base a calculation of the amount of meal even presumably of a grade fit for man’s use as a food. On the percentage basis, however, if cottonseed meal can be used as a food for man and if it has a digestibility coefficient of 70 or greater, then I O per cent of the meal produced annually in the United States ( I O per cent of 2,160,000) would have a total calorific food value of $119,959,920 and a protein value of $106,920,000 (216,000 multiplied by $555.37 and $495.60, respectively). The same meal when fed t o stock or used as a fertilizer would have a value not exceeding $6,480,000 (216,000 X $30.00, a liberal commercial value of one ton of meal). EFFECTS WHEN FED TO MAN
Allison, Thompson, and others state t h a t it is a suitable foodstuff for man and t h a t in many cases its continued use has proven highly beneficial. According t o Frapsa “we have n o reason to believe t h a t cottonseed flour will not be a wholesome food, when used in small amounts t o replace meats, or t o reMendel and Morris, J . Biol. Chem., 11, 1-3 and 5-26. and 6 Circular Letters. 8 U. S. Dept. of Com. Bureau of Chem. Rept., 1912. 7 i o 8 multiplied by 2000 gives 1,416,000 as the number of protein calories in one ton of meal. 7 0 per cent of this equals 991,200, the number of digestible calories. This number divided by 1000 and multiplied by 50 (cents) gives $499.60 as the protein calorific value of one ton of meal. 1
2.3.4.
9 LOC.
Cil.
