Stepping
back in mill time
by
Michael Butler
Danny
Phillips was kind enough to drop off a disc of
mill briefs that he scanned. These date back to
1921. I've read through a few of these and thought
I'd reprint some of the interesting material for
our readers.
J.E.
Harris was agent of Mount Vernon Mills then. B.G.
Stumberg was the superintendent. Initials for
names were popular back then.
We've
all heard that the drinking water in Tallassee
brings people back home. Once you've tried it,
you'll never find better. It's "enchanted"
water. A. Trumper, M.D. and Director of Clinical
Laboratory had similar findings about Tallassee's
drinking water, noted in the briefs. In a letter
dated February 3, 1921 Trumper noted that Tallassee's
filtration process was "ideal."
Trumper
wrote, "The very low bacterial count and
absence of colon bacilli, means exceptional good
water for human consumption."
Here's
some good advice listed in the 1921 briefs. "The
first thing we must have is common sense; and
the first thing we must do is sweat!" Good
advice still today.
The
mill could be a dangerous workplace, at least
in 1921. Here are a few of the injuries listed
in the briefs from that year:
January
6: Injured person, playing, struck at another
fellow who had an open knife in his hand, cutting
his wrist.
January
7: Picker Room - Hand in the picker room was changing
motors when short circuit caused pile of cotton
to catch fire, burning his face and neck.
January
12: Shop brushing slipped on mandrel, catching
fingers of employee in turning tool, cutting off
end of finger and mashing another very badly.
I
counted ten injuries listed for January. They
were probably a lot tougher then though. So a
guy cut off part of his finger. I'm sure he was
back the next day.
Thanks
for the briefs Danny. I'll keep reading and offer
more fun facts soon.
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