Jantarv 1. 1916] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



Welfare Work in a Modern Rubber Shoe Factory. 



WELFARE work in rubber factories has made great prog- 

 ress in the last few years, perhaps as much as in any other 

 branch of American industry. 

 Take the Hood Rubber Co.. as an example. At its great group 

 of factory buildings at East Watertown, Massachusetts, it employs 

 upwards of 4,500 hands. In March, 1911, a welfare department 

 was established for this army of workers. A hospital was first 

 established and placed in charge of a registered physician and 

 surgeon, a graduated nurse and a secretary. This hospital is fur- 

 nished with all the most approved appliances for the treatment 

 of sickness, accidents 

 and surgical cases, ex- 

 cept what are termed 

 major surgical opera- 

 tions. There is, be- 

 sides the doctor's of- 

 fice, a prescription de- 

 partment, an eye, ear, 

 nose and throat sec- 

 tion, an operating 

 room, a dental depart- 

 ment, a hospital ward 

 with two beds, and a 

 rest room with two 

 couches. 



The dental depart- 

 ment has three chairs 

 and is really a branch 

 of Tuft's College den- 

 tal clinic, and each 

 forenoon an instruct- 

 or and three advanced 

 students give their 

 services. The Hood 

 Rubber Co. gives the 

 patients their time, 

 and the patients pay 

 only the cost of the 

 material. In the sin- 

 gle year this depart- 

 ment has been estab- 

 lished, more than 

 1,000 treatments of 

 extracting, filling and 

 cleaning have been 

 given. 



In the hospital 

 more than 10.000 

 emergency treatments 

 were given the first 

 year, and the number increased to 18,000 last year. Of these, two- 

 thirds were medical and one-third surgical. This department is 

 in charge of Dr. R. S. Quinby, a graduate of Tuft's College and 

 .Medical School and of St. Elizabeth's Hospital. Dr. Quinby came 

 here four years ago, as assistant to Dr. Dennan, who instituted 

 the department, and succeeded him at his retirement in July, 1914. 



.\ pulmotor provided for asphyxiation emergencies has never 

 been in service and, fortunately, serious accidents have been rare. 

 Safety appliances have been installed, and special attention has 

 been paid to ventilation, lighting and sanitary arrangements; 

 while new employees are given special instructions as to proper 

 care and caution in their work. 



.Ml water for drinking purposes is filtered, purified and cooled, 

 and distributed to fountains installed on all the floors. There 

 are rules regarding expectoration. There are rest rooms on each 



see that all the sanitary rules are 



Operating Room, Welfare Depart.mext 



floor, and three matr 

 enforced. 



Lead poisoning is the most prominent danger in the mill room 

 of a rubber factory. Special precautions are taken to guard 

 against this danger. Exhaust fans are placed over each grinder. 

 The floors are wet down before sweeping, and all employees are 

 cp.utioned to thoroughly cleanse their hands before eating, or 

 before leaving the factory. Every six months those workmen 

 who come in contact with lead, or other deleterious substances or 

 chemicals, are examined thoroughly for traces of poisoning. 



Plans are develop- ! 

 ing rapidly along so- ' 

 cial. athletic and edu- 

 cational lines. There 

 are two bowling 

 Uagues for men, one 

 of 14 teams and an- 

 other of 12 teams, and 

 a ladies' bowling 

 league of six teams. 

 At the end of the sea- 

 son the company fur- 

 nishes prizes and pro- 

 vides a banquet at 

 which these are 

 awarded. In the win- 

 ter there is arranged 

 an elaborate indoor 

 athletic affair for all 

 of the Hood teams, 

 and in the summer a 

 monster picnic to 

 which all of the em- 

 ployees and their 

 friends are bidden. 



-\ mutual benefit 

 association is carried 

 on by the employees, 

 that provides sickness, 

 accident and death 

 benefits. The company 

 as not interfered 

 lith this department, 

 elicving it to be of 

 educational value to 

 the workers in devel- 

 oping self-reliance. 



The large dining 

 room is also used as a 

 meeting place for the 

 foreign-speaking work-people, where lectures are given in Italian 

 and Armenian languages on American history, citizenship, and 

 other helpful topics. At these meetings an Italian or an .Armenian 

 band, composed of workmen in the factory, furnishes music. 

 Stereopticon illustrations usually accompany the lectures. 



The indirect result has been better attendance at the evening 

 schools provided by the city, the formation of an amateur 

 dramatic club, and a large number of the foreign born workers 

 have taken out naturalization papers and become .\merican 

 citizens. 



The restaurant is a large, well-lighted room with mission tables 

 and seats for two hundred people. The clerical force can obtain 

 at cost a wholesome midday meal prepared in the modern kitchen 

 furnished with the latest up-to-date appliances. The bill of fare 

 is changed each d.Tv and the variety comprises appetizing and 



