THE QUESTION OF FATIGUE FROM THE ECONOMIC STANDPOINT. 307 



the comparative fewness of accidents on Thursdays and Fridays is 

 explained by the fact that during slack trade men work in rotation, 

 some only starting the week on Thursdays. But in all the weekly 

 accident records of American States (Tables XL, XII.), the maximum 

 of accidents per day seems to fall indiscriminately at any time of the 

 week, and very often it is Monday. 



A most interesting point occurs, indeed, in comparing English, 

 French, and Belgian with German and American weekly accident 

 curves, in regard to the number of Monday accidents as compared with 

 that of other days. Thus according to the ' Aemtliche Nachrichten 

 des Reichsversicherungsamts 1910 ' for Industrial Associations (mainly 

 manufacturing), the proportion of weekly accidents occurring on each 

 day of the week is as follows : 



Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 

 1907 . 2-37 17-01 15-74 15-68 1614 16-23 16-83 



1897 . 215 17-45 16-67 15-71 15-71 15-34 16-97 



which brings out Monday with the highest accident rate, and Saturday 

 (especially as half-holidays are becoming more frequent) with the next 

 highest, and the American figui'es agree on the whole with the German 

 in the frequency of Monday accidents (Tables XI. and XII.). This has 

 led many Germans and Americans to attribute such regular variations 

 as there are in the weekly accident curve to practice at the start and 

 fatigue at the end of the week;' as we shall see, however, in the case of 

 the single spell, practice has on accidents quite a negligible effect. A 

 second school of thought has attributed the frequency of Monday 

 accidents to the alcohol drunk on Sunday, and has even used the 

 term ' Blue Monday.' In Belgium (Table XIV.) it is Saturday that 

 has highest accidents, though, if the early closing on Monday were 

 allowed for, Monday would come second; and similarly Saturday's 

 accidents are highest, and Monday's about average in French figures 

 collected by Dr. Imbert. But while Belgium and France thus occupy 

 a middle position, England shows tlie exact opposite to Germany and 

 America. It will be seen that, adding up cotton and the selected metal 

 trades (Table IX.), accidents in England are highest on Friday, then 

 on Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, and on Monday there 

 are fewest accidents. 



England, France, and particularly Belgium, are by no means 

 ' temperance ' countries, so that a new or at any rate a further ex- 

 planation of the weekly accident curve seems required, not unconnected 

 with the Saturday half-holiday. In England Sunday is spent in real 

 rest, the drink or exercise — ^both fatiguing — being taken on Saturday 

 afternoon; the result is that men start the week fresh and with few 

 accidents. Abroad, just in proportion as Saturdays are worked full, 

 and Sundays spent in work also, or in fatiguing recreations, so will 

 Mondays have the first or second highest score in accidents. 



Comparing the same spells of different days, the afternoon hours 

 have more accidents according to the French figures presented by 

 Imbert (Index D2-4), but our figures ajrree with his only in the case 

 of the Motor Companies (Tables XX. -XXII.) and Gemian Industry 

 (Table XV.), though in all the American State figures the frequent, 



z 2 



