Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 February 1909 — NO MORE PHOSSY JAW. [ARTICLE]

NO MORE PHOSSY JAW.

White Phosphorous in Match Manu* facture Jo be Prohibited. After of agitation the use of the deadly white phosphorous in the manufacture of matches is soon to be prohibited. A bill backed by Herbert Gladstone and Herbert Samuel with this object in view was introduced in the House of Commons last week, and fuller details of the measure, tirhlch was issued from the printers on Saturday, will give satisfaction to the thousands of people employed In this dangerous trade. The government’s action is the in- , direct result of the Berne labor conference of September, 1906, when representatives of France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Denmark and Switzerland consented to the prohibition, Great Britain then withholding her agreement. As the outcome of a consultation with the manufacturers the promoters of the bill now before Parliament have made it possible for less dangerous substitutes for white phosphorous which are protected by patents to be obtained on reasonable terms by all manufacturers. The use of the poisonous white phosphorus is not necessary in the business of match-making. Its employment, moreover, is highly dangerous to the workpeople, for it gives rise to the painful disease of necrosis of the jaw, commonly known as “phossy Jaw.” This disease has much the same effect on those attacked by It as that of leprosy, and It works the same horrible ravages on the face and hands. The bill. If it passes into law, will not only forbid the use of white phosphorous in the manufacture of matches but will also make It illegal for any one to sell or import matches in the making of which white phosphorous has been useL —London Daily Chronicle. •