The hazards of rope making.

Abstract

10 ft. long. These fibres are used in the manufacture of strong heavy ropes and cables. The soft fibres of hemp and jute come mainly from Italy, India, and Chile, and are used in the main for the making of twines and cords. Some of these fibres average 8 to 9 feet in length. Flax is also used where strength and lightness of weight are required at the same time, and in recent years artificial fibres such as fibro and nylon have been increasingly used. The fibres come in bales weighing 250 to 300 lb., and these are stacked in bays up to 15 ft. high. Until modern lifting gear became available, accidents, often very severe, were common. Occasionally serious crushing accidents, or more rarely fractures of the legs, still occur, but these are being gradually eliminated. The bales are composed of bundles or heads which have to be separated by hand before the mechanical process begins. The separa tion of these heads stirs up an enormous quantity of dust. In the case of Indian hemp it was estimated some years ago that the loss of weight per bale was about 22 lb., almost 10%. Not