Notes from 1903-1904

Observations:

A general observation of cases from the summer of 1903 (specifically July and August) is that there seems to have been unusually high temperatures. After a fruitless investigation of temperature records from this time period, it is strongly suggested that the temperature was a serious issue as there were a large amount of deaths due to drowning, heat exhaustion, or heat stroke. Drowning incidents were generally limited largely to the younger population (children between the ages of 5 and 16). Many drowned in small ponds, lakes, or, most frequently, one of the three major rivers in the area while playing in the water to get out of the heat. Many children also drowned in small groups. This is attributed to one child being in obvious danger and the others attempting a rescue in unsafe conditions.

On the other end of the spectrum, the elderly were hit hard by heat exhaustion during these months. Heat exhaustion affected adults who were responsible for manual labor in the workplace where a dangerous amount of fluids were lost through sweat throughout the day. Heat stroke is essentially a more critical form of heat exhaustion where the body's cooling system shuts down due to overheating, and the body temperature can rise to about 105 degrees F. Brain damage and other internal damage to organs can occur when the body temperature reaches such a critical level.

In addition to the extreme heat of the summer of 1903, there were an unusual amount of deaths resulting from lightning storms. Two men were struck simultaneously by lightning during an electrical storm, as well as a few others at other times. This suggests further the increased intensity of weather during this time period.

Another general observation that I had from 1903-1904 is that safety in the workplace was not a priority. There were a ton of cases that dealt with work related deaths. There were a surprising number of cases that involved falling off of bridges, usually onto barges. There was also a case of a 17-year-old boy falling down an elevator shaft while running around his workplace for his employer. There were also a lot of earth, coal or slate avalanches that would crush those caught underneath it. Clearly, these companies were not too concerned about the welfare of their employees.

The rate of suicide also seemed to go up. There were a lot more suicides by shooting, whereas I saw more hangings and poisonings in earlier years. There were still some carbolic acid deaths (190312_353), but they seemed to dwindle as the months went on. Heart disease was much more prevalent in the end of 1903 and the beginning of 1904. Whether this was actually heart disease or a diagnosis for something that doctors were not sure about is debatable.

There were a few instances of infants being left outside and being discovered a few days later. These deaths could have been from parents trying to escape the social stigma of having children out of wedlock. Overall there were a lot of new trends happening at the end of 1903 that I had not seen before but that seemed to fit in with the times.

Parents' attitudes toward children and infants were quite casual. Few, if any, precautions were taken towards the safety of children. Many were crushed by parents in their sleep, some were struck by trains or stones; one was hit by a baseball. A particularly horrifying death was the case of an infant who rolled off his parents' bed in his sleep and drowned in the chamber pot at the side of the bed. Often, additionally, babies choked to death by stuffing their blankets in their mouths or choking on their dinner while unattended. As there were significantly less ridiculous infant and childhood deaths in the records by the 1960s, it seems likely that parenting had begun to change some time between these time periods.