all shingle mills to put the clipper guard on under penalty of prosecution by failure to maintain them in use. After they became in general use, the operators who at first were the most opposed to them would not be without them. This guard is simply a part of the machine and is now manufactured with the machine. This is an illustration of the opposition that had to be overcome by the operators of machines when required to be safeguarded.

On the other hand this opposition was none the less hard to overcome by mill owners. The first few years the factory inspection law was established in this state, many old mill men looked upon it as freak legislation and a political graft, a needless expense, etc., and many abuses were heaped upon the commissioner and inspectors by both employer and employe. Many mill owners would say, "why I have been in a mill many years and never heard of a man being hurt on this and that machine; and that men have stepped over that shaft or under that belt and never were hurt." But when it was explained how accidents had occurred in similar places, and how a person was liable to be hurt at any time, they had to admit that it was true and finally said a guard, a hand rail here and there, over-head walks properly railed, etc., would do no harm, and were soon convinced that they were a good thing, until now the mill owners are anxious and willing to do such safeguarding as is suggested by the inspectors and give them a friendly greeting instead of a cold reception as formerly. Now accidents have been reduced some 70% since this law went into effect in this state in factories and mills.

It has gotten to be exceedingly popular with all classes that safeguard inspection is the most important law on the statutes today. Now that the workmen's compensation law has been in effect for nearly a year in this state, the necessity of safeguarding all dangerous machinery and places where workmen are employed is considered exceedingly important since the employer is taxed direct for all injuries to his employes occurring while in his employ.

While statistics show 22 fatal accidents occur in logging industries against 7 in mills and factories where the factory inspection law is in force, still logging and mills are all in the same class and all taxed alike by the state industrial insurance law for all injuries occurring in that class.

There has been an increased tendency among manufacturers to co-operate with the department in the protection of their employes, through the installation of such devices for the safeguarding of their machinery as has been suggested to them. Such suggestions are usually complied with promptly, the general desire being to meet as fully as possible both the letter and the spirit of the law.

The adoption of the workmen's compensation act has been an effective influence in securing more general and ready compliance with the inspection requirements in maintaining safeguards in use. To insure themselves against suit for damages at the hands of the injured workmen, the manufacturers not only must pay the insurance premiums required under the compensation act, but also must be able to exhibit a proper certificate showing that their machinery has been safeguarded according to law.

EXTRACTOR GUARDS FOR LAUNDRIES.

During the past biennial period the department has been successful in securing a practicable guard for laundry extractors, which in the past have been the cause of frequent and serious injury to laundry employes. After some experimenting it was found that these extractors could be provided with metal covers, adjusted in such a way as to reduce the danger of accident to a minimum. Several devices designed to accomplish the same purpose had previously been in use, but not only were they expensive, but usually they were operated by being connected with the belt shifter-a decidedly unsatisfactory arrangement.

Before requiring the extractors, of which hundreds are used in the state, to be guarded, it was decided to make an effort to

secure a safeguarding device that would combine economy with simplicity and effectiveness. After taking the matter up with several wire manufacturing concerns, a satisfactory guard was finally produced by the Pacific Wire & Plating Works, of Seattle. It consists of a cover, oval in shape and made of heavy galvanized wire. The cover is hinged to the extractor and when open rests against the belt shifter which requires the machine to be thrown out of gear before cover is opened, and necessitates cover being first closed before again thrown in gear.

The device with hinges and bolts complete costs the laundrymen $5.00 each and their success has been such that no difficulty has been met in securing their general installation. Other makes of covers will pass inspection if they offer the same protection.

On April 1, 1911, instructions were issued to the inspectors to require the above or a similar guard to be attached to every extractor in use in their respective districts. At the same time notice was given that unless the instructions were complied with, certificates of inspection would not be renewed. Very little difficulty was experienced in inducing the laundrymen to adopt the covers and at present they are in universal use throughout the state.

One laundryman, after being repeatedly warned to install the extractor guard, was unfortunate enough to have a serious accident happen to one of his workmen. The employe sued and recovered $5,000, whereas if the guard had been installed, the accident could not have occurred.

ACCIDENTS.

The State of Washington has been engaged for a great many years in the work of devising ways and means for the prevention of accidents in industrial plants and workshops. Lumbering and the manufacture of many kinds of wood products being, by far, the most important of the state's many enterprises, and such enterprises all requiring the employment of a great variety of more or less dangerous machinery, it is apparent at once that the problem has presented many and difficult obstacles.

In the very early days of statehood, a factory inspection law was adopted, but owing to slender appropriations, never became widely effective. The existing law, with the exception of a few amendments passed by the 1907 legislature, was adopted in 1905, and being based upon the fee system, has been productive of sufficient revenue to admit of its systematic enforcement throughout the state.

It would be impossible to estimate with any accuracy the toll of life and limbs that was taken by the machinery employing concerns of the state prior to the adoption of modern protective devices, installed under state supervision. Ten years. ago, every mill town in the state had its quota of maimed and injured workmen, and men with a hand, arm or leg missing were common sights in the streets of all the larger cities. The death roll was little less than appalling, suggesting the apt expression of one of the leading writers on industrial accidents that "The perils of peace were greater than those of war."

It is by no means overstating the situation to say that the entry of the State into the field of systematic accident prevention was followed by an immediate and substantial reduction in the number of such casualties. Information bearing upon this point has been obtained from many sources. It was shown in a reduction in the number of personal injury cases filed in the courts. Hospital reports gave added corroboration, and detailed reports received by this department from many mills and

factories through a period of years have all contributed to substantiate the contention that the casualty list has been greatly diminished through the operation of systematic factory inspection.

As has been the case in previous reports of this department, a tabulated statement is presented, showing the number and character of accidents that have occurred during a given period. In response to a number of inquiries sent out, reports were received from 41 mills employing between 8,000 and 9,000 men. While not conclusive as applying to all lines of industry in the state, nevertheless the information contained in the report is of great value, as the factories represented are scattered throughout the various sections of the state and for the most part are of that class of industries in which accidents are most likely to occur.

It will be noted that during the year beginning August 1, 1911, and ending August 1, 1912, there were no fatal accidents in any of the 41 mills. In the year preceding there were two such accidents. For the two-year period covered by the reports the serious accidents averaged about the same, approximately 14 accidents for each 1,000 men employed. It should be noted, however, that in the list of serious accidents, any accident that kept an employe from his work for a period of one week or more was included.

It is to be regretted that a greater number of mills did not report as requested, in order that a more comprehensive showing might be made. It is believed, however, that the reports received are fairly representative of the manufacturing industries of the state and that the facts and figures presented are of substantial value as indicating the progress that has been made in the line of reducing industrial accidents in the state.

It is true, also, that many accidents occur which may be described as non-preventable. Such accidents may arise through individual carelessness, as when a workman makes a wrong step and falls from a scaffold, or when a person is injured from a piece of material falling from an elevation. Attention is called