New Britain Herald Newspaper, December 20, 1928, Page 19

Bobby Mack, of Les A Right, When She Broke C‘ ONVENTIONAL daily life its increasing dangers; work— play—travel—every step. Never in history have Ufe and limb been so imperiled as now—and mot alone through accidents sncident to mew econditions—but through & hysteria of daring, reckless feats, ezpsriments and frivolous ‘‘stunts’’ s— Riding Niagara in o rubber ball, trick flying, weird animal ezhibi. tions, flagpole sitting, long distance swimming, endurance dancing, mad euto speed tests, and no end of haz- ards, most of them useless, and most of them directly or indirectly de- signed to earn *‘ casy money’’ by cre- ating valueless thrills or making freak *“stars.” By MARTA RAYNES. i EN have always risked their lives to live. That is one of the ironies of existence. Sometimes they do it deliberately, knowing the perils of the occupations in which they sre engaged. But even more often the greater number ‘of workers are exposed to industrial dis s _Cold Insurance Facts as to Hot-Blooded Stunts That 3 Champion Pole Sitter, Abeve At ;Iorld'u Record. eases and mishaps, ot the dangers of which they are unaware. Insurance and ac- eident companies, after years of sta- tistical research, have found that the recent mortality rate in cer- tain occupations fs 200 per cent higher than the normal death rate existing in non-industrial groups and in other indus trial groups. Agsinst “this list of hazardous occupa- tions the insurance companies firmly de- cline to stake. their money. At the suggestion of animal trainers as s possible insurance e i s k, statisticians shudder and turn rllz. When a man nsists on arguing with lions and tigers for a living, his chances for a sudden s oy The Remains of the Giant Sikersky Plane :hat Crashed to Earth at Mineola, L. I, and Burst [nte DOWN!" “Shipwreck” Kelly, Famous e Sitter, Wba Was Ordered by His Wife to Descend After Three Hundred Hours in the Air. Flirt with The Hazards that Disallow Insurance © The Life Insurance Rules. The biggest life insurance come panies in the country consider the fol- lowing occupations so hazardous that they ordinarily decline to insure per- sons engaged in them. Statistics show that the death rate is 200 per cent higher than among workers in average industrial groups. Aviators. Animal trainers. Acrobats, serial. Bootleggers. Bicylists in races. Cartridge percussion cap makers, Drivers of autos in races. Divers. Fur cutters. Hide salters. Jockeys. Deputies suppressing illicit distilling of liquor. . Steeplejacks. Sand blasters. Submarine operators. and violent death are assured. The public is prone to consider that much of the seeming danger in wild ani- mal acts is faked. e lion is suspected of having his teeth pulled, of lain’ through his tricks under the influence o dope, in short, of being a harmless pussy that has been trained to roar in order to thrill the spectators A visit to the Winter training quarters of any large circus would quickly dispel such illusions. Every circus of any size has its hospital and doctors on the ground, and the wards are generally full. I interviewed a clown, not long ago, who had seen five men killed in three years under the big tops. They were all trainers and keepers and the details of those accidents. were too gruesome to rint. Lou Barton, circus promoter and handy man about the big tops from the tender age of fourteen, has seen a lot of “cat casualties” during his life; but the fol. lowing is one of the most dramatic circus accidents on record, sand one which he witnessed lately: “It was the afternoon performance,” he s?” in ullfii the incident. ;.Wa Eere playing a e town up in New Eng. land, and the tent was packed. | had been taking tickets and was out front counting up when one of the water-boys came running up, looking as if he’'d seen a ghost. I heard him yell sumethini about one of the cats killing' man in there as he went by. ‘In there’ meant the main tent, and T got down out of the ticket- Accident Insurance Rules. Accident insurance companies are still more exacting. They are con- cerned not only with mortality rates, but the possibility of temporary or permanent disability. Here are the workers whom they usually will not insure. Aviators, Acid makers, Animal trainers. Acrobats, aerial. Baseball players. Boxers. Bathing beach life guards. Bicylists in races. Cartridge or dynamite makers. Contortionists. Drivers of autos in races. Electricians working with live wires, Fireworks makers. Geologists outside U. 8. Jockeys. Mining prospectors. Nitroglycerin makers. Steeple) Submarine operators. Sailors and other members of steam- ship crews except officers bound for tropical ports. box and made for it on the run. “Sure enough, there was Rajsh, an African’ lion, with a long-standing repu- tation for wickedness, walking up and down, up and down, just outside the main entrance. Poor old Bob, his trainer, lay a little to one side in the shadow of the tent flap. He was ghastly evidence of what had happened. No use trying t help him. But there were about 8,000 women and children inside that tent, and Rajah walking up and down outside, meditating fresh murder. “The aerial acts were on, and one of the women performers lpieJ Rajah from her vantage point up on the bars. “She had a little girl playing around somewhere, and she promptly fainted. Fortunately she landed in one of the nets. She couldn't have done anything that would have helped more. Her fainting kept attention away from that main en- trance. “There was a ring around Rajah by this time, men with pitchforks, elephant hooks and other impromptu weapons they had picked up on their way across the lot. One of the trainers finally settled the matter with a couple of well-placed shots.” No wonder insurance statisticians dis- trust wild animals. There is a keeper of & zoo in Salt Lake City who has managed to secure a policy, but in order to get it he had to prove that he mever entered cages. At present, aviators head the list of those engaged in hazardous occupations. i TOLL OF THRILL-SEEKING, Covgright, 1923, toternstionsl Festure Service, Ine. @rost Britste Rights Beserved, IN THE LION’S POWER. Fearless Sam Hobson, Who Laughed at Death in the Shape of the Farm, Del Monte, California., However, all indica- tions point to the fact that the aviator may soon be able to obtain insurance as easily as the street-car ductor. At _the suggestion of Gen. Mason T. Patrick, head of the Army Air Service, Ferderick L. Hoff- man, LL. D., author- ity on cancer mortal- ity, author of numer- ous books and con- sulting statistician of the Prudential Insur- ance Company, set out on a 7,000-mile airplane trip to de- termine the perils of air travel. His statement on completion of 5,000 miles of the intended distance was pro- phetic. He said: “Given a, standard plane, a skilful pilot and due precaution in regard to weather conditions, | consider airplaning as safe for all the purposcs as any other modern travel. In addition to this, it is cleaner and faster.” According to Louis L. Dublin, chair- man of the statistics committee of the National Safety Council, the death rate from accidenta] causes among industrial workers is two-and-one-half times greater than among non-industrial groups. About 2,000 men are killed in New York State each year. This figure in- cludes only what are tern ‘occupational accidents.” Most insurance companies con- e me After an 1il-Fated Attempt 6o Hop OF to Paris. This Picture Taken at the Boulogne, Paris, lilustra Vid-Hany, Elephant T ve i N K annihid i 2 ndu Village in the Beis de Contempt with Which r, Regards Danger. base rejections on accident hazard. Fur cutters, who may develop lung trouble from constant inhalation of flyin fur, are an exception to this rule. Syan blasters are another. They breathe much of the fine sand with which they spray in cleaning them. eep-sea e not insured, chiefly because of er to them of suffocation. known as Too sudden ex sure to atmospheric pressure on being brought to the surface of the water fre quently brings this on.