Linda, On the topic of canal worker' injuries, a good place to start is Peter Way's book, "Common Labour." At 11:14 AM 07/20/1999 -0500, you wrote: >I am currently researching to write a history of the Washington County Poor >House (1828-1900). Over the past few days I have been reviewing the >certificates of registration which the state began requiring to be kept as >Poor House inmates were admitted starting in 1875. I am appalled at the >number of entries for men who were admitted with the notation "one arm" or >"one hand" as the reason for admission. All of these are accompanied with >the notation that they were canal workers -- usually "drivers". I am >beginning to think that these dates of admission (i.e. a whole bunch of them >in the Spring of 1876) were not the dates of injury, but were the dates of >seasonal unemployment for all canal workers. [No, wait ... this bunch was in >April. I think the canals closed down during the ice time of the winter. >sigh] I am trying to figure out if there was some big disaster that disabled >several men at the same time...or if there was just a hugh rate of >amputation as an occupational hazard among canal workers. Can someone refer >me to good sources of information about the "nitty-grittys" of work on the >canals? Thanks, Linda > Patrick McGreevy Department of Anthropology, Geography and Earth Science Clarion University Clarion, PA 16214 814-226-2649 Fax 814-226-2004 [log in to unmask] http://wwwalet.clarion.edu/mcgreevy/home.htm