This was clipped from the 1914 silent film "The Temple of Moloch," produced for the American Lung Association. Potter's rot (known these days as silicosis) is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust, and is marked by inflammation and scarring in the lungs. In the past, it was often misdiagnosed as tuberculosis. This disease was first recognized in 1705 by Ramazzini who noticed sand-like substances in the lungs of stonecutters. Sadly, silicosis still occurs in the US and aross the works. For more on this work-related disease and its prevention, go to http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/silica/ . If someone decided to compile a list of horrible and deadly occupational diseases, silicosis would surely lead it. Silicosis involves the chronic and massive destruction of the lungs and is caused by the long-term inhalation of silica dust. It initially causes terrible shortness of breath and ultimately slow suffocation and death. A malady that afflicted those working in mines, smelters, foundries, and other industrial settings during the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, silicosis was a poorly understood disease that rose to prominence in the 1930s and virtually vanished from the public and medical eye after World War II. In 1991 David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz brought the fascinating and disturbing history of silicosis in America to light in their book, Deadly Dust: silicosis and the ongoing struggle to protect workers health. Their book demonstrates how a devastating disease can be forgotten despite its affecting hundreds of thousands of American workers. The film takes place in a small village, the chief industries of which are some potteries, owned by Harrison Pratt. He also owns a group of dilapidated tenements, in which most of his employees live. Dr. Jordan, health officer of the village, is struck with the prevalence of tuberculosis, and on investigation finds that the unsanitary working conditions in the Pratt potteries, together with the unhealthy state of the tenement homes of the workmen, have most to do with the spread of the disease. He calls the matter to the attention of Pratt, who rebuffs him and tells him it is no use to try to do anything in the matter. Meanwhile, Dr. Jordan has fallen in love with Eloise, the daughter of Harrison Pratt, and she has become interested in his work, particularly that at the prcventorium for children from tuberculous families. Three times Jordan appeals to Pratt, and each time he is rebuffed. Finally, in despair between his love for Eloise and his duty, he exposes the conditions he has discovered through articles in the newspapers, in which he calls the Pratt potteries and tenements a modern "Temple of Moloch," in that they feed young children to the God of Greed. When Eloise, who is ignorant of conditions in the factory, sees the paper she immediately resents what she considers an insult to her father, and returns her engagement ring to Dr. Jordan. A week later Pratt's daughter and son are found to have tuberculosis. When Eric Swanson, a former employee of Pratt's, who had been discharged because he had contracted "potter's rot" in the mills and was no longer able to work, hears of it, he exults over the calamity, which he views as a sort of personal vengeance. He musters all of his strength and steals away to the Pratt home, where Eloise and her brother are taking the cure for tuberculosis on the porch, and there denounces Pratt, gloating over him and telling him that his son and daughter were originally infected as young children by Cora Swanson, when she served as nurse-girl for the Pratts several years ago. So struck is Pratt by this denunciation and the graphic story of Swan- son, which is affirmed by Dr. Jordan, that he decides to clean up conditions in his potteries and tenements at once. The story ends with a Christmas scene, in which the engagement ring is returned to the hand of Eloise. and Dr. Jordan receives as a present a liberal check for the employment of visiting nurses, the establishment of open air schools and other anti-tuberculosis agencies in the town. The Temple of Moloch was one of several film made for an annual Red Cross Christmas Seal Sale. Beginning in 1910, Thomas A. Edison, Inc., put out a picture at the holiday season in co-operation with the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis. The five films of this character arc entitled as follows: "The Red Cross Seal" (1910); "The Awakening of John Bond" (1911); "Hope, A Red Cross Seal Story" (1912); "The Price of Human Lives" (1913); and "The Temple of Moloch" (1914). These films were available for purchased from Thomas A. Edison, Inc., Orange, N. J. The rental price was about $2 per day. The purchase price ranged from $80 to $130 per film.
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Thanks for posting this! I wonder if you could tell us where we could find out more about the Edison/Tuberculosis association collaboration?
ead508 1 year ago