Wednesday, September 06, 2006

We will make it pretty hot for you- boils and beat knee

‘If you come here again, we will make it pretty hot for you :’Chairman of Wingham magistrates' court granting time for payment to a Snowdon miner for poaching. August 1929


I’ve been reading the outstanding Seven Steps in the dark- A miner’s life by Bob Smith He worked at seven Scottish pits, including Ferniegahr in the thirties where he suffered from boils and repeated beat knee.Ferniegahr was very damp, but not hot and observes that these infections were much more common in damp pits.

Beat knee, hand or elbow is a subcutaneous (under the skin) infection which is caused by constant pressure on the afflicted part (housemaids knee= beat knee), miners were naturally prone to it. But the wetter and hotter the mine then the (constant) cuts and scratches were more prone to infection. Resulting amongst other things in boils and beat knee and elbows or septicemia. The poacher the magistrate was sentencing in the opening quote was off work with boils.

Men were breaking down with boils, pimps,carabuncles-the heat’ . Mr. Mc Ewan of Snowdon

Other posts on heat at Snowdon


imminent heat stroke

graph

body heat

that hellhole snowdon


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