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called "wool sorters disease."
Anthrax or wool sorters disease
By Bob Cudmore
Anthrax—thrust into the news after the 2001 attacks as a bioterrorism threat--was feared during the heyday of Mohawk Valley carpet and leather mills. Anthrax was called “wool sorters disease.” The disease can infect sheep and anthrax spores can remain in wool.
Carpets woven in Amsterdam until production ceased in 1968 generally were made from wool. A recent column noted that wool often was shipped to Amsterdam from foreign lands.
“Any time you got a scratch in the mill, or a cut, or any kind of a wound at all you had to report it immediately,” said the late Mohawk Carpet union leader Tony Murdico of Amsterdam in an interview in 2000. “Because anthrax travels around the mill where there’s wool, see. And it can kill you in two days.”
As Murdico pointed out, one way for the disease to enter the human body is through a cut or open sore. Anthrax also can enter the body through the lungs.
There are vaccines to ward off anthrax. Some forms of the disease can be treated with antibiotics but anthrax can be fatal.
An online search of local newspaper clippings turned up two anthrax fatalities at Mohawk Carpet Mills in the 1920s, before the discovery of antibiotics, and a 1916 fatality at a Gloversville leather mill.
William Blakely died from an anthrax infection in 1923 while working at the McCleary, Wallin and Crouse division of Mohawk Carpet, what was called the Upper Mill. The Recorder account indicated his first symptom was a pimple near his eye. On November 16 1923 a compensation commission concluded after many hearings that Blakely had died at St. Mary’s Hospital from anthrax.
On June 15 1921 Dominic Cirella of 181 East Main Street in Amsterdam died at City Hospital of an anthrax infection. He had developed an ulcer on his neck which swelled his neck beyond recognition, according to the newspaper account. Cirella’s wife was still living in Italy.
On February 4 1916 Niles Reynolds of Berkshire in Fulton County died from anthrax contracted at G. Levor and Company leather mill in Gloversville. The newspaper headline called anthrax the “dread disease of skin workers.” The newspaper reported that Reynolds succumbed a few days after noticing the infection. Physicians unsuccessfully operated on him and said the 53-year old might have survived if his overall health had been better. Reynolds left three children and five grandchildren.
Thanks go to online subscriber Richard MacKinnon, a Schenectady native now living in Sherborn, Massachusetts, who asked about anthrax in the local carpet mills.
CUTTING CARROTS
Amsterdam native Louis Hildebrandt cut carrots on his way to becoming a jockey for the Sanford Stud Farm, located on what is now Route 30 in the town of Amsterdam.
In his book “Riders Up” Hildebrandt wrote of his experiences in the late 1930s, “From the bottom up my training included familiarizing myself with the high-strung thoroughbreds, mucking out stalls and preparing their foods, cutting carrots which were included in the oats, bran and other nutritional foods prepared for them.”
Hildebrandt said his carrot cutting partner was another exercise rider named Jim Seymour. Carrots were stored in the farm’s carrot barn. Each of the 30 horses consumed about a bushel of small carrot pieces at each feeding.
Hildebrandt said Sanford Stud Farm at the time was its own little village as so many exercise boys, grooms and other workers came from out of town. The 25 to 30 employees got room and board as part of their wages. Food prepared by two cooks—Mrs. Merry and Mrs. Hamilton—was delicious, according to Hildebrandt.
“Riders Up” is the 2011 selection for Amsterdam Reads.
American Revolution Conference in the Mohawk Valley starts tomorrow
The conference will take place at the Fulton-Montgomery Community College Theater, 2805 NY-67, Johnstown.
Bob Cudmore MC
Newspaper columnist and podcast host Bob Cudmore will introduce the speakers this Saturday and Sunday June 11th and 12th. Speakers will include Edward Lengel, William Fowler, James Kirby Martin, Mark Edward Lender and many other experts on the Revolutionary War. For more information check the Web site of the Fort Plain Museum.
https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1062
The Conference is Expanded and Starts 2:00 pm tomorrow, Friday, June 10th, Continues all day Saturday, June 11th and Ends about 12:30 pm on Sunday June 12th
Historians this Weekend
Tomorrow, Friday, June 10, 2022
Episode 426-Donald Williams is author of “Grandfather’s Tool Chest.” The book has stories about 400 vintage and antique tools. Don Williams, 88, is a well-known educator, lecturer, columnist, and author. He has written eleven books on local and Adirondack history.
Saturday, June 11, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 118, July 1, 2016-Bob Cudmore continues coverage of the 2016 American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley Conference. Lois Huey tells the story of Molly Brant, a Mohawk Indian woman who was an important figure in the history of the Mohawk Valley and Canada. Huey is co-author of “Molly Brant: A Legacy of Her Own.” Phil Weaver has the history of the “Jersey Grays” who served in the Mohawk Valley region in 1776. President James Madison weighs in on the founding of America as portrayed by actor Kyle Jenks.
Sunday, June 12, 2022-Focus on History Mike Mancini’s Amsterdam memories
Battalion Chief John Michael Mancini served over 37 years with the Amsterdam Fire Department and added many anecdotes to my local history stories over the years.
On-Line or Send a Check
Historians Go Fund Me 2022 https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-hisJtorians-podcast-2022
In the Mail Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica will present the landmark exhibition Norman Rockwell, June 11 through September 18, 2022, featuring iconic images of American scenes painted by the most beloved artist and illustrator of the 20th century. https://www.mwpai.org/exhibition/main
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, June 9, 2022
Rain and thunderstorms before 11am, then a chance of showers, mainly between 11am and 2pm. High near 69. East wind 6 to 11 mph becoming west 12 to 17 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Tonight
Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. West wind 8 to 10 mph.
Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 73. West wind 9 to 15 mph.
Saturday
A chance of showers, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible..
Sunday
A chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 74. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, June 9, 2022
Daily Gazette
Richard Thomas talks about stage adaptation of the book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ opening Tuesday at Proctors
The idea of playing Atticus Finch might sound a bit daunting to some actors, but not Richard Thomas. “I didn’t…
The idea of playing Atticus Finch might sound a bit daunting to some actors, but not Richard Thomas. “I didn’t…
https://dailygazette.com/
Amsterdam Recorder
Centro Civico will raise Pride flag after request to fly LGBTQ symbol at Amsterdam City Hall denied
AMSTERDAM — Flying the Pride flag in Amsterdam would be a sign of support for a fearful LGBTQ...
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald
FULTON COUNTY, JOHNSTOWN, LOCAL NEWS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, THE GLOVERSVILLE LEADER HERALD
The Best Day Ever
https://www.leaderherald.com/
View all episodes
By Bob CudmoreAnthrax or wool sorters disease
By Bob Cudmore
Anthrax—thrust into the news after the 2001 attacks as a bioterrorism threat--was feared during the heyday of Mohawk Valley carpet and leather mills. Anthrax was called “wool sorters disease.” The disease can infect sheep and anthrax spores can remain in wool.
Carpets woven in Amsterdam until production ceased in 1968 generally were made from wool. A recent column noted that wool often was shipped to Amsterdam from foreign lands.
“Any time you got a scratch in the mill, or a cut, or any kind of a wound at all you had to report it immediately,” said the late Mohawk Carpet union leader Tony Murdico of Amsterdam in an interview in 2000. “Because anthrax travels around the mill where there’s wool, see. And it can kill you in two days.”
As Murdico pointed out, one way for the disease to enter the human body is through a cut or open sore. Anthrax also can enter the body through the lungs.
There are vaccines to ward off anthrax. Some forms of the disease can be treated with antibiotics but anthrax can be fatal.
An online search of local newspaper clippings turned up two anthrax fatalities at Mohawk Carpet Mills in the 1920s, before the discovery of antibiotics, and a 1916 fatality at a Gloversville leather mill.
William Blakely died from an anthrax infection in 1923 while working at the McCleary, Wallin and Crouse division of Mohawk Carpet, what was called the Upper Mill. The Recorder account indicated his first symptom was a pimple near his eye. On November 16 1923 a compensation commission concluded after many hearings that Blakely had died at St. Mary’s Hospital from anthrax.
On June 15 1921 Dominic Cirella of 181 East Main Street in Amsterdam died at City Hospital of an anthrax infection. He had developed an ulcer on his neck which swelled his neck beyond recognition, according to the newspaper account. Cirella’s wife was still living in Italy.
On February 4 1916 Niles Reynolds of Berkshire in Fulton County died from anthrax contracted at G. Levor and Company leather mill in Gloversville. The newspaper headline called anthrax the “dread disease of skin workers.” The newspaper reported that Reynolds succumbed a few days after noticing the infection. Physicians unsuccessfully operated on him and said the 53-year old might have survived if his overall health had been better. Reynolds left three children and five grandchildren.
Thanks go to online subscriber Richard MacKinnon, a Schenectady native now living in Sherborn, Massachusetts, who asked about anthrax in the local carpet mills.
CUTTING CARROTS
Amsterdam native Louis Hildebrandt cut carrots on his way to becoming a jockey for the Sanford Stud Farm, located on what is now Route 30 in the town of Amsterdam.
In his book “Riders Up” Hildebrandt wrote of his experiences in the late 1930s, “From the bottom up my training included familiarizing myself with the high-strung thoroughbreds, mucking out stalls and preparing their foods, cutting carrots which were included in the oats, bran and other nutritional foods prepared for them.”
Hildebrandt said his carrot cutting partner was another exercise rider named Jim Seymour. Carrots were stored in the farm’s carrot barn. Each of the 30 horses consumed about a bushel of small carrot pieces at each feeding.
Hildebrandt said Sanford Stud Farm at the time was its own little village as so many exercise boys, grooms and other workers came from out of town. The 25 to 30 employees got room and board as part of their wages. Food prepared by two cooks—Mrs. Merry and Mrs. Hamilton—was delicious, according to Hildebrandt.
“Riders Up” is the 2011 selection for Amsterdam Reads.
American Revolution Conference in the Mohawk Valley starts tomorrow
The conference will take place at the Fulton-Montgomery Community College Theater, 2805 NY-67, Johnstown.
Bob Cudmore MC
Newspaper columnist and podcast host Bob Cudmore will introduce the speakers this Saturday and Sunday June 11th and 12th. Speakers will include Edward Lengel, William Fowler, James Kirby Martin, Mark Edward Lender and many other experts on the Revolutionary War. For more information check the Web site of the Fort Plain Museum.
https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1062
The Conference is Expanded and Starts 2:00 pm tomorrow, Friday, June 10th, Continues all day Saturday, June 11th and Ends about 12:30 pm on Sunday June 12th
Historians this Weekend
Tomorrow, Friday, June 10, 2022
Episode 426-Donald Williams is author of “Grandfather’s Tool Chest.” The book has stories about 400 vintage and antique tools. Don Williams, 88, is a well-known educator, lecturer, columnist, and author. He has written eleven books on local and Adirondack history.
Saturday, June 11, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 118, July 1, 2016-Bob Cudmore continues coverage of the 2016 American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley Conference. Lois Huey tells the story of Molly Brant, a Mohawk Indian woman who was an important figure in the history of the Mohawk Valley and Canada. Huey is co-author of “Molly Brant: A Legacy of Her Own.” Phil Weaver has the history of the “Jersey Grays” who served in the Mohawk Valley region in 1776. President James Madison weighs in on the founding of America as portrayed by actor Kyle Jenks.
Sunday, June 12, 2022-Focus on History Mike Mancini’s Amsterdam memories
Battalion Chief John Michael Mancini served over 37 years with the Amsterdam Fire Department and added many anecdotes to my local history stories over the years.
On-Line or Send a Check
Historians Go Fund Me 2022 https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-hisJtorians-podcast-2022
In the Mail Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica will present the landmark exhibition Norman Rockwell, June 11 through September 18, 2022, featuring iconic images of American scenes painted by the most beloved artist and illustrator of the 20th century. https://www.mwpai.org/exhibition/main
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, June 9, 2022
Rain and thunderstorms before 11am, then a chance of showers, mainly between 11am and 2pm. High near 69. East wind 6 to 11 mph becoming west 12 to 17 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Tonight
Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. West wind 8 to 10 mph.
Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 73. West wind 9 to 15 mph.
Saturday
A chance of showers, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible..
Sunday
A chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 74. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, June 9, 2022
Daily Gazette
Richard Thomas talks about stage adaptation of the book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ opening Tuesday at Proctors
The idea of playing Atticus Finch might sound a bit daunting to some actors, but not Richard Thomas. “I didn’t…
The idea of playing Atticus Finch might sound a bit daunting to some actors, but not Richard Thomas. “I didn’t…
https://dailygazette.com/
Amsterdam Recorder
Centro Civico will raise Pride flag after request to fly LGBTQ symbol at Amsterdam City Hall denied
AMSTERDAM — Flying the Pride flag in Amsterdam would be a sign of support for a fearful LGBTQ...
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald
FULTON COUNTY, JOHNSTOWN, LOCAL NEWS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, THE GLOVERSVILLE LEADER HERALD
The Best Day Ever
https://www.leaderherald.com/