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Show Fainting Spells May Be Latest Strike Technique in France Washington. A fainting strike as an advance in technique tech-nique over sit-down strikes may be the explanation of the reported mass faintings of girl workers in a Lille, France, sugar refinery where 400 workers fainted while at work one day and another 70 collapsed col-lapsed within a few hours after resuming work. The faint strike explanation is the suggestion of a national authority on industrial hygiene. He refused to be quoted directly but pointed out that a combination of high temperature tem-perature and high humidity, labor unrest and a little hysteria might lead to such mass collapses. Dissatisfaction Dis-satisfaction with working conditions generally plus uncomfortable working work-ing conditions during hot weather might lead the girls to' think all their troubles due to something in the plant and they would then faint on going to work. A possible chemical explanation is that during the refining process there might be some fermentation which would increase the carbon dioxide content of the air and reduce its oxygen content. This could easily cause fainting. The temperature has been reported report-ed as being hot in Lille. A temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit Fahren-heit with a relative humidity of 100 per cent is the border line between conditions tolerable and intolerable for continued work. If the air movement move-ment is good this temperature can be borne while working. |