http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2013/09/11/gassed-eyes-common-in-the-early-alberta-oil-patch/
September 11, 2013. 10:09 am
Posted by:
David Finch
Sour gas was a constant danger in western Canada’s first commercial oilfield. Toxic even at low concentrations, it was part of the workplace. The Turner Valley Gas Plant scrubbed the hydrogen sulphide – H2S – from the sour gas and made it safe for consumers.
But the men at the plant found that even very small concentrations of gas built up in the liquid of the eye.
Pat Tourond experienced “gassed eyes” often but was usually better by the next morning. His eyes usually started watering right away. Others said it felt like someone threw gravel in their eyes, which became red and inflamed.
Red Kennedy said: “It’s like thousands of needles in your eyes, it’s painful.” Bill McGonigle recalled that gassed eyes created blue circles around the lights in the house. It sometimes took two or three days to go away, but most men remembered being able to go back to work on the next shift. Bill just washed his eyes out with water or put in drops that the doctors gave him. Druggist Joe Korczynski said the physicians handed out castor oil drops and cocaine drops for the pain caused by gassed eyes. Fred Cowling often put grated potato on his eyes when they hurt, and the potatoes turned black as the sulphur soaked into the cure. His eyes were bloodshot for a few days after being gassed. Geoff Andrews recalled a bath of boracic acid worked well for gassed eyes. Les Lake came home a few times with gassed eyes and his wife, Gladys, put wet tea bags on each eye until the sting went away. Bill McGonigle and his mother both experience gassed eyes-their homes burned unprocessed gas until the late 1930s. They subscribed to the wet tea-leaf solution as a cure and felt relief after 8 to 10 hours. Bill McIntyre worked with sour gas for years. It only knocked him out twice but it brought him to his knees many times. It might not have been laughing gas, but it had a humorous side. Bill passed out once and it took a while for him to regain his senses. His wife Beatrice came to his side, comforting him, doing what she could to make sure he came back to the land of the living. A bystander said: “He’s not even dead and you are already coming over to get his wallet!”
SAVE THE DAY – MAY 14, 2014 – for a BIG PARTY!
We are counting down to the 100th anniversary of the discovery of oil in Alberta – just upstream from Black Diamond at Turner Valley. Watch for more stories about how oil changed the province, and Canada,
forever.
RECENT POSTS FROM THIS AUTHOR
Gassed Eyes common in the early Alberta Oil Patch Posted on Sep 11, 2013
Protecting Canada’s Oilfield During WWII Posted on Sep 4, 2013 Snatching Out
a Fire in the Oilfield Posted on Aug 28, 2013 Flaring A Thing of the Past in
Alberta Posted on Aug 20, 2013 Flares consumed lots of sour gas Flares
consumed vast quantities of dangerous gas
Special thanks to Richard Charter