Vintage photos show how dangerous railways, mills, and other workplaces used to be

• In the early 20th century, deadly conditions on the job killed thousands of US workers each year. • Railways and mines were dangerous, but so were factories and mills. • Photos from the era show just how dangerous these workplaces were.

In the early 20th century, it was more dangerous to be a US worker than it was to be a soldier, newspapers reported.

Desperate men, women, and children sacrificed their health, safety, and lives, often for little money.

Workers could spend 12 to 14 hours a day near inferno-like furnaces; in airless rooms choking on cotton dust; or hauling coal in darkened, gas-filled tunnels.

Each industry came with its own unique hazards, and there were few laws to protect workers or provide their families with financial security if they died.

Black workers and