, 1865-11-25
MUNICIPAL CARRLESSNESs.
Street Accidents and Suits Agntnst tho
City.

The prevalence Of street accidents In Chicago. and
The numerous ensuing suIts agstnst tho city 10.
damages, have become matters Of universal CON-
city occur here than in any other place Of drs or si1
times the population, and It seems probable Il tho
processes non IN vogue continue, that The city OF
Chicago viii eoou have 10 institute separate anau-
cial bnrea1 for the settlement OF claims against #
nom this eause, verdict tor damages being almost
ID every case forgone conclusion.
The causes OF these accidents are SO numero0s
that fecapltulAt1on is scarcely posalble-peppie
walk OF the bridges at night Into the wafer,
there being no Lights they ta! Into hoea lett 10 he
guard theI tumble down into coal cellars, the en-
frances TO which are 1ett open: pree1p1tate them
eelvea headlong from high sidewalk into the euif
Of thc walk break th1ongh rotten planks, and IN
numerous other Ways sustain injury. It's Idle to
fay that In most ol these cases the party has been
115orrh hs owa II
tault of lie individual and wers it moi thnt he cou
etant danger makes ns The most caut,ous walkers
IN ihe world, accidents would be much more M
with those having these 1nsntraps in charre, and
without wtshlng to be caneo.ious. or lay undue
blame on any one We are compelled to say that the
Il chaIpeable With the odiu1n Of these accidents.
Were the damages aseessed on them, instead Of on
the CITY, they would probably exercise little more
The accidents arising from falling into e1caya-
tions made for buildings ART entirely avoided In
other cities by The enforcement OF the r1ie on build
SO continue til lhe work has progressed so Ia as
to abviata any Danger to pedestrians. Here We
never sec fence placed around = building IN ons
atsenaonssy enforced snskss 1t oSH9a.ory en tnoss
making holes In the atreat TO surround them viii
planle. and seep, nrc burning at each end ali
thhseasa th ,s,, ne "Ses , :" o,hSs %sfn People from
o.. troubled. as the case may be, With our
bridges ths;t gosennsrsa wonid see to il That they
were so wea nghtsa aas aas noas but The ond would
the turn; and nc think that in po Other city Of
equal size would be suffered to remain tho rotten
would It allow The construction Of new sidsT.IH M
on all kinds Of staaes the existence OF such mex
ely diminnllve steps = lead to them on almost
ief1 uncovered by az aud night On The principal
etteeis and In the alleys, Is they are With nu,}
So gia1tnS are Ill these faults, that when sptt IL
brought against he ct!: there u no hope for the
be that IS set up BY The cty Counsel the lawyer for
the defendant finds an overwhelming and uuan.
sNeaes Argument n 'hs tsct to Ehieh BE- lnvstis
the plsln,G The city Ii mulcted IN heavy damages,
and the taps remain open to catch 1eeh victims.
The ell
We cannot At this moment recall 10 mind AI1 the
snits brought asalust The city, recently from tha
,eause-they are too numerous. But ne do remen-
ber more than enough to serre the city for twenty
years II proper precautions were taken. -
sc:rcely yeaf and bali n9o, man wnlked iuto
The river at Indiana street, and tho city h.s since
been assessed IN soma 81 500 daruases. A short
time amer this Brady walked OF CLARK street bdcu
into the trez, and then the Council ordered lights
to be placed On the bridges. These were iuautl1-
cfent, as not long n!tcr Miss Powers, OF Powell,
walked of the same bridge, aud then only were
these be 90 powerful ns they should bc.
Not long since, Ars, AleA W1s ptvci2,ta'Aj IL =
to!e tnthe stoA. near tbe corner a, weji, naa sna
Huron streets. The nieht Wae dirk. and these Wsns
no guards or lights only little dirt thrown up
| all around IT, We belieyc the New York Courts
have decided that th!. Is not sufficient protection
to he Wild as bar 10 the claim for damages rs 1t
certainly is not protection sufficient for the public.
child was Killed recently. on the corner Of Fan.
| doph street and Wabash aEenue, BY the filling ol
| counter which had stood there in dangerous 20
! thorities.
Two salts are now IN progress for damages e;..,.
taintd BY Milling into some excavations on the cor
rer OF Clark and Randolph streets.
II Is nearly time That this conrse Of bluuder1 be
stayed. II Is In The power Of on. authorities to
eeeure al least q small modicum Of safety 10 the
people who throng onr streets, and II sha,,d not
be sufficient to stimulate IN cfo1 10 obytate thee
eylls eFeu were there no regard due 70 public s4tt-
IT,. Our numerous army 0f sideHn1k lnspoctnvs
might attend to these thfnRs without bnsa2 over.
hr1uGnea with their duties, hut 'c,l 1t eIts1 Of.
des1s were required Il wone 1e ht cheaper 10 en-
The Courts lid a. constant aesss smenA for dam-