The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-12-27

Precautions Against Railroad Disasters.
The recent terrible disaster at Angola on
the Lake Shore Railroad, and the frequency of
Academia on what might be called at present
tho iron highway of destruction, imperatively
call for u thorough scientific investigation into
the causes OF these calamities and their
amelioration. The iron steed has latterly be-
come the synonym Of the pale horse Of the
. Apocalypse, and the travelling community have
constantly visions OF broken rails, deadly
switches, collisions, roasting, scalding and
bruIsing processes before their eyes. Now, il
the railroad be considered as one Of the great
civilzers Of the present age, why the sooner
we go back to barbarism again the better, a.
long as cars indulge in the disagreeable habit
a. jumping down precipices, or two trains en-.
deavor to pass each other on the same track.
There must be an efficient remedy devised to
put stop to these accidents" The stereo-
typed verdicts of coroners' juries--. No
definite reason can be assigned for the acct
dem" No human foresight could have pre-
vented the catastrophe" "We come to the
conclusion that the precautions against disaster
on this railroad are not suf1cient"--are mere
triding with the extent of the danger and Of
practical nullty. Let there be convention
Of men who are intimately connected with rail
roads, men whose opinions on the subject are en-
titled 10 consideration, and let each State Legis-
lature give the subject the attention it deserves,
treating 1t entirely outside the political ma
chine, and a system of railroad management
can be devised by which the lives of the travel
ling public will be insured against danger
There have been many excellent suggestions
made by practical railroad men since the An
COLA slaughter. One recommends the coupling
Of the cars on the English principle of compress
sion, thereby avoiding the dangerous oscilla-
ton at high rates Of speed resulting from the
" links and pins !" system of coupling. The
principle has been adopted on some of our
leading railroads and appears to give general
satisfaction. Again. the plan Of steel rails,
which Commodore Vanderbilt proposes to APP
ply to his four-in-hand railroad team, might be
made general in every part Of the country.
Another suggestion is movable or detached
tops for cars, whereby the passengers may not
be imprisoned FOR the purposes Of roasting or,
drowning II train tumbles down aIs embank-
ment or into a river. An alteration might also
be made in the material OF cars, thereby avoid
ing the dangers Of fire and splinters Another
remedy against disaster is in the avoidance Of
sharp curves and in the construction OF the
wheels, which might be rendered proof against
breaking or jumping from the rails. But
above all, any case Of negligence on the part
of railroad directors or employees by which
the lives OF passengers are endangered should
be visited with swift and adequate punish
inent. These are some suggestions out Of
many that might be examined aud rendered
practicable, and the question has now assumed
a magnitude Of Importance that mperaiively
calls Tor interference and instant action on the
par, OF the proper authorities.