The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-12-14
The Recent Railroad Disasters.

Scarcely has the horror created by the ter
r;ble disaster on railroad in Ohio, by which
four lives were wantonly sacrificed. subsidized,
when the telegraph wires bring us news Of
still more appalling scene on Vermont rail-
road. train filled with mechanics was
backed up towards q precipice, where bridge
was being constructed, and the engineer,
unable to stop 1t in time, sent the en-
tire party over the declivity. The fall
was seventy feet Fifteen men were killed
on the spot, and there are others that eau
not survive. Scarcely any Of the seventy
workmen in the cars attached to the train
escaped serious injury. A locomotive Of
passenger train exploded on Virginia rail-
road on Wednesday last and killed the en-
gineer and fireman. Again, we have intelli-
gence from Ohio Of freight train breaking
through bridge, the engine and ten cars
being precipitated into the Sandusky river.
The conductor is supposed to be killed.
Now, these accidents, or rather murders,
on railroads are becoming Of too frequent
occurrence. Not day passes without news
OF something Of the kind, and 1t is high
time that stringent measures should be taken
to put stop TO them. II is subject 10
which every ono Is interested; for there Is
scarcely person in this country who il not
obliged to entrust his or her life some time or
other to the tender mercies Of railroad.
The entire system OF railroad management
In this country il . nuisance aud an evil. The
real cause Of those disasters may be found in
the fact that the majority Of railroad directors
are too much taken up with stock jobbing
operations in Wall street, nsing the stock Of
their company for that purpose, and too fond
Of large dividends without a proportionate
expenditure for the necessities Of the road, 10
bestow thought on the safety of their passen-
gers and employees II Is too frequently the
case that the directors monopolize all
the contracts for cars, locomotives, rails
and other railroad material, and they wish
to provide those things at rs little expense and
great profit 10 themselves as possible To
carry ont their Wall street schemes they try 10
put their stock up to the highest point by .
criminal system Of economy iu the most neces-
cary particulars. II has often been remarked
Ny Ihscchkoto sAAhuius w ,ur tSut IAnd1in VI
the rear car OF train that the miserable
tbreadbare rails over which they pass culver
and tremble as II they would break or start
from the ties. The Hudson River, Harlem and
Central Railroads, under tho management Of
Commodore Vanderbilt, may be trusted by tho
public as exempt from the results Of criminal
carelessncss on the part OF the directors On
other lines, however, the evil has attained such
dimensions that il imperasivcly calls for .
thorough investigation and remedy. Tha late
disaster In Vermont may have been cansed BY
an incompetent or careless engineer. But
there are other parties who should bs held to
strict account for all so called accidents Of this
nature. Every part Of train and all material
used on railroad should be Of the best kind,
and carefully inspected, aud none but thor
oughly competent employees should be put In
charge Of train. Let the proper authorities
make signal example Of the guilty party IN
each Of these railroad murders, and they VIII
be like angela visit. "fsw spd ~ bstvssn"