The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1867-12-28

The recent horrible massacre by railroad
near Buffalo, Whereby forty TO sixty human
beings were roasted alive in car should in
cite the public to insist that railroad travel be
rendered safer overmore. Danger there Is,
and must be- in travelling at the rate oftwen-
~ 10 Fifty miles per hour ia any vehicle, how
ever irDpelled; but that danger may be reddc.
ed TO q minimum, and it mt ~ be. We can,
notnffordto lose forty OF fifty precious HIVES
: every time rail breaks, a journal becomes
heated, waeel is fractured, or u switch dis
placed. We must have more efficient pre-
cautions against wholesale slaughter; and
now:s the time TO mangurlte Them. Here
are few Suggestions toward general re-
FORM
l. Car wheels will ~ spart but each car
should have so many Wheels so placed, that
any one may be shivered misunderstanding the
car or throwing it ofthe track This is sim.
ply matter Of cost and economy is really
on the same side with safety. OF course, the
law must demand compliance with the die
tates of caution and foresight.
II. Our passenger-cars must be made Of
iron-ot cast iron plates, firmly held by
wrought-iron rods. Those cost but little
more than first rate wooden cars, will last
far longer, aud are worth twice as much when
worn out. There is economy in the substiiu-
ton of iron for wooden cars; while the forms
er are almost proof against calamity. They
do not barn in case OF accident they do not
crash into oven wood; their general use would
save three fourths of the lives now lost by
railroad casualties, No more wooden pas
senger cars should be constructed, aud those
nov in existence should be superseded by
iron ones SO fast as the latter can be complet
cd
Ill We must stop painting all manner of
public eorveyances more especially steam
boas--with mixtures whereof one ingredient
j. highly iuiatamable oil. Our grand and
gay river and sound steamers are 6reships.
ready to flash into death dealing eonfiagratien.
Now, we net insist that wooden partitions,
floors, ceilings &c, may be rendered ALSO
laeb uncomfortable by any known pigment,
bat we do insist that there are paints which
would greatly rstard the spread Of FIRE, where
they DID not completely prevent it. Now,
cabins are SO painted and urholst cred that a
fire. once kiudcd runs the length II a steam
ship or bont as fast as a niirel could. II
all the surfaces were painted or iapaHued with
the leas, combustble combination Of substan-
ees already known to science. it would be
morally impossible to burn . ship, boat, or
car filled with passengers. They could, at
least, confne the fire within narrow limits
until they could secure the means OF extin
gushing it.
". A passenger trim should always be
provided with breaks that could be insixniy
aud firmly applied by motion of the eugin>
GERS foot. Breakmea cannot be relied on.
J hey have various ard conflicting DUTIES they
nre driven by storm and cold to seek shener
and warmth within the car and the signals of
the engineer to apply breaks are often deiee~
:. az pnheard. Inc engineer, keeping n
good lookout, is naturally first to perceive
daaFer and be should be enabled to apply
every break On the instant. The seconds
tst least required to convey bis signals, to The
hreakmen, aud enable them to comprehend
aud obey those signals, often involve the
wreck OF the train and the loss Of many lives.
v. New safeguards against flyingthe track
81 emtankGentS, bridges, &c, must De pro-
yidei. Two squared sticks OF timber, eigh
teen 10 thirty inches in diameter, laid upon
each side Of the track at such points, and
firmly secured and bolted there, would pre-
cluda scores OF frightful disasters. A thick
concrete wall Of rough stones Ind IN lime epa
enneat rising on each side Of the track TO
hsht "a Two or three feet above the rails,
would be still better. Such timber or walls
might add S1,000 per mile to tie avoruse
cost of railroads, though, In prairie and other
level regions, it could hardly be half that.
Bat, even were IL to cost $4,000 per mile,
this protection to human life must be had.
These suggestions are, Of course, not ex>
h iustiye. They may need to be amended IN
some points and supplemented in others. But,
though suggestions merely, they will INDICATE
to railroad und steamboat men duties that ca
10 longer bs neglected. Reform must be
had comparative security must be attained,
il our public couveyances ere not to be de
serted by The more tiud and apprehensiye
half of those hv whom they have hitherto
u. :.
managers to act promptly and deeisiyeiy.-N.
4. YilhEnc