The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1869-09-04
Accidentally

pea from the QallleS the current
accounts of accidents occurred
Although these have not been
notable beyond the average, the
aggregate loss of life and proper
ty is somewhat startling, and
give point to the query whether
mechanical skill and scientific
knowledge are brought to bear,
as they should be, with reference
to the safety of the community
not less than to the production of
wealth or the cOnveniences of ex-
istence. This is true in the pres
emit case; for of the casualties
that have come to our notice, as
above indicated, there is scarcely
one that was not-directly or in
directly--due either to some fault
in constructive engineering or to
some reprehensible defiance of
scientific principles
On August A, United States
bonded warehouse in Philadelphia
was consumed by fire, with the
destruction of four lives and
about four million dollars worth
of property-merely because thou
sands Of whisky barrels were piled
on a floor insufficient to sustain
their weight, and the giving way
of the floor plunged the liquid
combustible down upon the boiler
furnaces below. Only a few days
before, the bents Of a wooden
trestle-bridge on the Memphis
and Louisville road fell beneath
the weight of a passing train, and
hurled score OF persons out of
the world. As the bridge was
less than three years old, this
could have happened only from
criminal carelessness in building
it. About the same time, on the
Orange and Alexandria Railway,
the brake attached to the front
truck of one of the cars gave way,
fell upon the track, and threw off
the car, manning some twelve or
fifteen of the passengers. Still
another similar instance was that
OF the 10Th ult., on the Hannibal
and st. Joseph line, in which a
train was thrown from the track
and ten persons injured by a bro
ken switch. Among these there
was not one that was not caused
by some shifClessness of censtruc-
ton, condemned by all conscien-
tiOus mechanics, or some omission
of those precautions which lie at
the foundation of all successful
engineering practice.
1t is however, only in the con-
struction of buildings and the
making of railways that what are,
or ought to be, MISUNDERSTOOD
truths are'set at nought with a
carelessneSs that results in de-
struction to life and property; but
this occurs in other departments
of mechanical work, among men
whose experience one would think
surely guard them against it
Probably there is no source of
accident oftener mentioned than
that arising from swiftly running
and uncovered machine, belts, vet
only a week ago one of the oldest
mechanics of the manufacturing
town of Auburn endeavored to
adjust one while running a eircu-
lar saw at the usual high rate of
speed, and, as a consequence, was
caught by the whirling band and
killed. The warnings given
against the careless use of kero-
sene oil are unnumbered, yet a
four-hne item in one of the even
ing papers tells of a man who,
falling to ascertain as he should
have done the contents of his oil
can, poured the Light hydrO-carbon
upon q hot bearing, and was
blown out of existence by the re-
sulting explosion. Of this kind,
too, are the casualties that hap,
pen from the pouring of kerosene
into lighted lamps or upon blaz-
ing kindling wood in lighting fires,
and which are so frequent that it
seems as if no counsel would ever
prevent them.
These examples, yielded by the
record of a few days only, and
called from among others equally
suggestive though of less magni.
tude, prove that while it is well to
extend the boundaries Of eagi-
neering knowledge, it is equally
advisable to properly apply that
which is now available. The
neglect to do this lies at the bot.
tom of the nnmberless miscalled
accidents" the blame of which
is too often laid upon Divine PROV.