Wilmington daily commercial., 1872-11-23
WILMINGTON. DKL.
Saturday Afternoon, NOV. 23.
THE RAILWAY AccIDKHT.

s0ue accidents ere 90 far beyond ordinary
foresight and avoidance that they eAst no special
blame on any individual. Bot railway collision
is without excuse or explanation, and especially
20 when 1t occurs on double track road, under
circumstances such 80 attended that Of Friday
morning. In saying this, We do not Attseh par
ticle sf blame to the Railroad Company. or its
executive oHRosrs- Their roAd il managed with
precision and care In many particulars, 1t
right stand as an example for general imitation
Is excellent and eomplsts system Of Rnles, If
thsy had been obeyed, would have entirely
guarded against such = casualty.
Il i obvious TO AL who have been told the
fAets Of the case that there WAz failure TO do =
plain, simple thing-thAt which the most ins1-
perisneed railroad employee would be expected
to do, hrHt, under the circumstances This wAs,
OF eourss, to place signal Of danger in the rear
Of the disabled train, and TO be Absolutely GER
tain that it wAs sufficiently far to enable the fol-
lowing one To come TO fun stop, easily, and
without possible danger. In the present case,
there should have been no trouble about doing
this-thsre vas no reason for not seeing the no
osssi.y, and none for not taking the proper pre-
caution In ampIs time II the New York trains
schedule time bad been close bshind that Of the
Philadelphia train; and II the latter bad met
with some sudden detention, such ~ landslide,
broken axle, or other unexpected cause for halt
ing under these circumstances, there might
have been some explanation why the hAgmAn did
not get farther than three hundred yards away
from the ten car loads Of people whom his signal
was to protect from destruction.
Bot, a. is well understood, the interval be-
tween the trains was over an hour, and this
space bad been eaten up, gradually, and by such
succession Of delays that all who understood
the situation at all knew, and could not hslI
knowing, the nearness Of the New York train.
Moreover the disabled one was not stopped sud
denly, but sloWly came to 4 stand BY the failure
Of steam In the locomotive, thus Anording, BY
these delays, time for the signal Of danger to
have been placed far In the rear TO have warned
the following train far up the track, and TO have
brought it 10 = full stop, At . safe distance.
An this is wisdom expressed too late so far a.
this dreadful occurrence il concerned But it is
Of use for the future. 1t is terrible warning
against the neglect Of the plain rules whose clos'
observance alone can insure safety, and it ought
TO hXVe the effect OF influencing most deeply
every man who runs locomotive or takes charge
Of . railroad train. After all the rules that
Presidents and superintendents may make Aftel
al the discipline they may succeed in porfecting
after all the care and discrimination they ma!
exercise in the selection OF their employees il
depends upon the moral tone Of the men. them
selves, and on their conscientious observance oi
their simple line Of duty whether there shall b.
vigilance, care, and safety. Let Us hope that th'
occurrence may have it's effect in this direction.