, 1872-12-26

the railroad horror that occurred on the Buffalo
Cory e. Pittsburgh Railroad few hours later
Within eighty rods Of g station, where safet.
ought to have been assured, if We are ever Il
! look for safety on 8 railroad, q passenger rai1
was thrown from the track br . broken rail, ant
over trestle-wor1, causing the death By burn
ing OF twenty-five persons, and dserious1y wound
ing and manning thirty-fve others. No graphic
kilograms are needed to picture the hortors OF NJ
accident like this. It occurred in broad day
light, within sight Of station, where the travel
lers could have scarcoly dreamed Of the pos.
sibility Of danger. Many Of those on the
train we're probably ready to ahght at their
homes, and to meet the friends waiting to vel
come them to Christmas festivities. To be
suddenly seized, as by some monster, under cir
cumstances Ike these; to be thrown q distance
OF thirty or forty feet down into yawning gulf
to be thore roasted alive amid struggling and
and shrieking humanity, seems to be the very
elimination Of horrors. If presumption Of
guilt be justifable at any time, then it is fair to
presume criminal negligence in this case on the
part of the railroad company that
must answer for the slaughter. Supposing
that the breaking of the rail was attributable to
the severity Of the weather, and, therefore, una
Voidable, there is yet no good reason why cars
should catch fire whenever they are turned over
The safest way by which railroad cars can be
kept warm is by the use Of hot-water pipes.
These pipes can be heated with one stove or
furnace, located at an extreme end OF the car,
and protected by iron railings and braces at the
sides. Still further protection is afforded by
continuance used on many cars, especially sleep
ing coaches, which furnishes reservoir Of water,
placed directly under tho furnace in such way
that the turning Of the car floods the
stove above, and extingu1shcs the fire
it contains. The arrangement seems aim-
plo enough, and its action would
appear to afford certain protection against set
ting fire to the car in case Of accident. It is
safe to assume that the burning train on this
road was not provided with such protection. II
not, is not the management guilty Of criminal
negligence in it's failure to provide such protec-
ton for human life as lay within its reach.
Added to the Pennsylvania horror, there was
freight train thrown off the track 20 mi1os from
Louisville, On the Indianapolis g. Jefersonville
Road, by d neglect in turning q switch, killing
several men. An accident also occurred on the
through train from Washington to Philadelphia,
not far from Baltimore, in which many
persons are reported to have been in
jured, two Of them fatally so. There were two
cases Of loss Of life by burning, one from the
explosion Of q kerosene lamp, another fronT.n
overheated stove. Men and animals we're frozen
in 3 train blocked up in Indiana by tho lack
Of water, which had congea1ed all along the limo
Of the road Another railroad accident was re-
ported from Iowa, in which only one human
being suffered, as good fortune would have it in
this case Still other trains were frozen up else
where, and steamers were damaged by the rise OF
he water in the Ohio River. Several cases Of
1eath by exposure we're reported simultaneously,
md from all parts of the country came the in
ofmisfortunes constituting, altogether,
he most unwelcome Christmas present within
'ur recollection.