The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-10-24
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RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.



"" Pour Pay.
v,Lu McNairn, discusses, in the last
,,mberoi the Railroad Ga4ctte, the treat
'..,, s., ofemployccs on many Of our rail-
.,,J, .,J declaring that it is 80 harsh and
,,gcIipr that something should be done
%,,be present amelioratiou and future
..o,rcliop of the class. lie states that the
ts,.oInri,i,cs OF their work prcvent8 these
IAN from concerted action in any OF the
-,vemepts to secure better wages and q
,slpclion ollhc hoursol laher. although
n,y not be possible in all cases to di-
.'ni,b the hours of labor, ii is quite pos
,nI4o Mr. McNairn thinks, "for railroad
y w ~,,,pers to have good deal more care
f., ,be health and welfare of employees.
I,u,y be difficult to say beyond what
min, human induranCc should not be
.,sl for any reason less than the pcrser.
r,tiou Of lite and property; but an officer
rSo continues n subordinate at respOn-
sSIc ma duiy until he is overcome by fatigue
,,sj ,sI necessarily unfit for duty, when he
Ti,bt have been relieved, certainly takes
nm M himself the responsibility Tor the re-
5Ip md Of such inCompetency." Instances
vera cited where men were put 10 such
.,t,ips that no person, however robust,
r1elj lail 10 break down. An engineman
y, lour line, taking out ireigh train on
thursday morning, returned Friday even
IN, after lhirty.slx hours, continuous la
M and after four hours sleep was called
ID 10 repeat the journey. Feeling that
h. was unable to go, he said so, but no
pycu:e would bC taken, and he again
.,.rted out, returning on Sunday evening,
having meantime had but three hours,
;ts, Frequent repetition oI similar hard.
.tips broke the man down and for weeks
he wR confined to his bead, his pay stop.
7ng when he Qiit work, Cases like this,
M Men. says, are ofirCqucnt occurrence,
,ul in one instance at least resulted in
lepOrable loss Of life and property.
aAtelegraph operator who, was rcquir.
ID TO receive aud execute instructions Tor
The crossing of trains, after having been
% continuous duty for days, ,notwithstand.
.ug repeated and urgent appeals for relief,
oecane so exhausted as to be unable 10
receive continuous message or write
Inc without dropping his pen and falling
sleep. There were meA at adjOin-
iug stations on either side who might have
been sent 10 tighten the terrible pressure,
but were not; and shocking and utterly
Unnecessary slaughter Of human lilc and
aH immense destruction OF property were
The finale"
Besides all this, many Of the dangers to
which these traInmeu Arc daily subjected
might, at small cost 10 railway companies,
be oOvated. Tho lOwness OF bridges has
caused the death or disablcing oi many
good men. Another prolific source Of
Death and disability is the defective coup
ling arrangement tor freight cars, and the
position Of buffers SO near the draw. heads
which often catch the arm and sometimes
tie bodies OF unfortunate brakemeu,
crushing them out Ol all semblanCc OF hu-
n4uIty. This latter matter is easily rem.
ediable, and railway managers should be
compelled by law to furnish proved
couples for all cars, for whatever purpose
,:el.
Many railways have mutual benefit
'0cleties 10 which all employees can, and
IN some instances must, belong, which
make weekly payments in cases OF disa.
lIllty, or pay Il fixed sum in case Of death.
This, however, is not sufll .ieut, and an
Employee should feel that when compelled
. 80 into dangerous pOsitson the sacr,,-
Ice ne may have TO make to duty will not
'e overlooked. There should on all rail.
Eays be fund established from which
allowances could be made. This would
een to be the most appropriate disposi-
Ion which could be made OF the very
'0nsIderablG amounts which many COM
'iules levy on employees in fines for the
hIFaCllOn Of rules, and which often disap.
'ea' mystcriOusly without reaching the
General account. Here many distressing
's'eS are constantly arising in which men
ave been rendered incapable OF sup
oFtlng themselves, while in the perform
nee OF their duty, and have been most
leaItiessly turned adriIt, too often 10 die"
NF MCNairn states that the lives OF q
'feaIer number of trAinman are yearly
acrlced in tho ways above numerated
h'a result from all the great railway,
SSeambOat and mine disasters put together
These latter occurance are tclegraphcd
rom one end OF the land to the other, but
alIway employees drop quietly and un-
lotIced out Of existence, u single para.
'nph, "killed by the buffers" being
'Noui all the notice they receive. Cor
5aS's juries return verdicts oi"accidental
!ralh," and there the matter ends. The
,aGject is one which all railway corpo-
'aIIOns should take under consideration.