The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1873-11-19
The Cause Of, and Remedy for, Rail
.-xau seid nnfa


oerat prints a most excellent article, show
ing the indispensable use Of the Miller
Platform, compressed Buffers and Auto
matte Couplers. The article is one of the
best upon this subject and will be especial
ly interesting to Railroad managers and the
travelling public; we therefore copy it in
full
Every now and then society is shocked |
by reading in the daily papers some heart
rending account of wholesale smash-up,
on one of our great iron thoroughfares,
and inquests are held, courts of inquiry in
stituted, yoluminous evidence received, the
blame shifted from one officer to another,
the nine days wonder sensationally kept up
by the Journals, damages are sued for by
the sufferers the companies come down
with compensation, the sensation wanes.
the affair grows stale, society resumes
its equilibrium, and nothing more is
heard of the matter till-crash, smash,
shrek and agony again arouse the supine
public from its slumber of fancied secu-
rity. Why do we never hear of parties
being held responsible for these wholesale
homicides? Is nobody to blame2 We
unhesitatingly answer to the latter ques-
ton, in nine cases out of ten no person, in
charge Of the suffering train. We must
look further for the cause, wider for the
criminals, BY whose neglect the possibility
Of such accidents occurring, is permitted
to exist The old adage of prevention
being better than cure, is as true in rail
road matters as in medicine, and until the
scientific discoveries made by competent
engineers be universally adopted, the
pungent criticism of Punch. as to absence
| of body being better than presence of
mind, in railroad accident will continue
to be appreciated. The two chief causes
of accident are usually beyond the control
of either engineer, conductor or brake
man, being oscillation and telescopiag, and
: it is on railroads where the chances OF
, these have been reduced to a minimum.
those of trivial nature To explain
what oscillation is, and to show how tele.
scoping can be entirely prevented, with q
+ description of recent discoveries for the re.
t mOval of both, is the purpose of this arti
, Gle Every boy has noticed the staggering
: OF his spinning top, Immediately before it,
fall and this fairly illustrates oscillation
which is scientifically defined as laterna
a vibration OF bodies in rapid motion. Now
/ the danger of oscillation in a train Of car,
/ arises from each vibrating independently
n which gives vermicular or serpetiu,
: course to the whole train. The engine no
being supported by swing bolstered trucks
> is not liable to the movement, which, com
n mencing at the first, increases in intensi
t ty and arc of motion, until under higl
le speed, it always becomes dangerous to tn
: rear car. This is partially avoided O.
British railroads by binding the cars to
h gether with a screw coupler, which arrest
as laternal motion, destroys elasticity, an
5, gives to the train the rigidity of an iro
Il rod. In our country, a long, loose link ha
u been the common method of connectin
sc ears, which gave TO train the unmaI
II ageable looseness of a chain who's
ry separate links will each form il
IT, own centre, and oscillate at differer
at ratios, according to its distance from th
~ power which sets the whole in motion. TIL
lie adoption of the screw system, as in Ems
at land, is impossible with us, unless we +,
ey build all our railroads, and replace all OF
~. ~ rolling stock with cars of the English pa
es tern, which, if possible, would not be az
Is visable, and which is absolutely reDdere
81, unnecessary by an ingenious series of il
" ventions, answering more fully the requi
Iet ed purpose, by effectually governing osci
81 alton and preventing telescoping and whlC
,ot have been successfully introduced on mar
at roads, and should be imperatively deman
n ed on ALL by the travelling public. tn
oi arrangement, known as the Miller Pla
10 form, Compression Buffers, and Automat
for Couplers, is in use on all the leading lin
is going out of Chicago, and our readers m;
me Fs see it on the Chicago, Rock Island & ?
,ro cifie, which, with more than one hundr'
other leading lines, has adopted these il
,as provements. Every traveller on the c.,
am |. & P. must have noticed the freedo
tly from oscillation. jolting and Earring viii
y they experience on this line, especially
H. they remember travelling on the same b
on. fore the Miller improvements were adoI
OF ed while, with the Miller Platform, te
aIe scoping is made matter of ancient h
the tory, or confined to those old fogy roa
&c which set their faces against modern inn
OF Walton. 1t is the duty of every railroad
pei the United States to adopt the Miller il
IN provements it is the duty of every trav
ing citizen who values his own and the pu
lie safety, to travel only by such lines
ub- have adopted them, unless necessity leaN
,er- him no choice.