, 1873-08-31
Ube Gbjf:ayn 0aibn,e.
Sunday Morning, August 81, 1878,
MORE RAILROAD SLAUGHTER,

1t tho present rAto Of railroad slaughter, "
wi1l Hoon become a HoriouB question, not 30
much how tho rights OF tho public with reference
to rates Of freight and travel may DO conserved,
Or how 1t may protect isselt against un1ust dis
criminatious and oxactions, Oh how railroad COM
pauics mny DO compelled to protect fho livea OF
tho passengers which nro intrustod to their caro.
Since tho recent disaster on tho Alton i st.
Louis Road noar Ienont, thoro havc beon thrco
other sprious nccidents,-ono on tho Marietta Il
Cinoi1,nati Road, tho circumstances Of which
wcro almost precisely similar to those
Of tho I,omont dienatcr; tho second
On tho Detroit Il milwaukee, Road; and
tho third on tito IIudaon River Railroad III
addition to these, there have boon humorous
minor disasters, where tho loss Of lifo WAS for
tunato1y not 80 great, owing, howcVor, to cir
cunlstancos which scem to hnyo boon almost
miraculous, rather than to tho results Of any
arccial procaution or foresight tic part OF tho
trnin employees.
Our last Issue contained very complete "details
Of tho accitlents on tho Detroit t. milwaukee, and
Tho Hudson River Railroads. In tho former
caso, an express train broke an a11o, and
hau to como to stop. Tho night waa
foggy, and at thu Btntiona between the
e1press and freight-train bohiud it thero were
no night-opcrators, 30 that 1t was impossible to
warn it by telegraph. Tho conductor tlon Or
derea tho brakcmen to flag the freight~train.
Tho Gagn,en won't only third Of d milo away, al-
though tho eoction-foromau demonstrated with
them, and urged thom to 60 further on. They
replied with surly answer, and kept their
plncos. AB tho frcight-tsain came laundering
OH, tho engiueor saw tho flag, whistfed down
brakes, reyorsod lia ongino, and, having
done everything which was possible to
avert catastrophe, jumped from his
engine, as If cortain thai tile precautions would
bc Of no avn1t. Tho night, as TIC have eaid, WIS
foggy, and tho tracks wero wct. The train WAS
o worry heavy ono ami the engine tho largest on
tho road, and at tho point whero tho train was
tagged there waa n heavy down grade. The re-
pu} waa that tho train could not be checked i'll
t'me. tn epood waa only reduced about five
1nles por hour, and it crashed into tho expresH
killing six people and wounding Bcoro Of oth-
ora. No allowance was mado by the flag
men for tho heavy down grado, and
no hccd was paid to tho precautionary
advice of tho soction-foreman. Tho ncci-
dent on tho Hudson Rivor Raifroad was oven
moro ine1cusablo tllan tlis. An o1press-train
stops on the main track, it's conductor knowing
that there is another express only few miles
behind it, and renaina twcuty minutes, Just long
ouough to he run into and wrecked, and TO haso
large number Of it's passengers droadfully
maimcd. In this instance, no 1agman nj a1l was
Gent 10 warn tho following train, although the
frat train WAS on n sharp curve, and could not bo
eoen until tho other vas directly upon it.
All four Of tLoHo accidents which no hare
enumerated must bo attributed to criminal Care
1easnoss. Eyory one Of thon might hayo boon
prevented by tho exercise Of only ordinary pre-
caution. 1t ia certainly tn1e, therefore. that 1t
should be definitely established wIlothor rail-
roada arc bound to exercise this ordinary pro-
caution in protecting tho liyes OF passengers.
There mover yas a better timo than tho prosont
to establish tho fact. Wo havo one conductor
aud engineer under arrest in this State; there
is another pair under arroat in Ohio ; now lot
tho Michigan aud Now York n,anslaughterors bo
put under alroat also. The poop1o can well
afford to rest time in their crusade against
freight e1actiona to sottlo this mora i'm
portant question Of tho safety OF ht,-
man life. Thoro are aecidents enough which
nro unavoidable to make lifo insecure, without
exposing It to the recklossness, forgetfulnoss,
and foolhardineRs Of employees; and this butch.
CRY will mover stop until AL example IL made and
penalty commensurate with tho crime ia visiteG
upon tts perpetrators Tho moro settlement oi
tho railroad company with tho victims or thoil
xolntivca should not be nllowed to ter
inmate responsibility, Tho conductors, ongi
ncora, and lagrnon who wero con
rernea in those accidents and were ro
aponsiblo for them should ncvor again bf
allowed to run n train, md they should, il
altlition, 10 punished TO tho fnll oxtont Of tl
law. Tho responsibility Of tho company shouls
also TO a1od by logih}ation, 80 that it cannot b.
cvadel, Undoubtedly, there aro many accident
againat which it is impossible to provide, but tn
majority OF them grow out OF Nrotched theor
Of economy on tho part Of tho managers, o
tho foolhardineBs or forgotfulncgB Of ON
pioyea. Il tho public know how man
b1undering mistakes aro mRlo which for
t---t.'@ '',~"'"n anrinne raaulta tho
would demand. In n manor which would 10 un
dorstood, that railway Officials should DO com
polcd to excrciso. ordinary precaullou, at loaat
running traina, At proHent, the ouly way to so
auro th'a ia to punish tboso who do not o1orcis
It, md make them an example to others.
We should aay, from iLo evidence produce.
bofore the Board Of Police in tho prosecato,
Of policc-Of1lcor Simmons without auy otho
knowledge Of tho caso than TINT eyidonc
affords, that his superior of1tcors might lay,