The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-11-10
Charles Francis Adams. Jr.,
on Railroad Accidents.
THE EARLY WRITER'S OF HISTORY.
Arnold, the Traitor-Memoirs-
Stage Annals-PoliticS.
BOOK WORLD GOSSIP
RAILROAD ACCIDENTS.

Mr. Charles Francis Adams. Jr has already sd-
dressed tho public with cogency upon the various
mechanical problems presented by the running OF
railroads. In . volume from his pen. "Notes
ON Railroad Accidents" lG. p. Putnam's Sons) We
are presented with volume Of $50 pages less in
teresting than useful. devoted to consideration OF
tho various types disasters the iron roads and
how to prevent them. We find many old horrors
rstold but always for the sake of the scientific les
son. Among them front and rear collisions de-
railments bridge accidents. drawbridge accidents
uncoupling accidents oil tank accidents, stove
accidents and SO on. In derailments and
bridge accidents prevention is generally
question of the condition of the permanent way
while mitigation of them when they 10 occur is q
question of train appliances. Collisions ana draw
bridge accidents are to be guarded against by the
completeness of the signal system When this falls
and a collision plunge over adrawbridge seems
inevitable these classes of accidents together with
derailnaents and uncouplinrs, come under the head
OF those which proper appliances for quickly arrest
ing train may mitigate. if not prevent In view
of the drawbrdge accidents here-a class Of acc
dent which has disappeared in England-it may be
well to quote Mr.. Adams conclusions the matter
He says
The lesson clearly to be drawn from careful in
vestigation OF all the American accidents reported
would seem to be that statute provision making
compulsory the interlocking of all draws in railroad
bridges. with proper and infalibe system OF sig
mails, might have claims the consideration of an
intelligent legislature: not so an enactment which
compes the stopping of trains at points where dan
ger is small, and makes provision as respects
other points where it is great
Stove accidents in this country, which SO often
add features OF horror smash-up, only to be
avoided by q mode of steam hot dir heating
not difficult to apply. But in this. in all other
cases where progress is desirable. cost and custom
without well informed and strongly directed pub
lie opinion sufficient to keep things as they
To make a railroad perfect therefore it should have,
drst. a perfect permanent way; second. per-
feet signalling system; third, effec two switch
ing system; fourth, an effective system of brakes
and couplings, and, fifth, Of the strongest
construction This is not all; but these heads in
dictate tho direction in " hich improvement. under
the pressure OF gradually unfolded necessity, has
gone on. Without going into detail it may be said
that all experience points to the adoption of the
electric block system Of signals, of the inter-
locking system for switching and of continuous
automatic brakes. Mr. Adams shows curiously how
hard the battle has been and is of these improve
ments for adoption-how long, for instance, the
Miller platform derided here and finally adopted
to the almost complete avoidance Of "telescoping;"
how automatic air brakes were laughed at pretty
toys" impossible to work; how the electric block
system grew up in England Of necessity while here
it is scarcely known; how the iuterlocking switch
developed its present high degree OF perfection
the English railways. That in England the bellrope
Is resisted and that stick to here. Mr.
Adams points to as instances Of diverse conserva-
tive prejudces. As he truly says:-
No one who has not had official experience Of 1t
at all realize the objecting capacity of the ypi
cal practical mechanic, whose conceit, rule, is
measured by his ignorance. while his stupidity is
unequalled save by his obstinacy.
Yet great advances have been made. ME-. Adams
keenly observes that the American instinct for labor
saving machinery is tast solving many of the ques-
tons involved. The 'batte of the brakes" in Eng
land is between rival American inventors. AS to the
question Of individual safety railroads, Mr..
Adams. at the close OF interesting chapter con-
soingy says that under the conditions of the last
eight years average would have to travel 600
miles daily for seventy years ''to entite him to be
killed in accident at the end of them"