The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-09-03
Relative Risks Of Railway Travel.


most half a dozen travellers in knhhSa
cab, out of reach and hearing of their
lelow.trayelers on the ttais, nd ms sal
men, was unsparingly cdtidHd And IA
ridiculed. For the sake Of a d4cre4 n Il
! (undesirable) privacy any traveller. i
was said, was liable to find himself
cooped up with murderer like Mullar In. ,.'1
y. A3oUy ", III case VI l8Qy, with 81 .1apt -.
brute like Valentine Baker. The on
portunity thus afforded for robbery.
murder, or outrage was declared to be
impossible with American cars. and re-.
marks derogatory to the common sensa
OF Engiishmen were freely INDUCED in
because they would not give up their
system for ours. rs 81
The recent robbery of train Of CIR ne
on Missouri road BY bold and well. !. :,
organized gang of desperadoes givesths
hngnsh press an opportunity 4psNh8 .noI,
ate in kind. A prominent London paper NV
says: "s' - fi1Ea Id sgaa4f
"The American cars seem specially ,...,.,s
made mad to invite this kind of outrage.
with the English system such . whole
SAFE RAID IS impossible Inaay case one
carriage alone could be robbed here be.
lore the passengers and officials could
organize resistance. As there is no az.
ample OF such an event in our railway. III 81
nlSeory, We may assume that the diff. as q n
Gu!ues ana dangers are 30 gFeas u q -.
9 9e'er even the most daring criminAba 3IsnAa
!: Inc aemal danger Of murder or robbery
ISL; Is fsr ), less on English lines ,heaqa up: M
In ii: ~, vie: :. Of n the g: :; e.
Aos critic: Of the English systens
were. The conditions under which TIE
e ecn sysse%' - 't r. opsssss. H Y8Q
.Ie ana property afforded bythsn quite,
impossible. while the rarity Of violent
crimes under both systems shows that
the risk to the traveller in either i amaz.
ingly small. Indeed, considering the.
large number of persons always Il 7,,f' Pei Z
transit by rail- both in this country aud s u.
in England, the rare occurrence ,ofp ',a..s NJ
crimes on the road must b accepted l'iap a.a'
IS proof either that travelling il excep- MD q Z.
tonally conducive 10 mofSImv soF J4eg
that, whether car compartments sre a't :
t ts.ge or 9o; smsl' railway TINY! pi1d,
crimes tn than the ordinary sonditioal Of YAr,
church during divine service is more
frequent occurrence, Il criminal nhob. II ~
tics are worth anything, than like crimes
on railway trains; but that affords no
basis tor comparison of car seats and
church pews as aids to crime. !.
nary oo3;.; Ss . vI.s . ~ ~. fap4i ISit
nersnn would ohooso .I1 ~ -. "f,fas tAlls1
IN r0S1c <o.s - 1..~1 ln~
o. rohherr " .h ,ol ano.yda mulqe slKag
land T. nav h na.,a;1's 49,. W. 49,. u sai+4ss
or,,or;,od ~ o1u"y Nuo 'ncs ~ II = s4.in
Enplish road Would ho ,,-oro,+od ~ SSH 4
"9il:u Ioau woul0 % prevented Of llla3 tsat =
made unsuccessful by the plan Of the e '',s !,
cars and the distribution of the passen-
gers. But such deterrent effect would ,.e.4s
De much less certain were the train tcbe -,
Fsa,s s': :ses !! long e. n, '5I. .ga sa j
by the Missouri train robbers. Such .rs.'tast,
crimes ore no more attempted in the
neighb0rhood of our larger centers Of AltsD
railway communication than they are on ~slaz2l 4
roads leading from London or Liver
pool, and it would ,seem that the sur : '.''3
of the rDads and the more .ss'}as
frequent stations are more influential infa
train robberies in the East,
IS in England, than anything in the
construction of the cars or the makeup
II the train. Given equal time for the
work, We are inclined to think thatfewer s'.ss
men would be required to capture and ~ -
20 through train of English cars than
me OF American cars, while the, rob-
'ers' chance of meeting serious Resist
Ince on the latter would be much the
!reater. But this question of compare M
I've immunity from attack plays q very f4S'" 80
Insignificant part in determining the.gagY,Je
hoice Of large or small compartments,
with popular customs, popu1sdaAh
n habits of thought with respect t9oa
'rivacy or promiscuity, the varying
azard of undesirable social contacts
'hile travelling, and all that sort Of ~. ,..ss
hing. The English have their preju. ~
ices ~ Americans hayef theirs, Apd, ssstR
matters Of this sort are more apt to BE-
ecided BY prejudice than BY the calcu-
ltion of infinitesimal risks to life or
roperty .-Scientifc Assercan.