Daily Republican., 1881-03-31
Safety Car COupIcrs.

In another column of the REpUBLl-
CAN will he found an article condensed,
from prominent railroad man of Buf-
falo, New York, in favor of compelling
Railroad companies to use patent safety
car CouplerS for the safety of the lives
of the brakesmcn. Nearly every day re-
ports come through the columns of the
press of a brakeman being smashed to
pieces and instantly killed or being
fearfully MANNED or marsled for life.
So used has the publicibecomc to this
daily slaughter that its conscience has
become callOus and the public receives
the gha>tly intelligence in Il matter of
fact kind of manner as ita few brake
men had to be killed every day anyhow
and there was no uSr making much ado
about il. This might all be endured if
there was M escape from the evil, hut
in these days of progress when 50 many
automatic safety ear couplrrS have
been Invented and are known to give
satisfaction in their operations. il is
reck'rs1ncSS and a disregard to the ap-
peai> of humanity to allow ear, to 20
longer without adopting the lis" of one
or other of the safety car coupIrr~. Per
ry', believed to be the best, that have
resulted in saving scores of lives whrr-
al 4
when COroner'S ,jurieS are not iuStih-
able in rendering ver,lictS Of "acciClcn-
tal DEATH on inqueets held over the
bodies of some poor mutilatcd brakes
man whose lives could have been spared
had the railroad company adopted and
put in use the safety coupler. Safety
couplers are used on several railroads
running out from Chicago with the
greatest success.
No hrakesman need lose his life, or
become MANNED because h. need not 20
between the bumpers to coupl" the car,.
Th" coupler adopted by the Er"k
island Railroad Company is furnished
by THE Perry Safety Car Coupling
Company Of Chicago, Illinois, and it
is said to meet the demands of the time,
SO fully that no brakrSman'S life can h"
endangered unless he rrckleS>ly thru,t>
himself in the way of danger
From the article which We have pub
liShed elsewhere it will be seen that ON
one railroad alone in New York State
159 persons We're either killed or iniur-
ed in 1879 by coupling cars by the old
system. These brakesmcn are all poor
men their lives are as precious to their
wive, and their children as the live,
of the rich are, but being poor they have
no commanding voice in the cOmmmi-
ty to demand that safeguards shall b"
50 thrown around a yawning danger
that continually threatens them.
The fact is just this. The Safety Car
Coupler has demonstrated that it save,
lives. That is enough. No matter
"D'Il'I II SdNtN one HuluItl, UItN,
twenty, ten, five or even one, it is.
enough and should be adopted by
every railroad in the country. What
doe, the matter of a few thousand dol
lar for the couplcrs weigh in tn >cpi,
balanced with human lives?
Every Legislature in the land should
pas, Laws compelling railroad compo-
ME, to aAopt the safety car-coupler be-
for allowing such cars to pass through
thoi, states, and til" verdict at every
CorDNer'S inquest over the manglel
BODY Of a brakcsman who lost his life
By the Old system of coupling cars,
should be Death through the nPgli-
gencc Of the railroad company 10 pro-
vide for the safety Of life" We would
suggest to the Legislature the embodi
mnnt in every railroad charter granted
a section requiring the company to
which the charter is granted to provide
for the safety of their employee, by
Allowing the safety coupler