The daily gazette., 1882-01-16

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THE LATE RAILRoAD ACCIDENT -
IL 10 said by seme Of our contempt
raries that the bleek system Of tele-
Graphy In connection with other im-
psOvements hae rendered the railroads
Of this country as secure against coll
lisions and accidents - IL 10 possible
for ingenuity to effect /; but that IL is
impossible TO put brains into sm~
ployees, and to the failure of the
brakemen and fisgmen and signal-men
accidents may be due even upon such
roads as the Pennsylvania Company's
Those who take this view Of the
question as shey review the horrible
disaster Of Friday, to the train COM
ing from Albany to New York, may
have to revise their opinions sooner
than they expected. There may be
many improvements yet adopted,
some of which are shown by this very
accident 70 be necessary. 1t is said
that the train that was run into was
stopped by some hilarious passenger
by pulling q bell rope that gave the
signal for putting down the brakes,
for joke, and that it took some time
to get the brakes in order, and while
waiting for this TO be done the train
in the rear came crashing on and
caused the rear cars of the first train
to telescope. Here is the FIRST error,
aud certainly ingenuity could devise
q means wher by the beIl-rope could
be put out Of reach Of half f-drunken
mischievOus passengers. Then why
should the air brakes be out of order
because they had been put down {?
1t is very convenient thing to blame
the whole to the fault of Melius, the
brakeman, whose conduct is repre-
hensible enough. It does not, how
ever, in any way commend the pre-
vailing political theory of civil service
reform, on the contrary it goes to
prove that it is not wise to entrust a
man too long at post of danger, and
reminds one Of the terrible accident
At the Brandy wine bridge, by which
the Heretofore faithful old man raised
the wrong signal and led the trains
into the river while the draw was off.
Ingenuity is wanted again to secure
some other mode than coal stoves and
coal oil lamps for heating and light
ing cars. Steam and gas are su est.
ed. But even steam may be danger
GUS, and with hot water we would not
be free fIom the danger of being
scalded. Still the danger would be
greatly diminished by the substitution
of steam, or hot water for warming, and
gas for light. We have need to look
TO these things here as an accident
may happen at any time at some Of
the numerous street crossings by the
mistakes Of some of the fiagmen.
The Pennsylvania Railroad block
system has been, or is being applied
on the track of the P. W., & B. and
every Precaution we are sure will be
used to prevent accident. But all
that may be done cannot prevent, as
We have seen, even the heretofore
most faithful men, using the wrong
signal lantern. We bave no cause to
be apprehensive of accident, and hope
there will be none but we deem it q
fitting time to call attention to the
liability there is here for terrible &C.
eident at any Of our street crossings
nor are we free from the danger OF
collisions. There are now passing
through our city, cross ng some
eighteen or twenty streets, about
sixty-eight trains every twenty>fouI
hours. The new management has
Ph0SCN hoOOS " NC SStCobcy WuICu aQQ
greatly to the security; but they are
under the control of signal men, and
after all we are brought to the neces-
sity Of depending upon careful and
watchful men, who may, at any time,
as in case Of the old bridge tender,
show the wrong light and cause dis,
order, although employed for the
purpose of preventing accident.
A complaint is raised that ON Friday
night there were no axes, crowbars OF
buckets TO be had, otherwise the pas.
sengers say the fire could have been
gotten at and extinguished before il
had caused the deaths of several, and
thus lives could have been saved,
This is a timely warning, and We hopt
no train will hereafter be permitted
to run without being supplied with
such iRs ruments as will be thought
best adapted TO use on occasions oI
accident.