New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-09-23
rESrfRn4KS KAILROAD ACC[nENE

found who pities them.
YFSTfRDAY'S RAILROAD ACCIDENE
The disastrous collision in the Harlem Tun-
mel Yesterday morning was plainly due to
gross and inexcusable caTelesSncss II the
most natural and ordinary precautions had
been taken by the persons whose duty 1t was
to take thcm the accident could not have oc-
CURED 1t was known to every employe OF
the road between the Harlem River and the
Grand Central Depot that the main track was
hlockaded and that incoming trains would have
10 be sent in out of the usual order That
knowledge ought to have put ali these employees
on their guard and shown them the imperative
necessity Of taking the most extraordinary
precautions. 1t seems to have done nothing of
the kind. local train on the New-Ilaven
road was switched npoI Tic track devoted ex-
cusively to the use OF the Harlem trains, and
was started into the darkest section of the
tulnel Soon after its entrance IL was apprsed
of the presence of IL tram IN front OF II ana
came TO a halt \ brakeman WAS at once sent
back with warning signals hut was not IN time
TO stop an approaching Harlem train which
crushed into the rear New-HaVcn car, COM
pletely demolished it, killed one passenger
outright and wounded eighteen Others. The
| blame clearly belongs either t. the engineer OF
| the second train or to the signal officers whose
duty it was to stop him. II they gave the
signals and he failed to obey them. then he is
guilty of little less than wilful murder. II they
did not give the signals, the same RESPONSE
bilty rests upon them.
Painful and even appallugas the news of this
accident must have been to the thousands who
enter and leave the city daily through the
tunnel many of them could say with truth that
it was not unexpected. The habitual traveller
on any of the three great roads which pour
their living freight into the Grand Central
Depot daily must be of careless DISPOSE
tion if he has not many times thought of
the great risk which every day passage
through the tunnel necessarily entails. Be
tween o'clock in the morning and Il o'clock
at night no less than 100 trains pass ont and
as many more pass in through the tunnel
This is at the rate of train one way or the
other way every five minutes. More than this,
| the 100 outgoing trains cross the tracks OF the
| 100 incoming trains between the depot and
fine entrance to the tunnel. This causes delay
in the tunnel 80 constantly that it is the eXccp-
ton rather than the rule that train passes
through the tunnel without one OF more stops.
| One clay in such n coordination Of closely lOl-
| lowing trains leads 20 another, and a formidable
blockade is the work Of a few minutes. A
negligent signalman or a f00h9rdy engineer
is NIL that is necessary to secure collision ut
almost any hour of the day, and the poss,hhi-
| ties of slaughter in such collisions are Horrible
to contemplate. The results Of Yesterday s
disaster are bad enough, But the mind slludder,
to contemplate what they might have been il
the telescoped cars had been filled with people
and connagration had been added, rs it Was in
| the Spuyten Duyvil collision.
| Z The simple truth of tie matter is that the
| Grand Central Depot is by no means adequate
| TO toe demands made upon it, If 1t was large
enough when it WAS built, the traffic of the
roads using it has greatly oulgrown its accom-
modations Relief of some kind must come,
and within cry short time. There a!e many
| students OF this problem who predict that il
will be solved by having all trains stop at
| Harlem River, at a common or adjacent depots
| from which their passengers will distribute
| themselves through the city by the eley ated
roads Others predict that the Newliaven
road will bo forced to seek separate approach
to the city and to build depot Tor itself. We
| believe "A project has been mO0ted for this road
! to change its course from Mount Vernon down
that is, instead of joining the Harlem road
below that iplace, to run direct to the HARLEM
River at Morrsanla and connect with the
Second Avenue Elevated road by means of its
proposed bridge. This would be a Temporary
relief to the tunnel and the Grand Central
Depot at least, and yesterdays accident is 4
loud warning that relief of some kind must
come speedily.