St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1883-02-03
Oyerwork Upon Railways.

h gF[El II IN ss frT7T---s gEt M sslSsY
/ 1t deserves to be known by the public
that some Of the largest and most inn
portant railways are in the habit Of
overworking their employees to such an
extent that even eng neers, fremen and
sWitchmen5 fail asleep at their posts
from sheer exhaustion. it is stated on
good authority. that a majority Of all
the collisions that take place are due to
this canse.ItA correspondent OF the New
York Times has been investigating the
matter. and came across such cases as
the following: A staion-keeper said that
he. had often tagged a train and found
the engineer fast asleep. the conductor
snoring in his cab, and only. the fire.
man awake to obey his signal. Were
the fireman also to doze of, a thing not
unlikely to happen, inasmuch as his.
hours of service are the same, 9noHones
could foresee the consequences Tt is
not unusual for train men. to. work.
twenty-five hours continue ftsly,, and in
case OF detention, or accident, or other
disarrangement Of, the rotation Of servt-.3l
ice. the time frequently extends to thir-
ty lhours without rest. IA certain sta
ton master has to be at his post when
the midnight train goes by, and then
again at four O'Clock. When the mid
night train is two hours late the station
keeper s night IS thereby shortened ~ S..
8,It IS stated that five orisix hours alta
stretch is all that an engineer can tand
without being oyertased SIX Of sghtl
hours should be a days work for q CON
duetor. The engineer Of a coal train
stated that his. "trip, was tWenty two
hours. i t.It'st an awful ,hard4atask to
keep awake the last eleven or twelve
hours 81 tie time. n 81 The other night
said he. ssson the return trip, Itdozed
of, and !. dreamed that everybody vas
asleep on the. train, and that we ran ii to-
Scranton depot lin that manner /
aWoke with start, and there was the
confounded fireman that had left on
watch. fast asleep! Scranton. was iIsst
ahead and in a few minutes more my
dream would have been a reality Il
Thefwriter has been assured BY old and
trusty eng neers that near the close OF a
long trip, especially if it has for any.
cause been unusually trying, tits utterly
impossible to keep awake A man will
fall asleep while standing on the foot
board and with his hand on the throttle.
A few years ago in the outskirts Of The
city one freight train ran through the
middle of another at a crossing the en-
gineer Of the invading train being
asleep at his post. He was awakened
by pieces of freight cars coming into thu,
cab. - ay.s u 49, 5s,t
All the testimony goes to show that
the oyerwork Of railway employees IS
universal, especially on the more i'm
portantllines. Aside from the in ustice
to the, men, there is the important con-,
sideration of the safety Of the public.
To-tly Mng in an elegant parior coach
over a smooth track is certain pleas,
ant But il the occupants of the cab,
or the man at the next switch, are
asleep, all this magniicence goes for
nothing but ruin. Il tne of the leading
railways out of this city has had
number Of serious smash-ups lately,
fortunately without loss of lie, under
conditions which point plainly to over
worked employees or else to the selec-
ton OF incompetent men. The matter
is one for the Legislature to deal with.
Meanwhile every traveller will do well
to watch out for himself, and wherever
he finds such q condition as this, shun
the road from that time forth. - Chic0-
90 Herald.