Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-11-14
MAX'S MELANGE.
A Street Wanderers Comments and 0pin-
ions on Subjects of Local
Importance.
Discussion of the Danger of Railwa,
TrayeI-CarroII's Case-society Sea
son-Church Lectures-A Few
Remarks on "a Letter.

The other day was chatting with Sam
Dodds, the genial agent of the Pan Handle
railroad in this city, and the conversation
turned on the frequency of fatal railway
accidents-that is. those railroad fatalities
in which actual pay passengers lose their
lives.
Whenever railroad accident occurs, "
said Agent Dodds. people begin to talk Of
the dangers of travel They ask themselves
and one another which route is the safest,
on what part of a car, and so on. Timid
folks bid each other a fearful goodbye, and
every woman is morally certain to fear that
she will never again see in life the husband
who leaves her side TO go on journey
DO you sell many accident insurance
tckets?n | asked.
Yes, good many. In fact. every rail
way accident in which persons are killed,
increases the sales of insurance tickets.
Agent Didds did not say what he might
have said with perfect truth, that of all the
insurance in the world railroad accident in
surance is the dearest. | have recently
taken occasion TO look this matter up and
the odds are about !, 800 to in favor of the
insurance company.
The impression is very general that there
are humorous dangers in travel by rail, Vet
statistics and observation show that man
is more likely 10 be struck by lightning
during a thunder storm, or by epopleXy or
paralysis at any time, than TO meet yIo-
lent death while on a railway journey.
| Considering the number of casualties oC-
curing every day in the ordinary walks OF
| life-falling down stairs. sliding out OF bed,
slipping on banana peel, getting choked
on a piece of meat. wOunding ones self
while chopping kindling, being injured in
runaway accidents, strains incurred
! by lifting OF running or jumping, to
| say nothing of over-eating or too much
| drinking-it is as true as gospel that
| il is safer 10 travel on a railway than to re-
main at home. In travel by rail there is.
| of course, a bit of danger, but not so much
as is involved in the everyday movements
the pleasures, labOrs, goings and comings-
at home.
| In England, where they have fuller sta
tistics of this sort than are 10 be had in this
country. it has been ascertaned that the
! proportion Of railway passengers killed by
causes beyond their own control is one in
| 2S, 600, O0O journeys, and the proportion in
jured Is one in l, 900. 600 journeys. In other
words, if person were TO start out with
the deliberate intention of travelling by rail
| till he was violently landed, by causes be
yOnd his control, in that bourne from which
no traveller returns, he would have to make
rs, 600, 900 Journeys. Reckoning one jour
uey day, his death would occur in some
thing like 76. 200 years. The chances are
that he would die a natural death before
his patience was rewarded by the climax
which he sought. If an injury. by causes
| beyond his control. chanced to be the re-
ward which our traveller had set his heart
upon. he would have TO travel more than
ZOO years. 1t is fair to presume that his
patience would become exhausted long be
| fore he had finished the million journeys.