Wichita eagle., 1888-01-07
A SAFE TRACK.
TIE RISK OF RAILROAD MANAGE.
MENT Is THE MAN ELEMENT.
The Machine Is Comparatively Safe, but
the Employe Is Frequently Careless.
Some of the Rules of Railroad EN-
Observation-Disclosures.

the Employe Is Frequently Careless
Some of the Rules of Railroad EN-
ployes-Wa
at is matter Of grave surprise to me. ;
said railroad magnate of prominence, i,
conversation with reporter. that aftel
! every accident on steam railways the PEG
pie raise a clamor about that indefinite
and vague parsonage, the management
instead of seeking out at once the indiyid
ual employe of the company to whose
carelessness, most probably, the mishap i.
attributable. With very few exceptions
railroads. in their own interest as well as
the public's, take every precaution fol
/ the safety Of passengers. The machinery
of the road can be kept in such a way as
! to guard against accident to a reasonable
certainty. Metal works are easily
managed; the great risk in the operation
| OF the railroad is the man element. The
nearer the man becomes an automaton. OF
like machine, the safer he is The
average human being in subordinate OF
| ioWiy position is prone TO do what he is
! distinctly told not TO do, and neglect TO dc
that which he is ordered to perform AS
/ said, man is the risky link. but without
/ hiA3i III Ci4C j hLiHiLS vi q IdL1AOdu IL NOulil
| be impossible to get along. If we could
| only get machine TO take mans place
/ along the line would undertake to per
! sonalIy guarantee the safety of trains and
| their passengers.
The nearer railroad employee be
comes machine the greater safety he
viii prove - the railroad and his patrons
The more devoid Of vaulting ambition he
| boz h. H.
old conductors who have been in the ser
vice for years, who are perfectly satisfied
with their situations and do not aspire to
be general manager of the road, they
make the best men for their places. They
do not think Of anything else, and that
makes them valuable as conductors
From the standpoint of safety it's better
for a man not TO think at all. but to
| blindly follow Instructions The road
viii advise him as to his duties, place him
in a rat and oil his joints with salary in
keeping with his place When doing duty
for the railroad he has no business think
/ ing of anything else His time is the
| cornpaDys, and it pays him for following
instructions.
"A good many people," continued the
railway man, do not understand that
the entire organization of a railway is
framed with particular reference to the
safety OF the company's property and the
Ives Of ITS patrons and employees. Let
NE show you our instructions. All told,
they fill quite large book Moreover,
employees are required to learn these regu-
lations. Ii is as much their duty To
familiariZe themselves with them as it is
70 be on hand ready to go to work at the
hour appointed by their superiors. Rail
road hands, IS rule, are not the most
highly educated men. / would scarcely
care to hire & Harvard or Yale man for
switch service, or any job of that kind.
In the first place, the college man would
spend too much time in thinking, instead
Of attending to business. The caIber OF
ouE men is such, as a rule, that it is not
only necessary to tell them what they
shall do, but also what they shall not do
we start out by instructing them TO
take the safe side in cases of the least I'M
certainty. Take the case of trackmen
They are specially instructed by their Sill
periOrs to set 10 fires on windy days: to
leave no fire until they are sure it is eX-
tinguished; they must examine culyerts
bridges, rails. make all needful temporary
repairs, and instantly report anything be-
You'd their capabilities. For the safe OPP
Grafton of trims the rules are so numer-
Gus that. can only mention few of
them. Here is one which most people
will be surprised al. II reads:
" Trains are TO be run under the direc-
lion Of the conductor except when his di-
rections conflict with train orders, the
rules, or involve any risk or hazard, in
which event it shall be the duty of any
emplovc to call the attention Of the con-
ductor or engineer to the risk they take,
and themselves at once take such action
rs will secure the safety of persons and
property committed to their charge; and
if any emDlove shall neglect or refuse to
call the attention Of the conductor or en-
gincer to the risk. or neglect to take such
action Immediately as will secure the
safety Of persons and property, in either
of these cases all participators will be held
alike accountable
every passenger train running at night
must display two good red lights on the
rear platform of tse rear car in the train,
and it is the duty of the conductor and
the rear brakeman to examine them fire.
ouently to see that the lights burn clearly.
Every passenger train must have 1 bell
cord attached to the signal bell on the en-
CINE, and passing through the entire train.
According to the rules. irregular trains,
running under special or telegraph orders,
must be run with great care. Engineers
must run with great caution around all
abrupt curves, sounding the whistle az
least eighty rods before entering the curve,
and continuing 10 sound il Ut short inter
walls until the curve IS passed.
''All trains except first class trains must
approach all stations, water tanks and
coal chutes under complete control. eX-
pecting to find the preceding train on the
main track, whether it may be stopping
place for that train or not. In case OF &C
ciGent or stoppage upon the main track
from any cause, conductors must imme-
diately protect their trains. Whenever
fogs or storms prevent an engineer from
seeing clearly in advance, the signal used
for obscure road crossings must be given
at intervals OF one minute. until the train
is clear of the fog or storm The absence
of light at night on any switch or signal
post where a light is ordinarily shown.
must be taken as a signal Of danger; and
engineers approaching such switch must
stop or run slowly until the proper pt'oi-
ton of the switch IS aScerteined
in every first class railway organi1a-
ton there Is a most elaborate system q
test inspection Car wheels, axles,
brakes. rails. ties, bridges Of all sorts,
lamps, signals, locomotive gear Of every
description-in fact. the whole road and
al OF It's appurtenances-are waEched as n
hem watches her young chicks. Iha
great machine is kept almost perfect, ex-
cept in the human parts. There the
great DANCER lies. and danger always wiz
be there Is long rs railroads are operated
by men. The ideal railroad. SO far IS