The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1888-11-22

not suit him. But when crn,S mat does
mangled humanity calls for hs,e and
impulse of noble nature maLas every
absolutely compulsory. All snoh 'ae call
compensation is an afterthOught, and ti% !.
only regarded as far off possibiIi auo his
those of us, unconnected with ocy when
tions, renders service to the vio,; pora-
railway accidents. us Of
To prevent MISUNDERSTANDING
lusive hopes upon that material no; ua ae'
superintendent of the Houston ana ~ 'ne
Central, and probably other sunar;, .e1as
ents in the state, have issued speo;a,
ders: That no bills for services rsn a, OF.
to those injured by railroad accidsn..
be paid, unless explicit authority be CIV, ral
in each case to the person rsnderines SVEN
service, or words to that effect, Tbs. 'le
q steel-clad ring, miserable sel6sh.s
and cold = blooded inbnm"NS'
about such orders that mnst
reflected upon, to be properly appre"io,. 70
1t means, that any one, when hurt bv ,Ss9-
trains, must be patient in sufferins u rus'
the circumstances of the injury arc oo oa
tiously looked into, and then, if theso S su1
officials think the party injured worth s -
consideration, they will, in their own No.
give the needful help; if not WORTHY =,
consideration, if poor tramp, or SON.
moneyless unknown, then the bnrasu ~
caring for him must fall upon othS.
shoulders.
An accident occurred in this city t.u
weeks ago that enabled me to comn,s
bend, as above indicated, that snsris,
order, and the subsequent history Of Ms
case suggested the writing of. this artioIS
On the morning of August 10, ons
Peblo Mora was run over by an engine II
the Houston and Texas Central Railvsv
company near the union depot.
Peblo Mora was an old Mexican, uea,l,
blind, without wife or children or any ons
who could sue for damages. He wa.
struck as he crossed the track on COLORADO
streetIby the tender of the engine. The en-.
gineer was backing and could not, or did
not, see the old man, who was on a strest
crossing, place where he not only had
right to be but place where some one Al
all times might be expected to be.
1t was clearly the duty of the road man.
agement to have had guard or guards At
that time and place, to walk in front Of
advancing, and particularly in front Of
backing trains, to prevent such accidents,
and IN the absence of such customary pre-.
cautions, the accident was the Immediate
result of wilful neglect. The engineer and
local agents seemed to regret the casualty,
and would have gladly rendered assistance,
but they had no authority to do 80, and
the man, with crushed and bleeding feet,
was left to the mercy of those who
had no connection with the
injured, or with those inficting the injury.
A chance acquaintance had the wounded
man removed to his cabin near by, and
physicians of this place amputated the
right leg and performed Chopart's opera
ton on the left foot. Notwithstanding.
the careful attention given his death 90.
cured on the third day after the accident.
The city authorities had his remains de-
Gently interred-and the life, the history
and the tragic death of Peblo Mora will
soon pass from the memory of men! But
humble and friendless though
he was, if there is, as we are
told, a feultless and in
cOrruptible tribunal beyond the grave,
some one will there be arralgned for his
cruel and inexcusable homicide.
A few days after the occurrences above
narrated, / addressed to prominent Off
cial in the medical department of the
Central, an inquiry as to the steps to be
taken i'll order to get some oompen-
sation for. the money actually
expended, and for the surgical
services rendered by the doctors partici-
patiDg in the operation; and, as we eI-
pected, I received the prompt and laconc
answer, that the general superintendentof
the Houston and Texas Central railway
company says, "that the company is not
sponsible for the injury done the Mexican,
Peblo Mora, nor for the bills of his medi-
cal attendants" Even the burial eI.
penses were repudiated, and the public
money of the city was used to find last
resting place for the unfortunate man.
Had the injury occurred in great
wreck, where the eyes of the nation
watched every painful incident connected
with it, where the newspaper men were
ready to turn their guns upon those who
failed to meet the demands of the hour
where visions of damage suits appeared
in the distance, we would have read, the
day after the accident, how promptly sur
geons had been summoned to care for
even this stranger in foreign land.
If horse or COW had been so killed
on the streets of Austin our city author.
tiles could have compelled its removal by
the railway officials. AS it was only o
friendless man the corporation was not
disturbed by the trIfing episode.
If private citizen mad driven bis
wagon or carriage over that old Mexican,
and had left him, with broken limbs, TO
die in the street, and had not at the time
of injury, nor afterwerd, manifested the
least interest in his fate, had refused to
contribute one cent towards his comfort
while living, or to the burial expenses
when dead, what would this community,
or any other civilized community, have
thought and said about it? Every tongue
would have pronounced the perpetrator
miserable brute! And yet corporation
worth millions of dollars can fill out all
those opditions without mourning either
pecuniary loss or public condemnation.
If it is right to permit these giant cor
porations to thus impose upon
benevolent people and upon
city and county authorities
there is no need for statutory enacts-
ments; if it is not right, our law makers
should breathe into their inanlmste cor
porate bodies legal souls that would make
them respond, as mortals do, to cries OF
pity and distress.
The medical men of Texas necessarily
gee more of this railway in