The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1890-07-27
DEATH ON THE RAIL.
Awful Work Of the Link
Coupler and Spindle
Brake.
APPALLING STATISTICS.
Facts From Leading Jersey Lines
Authenticated by State
Officers.

OlI1 NEWS told or q uOfemenb among
railroad men to lessen the mortality by
accidents through the abolition Of the
deadly coupler and the spindle brake,
Some facts given below will show how
much reason there is for the endeavor.
The deadly coupler" figures very sig
nilcantly In the chapter of New Jersey
railroad history known as .Accidents. y
Statisticians show that most OF those
killed and injured on railroads are not
passengers, but employees or trespassers.
New Jersey, with it's 3,74S miles of rail-
roads, affords convenient field for OBJ
servation on this particular line Of study,
The law of the State requires all railroad
companies to annually report accioents.
to state how they occurred and give the
names of the crew responsible for the ac-
cident, with the final disposition of the
crew after locating the responsibility.
Scattered through the last report of the
railroad and canal companies, which is
prepared by the State Comptroller and
just received from the printer, there is
considerable information bearing on the
chances.and responsibility of railroad en-
ployes and figures that afford a study OF
railroad accidents.
KILLED BY THE COUPLER.
the cause of accidents, and they are the
coupler and trespassing by walking on
track or stealing ride" as the rail-
roads designate 1t. The Central Railroad
of New Jersey, for the year 1889, makes q
remarkable showing of accidents. The
total number for the year was 30l. OF
this number 81 were fatal and 241 acct
dents of miscellaneous character. With
all the attempts to decrease the chances
of getting "pinched" when coupling cars
still large number of accidents occurred
The number on the New Jersey Central
road from this source was just 49, The
number of fatal accidents from walking
on the track was 81. Out of this number
one-half was directly traced to the fact
that the unfortunate people had been
drinking before they walked along the
road bed.
THE PENNsY's CASUALTIES.
The United Railroads, which comprise
the lines operated directly by the Penn
sylvania Railroad, have punched all the
accidents Cd their system. On this road
the trespasser who persists on riding
without ticket. and who is injured and
killed, is designated in the official reports
as stealing ride On account of the
road running from New York to Phila-
delphia there are large number of this
class who get on the mail trains anG fast
freights TO journey from one metropolis
to the other. The majority of them are
not tramps, but unfortunate workmen
going from city to city in search of work
This fact is shown by the examination OF
the records of the Trenton city morgue,
where large number of the fatal cases
are taken. On the Amboy division 8
fatal accidents are reported which were
caused by walking or standing on track;
were In this way The practice of get
ting on and off trains while in motion
continues to grow, and this was the cause
of 81 accidents, / of which was fatal and
20 caused In other ways. While coupling
or handling cars 80 men were injured.
There were SO men injured on this road in
ways too numerous to mention were
killed and found on the road.
The schedule for the New ork d.
vision shows gain in the number of ac-
cidents. The number of persons struck
by passing train and killed was four
teen killed and nine injured. There
were thirty. three persons injured by get
ting on and of trains while In motion,
and four killed. There were twentv-six
persons found dead aside of the track
and had been struck by passing trains.
and seventeen injured who recovered
that are denominated as s'slirhtn and
VERY slight" Under the head OF en-
ployes killed or injured there are III
cases stated. A closer inspection shows
that only eleven were fatal.
THE GRADE CROSSINGS.
There is slight decrease in the mum
Der of persons killed or injured by NOV :
ing trains while crossing the track.
There are thirteen injured and ten killed.
The persons not employees that were iu-
jured figures up to sixty-seven some of
them passengers cut by the glass from
broken windows and kneeeaps injured
by sudden lurching on the cars and being
thrown against sides of the car or seats.
There were nine fatal accidents, mostly
of the 'stealing-a-ride" class.
There is no way of telling how much
was the harvest of the deadly coupler.
because accidents of this character are
grouped with those that occurred while
handling cars at stations. The total num-
Der Of accidents reported was 165; out of
this number 10 were fatal. This number
ia unusually large, and is made so be-
cause it includes a large percentage of
accidents.
The showing of the Belvidere division
compares fayorably with former years.
there being 81 accidents and 8 deaths
The Bergen County Railroad reports
only killed and / injured. The old
Camden aud Atlantic, which is mainly
used as an excursion road, had IS people
injured last year and only killed.
THE NORRIS AND ESSEX.
The Morris and Essex did its share in
swelling the list of fatal accidents. There
were go on the road, of which % were
cause OF 81 of these accidents, but FORTH
nately not one of them was fatal. With
out exception they were crushing of
fingers and hands, md in several in
stances there were broken arms reported.
The New Jersey Southern, which cuts
through the New Jersey pines from New
York to Bay Side, a distance OF eighty
eight miles, had only 10 accidents aud
only 3 deaths. The New York and Green
wood Lake Company had 16 accidents &C.
credited against 1t and fatal.
The largest percentage of deaths Is
shown in the report of the New York and
Long Branch Railroad Company, which
runs from Perth Amboy to Bay Head,
which covers a long line OF seashore
points. There are IL accidents reported.
which were the cause of ii deaths and 4
serious injuries. Nearly all of them were
instant deaths and Killed ON crossings in
the vlcfs ity of seashore places. The New
York, Susquehanna and Western Com
pany makes a favorable showing in the
list of accidents reported. There were SO
during the year, and II were fatal. The
coupler was successful cause of the
larger number of them. The Paterson
and Hudson River Railroad reports 81
accidents. The number of persons killed
was 90
The Paterson, Newark and New York
had accidents, of which 2 were fatal.
The Paterson and Ramapo Railway Com
pany reports II accidents, 5 OF which were
fetal. There were accidents on the
Weehawken Branch Railroad, of which
were fatal, and the other 6 caused by the
coupler.
sEwELL's ROAD.