Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1891-10-06
RAILROAD ACCIDENTS.
rrcr>1 coLlr.io, rr.r. nr. s,spr.

In the last fee months the numbcr of
passenger. killci by the colllslon of
railroad train. moving In the same ~
rr,tion hN. been exceptionally large
bath In this country aud In Europ-.
The mo.t r,cent collisions ~ this kind In
~. United STATES wrrr iho.. At HaNeuna,
on the Erie Road, and At MontcInma, on
the West Shot-. At the hrst ~ uhr.c
nine,-en live. wvrr lost, aud At th. So
ond the num,-r ~ victims was eleven.
n will - recalled that At Eaycnna .
passenger train stsndlng st station
sas struck by folloslng fast
freight, which had pn air brakes,
and Ia which th~ prescribed sarulng
had not b-cn given by the r-ar brak"
man ot the fofsard train. Nt Monirsu-
ma \ freight train Nas struck hy fol-
loNing passenger train, aud In ihls cise
again the warning rcgulr~l by the rules
tn H. given a. the folloNiug train va.
not given.
co. - the worst of the collisions ~
thl. Kind that have taken plsc- Ia ku-
ro,- Nas the Que ~ July ~ al th" -.
Mande station ot the Ninc~nn-s Railroad
four miles from Paris. fifiy pas.-ngrf.
s.tv kill~,l ani mnch morv than q hun
drni wsfr ssyvfvly Injured. ~ the
sg-ne af thi, collision some very Interest.
log experiments have bccn made, Nlih
tls- parpole ~ tesilng thr assertions
and explanations made by the engineer
- The fpllowing train.
We do not knos that experiments ~
thl. kiui have EVER t-.n made Ia this
c,uniry undsr similar conditions and
th such = puft-pss in Niew. The story
20 the collision shows that tao long
trains vrfr returning a. Paris from
Tonisnoy. vh~f, thsfv hsi h..n a mu.
sical festival The forward train stop
pol Il II. MAnlr, aud While u was
staniins thsrv the following train
struck u With gtvst forc.. Pour ear. ~
the forwani tfsin wcv wrvckc'i, the
ruin. caught tr~. anil some 10 the VIE
tins, while lmpfi.oned In the broken
cars, Nef. drosucl by torrents 80 VA
ter poured On then hy the frcincn - the
village. Ia. engineer % the follosing
train DECLARED that after he sav the
danger lights on the rear car of the for.
warl train hs ~as unable to stop hls
train b~csu.c the air brake. could not
y. applis,I ta all 20 hl. cars. IL was az
that the valve 80 the air brakes between
th. fourth and hith car. had been closed
an that the brake. ILL not act upon the
/ ten car. beyond thi. valve.
The experiment. we're made by the
chief engineer ~ the railroad company
In ~. presence Of commi..lon ~ state
engineers. The following train had
left the yinccnnes station few minute.
bsforc IA. collision took place. 4
train of the .sme l-ngth aud weight
was started FROM Ninc,nn-. by the en-
gIn.-r. ai the customary rate ot speed.
aud the spot where the rear end of the
forward train Nas standing al the time
~ the collision ws. marked by q stake
which carried q danger light. IL MAS
found that thl. light could easily L. seen
by the engineer ~ the following
train when he reached point
~ ir-, from u. ~ that point
the air brake. wrr. applied Ia the entire
train which was stopped Ia III feet, so
that thcr. were - fc.t Ca spare. IN
thl. experiment the steam had been shut
off where II ws. customary Ia do thi. on
train approaching the -. Mande station.
In the neat experiment the train left
/ v y
aud this time the steam was not shut OF.
The brake. we're applied a. before, when
the danger light ~as seen, and the train
VA. stopped Ia III feet. Here there
were 5i2 feet Ia spare.
Then the engineer. closed the valve
between the fourth and fliih cars, an that
the brake would not act upon the ten
following ears, and started the train
vinccnne. In thi. condition. When the
danger light Was seen the brakes were sp.
plled to IN. engine and the first four ears.
The train was stopped Ia ~ feet. Thl.
indicated that there were 40 feet to
spare, even II the engineer had told the
truth about the condition of the brakes.
The State Engineer Insisted that there
| should be- Que more test, In which the
air brake. should not b. used. This
time the only brakes applied were the
hand brakes, which acted only on the
wheels of the locomotive. Under these
conditions the locomotive passed the
stake and danger light hut stopped only
90 feet beyond them. The engineer. adj
mitted that a collision under these con-
dltions would have caused only an insig-
nihcant shock, for Il Il plain that the
locomotive would be moving very slow
ly at the polnt of contact. In none ~
the experiments was the engine reversed
to assist tile brakes.
by these tests the engineer appears Ia
have been convicted 10 carele.snes. aud
fslsehooi. The official witnesses de-
cidesl that the brake. did not
fail to act on the day of the colli.ioD
and that ''if the brakes had been applied,
even tardily, the catastrophe would
surely have been avertei." To those
who read the report of the experiments
there seems 10 b. no room for doubt as
Ia the throughness aud convincing
character of them. Hut II Ia not prob
able that 90 psinstaking an Inquiry
would have been made II collision had
occurred under similar conditions on
one 10 our lines. The effect of the inyes-
tigaiion MAS to place the responsibility y
clearly 90 one man shd to snow that the
company had done iis duty In the mat
ter of equipment. u seems to ne that
the company ~as well paid for its scrk