New-York tribune., 1891-02-21
THE TUNNEL DISASTER.

The horrible disaster in the railroad tunnel
near Eighty -ffth-St. will doubtless be mnutely
invest gated and the responsibility put Where
it belongs. 1t is not certain, however, that
ANYBODY will be compelled 70 suffer just pen
atty for the criminal neglect which produced
such dreadful results There seem 10 be no
Mitigating circumstances in this case. 1herc
had been no sudden and startling occurrence to
confuse the judgment and suggest the wrong
thing. Two trains were moving on the same
track in the same direction, and short interval
separated them. If the first train stopped
or reduced its speed, it was only necessary
for the second to stop or go slower too. The
situation was not novel in any respect. In
fact il was so common as scarcely to be even
unexpected. The system under which tralhc
over the Harlem tracks within the city limits
is controlled provides for this precise contln-
gency by the operation of the block system
The mechanical devices were in perfect order,
and the destruction must therefore he attributed
to a human agent.
The disaster which followed close on de-
linouency lacked scarcely single clement OF
horror. The victims were first mangled ana
then roasted. Some may have been lnsenSole
when the flames reached them, but others died
slowly in agony. One succeeded in getting MS
head and shoulders out Of window, ana was
able to plead for death until the rest OF his BODY
had been burned to a crisp. lie at least might
have been saved if the wreck had not caught
fire. And this fact furnishes one more lndlct-
ment of the appliances by which railroad cars, IN
spite of disastrous experience and good laws, are
still heated and lighted. 1t is not certain that
ba Opfla prltIOu HtIt If
knowledged that they may have, for there were
hot stoves in some of the cars. II 1t was
broken lamp that started the fire. as some of the
officials suppose, then we have another PROOF
that other means of illumination ought to be
employed.
As we have said, the blame presumably must
rest upon some individual empoye. AS Is
usual in such cases, controversy as to'the facts
began at once. 1t is positively declared, on one
side. that the danger signal was set; ana on
the other side the engineer, fireman and con-
ductor of the second train aS positively asser;
that no danger signal was visible, and that inc
bell which rings automatically when a block IS
closed was not heard by them. As between the
man who says that he saw certain object ana
the man who says that he did not see IT, the
latter must always stand most in need OF CON
Grmation. fol he may be merely impeachlng his
own eyesight whereas the former must be be-
lieved or else proved liar. The officers who
have been investigating the case thus far think
that the signals were properly set.
1t must be acknowledged that the conditions
under which a railroad is operated i'll tunnel
are almost invariably bad. 1t is true also that
they could be readily improved. The tunnels
above Forty seconds are cOmmOdlOuS ana
solidy built but they are dark throughout and
in places as black as night. Electricity would
make them as light aS the streets above them
at comparatively small expense. If there IS any
good reason why railroad companies should not
be required by law to light their tunnels thor
oughly from end to end it has never been
brought to our notice. Any argument against
such a requirement, except that Of cost, would
seem TO be an argument for inclosing surface
tracks and that, we imagine, nobody would
| favor if it could be done for nothing.
There is little doubt, we repeat, that in this
case some individual employe is guilty. and
vet assuming that the danger signals were dis
plaved. the assertion OF three reputable men
! that they did not see them suggests the dis
agreeable thought that the condition OF the
atmosphere in these tunnels may possibly at
times he such as TO obscure the waning lights
ON which safety depends. On this point dill
gent inquiry ought to be made by the com
panics before they acquit themselves of all re-
sponsibIity for this amentable catastrophe. The
public has a right to know the whole truth in
such cases, and, when the blame has been
placed where it belongs, to demand that the
matter shall not end there.