Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-30
MCDOWELL HAS A BILL
For the Legislature Making Trespass
on Railways Misdemeanor.
A REGIMENT HAS BEEN KILLED
On the Steam Highways of Allegheny
County in the Past Five Years.
FEATURES OF THE CORoNER'S REPORT

FEATURES OF THE CORONER'S REPORT
Coroner Heber Mcdowell will appear
before the next Legislature with bill max
ing it misdemeanor, punishable by fine or
imprisonment, for persons to trespass on a
railroad, He will ask the other Coroners
of the State to join with him. This will be
the main recommendation in his report this
| year.
Few people who note each day the list OF
! deaths on railways think ever of the aggre-
gate. Within the year just past $50 were
SO killed in Allegheny county, and within
| the period of the last five years the rail-
roads, through deaths door, have mustered
out regiment of men and left behind a
| whole brigade of weeping widows and help
less orphans to this cold worlds charity.
OF this number Of killed over 70 rest in un-
| known graves And m@e than this, a
thousand others within the year were in
jured and some were manned for life.
During the year the Pennsylvania road
claimed IS victims. The Panhandle stood
next with 36, and the Baltimore and Ohio
killed "a. The deaths on the other roads
were, Ft Wayne, IA; West Penn, IA; Pitts
burg Virginia and Charleston, 10; Lake
Erie, Is; Pittsburg, McKeesport and
Youghiogheny, Z; Pittsburg and Western,
II; Allegheny Valley, 10; Cleveland and
Pittsburg, 2; and on the private roads at
mills, 18. Taking the deaths in months, q
fell in January, and the same in February.
March saw victims and April II. For
May, June and July, it was respectively 10.
II and %. In August there we're 10 deaths,
and in September there was one death every
day and two left over. Twenty-Five died in
October, but November swelled the number
1, and this month there have been %.
Railways Cause One-Fourth the Deaths.
Inside the five years there have been
4,052 deaths from various causes which rem
dered a coroner's inquest necessary aud
one-fourth of them was caused by the rail.
roads. OF the deaths this year two and one
third were employees of the road and over
half the entire number were persons who
were walking on the tracks and there were
many employees among this number.
During the year many safeguards to life
have been added by the railroads. Many of
the grade crossing dangers have been reme-
died by the various roads. The Pennsyl-
vania Railroad is now constructing hand
some overhead bridge at Roup station. This
death-trap is well remembered by the tragic
deaths of Richard Wray and Officer Thomas
Chidlow. The bridge at Center avenue has
also been great safeguard, and the Coroner
hopes for a further extension of the work.
He has several times recommended further
Of ch,1pp rb n
number of people have been killed There
should he gates there, on account of the i'm
mense number of people that are handled at
that station. At Union station. with all
the thousands that pass through them every
day not one was killed in all the year, and
last year only one child was killed there.
But One Collision in the Year.
A remarkable fact was that there was
only one collision, that at Whitmer station,
where but one was killed. The only pas
senger killed on train was Clara
Fleming, of Washington, Pa, who was hit
bv stone that rolled down from the hill
side near the Point Bridge. Many passen-
gers, however, have been killed just as they
got off trains. Perhaps one of the worst
cases was that of Nancy O'Freel, Father
Sheedy's housekeeper. She, was an old
lady, and at the time she alighted at the
Point Bridge station of the Panhandle,
train was due from the opposite direction.
The noise of the leaving train drowned that
of the coming, and as she turned the second
train killed her The Coroner recon-
mended watchman there and also that
people should only be allowed to get off on
one side as is done on traction cars.
Another cause of death to passengers are
the poorly lighted stations. Two ladies
have lately been killed at Sewickley from
this cause, and at the inquest on Mary Con-
nor, killed there on December 16, the jury
recommended that the station be better
lighted and that comfortable station be
erected on the south side of the track.
In talking of deaths on railways yesterday
Coroner Mcdowell said: Zone thing that
may be said for the railroads is that people
go out of their way to walk on railroad
tracks. One was the case of McKeesport
man, who went square out of his way to
walk on the track because the street was
muddy. Just as he reached the rear of his
home he was struck by an engine and in
stantly killed. There are scores of others,
such as the two men who were killed Christ
mas at Copeland. 1 believe there should be
an act to make it q misdemeanor to walk on
a railway track.
Will Ask the Other Coroners to Help.
eft would be charity to pass such law
and would leave 1eWer WIDOWS and orphans |
on the bounty of the State. There is such |
a law in England 1t is right, for now when
quick trains follow each other the delay
caused by the grinding up of one hapless |
traveller may be enough to cause another
train to crash into the other one. 1t should |
be passed for the sake of the other lives the |
tooiishness of one person will endanger 1 |
will prepare such bill and will ask the |
other coroners of the State to help.
''The President in his last message and the |
one before said more were killed bv rail- |
roads now than there fell by rebel bullets in
the war; and it is true. Most of all, each
freight car should be inspected before it is |
placed in train. The brake rod and wheel |
kill more than anything else. When the |
engineer whistles for down brakes the men
take hold of the wheel The nut is
either loose or off, and when the weight is
thrown the wheel jumps off and the man is
pitched between the cars. Then there's but
a wheel still dangling on the rod, and the
missing brakeman lies mangled by the track.
There is no one on whom responsibility can
be placed. Every part of steamer is ex-