Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-02

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IJi 1k Academy Of Music and
Pt,A M NM raised their voices in
S}f ,ssSsn protest against the al
OSy- most criminal parsi-
-KAsS- mony or Indifference
@ES which leads the railways
V&SCC@ to slaughter or main
many thousands of rail-
way men yearly. According to the report Of
the interstate commerce commission which
was quoted at that convention 24.s51 railway
employees we're killed or injured on this CONT
hent In 1881. Of this number Of casualties
ABOUT one-half were due to the primitive and
oid-tlme barbarous mode Of coupling cars. In
o'her words. ten times the number Of that en-
tire convention of railroad men are sacrificed
every year by causes that are easily prev
=, Inc principal work of the convention was
the unanimous adoption of a resolution asking
LOT the passage of soma law that will lessen the
iriSnlui slaughter of human beings by
curing that all railroads shall equip freight
cars With automatic couplers and power brakes.
THE LAW PROPOSED.
As a re-echo Of this resolution there was re-
Gently introduced in the Senate by Senator
Cuiiom a bill covering these requests and it
was referred to the committee on railroads.
AZ recent meeting of this committee William
T. hoSers. eX-nember OF the board of state
railroad commissioners of New York and now
u member of the committee on safety appli-
ances, appeared before it and spoke In favor of
the Dill prepared by him and introduced bv
senator Cullom. He said, among other things.
tnat the Representatives of l25, 0C0 ont of the
ltV,OOO miles of railroad in the country were
IN favor OF the bill. and the switchmen, he
SAID. had also approved it.
The representatives of the railroad corpora
lions claim that legislative interference is not
u ma ytar 81
own accord in time. 1t is claimed on the other
hand, however. that at the present rate of
equlpplnS freight cars with patent couplers
and air brakes 1t will be three years at least be-
lore the work Is concluded and, further. that
by granting the railroads the permission
OF taking their time in the matter the euor-
NOUS number of about 30 600 innocent lives will
be sacrificed. The saving of the lives or bodies
OF nearly 10000 men and heads of families. it is
held Is an end OF more importance than any
dividends or interest on railway stocks or
bonds.
The visit to Baltimore last Saturday Of a sub
committee of the House to INSPECT the car
works OF the Baltimore and Ohio railroad at
Mount Clare, to make practical observations
on the subject of car couplings suggested to a
STAR reporter the idea OF interviewing a mem
Der OF that great army who would be benefited
by the passage OF the pending bill An
Intelligent looking young man was
found at railroad crossing within
NV wy iiuits WoThlny lne lever that
lowers the gate which protects passersby from
passing trains. He used but one hand at his
work, for the reason that the other, with the
arm to the shoulder. missing. knowl-
edge OF railroad service by the reporter led
him to believe in advance that here was an
object lesson In the daily service Of railroad
brakeman. Upon inquiry this surmise proved
correct.
GATE TENDERS STORY.
After the train bad swept on and the gate had
been raised to its proper position the reporter
followed the gateman into his little cabin.
"Yes, 1 lost my good right arm" he said,
coupling cars. That occurred some four
years back. Had it not occurred would be
earning SIS a month now instead of $50 A
rotten deadwood did the work for me. / had
passed through that stage of a brakeman life
wherein he'uses a stick to hold up the coupling
link and considered myself an expert. This
confidence on the part of railroaders causes
one-half the accidents. l had two apparently
sound cars to put together and went in between
them as innocent as you please. They came
together slow and easy like, but the deadwood
that supports the bullnose, to which the
links coupled. crumbled beneath the pres
sure of the cars that were backed up and was
caught. They pulled me out quick as pos
sible, but my arm was mashed to a pulp up to
the elbow and the doctor said six ribs were
broken. No, railroaders don't die easy. In
four weeks l was walking about and shortly
thereafter was assigned to this post and have
been here since. Rather hard to have to work
for the remainder of ones life at $50
! a month. But L m not kicking. l knew the
risk was taking when went on the road, but
being farmers lad thought the work easier,
and SO paid the penalty for deserving green
fields and the flavor Of new-mown hay.
THE RISKS RAILRoADERs RUN
mot one person out Of hundred compre-
hends the risks of a airoader's life. We're all
the appliances perfect, the exposure to the cold
of winter and the heat of summer, to say moth
Ing of protecting the companys property from
tramps, would call for service enough for the
compensation granted.
when u green hand first tackles railroading
he will usually provide himself with short
stick with which to lower or raise the link SO
as to slip it into the small opening in the bull
nose. In this way he protects his hand, but
the ridicule of the older employees is too much
for him and he soon discards it. As weeks
pass by and he comes through all right little
saf eg yards that IA careful man will always look
after are forgotten anu then his time comes
Perhaps it is a night when the ground is
slippery under his feet and the darkness SO
deep that the light of fellow-br;keman's
lamp short distance up tho track
looks like FREELY Pickering about
on a summers night. As the cars come to-
gether he loses his foothold on the ,crossties,
falls forward, and lucky is he if only an arm or
leg is lost.
Then again, on frosty morning. the brake
man, with sloved hand. grasps the cold link MS
tho Cars come together, and. as the link enters
the bullnose. he pulls his hand away or tries
to. But the frost has frozen the glove fast. it
is only for a fraction OF a second but that lit
tie time has cost him a hand or an arm.
THE OVERLAPPING PLATFORMS.
Zone OF the most deadly traps q brakeman
has to contend with is the over and under
buffer or platform of a freight car. One road
builds one size of car and another road has a
different standard of size. When these cars
come together one platform overlaps the other
You can see the deadly effectiveness of
this mixture Of standard sizes is all RICH; and
harmless, but at night can be depended upon
to do horrible work. have seen men almost
torn in two by this overlapping. The Car
Builders Association has remcdied this evil to
great extent within the last year.
BETWEEN THE CARS.
"Many people believe that it is unnecessary
for brakeman to go between the cars to
couple up. They are woefully mistaken. Un-
der the present conditions of train service
passenger ears are the only kind completely
equipped with patent couplers. About one
freight car in fifty is supplied with them, and
there is no other way for brakeman to make
up train than by going in between the cars.
another danger in coupling and uncoupling
cars is the liability to catch the feet in angles
in the track. This is peculiarly the case when