New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-17
pERTLS or RAILROAD ENPLOTES.

The report OF the stiusucllh 10 tHc i"'"'St"'o
Commerce Commission, which has Just appeared
in its complete form, properly dcvocH much space
with many valuable analyses 10 the subject oil
railroad casualties. The total number OF persons
reported killed on the railroads OF tho lnicd
States during the year ending June 30, lsoo
WAS 6334, OF whom 2.45i were employees, 2N6
wera passengers and 3 .597 were ca-,cd - " other
perscnsr the last class including suicides. The
total number reported injured was 29,O2o, oi
whom 22,394 were employees. 2.425 werc pas
sengers and 42O6 were unCaSsllicd. Fewer
passengers, but more employees suffered casual
ties than in the previous year, and this tact Sug-
pests at once the belief, which other evidence
confirms, that the railroad companies, while con
stanty endcayoring TO promote the safety Of
messengers show no similar growth Of >llicltudc
for the safety Of employees.
The record thus summarized is diScleditablc
and ought 10 be startling, but the truth il that
il makes no wide and deep impression. In his
three annual messages President Harrison has
written plainly and forcibly on the subject, and
recommended legislation 10 diminish this dread
full killing and manning. But nothing Is done
by Congress and almost nothing by the railroads,
and little popular concern is manifested. An
occasional slaughter OF passengers through care
lclsness arouscs universal Indignation, followed
by urgent demands for Icparation and the adop-
ton Of new precautions but the continuous
waste OF the lives and limbs of employees goes
! on almost without a. protest. During the year
800 employees were killed and 7,Sl2 injured
| merely in coupling and uncoupling cars. OBJ
viouSy, an overwhelming proportion OF these
| fatalities and more or less serious injuries would
not have occurred If automatic couplcrS had been
| in universal use. Tho number Of deaths and
| injuries attributable to the Use Of handbialcs
| cannot be accurately estimated, but it must be
very large The facts and the necessary dcduc-
tons from tho facts familiar to railroad man
ayers, but apparently they have very imper-
feet Relation of their importance ana of their
own Obligations.
| Some improvement is discerniblc. Let us SEQ
| how much Practically all passenger loco
motives are supplied with trainbrakcs-S 1870
| out Of total Of 1884 but an increasing solicit
tude for the safety Of passengers has been ac-
knowledged, and their rights are not now under
| consideration. Ii also appears that 9,52S Of tho
| 1910 freight locomotives arc similarly sup
| Piled and on the whole there is a marked ten
dency toward general application of this device
| to locomotives. Passenger cars, which, again, we
are not now considering, generally fitted with
| trainbrakes, there being only l,ls1 out Of
| 26,511 without them. But of 9i3,5s0 freight
| cars only 7s,475 have trainbraleS, and the in
crease during the year was only 1862 ont Of
9,540 new freight cars. 1.-THE technical diff
cuties," says Mr.. Henry G.. Adams, statiStican
| of the Commission, are not here discussed, but
| when it is noted that during the year covered
| by this report trainman for every 1886 was
| killed by falling from trains or engines, any
device that lessons the exposure OF the men must
| commend itself without Argument The facts
| relating to the use of the automatic coupler arc
| even less encouraging. 1t is more extensively
used in passenger than in freight service and
on passenger cars rs distinguished from pas
senger locomotives, ii has almost superseded the
old style OF hand coupling there being only 900
passenger cars without it, But it is emplo, ed
TO only very slight extent in the freight ser
vice. only 1O4 out of total of 1910 freight
locomotives and only 75,iS5 out Of $50
freight cars using it.
Nobody competent to express an opinion de-
MES that the nlocess Of fitting locomotives and