The herald., 1893-11-22
RAILROAD COLLISIONS.

Horrible Results of Some Of the Latest
Suggest That Something Must Be Done.
A majority of the so called accidents
on our railroads in the last three or four
months have not been caused by tho fail
ure Of rolling stock, bridges or roadbed
to stand the strain put upon them, but to
the terrible carelessness of employees in
places of great responsibility. The col
lision in Michigan was caused by the
reckless disobedience of plain orders on
the part Of the officers in charge of one
of the trains. Apparently these officers
readily took the risk of continuing be-
yond the point where they had been di-
rected to stop, knowing that at any time
they might meet another fast train on
the same track. It will be noted that
they were able to escape by jumping off
Just before the collision that killed 20
passengers.
The collision in Illinois few hours
earlier between limited express and a
train of coal cars could not have taken
place if those in charge of the freight
train had exercised ordinary care and
observed the fundamental rules of the
service. These are the latest additions
to an appalling list of blunders and in
stances of reckless disobedience which
have caused great loss of life since the
beginning of last summer, and this latest
collision, followed by a fire that left only
the charred bodies of many victims who
could not be identified, is the worst of
all.
It is true that in the last few months
many railroad lines have been overtaxed
by sudden and exceptional growth Of
passenger traffic which has found them
poorly equipped both as to the safe
guards which are needed and the en-
ployees required for the work. 1t is prob
able also that on some roads employees
who were trustworthy under old condi-
tions have become untrustworthy and
even reckless under the strain of over
work. But, while the people generally
may be interested in discussion of the
underlying causes of such a series of
dreadful events, they are more deeply
interested in suggestions as to the action
which can be taken to prevent such
carelessness and disregard for the safety
of passengers, as have been shown this
year.
Are the penalties which company
may suffer heavy enough? The loss of
property in a collision is not an impor-
tant loss for great corporation. The
conviction of conductor, or an engineer,
OF train dispatcher on charge of man
slaughter can exercise very little re-
straining influence upon the company
that employed him. But if it were pos
sible to collect through the courts large
sums in damages for the lives that are
lost the companies would be much more
careful both in the supervision of their
employees and in the establishment of
block signals and other safeguards.
For the 26 lives sacrificed in Michigan
the relatives of the victims can recover
from the company almost $4,000, or
s., 900 for each life. If this limit, which
is imposed by the laws in most of the
states, were removed, such terrible
slaughter as this would be so expensive
to company that the establishment of
safeguards would not be neg
lected, and every possible effort to insure
the efficiency of train officers and the
preservation of passengers lives would
be made. Under present conditions
railroad company commonly suffers a
much smaller loss in money when pas
senger is killed than when one is Grip
pied. York Times.