Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1893-04-07
BRAKEMEN'S PERILS.
DANGERS ARE CONSTANT IN CoU.
PLlNG FREIGHT CARS.

Mortuary Statistics.
To the tourist travelling in a luxuriously
appointed sleeper" or parlor car tn,
glimpse of brakeman on a passing freight
train does not often suggest the danger
with which his occupation is fraught MOI
the immediate peril to which he is in close
proximity
To one who has given the matter any
Thought, however, the constant risks &c
which brakeman is exposed in the pursuit
of his occupation are indeed very apparent,
Often one has noticed that the top of a
long line Of box cars was covered with ice
such as would afford a precalious footing
even on the sidewalk of a city, and here
when the train is running 80 miles an houI
against the wind, walk the length of the
train is about as dangerous passage as can
well be imagined, yet the brakeman accom-.
plishes this and more
J. mer the ice and snow and cold are
changed for heat and dust, There is, again,
the always imminent danger of injury
from derailment or collisions and from
coupling cars, the latter being the bugbeal
of the brakeman's life.
The last report of the interstate com.
merce commission-for the year ending
June 80, 1S92--shows conclusively that acct
dents TO railroad hands are on the increase
one in every 30 employed being injured in
that year. The number killed amounted
TO 1880 and those injured to26, l40, the total
number of employees being 7s4,2s5. OF
these sos were killed and 3,l9l injured by
jumping or falling from trains rs were
killed and 4i2 were injured by overhead OBJ
structions; 1903 were killed and $50 were
injured IN collisions: 206 were killed and 9lg
we've injured in deralments, and AIS EN-
ployees lost their lives and 9, 43i suffered in
juries in coupling aud uncoupling cars.
These last figures are sufficient proof that
coupling is one Of the most dangerous OBJ
erations in the trainmens routine, the
number killed being exceeded only by those
who met death in falling or jumping from
trains, while the number injured was great
er than that for any other form of accident,
amounting to more than one-third of the
total injured
1t Is close calculation Of time and dis
lance which permits brakeman to hold
the link Of the advancing car in one hand /
the pin Of the other car IN the other, and
TO make the almost simultaneous motions
OF releasing the link, dropping the pin and
stepping aside uninlured before the draw I
heads have crashed together IL is too fine /
calculation for many, and there are nu- |
merous otherwise fine specimens of man /
hood minus hand or arm, due to an ina J
bility TO judge this time and distance cor !
rectly
An accident, and one usually attended I
with fatal result, may occur from the brake I
man stumbling over inequalities in the .
track or the ties-should the road be badly .
bailasted-whiie advancing with the NOV F.
ing car with hls eyes fixed on the draw 4
y, ~ - ,Iey oe oai-it N lros .
7 - - i'4S iuIN' au'' UeAOIe the .
- '''' "'i''se" TUG car passes over
While many OF the railroads have adopt I
go automatic coupling gear on a portion, at .
least OF their ne" freight cars the increase .
OF equipment lifted with these devices dur .
ing the year ending June 30, 1892, being es-
tfmated at 50, 'io cars, the ordinary type is
sui IN excess These ordinary cars are now
ouli'' accofull4S 10 tue tendency Of modern
rallIoau CONSTRUCTION OF larger dimensions
thah those formerly used, 50 that train
made made up on any OF our great roads is
apt TO show LACK OF uniformity IN its cars.
ms Is another fruitful source Of danger
Inc deadheaas-peces Of timber which
project from the ends OF the cars--are not
az the same level nor are the drawbacks.
!" heh ~" C"'s coine losetuef' Ihe uead-
heads therefore cannot exercise their Office
as buffers, but pass one under the other, so
that the brakeman who has the difficult /
Task OF coupling ~odFaWheads at different /
levels Is caught between the collidtng cars ]
ana Is crushed TO death unless he is phe-
homehahy iucky or remarkably active.
Is IN recognition oil TINS danger that
the orakemen ON certain roads protested |
against the partial adoption OF automatic |
sonplels' a. The cars thus htted, always OF
larger dimensions than The cars supplied /
WIZ INK ana pm coupling only are liable
70 cause Hcetoehts When coupled with the
orulharJ car ny manu- for TINS reason only /
ulu uhe men ior Wnose reiiel the measure
was lh1ehueu protest against us adoption.
~ Is proPoseu now however tnat an cars /
snAil nc OIL su''hua'u anu uniform alInen- l
slohs.
1t has been recognized by inventors that I
an automatic coupler which would fulfill !