The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1893-11-16

Horrible Ecsult4 If Some of the Latest
Suggest That sonetL.ns 5tssst Ese Done.

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Horrible r.csult. IF saue of the Latest
Suggest That sonae;L:n. sss.st Ie Done.
A majority Of to 10 called accidents
on our railroads III the last three c: four
months have NOT beer. carsed by tho FAIL
ure Of loiiiag asccl:. bli Is or roa05ed
to atacl thass.ai1 lit r...lIts3c81, bot to
the terrible catx!aSssl-sa Il employees in
places Of gr,-t :ssH3a ,1il.@!. IAa col,
Ision il 2~.ic.jgan was caused b the
reckless dis,Ghs Gio2ce OF plain orders OF
the part OF the officers in charge cf ci,e
of the trains. Apparently these c.ieers
readily tcolg tac risk Of continuing &c.
yond the point where they llad been al
rected 10 stop. knowing that ct s.1y time
they might EJECT another fast train on
the same track. 1t will bye noted tiia:
they were ALE To escape by jan ping oil
Just be:cre the collision that killed &c
passengers.
The collision in Illinois a few hours
earlier between q limited express and a
train of coal cars could not have taken
place If those III 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.
1t is true that in the last few months
many railroad lines have been overtaxed
by a 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.
tons have become untrustworthy and
eve 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 III 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 a company
may suffer heavy enough? The loss OF
property in d collision is not an impor
tant loss for a,great corporation. The
conviction of conductor, or all engineer
Or a train dispatcher on charge of man.
slaughter can exercise very little fe
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 ba much l2Ors
careful both ii the supervision of Ihei,
employees and in the establishment oi
block signals and other safeguards.
For the 26 lives sacrificed ii Michigan
the relatives OF the victims can recover
from the company almost gl30, $50, OF
5000 for each life. II this limit. which
is imposed by the laws III most of tie
states. were removed, such terrible
slaughter as this would be so expensive
to a company that the establishment oil
approved 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 q
railroad company commonly suffers 9
much smaller loss in money when a pas
senger is killed than when one is Grip.
pled.-New York Times.