The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-08-23
STREET-CAR MOTOR MEN.
The Publ C Demand for High Speed. Not the
Carmen, Responsible for the Casualties.

To the Editor OF the Indianapolis Journal
Your correspondent III yesterdays issue.
signing himself Mechanic" lays great
stress upon the accidents that have been
caused by the electric oars Of late. and &C
the same time places the greater portion of
the blame on the employees. The. accidents
(oH MURDERS" as Mechanic" calls them)
are. of course. to be deplored. But the re-
sponsibility should be placed where 1t
properly belongs. Mechanic" claims that
the direct cause Is mpetency of the
mOtOrmen. He SAYS: They still 60
on, these motormen and conductors. in this
same deadly work. fortified by the asSur-
ance that they are employed by q great
money cd corporation, who are supposed to
know their own business" This would
lead one to regard the motorman and con-
ductor as no better than common murder
ers. But such is not the case. | do not be-
lieve there IL q more intelligent or q more
honorable set of men to bo found any where
than our motormen and conductors. l do
not believe, nor will any sane person ao-
Qualnted with the facts in the case asse TT.
that the recent accidents would not nave
occurred had the motormon been more ex-
perienced in running Cars,O or more skilled In
electrical science. In the case of the KrOots
boys. u wagon hjd them from the view of
the m0torman until so close that 1t was i'm
possible to stop the car. Would an ex-
perienced mOtOrman be able to see through
q wsgoni Saturdays tragedy was similar
to the first. only TINS time 1t was another
street car instead OF u wagon. Could an
experienced mOtOrman have seen through
the approaching street Car 80 as to tell IL
<l-.. $50, A~,. ohAaA4 iNortA m ovna-
rienced motOrman have stopped his car and
ohm bed down to push o man of the trackf
or would he have Ok pected the man TO move
of HE own accord. as did the motormsn In
the case of the Massachusetts avenue trag-
edyf Railroad engineers are as q rule as
good mechanics as any set OF men upon
whom great responsibility rests. The trains
they handle are allowed to run no faster
than the street cars inside the city. Sup
pose l should stand In front of an approach
ing train. wOnld the engineer stop his tram.
or would be expect me to movef lt would
hardly be ad for anyone to try the
Ok periment.
The great trouble is the cars run entirely
too fast. But who Is responsible for the
lightninQllke speed2 The citizens. of
course. There is scarcely q day passes that
there isn't an article In some Of the news
papers clamOriDg for rapid transit. aud
finally they get rapid transit and then the
next thing We hear Is some one upbraidinR
III III " 4
ness and fast running. An idea may be
had of what the employees are expected 90
do by noting the following: A car leaves
the Union Depot at . specified time. LIZ
goes to Fall creek, q distance OF three
miles, and In the three miles there are
thIrty-six crossings at which the car Is
liable 60. and sometimes does. stop. making
q distance of six miles. with twenty-five
stops. in a round trip. The time allowed
for u round trip 10 fifty minutes. Suppose
a oar tak86 An aVoraQo of n half mlnnt0 Rt
each crossing. which. when you deduct the
LAY" time at each end of the line. q heavy
loaded car will sometimes do. This leaves
q distsnce of six miles to be made In Just
fourteen minutes. or u rate of about twen.
ty.six miles An hour. This 10 not always
the case. yet 1t is not unfrequent. The
public demands rapid transit and the com
|, pany makes mp q time card and gives to the
en- cord tine employee aD1 the rum nnhus sne IN
turn censures the mot0rmon and con-
ductors. All things considered. 1 think
our mOtOrmen and conductors q model set
of workingmen. and It seems strange to
hear any fsir-minded man. with due re.
gard TO justice, c~riticise and condemn q
man for an act which any one must see
was no fault of his.
As long as We have rapid transit we will
have accidents. With the cars running al
the rate Of from seven to twenty-five miles
an hOur-which the public demands-we
may not xpect any thing else. But are the
electric cars the only ones that cause scci.
dentist / think not. Only q short time be.
fore the electric cars were started on the
COllege-avenue line q boy vas run ovel
and killed at the In Intersection of Massachu
eetts and Park avenues by one of the last
mule cars that passed over that line. Does
Mechanic" think that if the driver had
been better versed in the science of mule
driving that accident would not have hap.
penedf l am well aware that the more
skilled one is in his profession, even to tn,
commOncstO Of laborers. the better il is fol
all concerned. Yet l do not believe that
the mOtorman in question. no matter how
skilled or how careful he may lave been,
could have averted the recent accidents
There is no reason for believing that any
of the motormen in question are, a.
heart, murderers: and. as has been
seen. incOm potency IL not in any way the
cause of the deplorahle occurrences. So
let us not condemn those men who labor
from early morn until late at night wheI
the greater portion of mankind are wrap
IN slumber. Let us not attempt to place
before the eyes of the country as murder.
ers the hard worked men who know ne
front of a car, exposed TO tho rain. ths
snow, the slret. the cutting winds of th,
north. grssping the lever with cold. be
numbed hand amid the storm for hours an(
hours, and which seems to have no end
The life of the motorman is hard at best
and surely we should not attempt to max,
1t more so. j. w. GALLOWAY.
INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. %.