The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-23

plifed.
From the Washington star.
When Father Times train left block
M 1898. and rolled into block No. 1894,
the signs of relief that were uttered by
the railroad presidents and their assist
ants of the entire country must have de-
veloped at their conjunction, into a
rraver of thanksgiving, The year 1898
,vi1I 20 into railroad history as the most
disastrous on record, when the loss of life
and destruction of rolling stock is taken
into consideration. Sheer luck will be
blamed by the managers of the eastern
roads for the misfortunes they have suf-
fered while the western roads,. through
their officials, simply attribute their
losses to the immense traffic that swept
down upon them in the later days of the
worlds fair.
tits a peculiar coincidence that the
month of March, 1893, was The only month
nj the year that escaped without black
mark in the shape of fatal accident to
it's credit For many decades the month
of March has been considered the worst
month in the year for fatal railroad acct
dents and rella BILE records will show that
Ebe has well earned this reputation. This
safe Of things was. no doubt, brought
sbont principally through the season of
the year and its effect upon newly built
roads Frost would be leaving the ground
about that time of the year and roads
completed and operated the fall previously
vvoDid be called upoh by Mother Nature
10 stand a strain that hastily constructed
roadoeds were not equal to. Hence cave
ins and washouts fell to the record of
March.
The wear 1898 had hardly begun opera
tions before the great wreck on the Big
-Four Jan. q. occurred. In that wreck
il will be reuaem bered thirty-two were
killed and thirGy-six injured. With this
appalling iuau guration of accidents the
record of disasters was kept up through
out the entire year with such persistency
that the believers in bad luck came to be-
lieve the figures 1893 were ill-omened.
LAST YEARS TERRIBLE RECORD.
The record of the year recalls the worst
DAYS of Mississippi sGeamboating, when
lives. were recklessly sacrificed to speed.
and the time when the wrecks of the frail
sidewheel steamers on the Atlantic ocean
brought death to hundreds, Sine Jan. l,
1898. until Dec. 81 of the same wear
twenty-eight severe disasters have oc-
Cured on the railroads of the country.
This is by no means all the collisions and
derailments from which death and injury
\
pal ones. Adding up the totals of deaths
and injuries we lind that 232 people were
killed and 647 injured. This is an appall-
ing record, and may well excite painful
interest in the travelling publlc's mind.
In conversation recently with a well
known railroad oticial an Evening Star
reporter preached the subject of the dis
astrous record of 1898 as regards railroad
travel The ticial said;
The years record was undoubtedly
the worst in my memory. but | know it
viii result in great good. Many things
were brought out through the mis- for
n tunes, and where they can be prevented
IN the future preparations looking to that
end have already been inaugurated
Many of the disasters occurred to world 5
fair trains, but the fact that this class
of travel was seriously affected is no ad-
u equate reason why it should be so. On
mostOf the railroads where extra SER
vice was necessary by the travel to Chi
cagO trains were not so frequent that the
doubling or trebling of them need have
resulted in crow1ing. The cause, in my
mind. for the great list of accidents can
be traced to the parsimony of ma .ority
of the western roa Is. The overWorking
OF employees from the lack of train service
Is one result OF economy, but a more
welghty result was the incompetence of
those employed. The desire to cut
down expenses led to the employment of
men lacking in the training necessary to
rightly understand and execute orders,
ana VINO were hired simply because they
could be hired oheaply. 1t is an uudenia-
bic fact that two of the most prominent
roads IN the east. roads that have always
mad the least trouble with their employees
On account of wages were the least suf-
Ierefs IN the way'of wrecks last year.
THE BATTLE CREEK HORROR.
Let me cite the horrible Battle Greek,
lMlch) accident as the natural result of
nlrlng incompetent employees. The en-
glneer and conductor did mot seem to IN
derstand the orders given them aud were
Iu'dIIy unit TO cardy them out. Fancy
any OF our old engineers pulling away
rom a station when they didn't under
stand an order. They would have stayed
Inere week under the. same circum-
stances. The lack of system on many
ROADS Is also accounta BILE for some of the
years horrors, Past immunity from
criminal prosecution has made several
toIAPdnles careless. They know they can
9e mllcted in damages to a certain amount
loF every person they kill or injure, but
geNonq that they are safe from danger.
Investigations generally end in nothing or,
y verdict is brought in, prosecution in
yue courts OF the employees or Of the OFF,
.ldIS OF The companies rarely or never
- P1oLO' 1uS GFuSV Oh 100 BESdb ma
orIly OF the railroads is that public in
uIghatlon will soon blow over, and gen
etdIIy they calculate CORRECTLY. This is a
tGsuIt oroughtiatout by the general belief
.IdI accidents will and must happen, but
'ue extreme TO which this idea may be
1arTieo Is not taken into consideration
1ou very we'll know that the railroad
passenger business of the country is
.apiuly picking up. The enlargement of
d tremendous depot, that is, it was so con-
oiioered nVe years ago, in neighboring
10y soostantiates this assertion, and the
aaLEodds that have an entrance into the
St-Ly OF New York or reach nearby water
tIouls are simply swamped by their pas
tSuger tra1hc. The year 1898 will show
ma. .ldI there were 750.000,000 passengers
IIISS.nlssPorted, and of these one in each
oGSv9VU,VUO was killed, and one in each 1OO,-
wv was injured. This is a comparatively
y SlialI number. it is true, but the fact re-
sslIs Ihao II is an increase over 1892 and
no. 7Iav IL snould not have been so large.
, IneEe are thousands of compe ,ent, hard
,r rIIlAln men EN- loyed by the railroads
~ Guo are conscientiously trying to do their
-. u IS pity that the effort they are
tILaAlug 10 elevate their calling and win
$50 le 1,ndence of the public should be de-
c t0ayeu oy the parsimony of some Of the
iipaHles and by the lack of system with
"ulch many roads are run.
10 PREVENT DISASTERS.