Evening star., 1894-02-03

wholesale sacrifice Of
@f the lives of employees
on the iron roads Of
the country. 1t requires that by July. 1893.
all freight trains shall be equipped with
automatic couplers and train brakes and
all locomotives with wheel brakes. Some
Of the railways. objecting to the expense.
fough' -he bill bitterly when it was before
Congress After its passage they tried
their best to secure a veto and now they
will make an effort to have 1t declared null.
They are not likely to succeed. because
1t Is a fact well recognized that 90 per cent
Of the deaths and 40 per cent of the hon
fatal hurts suffered by railway employees
are due to the lack Of automatic train
brakes and automatic couplers. What an
enormous number of avoidable casualties
Is thus represented may be judged when 1t
Is stated that every year on the iron roads
Of the United States 2, 500 workers engaged
In the business of transportation are killed
and 25,OOO are injured. In 1892 more rail-
way employees were killed In this country
than three times the number of Union men
slain at the battles Of Lookout Mountain,
Missionary Ridge and Orchard Knob COM
bined. The number injured was greater
than the wounded and missing at Shiloh
Antietam and First and Second Bull Run
combined.
The facts In the case are rendered i'm
pressive when it is said that more faithful
workers on tHe railways of the United
States we Il in sudden death during
1872 than ire number of Union men
who died ,--e battle of the Wilderness
and nearly as many as perished at Spott-
sylvania- In the bloody Crimean conflict
the British lost 1000 in killed and wound
ed-not as many as are slain, MANNED and
mangled among the railroad men of this
country in a single year. At the battle of
Sedan, which sealed the fate of the second
empire. the loss on both sides in killed ard
wounded was a trifie more than the killed
and wounded among our trainmen last
year. At Gravelotte, where the loss was
heaviest in the Franco-Prussian war, the
Germans lost 20.5.I men. Wellington won
Waterloo and Meade Gettysburg with loss
of 23.1s5 and 23.O03, respectively and the
total loss on both sides at Shiloh in the
two days murderous fight did not reach
2i.OOO.
Entitled to Consideration.
The railway workers are certainly enti-
tied to consideration for their safety and
comfort. They number more men than the
entire voting population of New Hampshire,
Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware, Floriia,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada and
Colorado-nine sovereign states combined.
If they had proportionate representation
they would have fifteen members in Con-
gress and eighteen Senators. While un-
dergoing such perils and losses. this clear
headed and vigilant army during 1892 ham
died 560.95S.2l1 passengers with much
care and skill that only one in every
1.491.910 was killed and only one in every
1I3.O33 was injured from all causes, includ-
ing their own carelessness.
This great army of peace, including off,
GERS and general office clerks, numbers
S2l AS individuals. This means that there
is in the United States one railway en-
ploye for every seventy-nine men, women
and children. 1t signifies that these work
ers a body would make a city nearly
twice the size of Boston, more than four
times as great as Milwaukee. and more
than seven times as great as Indianapolis.
They would about equal the total popula-
tion of the states of Delaware. North Da-
kota. Montana, Wyoming and the Terri
tory of Arizona. supposing that one of the
states contained in addition to it's popula-
ton, as shown by the census of 1890, a
city the size of Columbus, Ohio.
1t is impressive to consider that the men
employed by the railways of this country
constitute a body as large as the active
army or Germany, t3 per cent as large as
the active army of France, 53 per cent as
large as the active army of Russia, and
larger than the active army of Italy. They
are a body larger than the standing army
OF Austro-Hungary. more than six times as
large as the standing army of Great Bri-
tam, and more than thirty times as large
es the standing army of the United States
The labor performed by this army of work.
ers Is prodigious to contemplate, the total
number or passengers carried in 1892 be-
Ing o62,95S.211. The average journey of each
person was about "a miles. This allows a
traction more than eight trips for every
man, woman and child in the country.
During the same year 10 IL tons of freight
child.
tremendous Railway System.
1t Is pretty generality understood that In
respect to its railway system the United
states Is not approached by any other
country on the face of the earth Our ter
rftory is gridironed with more than 40. 900
miles of track. This would girdle the globe
nearly seven times, or would traverse its
diameter more than twenty-one times 1t
would require nearly four months for a
modern fast train, running GO miles an
hour. "a hours a day, without stops. to
uaVel from one end to the other. A COM
parison of our railway mileage with that
Of other nations shows that We have more
tnan six miles to Germany's one; more
than eight miles to one of Great Britain:
more than seven miles to one of France:
more than seven miles to one Of Russia
more than twenty miles to one of Italy
ara nearly ten miles to one of Austria
Inc locomotives Of the railways of the
United States, If hitched with their tenders
In a single line. would make a train 357
miles long, extending from Boston in a
straight line to point SO miles south of
fnlIadelphia- The freight cars OF the coun-
tfy IN line would stretch from Boston TO
San Francisco. from San Francisco back
10 Boston, and again as far west az Chi
cago-a total distance of 7.p2s miles.
The greatest loss of life among trainmen
Is Incidental to coupling cars Formerly
All OF the roads had uniform system OF
coupling-the oid-faShioned link and pin.
Ifere being no uniformity in the height OF
the draw bars, the latter would often
rlde each other when two cars came to-
gether, SO that the man was crushed he
tween them. Again, in holding I'D the pin
70 enter the draw bar. there was risk of
INJURY TO the hand Mutilations from this
latter cause became so frequent that they
We're called the "switchman's mark" sig.
ElfyinS the loss Of a thumb or some of the
fingers. - e
Inc railways in trying to itigate this
cohdltion OF affairs adopted so many differ.
eht types OF couplers that the number OF
casualties was actually increased thereby
w men the various roads used fifty or NOR.
oistnct devices for this purpose the work
man was pretty sure to be killed or injured
In a short period. That is a pretty faiI