Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-06

>\\NM halVE rolled into block No.
&NNHE 1894, the signs of re-
!:
sENz lief that were uttered
NIESSGHSSIE by the railroad pres
4Z-IMX13N idents and their as
33H MhAMyM sistants of the entire
s2x, Xf1EHlRN country must have
"-T- u" developed. at their
conjunction, into a
H&AA prayer of thanksgiv-
ing. The year 1893
Will go into railroad
history as the most disastrous on record.
when the loss Of life and the 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 suffered, while the western
roads, through their officials, simply at
Tribute their losses to the immense traffic
that swept down upon them in the later
days Of the worlds fair
1t is peculiar coincidence that the month
or March, 1898, was the only month of the
year that escaped without a black mark I'm
the shape OF a fatal accident to its credit.
For many decades the month of March has
been considered the worst month of the
year for fatal railroad accidents and re-
liable records win show that she has well
earned this reputation. This state of things
was no doubt. brought about principally
through the season Of the year and its ef-
rect upon newly built roads. Frost would
De leaving the ground about that time of
the year and roads completed and oper-
ated the fall previously would be called
upon by Mother Nature to stand a strain
that hastily constructed roadbeds were not
equal to. Hence cave-ins and washouts
fell to the record of March.
The year 1S93 had hardly begun onera-
uors before the great wreck on the Big
rour' January II, occurred. In that wreck.
VIII be remembered, thirty-two were
Killed and thirty-six injured With this an
FAILING Inauguration of accidents the rec
ord of disasters was kept up throuehout
.ne entire year with such persistency that
the believers in bad luck came to believe
the figures 1893 were ill-omened.
Last Years Terrible Record-
Inc record OF the year recalls the worst
days. Of Mississippi steambcating. when
lives were recklessly sacrificed To sneaa 80
tne time when the. wrecks Of the frail side
| wheel steamers on the Atlantic ooo.-
Drought death to hundreds Since January
l. 1888, until December 81 Of the same wear
| twenty-eight severe disasters have occurred
On the railroads Of the country. This IS bv
no means all the collisions and derailrnents
from "hich death and injury have resulted
out II includes the principal ones. adding
up the totals Of deaths and injuries We ind
that 81 people were killed and e47 I'm ures
Ihis is an appalling record, and NAV wei,
excite painful interest in the trayelius
publics mind
In a conversation recently with a von.
known railroad official an Evening Star re-
| porter preached the subject of the dis
astrous record of 1893 as regards rallrS ad
travel. The official said:
| The years record was undouhta5i,, -
worst in my memory, but 1 know il win re.
| suit In great good. Many things Yer,
brought out through the misfortunes, ana
where they can be prevented in the future
preparations looking to that end have al.
ready been inaugurated. Many of the dis.
asters occurred to worlds :air trains bu:
| the fact that this class OF travel was ser.
| iously affected is no adequate reason why
| II should be so. On most of the railroads
| where extra service was necessary by the
travel to Chicago trains were not SO fire.
| quent that the doubling or trebling of them
need have resulted in crowding. The cause
| In my mind. for the great list of accidents
can be traced to the parsimony of a majority
| of the western roads The overworking q.
| employees from the lack of train service Is
one result Of economy, but a more welghry
| result was the incompetence of those EN-.
ployed. The desire to cut down expenses
led to the employment of men lacking in
the training necessary to rightly under
| stand and execute orders. and who were
hired simply because they could be hired
OF the most prominent roads in the cast
roads that have always had the least trou
bic with their employees on account O.
wages were the least sufferers In the way
| of wrecks last year.
The Battle Creek Horror.
Let me cite the horrible Battle Creek
Mich, accident as the natural result o,
hiring Incompetent employees. The enginee,
and conductor did not seem to understand
the orders given them and were totally un
fit to carry them out Fancy any of our ole
engineers pulling away from a station wher
they didn't understand an order The,
would have stayed there a week under the
same circumstance The lack OF system OF
many roads is also accountable for some O
the years horrors. Past immunity from
criminal prosecution has made several com
panies careless. They know they can b
mulcted in damages to a certain amount 20
every person they kill or injure, bur beyon,
that they ere safe from danger. Investiga
tions generally end in nothing, or II a yer
dict is brought in, a prosecution in tn,
courts OF tie employees or of the officials o
the companies rarely or never takes place
the trust Of too great a majority of IN
railroads is that public indigna lion vii
soon blow over, and generally they calcu
late correctly. This IL a result orough
about by the general belief that accident
will and must happen but the extreme 4
which this idea may be carried Is not takel
into consioe ra ton.
passenger business of the country is rapid
picking up the enlargement of n tremen
dous depot, that is. II was considered INV,
years ago, in a neighboring city substanti
ates this assertion, and the railroads iha
have an entrance into the city of New Nor,
or reach nearby water fronss are simpl,
swamped by their passenger traffic The yea
. 1893 will show that there were 100000 90
passengers transported, and Of these one II
| each 1.OO0.OW was killed and one in eacl
! 1O0,OW was injured. This is a comparative
ly small number. IT is true. but the fact re
mains that II is an increase over 1892 ant
that 1t should not have been so large Their,
are thousands of competent. hard-workin,
men employed by the railroads who are con
scientiously trying to do their duty 1t Il
pity that the effort they are making Z,
elevate their calling and win the confdenc,
OF the public should be defeated by the par
simony of some of the companies and b,
the lack of system with which many road
are run.
To Prevent Disasters.
1.-THE recent meeting in New York OF tn
officials connected with the American Rail
. way Association to discuss the best metho,
. of preventing disasters that result in tn