Evening star., 1894-02-03
Practically all passenger trains are alread,
provided with these appliances.
Fcrther Safeguards Needed.

provided with these appliances.
Frrther Safeguards Needed.
A Freight train not thus provided Is a
helpless mass when unde- wa. II it
overtakes a stopl I'd passenger train, it goes
crashing into the latter, it's engineer being
power.ess to stop II. In this M uner occur
the frequent rear-end collisions, which are
a-1cuS the most friPhtful of disasters on
the rail. So long as 1t is customary for
f>1ght trains and passenger uns to use
the same tracks. it is obviously as import
ait for the one to be properly controlled as
IT 'e for the o'her. Furnished with driving
wheel brake and afr brake, the man at the
helm Of the ship on wheels can by a turn
OF lev bring her to a parse within a
short distance, sewing his tran fsom DASH
Ing in: , an obstruction in front. or perhaps
from falling through a bridge.
The interstate commerce commission, on
its organization in 1881, under the law re-
quired the railway to report all accidents
to employees. The figures thus obtained
which Is still in vogue to some extent,
freight trains were controlled by brakemen
who ran back and forth from one end of
the train to the other on the ps of the
cars. jumping from one car to another.
Naturally. this met. cd involved great loss
Of life. Even now 500 men lose their lives
cars. 1t should be remembered that this
sort OF work must be performed by night
as well as by day-in prairie blizzards as
well as In pleasant weather.
Some years ago in the legislature of
Massachusetts, the question was discussed
whether the tops of freight cars should not
be protected by guard rails, to save brake
men from falling on. One railway manager
actually opposed the proposition on the
ground that whenever a man fell and
caught the rail, he would wrench the top
of the car SO as to make it leak. Neverthe-
less. railway managers, as rule, are
neither brutal nor inconsiderate. The chief
trouble has been that they have been un-
able to agree as to what was needed in the
way OF Improvement for safety.
The interstate commerce commission
thinks it important that Congress should
pass law requiring the blocking of frogs
wherever federal jurisdiction governs. In
a frog, at the place where two rails ap-
proach each other, there Is V-shaped
opening. Anybody who steps incautiously
into this opening is very likely to have his
foot caught. so that he cannot extricate it
at all events, not until an approaching
train has had time to run over him. Many
railway employees are killed in this man.
ner. Accordingly, some of the states re-
quire that blocks of wood shall be fitted
into all frogs, thus rendering them harm
less. shovelful of dirt will accomplish
the same purpose, it is true, II it be applied.
For lack of two or three shovelfuls of earth
thus bestowed three good men have lost
their lives within the last year under the
very shadow of the Capitol.
DohScE r EOuh the OESs
Only the other day distinguished citizen
Of Massachusetts was passing through a
town not many miles from Boston. AS he
was crossing a railway track, which ran
through one of the streets. he noticed a
little girl of about five summers sitting on
the rails. Knowing that train was due
about that time he spoke to the child and
told her to get up. She made some an
swer, which he at first did not understand,
but finally realized that she said in her i'm
perfect way: u have caught my foot,
srl' Going to the child he found her foot
tightly wedged in one of the frogs. She
vas speedily extricated from the perilous
position, but only a few moments before a
train came rushing along.
The matter of blocking frogs, however,
comes ordinarily under the jurisdiction of
the states. 1t is the same way with block
signals, guard rails for bridges and the
trailers overhead, which, by striking the
brakeman on top of a car, notify him that
he is approaching a low bridge. Sugges-
tions have been made to the effect that
cowcatchers on locomotives might be SO
constructed as to catch people up unharm-
ed or perhaps throw them out of the way
when struck. Unfortunately, when a rail-
way engine strikes a man it does not mat
ter much how he is hit. After all, the cow
catcher, though originally intended for a
useful purpose, Is no longer anything more
than an ornament. For this reason it has
preserved its primitive form.
1t may be safely contended that as much
courage is required and exhibited by the
railway employe in active service as by
the soldier or sailor. Was greater bravery
ever shown than that, recently chronicled
of the locomotive engineer Joseph Lutz?
A fue had burst, filling his cab with scald-
ing steam, while his express train was al
full speed. He did not jump: he stuck to
his post, while the flesh was cooked and
peeled from his hands, face and body
Though crippled for life. he stopped the
train. Not less noble and courageous was
the brakeman of only yesterdays history
whose train became uncoupled and broke
apart. He, sorely wounded and thrown to
the ground. was left behind with the rear
portion. Knowing that another train was
rapidly approaching. he feebly raised him.
self on his hands and knees put a lighted
match to his handkerchief. and waved II
over his head just as the on-coming head
light flashed around curve.