Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1896-11-14
RAILWAY TRAVEL.


AC0eOcoUO HVc rev NO"VuTCU WIN
the Number Of Passengers.
About three years ago the govern. |
mcnt ut Washington. through the
bureau. published table "
the number OF persons In the United
States killed by lightning In the pcevi-
OTIS twelvcmontl. Writing from mem.
DRY, l think 1t was 251. Now, there
are very few persons who give them.
selves much concern over the possible.
ity that they may Become the victims
of an electrical storm, but there are
many who do not set out OH a railway
Journey without the fear before their
crcs that something may happen" 1t
may bc rcassuring TO such persons, us
well as 10 many who arc In temporary
alarm just now hcreabouts, to bear in
mind that they ore almost as likely to
lie struck by lightning-although the
chances that they will be are only one In
about 3OU0-as that they will lose
their lives In railway accident.
Dr. Lardncr some time ago, when the
safety OF passengers on railroads was
not as well provided for as 1t Is to-day,
estimated that the chance that lie
might bc killed was one TO G5.OOOO0O
for every one mile Travelled. The Sec
ond Charles Francis Adams. when no
first began to study railroad problems,
gave conclusive proof that man who
would stay the year round In a first.
class passenger eur on an express train
had less prospect of meeting violent
death than II he were to remain for the
same time In his own house. Colonel
Thomas A. Scott once remarked TINT q
railroad car was safer place than q
hotel. Franklin u. GOwcn, when
taking a special flyer on one Of the
mornings when he was whirlcd up to
Pottsville to prosecute jack Kehoe and
other Molly Maguircs, observed that
he could trust his safety OH train ut
nifty miles nn hour n good deal more
thnn his father could have done fifty
years before IN a stage coach at ten
miles an hour. Clia,tnccy NJ. Depew
has pointed out how the Empire State
express made Its great runs daily to
Chicago without the loss of life, and
the Chicago "1Amitcd" Of the rennsyl.
vania, with Its tremendous rate of
speed. Inns been running for years with
Its record unmarried by more than two
, or three serious accidents ana none Of
them q Wholesale wreck. The inter-
state commerce commissions report,
issued Inst year. shows that the entire
number Of passengers carried on the
railroads Of the United states was up.
! ward Of S4O.00O.OO0, and vet only 3"5
lost their lives In accidents.
Now, the real havoc OF modern rail-
roadlng Ii not among passengers. but
among the employees Of railroads and
among trespassers and pedestrians and
nOntravclers. How to diminish this
destruction Of human life Il one Of the
chief problems which Thoughtful rail.
road men IRE considering to-day. The
introduction Of tho automatic CIR
coupler II certain to lessen It among
f, the bsakemen, and the abolition Of
| grade crossings has done something ia
reduce the slaughter In large cities and
their suburbs. From the day when
George Stcphcuson's Rocket, at the
very beginning Of rxilroading, struck
down and killed. In the presence Of the
duke Of Wellington, the famous Illus.
kissou. who had been member Of his
cabinet. the death roll on the inil las
been numbered by tho tens OF thou.
sands. I fancy that few Of us pause to
think that In u single twelvemOnth the
number Of lives destroyed on tho rail.
roads Of this country alone Is greater
than the entire loss Of Meadc's army al
the battle Of Gettysburg. Tho whole
war Of tho rebellion, indeed, hardly
presents a more CHASTITY record than
the list Of dead ana wounded on the
railroads OF the United States In the
period following the war. For exam
pie. In 1894 there were G,4I7 persons
J who lost their lives and upward Of 80.
600 who were wounded, and within the
last eight years the death roll aggre
gated fully 10000 persons who were
not passengers. as well a. more thar
100000 who were classified among the
| Observation-Disclosures Bulletin.