Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-12-23
the cause of loss of life Mr.. Lardner

Tie CduS0 VI d lOSS VI liz MI. hdI QuSt
explains as follows:
1t would appear that there is an
instructive impulse, which in some in
diViduals is almost irresistible, to leap
from q train to recover their hats
when blown off or accidentally
dropped. The reports of railway acci
dents supply numerous examples of
this
North Midland, April 1, 1SS4.-Pas-
senger jumped out after his hat Arm
broken by The fall.
Great Western, July %, 1S44-Pas-
senger jumped out of a carriage after
his hat while the train was in motion.
Killed
Mr.. Lardner describes the danger of
trying to hand an article into the win
dow Of a train going at full speed,
about twenty miles an hour, and tells
how ten people had been killed through
their ignorance Of this danger. Then
he tells about the danger of riding in
private carriages carried on train:
The regular railway carriages are
safer in case OF accident than private
carriage placed on a truck. They are
stronger and heavier. They are less
liable to be thrown off the rails or to
be crushed or overthrow in case of a
collision. The cinders elected from
- 1Iht sc tunnel of the engine are
generally in a state Of vivid ignition,
and if they happen to fall on any COM
bustible object are liable to set fire to
it. The railway carriages are con-
an accident, but private carriages ar
not so, and, moreover, from their
greater elevation when placed on a
truck are more exposed. Serious &C
cidents have sometimes occurred from
this cause. The trucks which carry
private carriages are also often placed
at the end of the train, the least safe
position"
A long communication from the then
Countess of Zetland follows in the
book, in which she describes how a
spark set fire to her private carriage
which had been strapped to a truck.
The countess and her maid had to
climb out of the vehicle and cling to
the truck. The maid fell under the
train and was killed.
The following rules might be OBJ
served with good results today:
All who are accustomed to railway
travelling know that the English rail-
ways in general consist of two lines
OF rails, one commonly called the up
line and the other the down-line. The
trains always keep the line of rails on
the left of the engine driver as he
looks forward. The consequence OF
this is, that trains moving in opposite
directions are never on the same line.
and between these can never be a col
lision.
The doors of the carriages, which
are on our right as you look toward
the engine, open upon the space in the
middle of the railway between the two
lines Of rails. The passenger should
never attempt to leave the carriage by
these doors; if he does, he is liable to
be struck down or run over by trains
passing on the adjacent line Of rails.
If he leaves the carriage by the left
hand door he descends on the side Of
the railway out of danger.
"On quitting a train under such cir
cumstances, Immediately retire to the
distance of several feet from the edge
of the line, SO as to avoid being struck
by the steps or other projecting parts
of carriages passing"
Mr.. Lardner gives a long list of the
killed and manned who failed to use
the precaution necessary in leaving
trains, and he explains the difference
between special, local, regular and ex-
press trains. He recites a number of
other fatal accidents, and concludes
his volume with an analysis of the
various railroads in the world at thas
time. Five hundred deaths are men
toned as showing the necessity of
following the rules laid down in the
book.-New York Commercial Adver-
tiser