The Florence tribune., 1898-07-09
RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.
A Comparison Between America
 and Other Countries.
The Elect of Grade Crossings in Con nection with Accidcnts-sman Number of Fatalities in
 Great Britain.

With the casualties that are properly | classified as due to grade crossings are | generally yincludedaccidentst to trespass- ers-that is. to persons who attempt to | cross CT walk at grade upon the lines be- i tween the prescribed crossings. This | class of accidents forms large factor in the sum total of deaths and injuries i and great care is taken by the foreign companies to protect the public in this particular Fully one-third of all the accidents to persons on the English roads belong to this class; and while it is generally regarded that these acci- dents are the result of carelessness on the part of those who take the risks of entering upon the lines, it is neFerthe- ness noticeable that no reasonable pre- cautions are neglected In America, as Q whole, scarcely any provision IS made for preventing this class of accidents.
 In the state of Massachusetts alone there are about half as many deaths from this cause as in the whole of Great Britain and Ireland; and during the last IS years nearly one-half of all the fatalities upon the railways in that state have been of this class. By averag- ing the fatalities occurring in Great Britain and Germony, and comparing with the average for Massachusetts and Connecticut, the proportion is about as seven to one in favor of the foreign
 countries Certain classes of accidents are now almost unknown in Germany.
 Accidents to pedestrians at road cross ings, or to passengers from crossing the
 tracks at stations, are hardly possible
 at the present time. Any one attempt
 ing to walk upon the track is sure to De
 stopped, and very severe penalties are imposed for any defiance of the orders of an employe.
 In this connection few broad com : parisons are very significant. In the . oity of Buffalo, for instance, it was re- l ported, few years ago, that 61 fataii- ties occurred at grade crossings in Is months, being two more than the num- 5 Der reported for the whole of Germany l for the previous five years. Again, in q to rneAqEt. at the terminal commission Chicago, it was stated that over POO : people lost their lives at the grade cross : ings in that city in 1891. This is nearly !. as many fatalities as occurred in the whole of Great Britain and Ireland from the same cause during the sue J ceeding five years. These figures seem to indicate that these two cities afford : from three to five times as many fatali- :. ties of this class as the whole of Great l Britain and Ireland and Germany com , bined.
 Generally speaking, the objections to grade crossings were clearly foreseen !, in England, and the remedies were ap- piled in the cities when the railways were established. In the country dis tricts there are still considerable num- Der of grade crossings. They are by no means so numerous, however, on the
 continental lines. Under the regula- tion of railway acts, 1868 and 1871, ! penalty of 40 shillings is provided for the offense of entering or being upon a,
 railway, except for the purpose of cross
 ing the same at some authorized cross
 ing. It is provided, however, that the offending party shill first have been
 warned by the agents of the company
 This latter fact somewhat reduces the
 efficiency of the regulation, as it is
 often difficult to give satisfactory proof
 of warning.
 The board of trade have made regula-
 tions and recommendations as to the ar
 engagements at stations, and regarding
 the protection of grade crossings where
 they exist, Platforms are to be not less
 than three feet above rail level, except
 in rare instances. Each passenger
 track is to have its separate platform,
 and stress is laid upon the principle
 that passengers should find it difficult,
 and always unnecessary, to descend
 upon the tracks. The character of
 gates, and the manner of operating
 them, are prescribed. Private road
 crossings are also provided with gates;
 and under the law of 1S45 penalty is
 provided for persons who neglect to close them after passing through, and
 persons using them enter upon the track at their own risk. The compara- tive freedom from accidents of all classes on the English roads is due to much investigation by parliamentary commissions, many of the reports by these commissions being very sugges- tive and valuable. Among other tangi- ble results of these Investigations has been a wise extension; in 1871, of the powers of the railway department of the board of trade. Since that time, and largely through the efforts of the board, there has been marked decrease in railway casualties throughout Great Britain, as indicated by the statistics covering these matters.-Franklin B. Locke, in Century.
 The wonderful strides 1nada in 4hn