Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1901-02-14

FIoURessvvllcH 60 70 s4oW THAT
THEY ARE oveResTlpaA1Ep.

seasistsss ossSsd NAY 10 BsEssp4ssual.
neasAts Trsn safety Applia.ess.
II has bssn estimated, and, IN fact,
sAilroad men frequently make the re-
mark. that the ~ rage life pf a man
actively engaged in train service il.
about seven years. In other words. that
they are either crippled mp 90 az to rem
der them unit for service again in q
like capacity OF are killed on an aver.
age in that time It has>been found By
looking over the records Of one Of the
leading railroads entering Louisville
that this Is untrue During three years..
ON one Of the busiest roads entering the
city, there were only 2 killed and l5e
injured, all Of whom were brakemen
except two, and they were freight con
ductors who had assumed the duty of
brakemen, one by making compiling
and the other by assisting in unloading
freight.
It would seem that inexperienced men
would be inost apt to get injured, bu,
the figures show differently, as indicat
cd by the following: Eleven, or 9.56 pei
cent of tho total number Of trainmen
were injured during their first year Of
service; IL, or 1915 per cent, were in
jured who had been in the service two
years; Is, or I'LL per cent, had been
in the service three years; %, or l6. So
per cent. foEr years; 26, or 20 per cent.
FIVE years; %, or 2l77 per cent. six
years; IS, or 8 63 per cent, seven years:
8, or 800 per cent, eight years; 3, OF
2.47 per cent, nine years; 5. or 4. is Pc,
cent, ten years. and IL, or $50 pc,
cent, over ten years. some of whom had
been ia the service 10, 10 and % years
1t will be noted that the largest aver
age of injuries occurred after the en-,
ployee had been in service six years
and the figures given would indicate
that employees as general rule are
careful up to the time when they have
/ been in the service three to four years
and then become more careless until
about their eighth year of service, when
the indications show that they again
become careful, as those who had work
ed over ten years have very small
comparative per cent Of injuries com
pared with those who had worked six
years With the completion of the equip
ment of all box cars with automatic
couplvrs, airbralses, etc, the liability
Of a trainman being injured will have
been reduced to minimum, as the rec
ord cues to show that at least two-thirds
of the injuries were caused by attempt
ing to couple automatic draw bars with
n link and pin to the old fashioned
solid or skeleton drawbar, which if
very dangerous even to the most expe.
rienced railroad man. Other causes
were on account of uneven drawbar
some heing as much as three inches
higher than others All this will be rec.
tilted with the law which requires all
drawbars to he Of q standard height. A
great many trainmen were injured by
stepping upon stones or links in jump
ing off to throw switches, etc., quite q
number BY being thrown off on account
Of, the icy condition Of the tops of the
cars.
There was one case where brake.
man was standing near the end Of car
when another cut Of cars struck it, and
he was thrown from the top Of the car
to the ground, alighting sqnarely upon
his feet and ''stoving him up severe.
~, as will be readily understood. A
few were compelled to jump from the
top Of cars in cases Of derailment 9th.
ers had their feet mashed by attempt.
ing to shove an automatic drawbar over
few inches to enable it to come more
squarely in contact with the automatic
coupler. This is one Of the serious OBJ
jections to the automatic draw bar-tbat
it will not couple readily on curve !.
and it is necessary for the trainmeI
either to pull one of the drawbars owe J.
or shove it over with their feet
One OF the most general causes { !:
.pinched fingers was on account Of thu
pin failing to drop all the way dow }
into the hole when coupling with
link and pin. The brakemen invariatlJ
reach over to give the pin start so j
will drop into the hole, when the cars
frequently roll one way or the other
Just q few inches and catch the pin just
before it gets all the way down, causing
it to tilt back and catch the fingers be-
tween pin and end sill Of the car.
A few were injured BY holding the
grab iron on the end Of the car-recently
added 20 all freight cars by an act Of
ccngress--and attempting to make tn. !.
coupling when long lumber or hridg |.
iron would be extending over the end @!
the car to be coupled to. and catch thele
hands between the timber and end Of