Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-14
ACCIDENTS on our RAILROADS.
Room for Improvement I'm the MOrtu-
ary Record
Chicago Post.

Room for Improvement in the Mortu-
ary Record.
Chicago Post.
The report of the Interstate Commerce
commission on the subject of accidents on
the American railroads contains food for
the most serious thought. Especially i'm
pressive are the revelations when con-
trasted with conditions in Great Britain.
The bulletin of the Interstate Commerce
commission covers the year ended June 80,
1902, and reports casualties as follows:
Employees killed 2,5l6
Employees injured. .S3,nl
Passengers killed. SS
Passengers injured. ......,....."..... 6,OS9
Thus during one year 2,s19 persons we're
killed and $500 injured in railroad acct
dents in the United States. During the
same period not one life was lost on the
railroads Of Great Britain.
No wonder the English railroad com
missioner who recently visited the United
States to investigate the matter Of safety
appliances on American roads reported
upon his return that human life appears
to be of considerably less Importance in
the States than in England" His conclu-
sion after inspection was that American
roads have nothing to boast OF in the safety
either OF passengers or employees"
The figures of the Interstate Commerce
commissions bulletin bear him out.
There were during the year ending June,
1902, 5,O42 collisions, of which TIA we're
caused by the separating OF trains, and
therefore, perhaps, could hardly be OBJ
Waited altogether. But in the report on
twenty-six OF the most costly catastrophes
in April. May and June there is ample evil
dence that a proper care for safety and a
s~tricteF management with that end in view
would have prevented the accidents. One
case was that Of a night collision caused
by the release Of cars from a sidetrack. It
developed that the man whose duty 1t was
to place these cars on the siding had had
one days experience in railroading!
The report also emphasizes the fact that
too frequent accidents are the direct result
of the mems having been on duty too long.
1T is a fair question" says the report,
"whether very long working hours. COM
bined with the irregularity which often Ia
inseparable from the freight train service,
do not introduce a serious element Of dan
ger by leading to. II not encouraging, the
taking Of rest at times when the duty is
to keep awake"
The whole question rests not upon any
special set of definite m-ismanagements.
II is not the result OF any conscious dis
regard for human life, nor any mistaken
policy Of economy In outputting and pro-
viding safety appliances. II is merely an
other aspect Of our national fault Of haste.
We are disposed to be careless Of detail,
and precautionary measures are detail. We
are inclined to the rough and ready
method. efficient In one direction, perhaps
productive Of results certainly, but some
times involving serious consequences the
cause and extent Of which we are too busy
to realize.
The safety Of passengers and employees
alike Is worthy Of more careful considera.
tion than 1t seems to be receiving. Thu
report Of the Interstate Commerce commits.
sion ought 10 awaken interest and perhaps
even induce some further regulation. Add
tiOnl regulation Is clearly desirable.