The San Francisco call., 1903-12-25
RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.

TINE characteristic American "hurry up" works out
in the number of lives lost and of people wounded
in the operation of our railways. For these, grade
crossings bear large of the responsibility the
rest charged off to the careessness by railway
operators becoming so accustomed to risk and danger
that they get off guard
The relative number of accidents to travellers is not
much out of proportion to those European rail
appears by the statistics because our Ameri-
can roads carry passengers per train mile We
lately had something to say about the impocy sacri-
fcng safety to speed the bay ferries from San Fran
cisco But those who travel do not always think of the
risk and unless thinks for them thought
given to the subject. The American rush demands
speed, and rivals in transportation demand
1t true that certain class of railway accidents
increased by speed. Given clear and perfect track and
sound machinery. and train safe at sixty as at
thirty miles per hour But eye can see the inside of
steel rail- nor detect flaw in the perfectly
nealed wheel. and when rail breaks or wheel col
apses the destruction is far greater high than on
a low speed train.
The report of the Secretary for Internal Affairs of
Pennsylvania shows the deaths in State the year
steam and street railways be 227 and the non
fatal accidents to be 1850. On the roads of the
State 4I passengers killed and 1927 were injured
When the number of passengers hauled one mile the
steam roads taken into account the number of deaths
is low percentage of the total
1t quite remarkable that the railways killed 2r
and those the 1t will cause general
surprise and apprehension that the railroads
kill people than the steam roads.
The steam roads of the country improving their
accident record since air brakes and safety couplings
applied to freight trains This greatly reduces the
coupling accidents and the air brakes are found to re-
duce collisions by putting the whole train under quicker
control of the engineer. Westinghouse is probably the
greatest benefactor of railway travel in the world His
air brakes not only put trains in the control of the
gineer but each car, by its individual air apparatus is
controlable by the conductor the brakeman pas
engers If this individual air brake had been known and
used the awful accident Tehachapi in 1885, could
not have happened 1t is especially mountain
lines that the air brake adds safety of operation for
which all travellers this should be thankful
One further safety appliance is in sight that will
probably be made legally compulsory on all pas
senger trains The old oil lamps were sure to fire
train that derailed Gas is safer but entirely
safe Electricity is absolutely safe in that respect When
train derailed the electric lights off by stop
page of the dynamo and breaking of the wires law
compelled the of the safety coupler and air brakes
on freight trains it also compel all roads do what
most of them have done voluntarily by lighting their
trains with electricity All of the great American sys
tens have made of the profits and credit gained by
the prosperity of the last years in the physical
doubling of tracks All of these make travel safer by
reducing risk and the corporations could not have made
better use of their profits