The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-04-05
How Much Then is Man B tier Than
Sheep?

Discussing the. large number Of persons
/ killed by railroad accidents in the United
States, the. Scientific American says:
The editor is not about to preach a
sermon. He is merely going to indulge
in a few reflections on the cheapness of
| human life, as shown by the wholesale
| slaughter of passengers that is occur
ring day by day on our railroads.
| 1t will not be a pleasant reverie; GER
| tanly it will not be hattering to our
| sense of national esteem, and it must
needs make the most thoughtful of US,
| and the truly patriotic among us. realize
| that with all our boosted advancement in
| the useful arts of modern life, there are
| certain respects in which we are a long
ways behind some of those older cOun-
| tries which are apt to think we have
| left far behind US in all things that af-
! feet the comfort, safety and sanctity Of
the life of the individual citizen.
Some time ago the British Board of
| Trade was able to announce that during
period of twelve onths not a single
| passenger had been kiIled on the rail-
roads of Great Britain. Since then an
| other three months has passed without a
| fatality, making q straight record of fif-
| teen months operation Of the most crowd
ed railroad system in the world without a
single loss of life.
Here, in the United States, our rail-
| roads have killed n passengers in fifteen
days!
In cases of such astounding disparity
as this there are usually found some nit
ct
us ask then, are there any elements in
American railroading that VIII satsfac-
torily explain why it is that the British
railroad system can carry its teeming
| millions of passengers in 10 consecutive
months without killing one, while Ameri-
can railroads cannot carry a fraction Of
the number in Is consecutive days with
| out killing u of them?
We have to confess that so far from
there being any mitigating circumstances,
| the more we look into the question, the
| more inexcusable does our own shocking
death list appear; and for the following
reasons: First, the total number of pas
| scngers carried is greater in Great Brit
ain; second, this greater number is
handled upon one eighth as many miles
| of track-24, 600 in Great Britain as
against 200, 900 in the United States; and
thirdly, the average speed and the fire.
quency of trains is greater there So that
the slaughter that is going on is less ex-
cusable than the fgures-and heaven
knows they are bad enough-would show
For with a smaller total number of pas
sengers and trains, and in spite of the
fact that they are spread over eight
times as many miles of track we kill
! II in 10 days, while kill not one in IS
months.
But why this appalling difference; and
what, if any, shall be the remedy? Per-
haps the trouble is that we have not as
yet arrived at a proper estimate as to by
how much a man is better than sheep.
Some people have been trying to solve
the problem, and there is no doubt that
this higher valuation will go q certain
distance in reducing the death rate on
railroads; but it will never teach us to
run our railroads Is months without kill
ing anybody
We recently presented this comparison
of railroad fatalities to the chief engineer
of one of the leading railroads entering
this city, who is a specialist on the ques-
tion of signaling, and asked him to ex-
plain the n fatalities, fully one-half of
which, by the way, occurred on roads
that were equipped with as flno a block
signal system, and perhaps a better than
any in Europe. In his prompt reply he
put his hand at once on the weak spot;
The different results are to be explained
by difference in national temperament
here we take chances" He was right;
cur engineers do take chances; they in
clio l. : Il q.
run pass them, and-kill n passengers
in Is days.
But what are we to DO? We cannot
change national temperament" True;
but we can at least curb it, and we can
do so in the case of the railroad engineer
by extending the automatic principle, so
that if he does not shut off steam for the
green lights and put on air for red lights
it Will be done for him
After outlining this automatic system
for RAIDS with the block signalling sys-
TEN, the editor continues:
But to extend this method to all the
block systems would be enormously cost
ly. True; but not so costly as to keep
oil killing II passengers in Is days; espe-
cially if, as recent jury verdicts are sug-
costing, the people of the United States
are waxing up to the belief that the "how
much" between a sheep and a man is
some big multiple of 4 ,995 dollars
Furthermore we must remember that
today of our 200, 900 miles of tracks, only
| $4,000 miles or one eighth, is equipped
with block signal system of any kind.
And here we find another potent cause of
| our perpetually recurring railroad hor-
rors Train dispatching by telegraphic
orders assists in keeping up the fight
fully high average of railroad disasters.
Take note of accident Bulletin No just
issued by the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, which records that in the three
months ending September 30, 1902, 236
persons were killed and 2,613 injured in
railroad disasters. At that rate in the
Is months of which we have spoken, the
total number of killed would run up to
I ,315 and the injured to over 10 900.
And to think that IT is all preventable.
Moreover, Just as soon as we really I'M
derstand how infinitely much a man is
worth more than a sheep, it will be pre-
vented-if not by the initiative of the
railroads. then by legislative act com