The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-02
Hruu nArLwAY sprEp.

some editorial remarks on the subject of high railroad speed and of tho danger or such fast running. and 1t will be remem- bered that we took the position that speed of thirty or forty miles an hour is the limit of safety under conditions as they now exist. The New York Sun quotes san engineer of famous fast train" as saying that there's nothing strange about these numerous accidents we daily read of, adding:
 When a smashup happens people get all sorts of reasons for it. but they rarely " with the public. that wants to travel at rate. of speed that can't be Kept up with safety.
 many years. and I am firmly convincea that forty miles an hour is about as fast as train ought to go When you nave to run at fifty, sixty or even seHeniy e,reniy taking chances. The other night l was running into small city up the State It seemed to me that moro than thous- dancing before my eyes and I couldn't tell one, from the other. How much worse 1t is coming into New York you can like safety in railroad travel as long as the public demands such high speed.
 If any one should know what is the highest speed at which a train can be safely driven, it Is the engineer who drives it. If he is an experienced official he knows the condition of the roadway. the possibilities of his engine and train, and also the possible obstacles and dan gers he may encounter. He knows, too, how the dangers and probabilities multi ply as the speed is increased: Yet this engineer, who doubtless knows exactly what he is saying, is ''firmly convinced" that a speed of forty miles an hour is about as fast as a train ought to go." He might have gone little further and asserted that is as fast as they should be allowed to Eo: f
 But is not this Engineer both unjust and mistaken when he lays all the blame on the publicg 1t is true that we live in a hurrying age, and that tho main object with a majority of travellers is to ''get there as quickly as possible, but ia our judgment that is very largely tho fault of the railroads themselves and of the constant competition in speed. Whenever we read of train making ninety or one hundred miles an hour. it is always an- nounced through the newspapers as both a wonderful and comn1endable feat. To beat the record is looked on as the proper thing to do: consequently, all ef- forts are turned in that direction. In the lively old days of Mississippi steamboat ing, races between rival boats were not uncommon. Steam was crowded on far beyond the limits of safety, and occa- sionally a boat blew up and lives were sacrificed to the speed mania. If nothing serious happened the victor in the race was hailed as the champion of the river. No thought was given to the danger to life and property.
 Too much of this mad spirit of compe- tition prevails with our railroads, and to a certain extent the public is to blame. If there were two roads traversing the same territory. one with a regular speed of forty miles an hour and the other sixty, the latter would. soon drive the other out of business, in all probability though the slow road might show a much lower average of casualties. To that ex tent, the people who travel are blam able, but suppose the taw, or a common regard for the safety of the public should force all railroads in the United States to adopt schedules which would never require a speed of over forty mile. an hour. would not the public be satis fled, and would not the roads be as pros porous as now? That, it seems to us would surely follow. To Pun trains hay, ing both safety and regularity. instead oi speed, as the primary object would not b, detrimental to the roads themselves, ant we are of the opinion that the public itsel would be better satisfied if that wert made the universal rule. There would b, fewer horrible accidents and much lesl damages for the. roads to pay, and thes, are two eonsidera tions which the publi, and the corporations are both interested fin.
 However we look at it, and to what ever cause the fact may be due, it is cer. tainly true that life is entirely too uncer. tain on the railroads of this country. Ill this respect, We are a long way behind England. where the casualties are very much below ours They are a more con servative people. they have many double track roads, and they have a much better system of signaling, all of which means increased safety to the public. It is true that they run their trains at high speed, but the danger there is minimized by the other advantages We have mentioned. Our tracks could be made so nearly perfect, our cars could be so strongly built ana our precautions so multiplied. that high speed would be comparatively safe, as it is in England. but it certainly is not So at present.
 The Birmingham Ledger says it is now sixty years since Senator Pettus was if st elected to office in Alabama. The Ledger should have gone further and told us what that office waS.-Huntsville Mercury. N