The San Francisco call., 1904-12-04
LESS DANGER BY
OYER ONE HALF
Hartman Is Safeguarding
Against Loss of Life and
Property on His System
INCREASES EFFICIENCY
Results of Signal Tests
Lead to Strict Orders
and Better Discipline

Under Instructions from Julius
Kruttschnitt, director of maintenance
and operations of the Hartman lines.
Manager Agler of the Southern Pacific
Company has issued bulletins to the
trainmen along the entire Western
system of the road admonishing them
to exert the greatest precaution dur
ing the remainder of the year against
accidents. This order is the out
growth of theory prevailing among
experienced railroad operators that
trainmen, during the jollity of the
holiday season, unconsciously become
more lax in obeying train rules estab-
lished for the safety of passengers
and property than is customary. A
similar order has also been issued to
division superintendents to apply to
the daily work of track walkers and
other classes of employees on the va
rious sections.
For a number of months julius
Kruttschnitt has been carefully ex-
perimenting with signal tests on the
different big systems of the Hartman
effect of the strict enforcement of dis
cipline and as result he has succeed
ed in reducing the number of casual
ties nearly so per cent, a record that
has not been attained by any other
transcontinental system in the United
States.
When the tests were first inaugu-
rated strong opposition was aroused
among men in the operating depart
ments on the ground that it was an
unwarranted innovation in operating
methods. Director Kruttschnitt how
ever, persisted in his plans and as a
result of the first tests it was found
that on certain parts of the Hartman
systems the observance of signals was
as low as 64.2 per cent, and this de-
spite the fact that the road had
gained the reputation among its RI
walls of being well disciplined. Ac-
cording to these tests in nearly forty
instances engineers had run past a
signal set at danger or had disre-
garded other precautions against loss
of life and property.
These startling disclosures were
quickly followed by a general order
requiring division superintendents to
make signal tests every month and re-
port the results. The discipline in
each case of failure was by the Brown
system, which makes promotion de-
pendent on an employees efficiency as
disclosed by a complete marking sys-
tenn. The tests were inaugurated over
all the roads composing the Hartman
combine, with the result that in Octo-
Der last there was a total of 933 with
the remarkable record of only five
failures, thereby increasing the ef-
fiency to 99.5. AS the failures were of
an unimportant nature the director of
maintenance and operations of the
Hartman lines has accepted the rec
ord as showing perfection in operation
so far as observing signals is con-
cerned.
Director Kruttschnitt has now is
sued table showing that on a train
mileage basis the average number of
casualties along the Hartman lines
during this year was only so per cent
of the average of all the railroads in
the United States. 1t is the intention
of Director Kruttschnitt to make a Sc
ries of tests during the coming year
with view Of still further perfecting
the method of operating trains if pos
sible.