The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-17
the current year by the commission.
 Long Hours Cause.

the human element reflect seriously on the management of roads in the matter of requiring long hours. Out of twen" ty accidents reported during the first three months of the year, note among other causes these, as given by the rail- road managers themselves.
 Engine man (who was killed) fell asleep three or four minutes before reaching meeting point"
 "Fiagman, who had been ordered to hold one of the trains sat down to warm himself and fell asleep Had been on duty sixteen and a half hours" MT. Mosely, the secretary of the com mission. f1 discussing today some of the causes and remedies for railroad accidents, said:
 There has been undoubtedly within the last two years and especially with In the last three months, frightful | increase fin the number of fatal rail- | road accidents, and this increase should arrest the careful attention of railway managers. and all state and govern ment officials having any connection with railroad traffic, as well as the travelling public itself. First of all. I attribute the cause of this increase to the great strain put on railway equip- ment and railway employees, caused by the great and constant increase in rail- way traffic.
 Advise Block System.
 An extension of the block system of railway signaling in my opinion, would do much to stop this increase of catas- tropics Then. too. many roads. are trying to do too much on single tracks. Another very important factor in the discussion of this question Is a reduc- tion of hours of labor of railway em- ployes.
 Many cases are reported to the com mission where engineers. on account of long hours of work, fall to remember train orders, and firemen. who should know what the train orders are, often fail to prompt the engineers. This ia a very serious and fatal defect in the present system of railway management and one that can be remedied, with great advantage, too. all inexperienced train dispatchers and all young persons connected with this important branch of railroading should be eliminated They cannot appreciate the responsibili- ties of their position. and the best rail- road management and the safest will see to 1t that such persons are not em- ployed.
 The advantage of double tracking. of course, Is evident on its face. But first of all I would extend the block system of signals, as that certainly will prevent many accidents. As one old and experienced railroad engineer once said to me, the block system never gets drunk. never goes to sleep and never tells lie,
 Some time ago 1t became apparent to the commission, through the reports or its inspectors, that the railroads were not paying sufficient attention to the In nf hat far as related to the safety appliances required by law. Automatic couplers and air brakes were permitted to re- main imperative and unserxiceabIe condition, so, that in many cases men were forced to go between the cars fin order to couple and uncoupie them"
 That the casualties in Great Britain are lessening. while here they are in- creasing. Is proved by the statistics in Whitaker's and other almanacs. In 1902 only six passengers were killed on all the British lines of railway. being one in l9S,000, 900 carried, and the amount paid out in damage suits in 1902 was only $707.445, as against $730,Ts5 in 1901, or less than was paid by one single American Company (the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Compa- ny) in single year, and the British railways carried 16,00o. 900 more pas sengers in 1902 than they did the prevs ious year
 Interesting Cemparason. ssl
 Allowing the difference in condi- tions abroad and here, the comparison showing tho amount of risk run by the different classes of railway servants there and here is not without interest In Great Britain the number of em- ployes killed in 1909 was 435, or one in every 1924 employed; the number Of injured was S,0S6, or one in every 154 employed. Here, for the same period, the number of killed was one in every AZ employed. and one in every 27 em- ployed sustained some personal inju- ry.
 The total mileage in this country. according to the last report of the interstate commerce commission, for the fiscal year ended June 90, 1903. was 2O5,313: the total casualties, Ss,- 393; total number of passengers car ried, 694. 1885. an increase of 45,013- 030.
 The number of passengers killed in train accidents was 1894; injured, 4,424; employees killed in train acci- dents, S95; injured. GAO; other casual ties. killed, 321 passengers and S.23S employees. and injured, 6.973 passen.. gers and 39.004. employees.
 For the same period In Great Britain there were carried 1.1SS.0O0.0 pas senRers