Danville intelligencer. [volume] (Danville, Pa.) 1859-1907, 1904-10-14
A FORC|bLE REPLY TO
THE TRUESDALE Letter
RESPONSE OF PRESIDENT GOESER, OF BOARD
OF TRADE, WAS MAILED TUESDAY AND LAST
NIGHT DIRECTORS ENDORSED COMMIT
TEES ACTION.
UNANIMOUS Vote FOR Safe and Sane POLICY

tect it, but nevertheless within three
months after the grade crossing was
put in car of the electric company
got upon our main track, lost its pow
er and was run into by one of our
trains. This company was not to blame
and the trolley company had to pay
damages. which l am told aggregated
enough to have paid substantially all
the expense that it would have been
put to to build bridge over our track
and avoided the grade crossing.
1t is fact beyond question that an
electric railway crossing of steam
railroad at grade cannot be made safe
and proof of this fact can be secured
almost any day from the columns of
the newspapers. For some months
there has been much discussion in the
newspapers on the large increase in
this country in the number of people
killed and injured on and about the
railroads of this country. l inclose one
that l cut from the New York Herald
of yesterday which seems to have en-
anated from the Office of the Interstate
Commerce Commission at Washington.
II you will read it you will see that
the managers of the railroads of the
country are being held responsible, for
one reason or another, for this show
ing, and they are being called upon to
expend large sums of money TO better
provide against accidents and the loss
of life and personal injury resulting
therefrom. To my mind, there is no
question but what, to a considerable
extent, the showing made of increases
in casualties as a result of railroad ac-
cidents is due to the number of troll
ley lines which have been permitted
to cross the tracks of tue steam rail-
road companies of the country at
grade.
| feel that instead of officials of rail.
ways being denounced and in some cas-
es abused for opposing these death traps
which the trolley companies are try
ing to install at grade crossings over
steam railways they should be upheld
and commended for the efforts they
are making, as IN the case in point,
that they require trolley companies in
building their lines in al cases to put
them above or below the steam rail
way tracks and thus avoid all future
chances for loss of life and injury.
As am advised by our people, while
it is fact as your board of trade
claims IL it's resolutions it would not
be reasonably feasible to put an over
head crossing of our track on MIL
street, it can be done very readily
either in the alley located between
Mill and Ferry streets or on Fer
ry street and this with compara-
lively little expense to the street rail
way line and on grades that are per-
fectly feasible to operate trolley cars
over.
In view of the interest taken by the
citizens of Danville in this matter and
of the cooperation they gave the cleo
trio railway people in the efforts the
latter made to illegally force cross
ing of our track at Mill street week
before last, l think it is due this COM
pany that the same publicity be given
this communication to you as has been
given the trolley people and your citi-
zens who aided them in stating their
position and purpose with respect to
the crossing they attempted to torcibly
install and | will thank you therefore
if you will have this communication
published in the columns of your pap
ers.
would like in closing, to call es-
pecial attention to the fact that all ac-
tion taken by this company in this
matter has been merely to protect what
our attorneys nave advised are our
legal rights in the premises and this
in an orderly manner, while the cleo.
trio railway people and their friends
in Danville undertook to do that which
they had no legal right to do in a man
ner that, am informed, renders them
liable under the criminal statutes of
the State of Pennsy
Under these circumstances l think
IL tr,n
company. should have the support of
the good, law abiding citizens of your
city. Yours very truly,
W. II. Truesdale, president.
Mr.. Goeser's response, as President
of the Board of Trade, to President
Truesdale is here subjoined:
Danville, Pa. Oct. 9th, 1904.
Hon W. H. Truesdale,
President d. j.. 81 W. r. r. Co.,
New York, N. Y.
Dear Sir:
| have yours of the 3rd inst. relating
to Mill street crossing and thank you
for your full statement of objections
to the consideration of our resolution.
| shall lay the reply before the Board
at the next meeting and the publicity
asked for will then be given in con-
nection with the proceedings.
l regret that you do not see your
way clear to grant the request. Nor
will l undertake to dispute the gener-
al proposition of what should be the
correct railway policy of your COM
pany. II not offensive, it might seem
in bad taste for me to assume to die
tate. Grade crossings are assumed to be
dangerous. both to the railway and the
public. The illustrations of the ac-
cidents at Orange and Newark, how
ever, prove no more than that an over
head crossing would have eliminated
those particular accidents. The avoid
ance of these might save the railway
Company and with this your duty
might seem to end. But to how many
more dangers and how many more ac-
cidents would the travelling public
have been subjected by an overhead
crossing at these points? The grade
crossing accidents may, be duplicated
by overhead accidents, both on steam
aud electric roads The public which
is most deepIy interested is protected
from death on the grade crossing to
have the risk of death many times
multiplied by au overhead crossing.
The appliances for stopping car at
grade cannot be claimed to be more
effective in stopping it on an incline
and subjecting those within the car
and those ut either end of the incline
to injury and death. In the balancing
of risks the public finds that you will
subject it to II greater number by in
sisting on an overhead crossing. If it