The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1904-10-01
RAILRoAE DISASTERS

Der of Leslie's Magazine points out
that with one or two exceptions the
great disasters of the past year
wherein a great loss of lives was
involved were due to railroad ac-
,idenls. In another column OF
his paper al p.ars a partial record
# railroad falaties since December
Past This list is far from complete.
| If all the minor accidents involving
The loss OF from one to two lives
were included the number would
probably be doubled. Add to this
the scores,injured or mained for life
and the record becomes an appall-
ing one.
We Americans are wont to hold
up our hands in holy horror over
the wanton disregard for life shown
by the japanese aud other orientals
in their wars. Life is cheap in
the orient is one of our common
observations. We swell up Eover
our superiority aud look with a
condcscension akin to disdain mp
on peoples who set such a low
value on human life. Measured BY
our high standards these are semi
civilized, f-barbarous people.
And yeS
Are we in our practice so far re-
moved from the oriental standards
The records show that we have
looked on while hundrede Of lives
have been dashcsi into eternity and
what do we do about it2 Read the
flaming head lines, Awful Catas-
trophc, (" Horrible Wreck, ("
Hundreds Lost scan the list of
victims and descriptions Of suffer
ing and death and do-nothing.
Occasionally we philosophize,
"Who is to blame?n Generally
the responsibility is placed upon
careless engineer, conductor,
switchman or some other sub ordin-
ate and frequently just blame at
taches to these. But this explana-
ton is superficial, accounting mere
~ for the incident that occasions
the disaster and not for the deep
seated cause.
An English paper, the Pail Mall
Gazette, discussing the subject says:
probably the fundamental cause
is the hasty and imperfect con-
struction Of the lines, the make
Shift arrangements for saving time
and the general rush of strenuous
National life.
No doubt there is truth in this
explanation In our enthusiastic
pursuit of the strenuous we forget
the humane. In saying this, how
ever we have not yet fixed the re
sponsibility where it belongs.
The enormous increase in rail-
road accidents during the past few
months has attracted universal at
tention Coincident with this in
crease, careful observers have not
ed some other facts. 1t has been
observed during this time that the
railroad companies in their efforts
TO pay dividends upon stocks sat
urated with as much water as de-
luged the earth in the days Of
Noah and inflated to the point of
bursting, have been systematically
retrenching i'll expenses. Economy
is the word passed out BY the
Wall Street nabobs. Operating
are cut, train crews re
duced, in some cases porters do the
work OF brakemen, station forces
are reduced, section men laid of.
shop forces diminished and the
duties and responsibilities of those
retained are correspondinaly in
creased. What matters it, that
with bad tracks and insufficient
operating forces. the lives Of the
travelling public are placed in con
stant jeopardy? The interest on
the bonds and the dividends on
inflated stocks must be paid. The
public be d..
The responsibility lies higher
up than the subordinaies immedi- |
ately concerned. Primarily it rests