St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-09-17
VALUE OF HUMAN LIVES.
Some Pertinent Suggestions Anent the
Duty Of American Railroads.

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Some Pertinent Suggestions Anent the
Duty Of American Railroads.
The startling information is con.
veyed III the report Of the interstate
commerce commission, relating TO
railroad accidents, that during 1909
there were $50 fatalities in America
from this cause. It is shown that
deaths from railroad accidents in this
country average one person to every
100000 that travel, while in Great
Britain the rate is one death to every
Il, 100000 passengers. The railroads
Of Great Britain and Ireland In 1868
carried 1,194,S33, 900 passengers. and
OF these but l23 were killed and 1912
iLtured. During the same year Ameri.
can railroads carried only 1881 ,535
passengers, and out of these there
were 355 killed and 1921 injured.
These figures also include employees.
The commission reports that since
the adoption of the airbrake the fatal.
tlies from accidents have been reduced
80 per cent. There are thousands Of
freight trains running every day
throughout the country without this
seemingly necessary appliance. Laws
enforcing the use Of airbrakes exist
II. many States, and the reconmen.
dalton Is made that It become a ma
tional law.
From the appalling record as shown
BY the interstate conn. cree commits
sion, 1t would appear that some great
railroad corporations hold the value OF
human lives too lightly. Hundreds Of
innocent children, affectionate wives
ard mothers, intelligent and invalu
able men are hurled into eternity in
an instant; any why? 1t is because Of
negligence on the part of the railroad
companies? II SO, then there must
be a remedy, and that remedy mist
be reached through the laws of our
land. Modern appliances would pre-.
vent many accidents These appli-
arces are in the shape of airbrakes,
electric safety switches, block sys-
TENS, crossing signals and many other
contrivances that go toward reducing
danger -
For years efforts have been made
l.. various States TO haze enforced
laws that would compel the companies
tc adopt systems tending TO reduce
the number of accidents, .ut IL some
instances these efforts have l.cen met
with strong opposition. News
The Care That Prevented Horror.
A train was running away down a
steep grade on Saluda Mountain in
North Carolina. The speed increased
with every foot travelled. The air.
brakes would not work. Trainmen
were helpless, passengers in state
Of hopeless fear.
& Just at the moment when the worst
vas expected the train ran up short
incline and stopped. The next morn.
ing in the New York papers, in place
of the lists of the dead and injured
that might have been, there was the
story of how safety-switch had
worked and had saved many lives.
81 This was story Of preparation.
The railroad company in North Caro-
lima knew of certain dread possibilities
on its route. It provided against them
and has reaped In the happy conclu.
sion of a terribly threatening incident
the reward for its forethought.
When the Slocum took. fire in the
East river the first fact revealed about
the boat was lack of preparations
against the horror then impending
Yet the possibility of what was hap.
pening had been demonstrated many
times-with what should have been
everlasting force In the case of the
Seawanhaka y
What is the difference in the edu.
cation Of passengerrcarrying corpora.
ton which brings it about that IN
North Carolina they take care while
in New York they take chances?-
New York World, July 9, 1904.