The leader., 1905-07-01
GETTING HURT ON PURPOSE.

1t seems incredible that some
people will deliberately set about
getting hurt by a railroad train so
that they may mulct the company
| in heavy damages, yet, if a writer
| in Pearson's Magazine is to be at
all believed, there are quite a
number Of men and women in this
country who have imperilled their
lives for this purpose alone.
There are in large cities hum
dreds of people who make their
IlIying in this way, and they he
come adopts in the art of felgning
injuries which they claim to have
received by the criminal neglect
of some railroad. One young
woman has just confessed to hav-
ing mulcted six or seven different
railroads in sums of money rang
ling from $3.50 to $500. This
woman was continually finding
banana peelings in railway coaches
upon which she could step and
sustain from the resulting fall in
liuries to the spinal column which
produced paralysis of the extrem-
lities. She even went to the ex-
tent of permitting pins to be
stuck in her flesh by the railroads
suspicious doctors without giving
Ievidence of the slightest sensibil-
lity to pain. Another woman, in
New York City, the mother of
boy and girl Of u and 10 years
respectfully, taught them to fall
headlong from the seat of troll
| ley car as it lurched around
curve. Both of them were iniur-
led number of times and the
mother received several hundred
| dollars in damages before the
trick she was working on the rail
roads was discovered.
There can be no question that
the railroads of this country are
often held up" by preposterous
frauds, and while we are legislat-
ing against railroads, we should
pay some attention to the other
side of the proposition. Strange
Fly enough, legislative enactment
and judicial decision alike hold
! the railroads to the exercise of
every possible care in the opera
| ton of their business, while on
the other hand, people are only
required to conduct themselves in
an ordinarily prudent and care
ful manner" while they are riding
on trains on walking on tracks.
Thus it is made easy for an un-
scrupulous person to take adyan-
tage of railroad aud make it pay
for bis own carelessness.
People should put their con-
dernnation upon all damage suits
against railroads which are taifts
led with the suspicion of a hold
iup. These suits do not hurt the
railroads SO much as they hurt the
people who do business with them,
Ifor at the last the people paw the
cost Railroads are run on strict
lly business principles and for
profit. Judgments growing out
lof damage suits are charged to
lexpenses just as the actual cost Of
Operations. and it is upon the ba-
sis Of these that freight tariffs are
ecnstructed It may be that if
we did not have SO many damage
suits in this country, transporfa-
tion charges would be appreciably
Hess.
We are glad to note that ID this
county, and III fact all over the
State, public sentiment IS rapidly
changing in this particular. f
has not been so very long ago that
. man could sue the railroad upon
the most ridiculous pretext and
secure an enormous verdict. Rail
roads should Be imnnEably held
TO strict discharge Of their duty
to the public ID every particular,
/ but the public should respect tie
rights Of 4 raillaaa JUST AS much
ias it does any other vested inter-
est Magnolia Gazette.