The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-29
MAKrNa Irr. I.nsr rrMn.

T. Mondays dispatches tell us the same old story. Train makes up lost time result. nine lives snuffed out in an in : stant many bruised and maimed and thousands of dollars worth of property, In the shape of engines and coaches. de- 1 stroyed-to say nothing of the inevi- table damage suits as the aftermath. | The Burlington recently issued an or. der absolutely forbldding the making up of lost time, holding the safety of 1 the passengers above a mere loss of time. And it is rule which if the railroads do not adopt of their own volition, should be made compulsory. There is Federal legislation compelling the use of safety eouplers to diminish the slaughter of trainmen, and in view Of the many accidents due to making up lost time, it would appear to be in order to protect messengers from that form of danger. Saving of time is not economy when 1t plunges the unsus- pecting into eternity.-Little Rock Ga- yette.
 The whole world-or. at least, our section of it--is badly affected with speed madness. We see it exhibited every day in the accidents and casual ties caused by reckless auto-drivers. On much larger scale it is held up to us through the newspapers in their accounts of horrible accidents on the railroads The accounts come from all parts of the country. North. South, East and West it is the same.
 Some of these catastrophes are un- avoidable because man and his works are not perfect Sometimes it is the material that gives away. and some- times the construction is faulty, while at others those who are responsible for the safe running of trains forget or neglect their duty .at critical time. and death and destruction follow.
 The microbe of hurry has the rail- road world in it's relentless grip Sched- ules are arranged which apply to many roads and many stations. and which can only be made effective by harmony and accuracy on all the lines and among all the employees. If everything could be made to work perfectly, these schedules could be carried out success fully. If every line would remain in perfect eondition;. if every engine and train could be kept in good working order; if no obstruction should get on the track; if every employe would do his work in the proper way and at the right time---if all these could be as- sured beyond the possibility of fail- ure, there would be no difficulty about running trains safely.
 But one or any of these essentials may be lacking at any time and on any railroad. Each train has it's time set to reach each station Especially at larger railroad centers many of the trains are scheduled to connect with each other, and the failure of one to arrive on time causes disappointment. confusion and complaint. Each en- gineer desires to bring his train in on schedule time. and many of them will take chances and run serious risks rather than fail to come in when ex- peetsd.
 An obstruction on the track: the failure or giving away of some DOT ton of his engine. or various other then the engineer tries to make up lost time and takes serious risks. At a moment least expected. and when running at his best speed, he crashes into another train and disaster and death are the. result. .s.4 seea f
 Laying double tracks on all the roads would obViate many dangers. but not all of them. Tn some of the recent ac- cidents one train ran into the rear of another and this is possible at all times. Double tracks would prevent trains from having head-snd collisions, but would not obviate rear-end beidents. They can only be prevented he ex- ercise of constant vigilanc | and care on the part of employe } tho highest to the lowest grade. .
 But there will be disasters AT ong as impossible schedules are formt ed and insisted on. There will be d = dents as long as engineers are expete S7 and required to make up lost time. t Tn short. there will be accidents, death and carnage as long as humanity re- mains as 1t is. but 1t is in the power of the railroads to prevent many of them. speed-madness must be cured first. however.