The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-08

1,1ss; thrown from carriages, 5,2S; slip ped on ice in street, 1,160; in street, 1899; passengers hurt in railroad col lisions or wrecks, 964. According to these figures it is little wonder that the accident insurance companies rate commercial travellers among their best risks
 The new and complicated machinery constantly being introduced into our factories and workshops sacrifices thousands of lives a year-more, ,n fact. than were lost in any battle of the Civil War. During 1904, the industries of the State of New York alone were responsible for roo deaths-more than twice the number of Americans killed in the Spanish War-while more than
 10000 persons were more or less seri- ously injured in the factories and shops
 of the Empire State alone in that single year. Workers in metal and makers of machinery and apparatus were the chief sufferers. contributing seventy fatali- ties to the list: the manufacture of ar ficial ice cost five lives; every industry, in fact, was represented by its grue- sor1e quota. Even such seemingly harmless occupations as those of the tailor, milliner and laundry worker had charged up to their account five lives, while the making of chemicals, oils and explosives was responsible for sev- enteen deaths.
 Turning to the statistics for the whole country We find that the pedes- trian suffers most from accidental mishaps Of last years accidents, 24.14 per cent. happened to unlucky pedes- trians, while the people injured in rail- way travel made only AT per cent. of | the total. Seekers of amusement and recreation suffered 6.15 per cent of all | the injuries. while the bicycle was re- sponsible for 4.06 per cent The horse the traditional friend of man. was ac- | countable for 12 per cent. of all acci- dents of whatever description that hap pened in this country in the course of the year. The much vilified motor car, in comparison with other accidents causing agencies, seems surprisingly nnocuous.
 In the early days of coal mining. es- pecially in the anthracite fields of east ern Pennsylvania. the fatal accidents
 were of such frequent occurrence that they scarcely aroused sensational inter-
 est. In 1870 more than five mine-work- CTS out of every thousand met death through causes due directly or indirect ly to their occupation. Finally laws were passed by the different states compelling mine-owners and managers to exercise more care in their opera tions and to conduct their business with more regard for human life. This rem edy has been fairly effective, but min
 ing is still one of the most dangerous of all occupations. At the close of the last century 1t was figured out that 264 per thousand employees were an nually fatally injured by accidents in the anthracite and bituminous mines of the United States. As the reports upon which these figures were based were very incomplete. it is undoubtedly true in iS .l considerable underestimate of the hu- man sacrifice demanded each year that the fires of industry and commerce may be kept brighly burning
 There was a time when the brakeman who coupled and uncoupled cars was considered one of the servants of mod crn civilization whose occupation was among the most dangerous For sev- eral years past the highest inventive
 ingenuity has been employed to lessen the risks of his work by providing me chanical devices to help him. The inl- movement that has been made is indi- cated bv the fact that during the last decade the number of coupling fatali- ties each year has decreased 61 per cent. although the number of trainmen
 employed has increased 3S per cent. in he same time. Last year fatal accl- dents of thls sort were thirty-five less 'udl m I:b4, NHlit HOH-IHN"' 4iiJ"'A''
 were 331 less than m tine previous twelVemonth
 More than half the total number of
 persons killed on steam railroads in
 1904 were trespassers upon the property of the roads persons for whose safety the roads Wee not legally responsible in any way But it is due to them that the railroads appear in the statistics to have been the Cduse of more accidental deaths than any other single agency. When one recalls that there are more than 100000 miles of steel rails, pene-
 trating into every nook and corner of tho United Stat tss; that the railroads employ millions of men. that the mum Der of passengers carried annually runs up to many millions. and that practi- caIly the total population of the coun try in some way or another comes in contact with the railroads the wonder is that mishaps are relatively so few.
 It is a common idea that fatal dcci- dents are much more frequent on Amer
 ican railroads than these in the United Kingdom; and many persons constantly assert that foreign lines are operated