The Washington times., 1906-12-31
INQUIRY BY u. S. A.
MAY BE RESULT
OF B. & o. WRECK

Continued from First Page)
To all this q member Of the commits
sion added.
I read in the newspaper accounts
that at TakOma Park only day sta
ton is maintained, and that the safety
signals were left there for the night
If that is true. it is an outrage. That
any day station should be maintained
on a great and busy railroad. practical
ly within the limits Of such a city as
Washington, is mighty close 10 criminal
negligence
Nhv has the number of fatalities
and casualties in railroad wrecks in
the United States gone on steadily in
creasing from year 10 year during the
very period when railroads have been
installing safety cuppers, air brake
block signals, and other safety appl-
unces?
II is the testimony Of statistics
gathered by the Interstate Comm cree
Commission that the casualties have
been uninterrupted ard that apparent
" the expenditures OF millions upon
millions 10 secure greater safety has
been absolutely without effect
These questions. which have long
been in the minds of men who had TO
deal with these problems and which
thus far have remained absolutely
without satisfactory answer, are likely
10 be forced upon the attention OF Con-
gerss. as they have already been forced
upon the attention Of the people Of
Washington, as result of the fearful
DISASTER which occurred Sunday night
within the limits Of the Capital City
Accidents Increased.
The safety appliance law was enacted
IN 1893 but did not go into fun operation
until August. 1900. In 1895 one passenger
In every 2.eS4.0O0 carried in the United
States was killed and one in every 213GoJ
was injured In 1894. after the safety
appliance had been in fun erect four
years. one passenger in every 1,622O1e
carried IN the United States was killed
and one in $500 was injured
In other words. after four years OF the
operation Of the safety appliance law
the average passenger had nearly twice
as much chance 10 be killed as before
the law was in effect. and nearly three
times as much chance 10 be injured
Further than this, IN 1895 one employe
in every 433 on the railroads OF the
United states was killed, and one IN
every thiTty-one was injured. In 1901
one emplOye in every 35I was killed, and
in every nineteen was injured. That is.
the average emplOye had about So per
cent more chance OF being killed and p
per cent more chance of being injured
under the operation of the safety ap-
plianCe law than before.
And so the question recurS, why are
the safety appliances apparently shown
by the actual experience 10 be promo
tive OF danger instead Of security?
Blocks Badly Operated.
The answer 20 this question. as gath
cred from the reports and oral state
ments Of the Interstate Commission Of
experts. is in part. at least. that the
block signal systems are inenicient and
badly operated. An inspector for the
commission who has spent years study
ing this problem said:
There are two kinds of block sys-
TENS, the automatic and the manual
The theory Of both is the same. but
the operation Is different Each is de
signed to provide a fixed interval of
tracks. within which there shall be but
one train at a time. The blocks may
be OF varying lengths, according TO ply
slcal conditions of traffic, etc. Within
the purlieus Of large cities, the inter
val is likely 10 be a mile; on the prairie
roads II may be ten miles But the very
essence of the whole system IS that
there must not be more than one train
within the block at one time.
Under the automatic block system
the signals at the end OF the block are
given automatically When a train en-
ters a block. by an electrical device.
the danger signal is shown and remains
as a warning against other trains en-
Jtring that block until the first train
has passed out of the block. when the
danger signal Is automatically with
drawn and a safety signal shown.
Underpaid, OverwOrked.
Under the manual system, a tower
is provided at the end of each block
in which is stationed a signal man who
must be telegraph operator. When a
train enters his block, he shows the
danger signal. and is presumed to keep
il displayed until he is notified by the
operator at the next tower that the
train has passed out of that block, when
he is required TO display the safety
signal.
Either of these systems would alb
sOlutely prevent collision, il there were
no possibility of their going wrong in
the operation. In the manual system.
which IS very much more used in this
country than the automatic, the human
enters largely into the opera
tion, and IL IS at this point that this
too frequently fails. The tower men.
who are presumed TO be good telegraph
operators. but in too many cases are
very poor ones, are paid forty and fifty
dollars a month. Almost universally |
they are worked in tWelve-hour shifts
every day in the week
Slave Twenty-Four Hours.
'If one man on a shift is compelled
to be absent from his post part of his
working time. the man working Oppo-
site stands his term, and twenty-four |
hours continuous duty in such a posi- |
ton OF tremendous responsibility, in |
volving the safety Of hundreds Of lives