The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-07-26
RESPONSIBILITY FOR
SALTAIR ACCIDENT
Management and County Off,
cials Have Permitted Warn
ings to Be Unheeded.
HUMAN LIFE HAS
BEEN INlPERILED
Time Has Now Arrived to Final
Iy Call a Decisive
Halt.

| Dr.. J. V, Bonnettc and Mr.. and Mrs.
Reoye and daughter, Edith, who were In
! jured In the Sultair wreck Tuesday, were
| reported to be making satisfactory pro-
grese yesterday DR.. Bonnetto still
| suffered considerable pain, and Will be
| In the hospital for some time, hut there
! Is no doubt OF his recovery. Mrs Reeve
was confined to her bed yesterday, and
suffered considerable from shock In nd
dition to her injuries.
Methods Are Obsolete.
AS indicated In The Tribune Wednes
! day, the accident was a very fortunate
| one, pnradoxical as that may seem, but
| neither the management of the road nor
| the officials of the county, who have
been grossly negligent IN their duty. are
IN any way responsible for this. The
| methods employed on the road are vlr-
| tually obsolete. There is no denial
| that the alrbrakes failed to operate.
| that there was no connection between
the locomotive and the brakes the
cars, that the engineer was helpless, that
the brakes were useless. Nominally the
crew on the incoming train is responsible
for the accident; primarily the manage
ment is blameworthy for the collision.
And In just so far as the Sheriff of Salt
Lake county and the County Attorney
have failed In their duty TO enforce the
law. Just In that measure are they also
guilty Of the result OF the catastrophe.
Warnings Go Unheeded.
Conditions have been permitted on The
Saltair railroad that would be permitted
nowhere else in this any other coun-
try. Methods have been employed, IL
there have ever been any methods at
all, that were scandalous and almost
crlminally reckless. Human life has been
imperiled. Time aud again The Tribune
has sounded the warning. but 1t has gone
nph IaI hat h, fha IA
the county officials, and now they reap
the whirlwind. Had the citizens been
plunged into grief and gloom because q
holocaust had overwhelmed them II
would have been all the same today with
this same management and these same
county officials. the same nonchalance
and apathy would have characterized
them.
Time to Call Halt
And now It is positively time to call a
halt, That which has already occurred
can be repeated. with every horror which
so often surrounds such events added
II the management remains calloLs and
Indifferent II the county officials remain
inactive. then other means must be pur-
sued to obtain for the public that
measure Of protection and safety which
ii Justly demands.
A reporter OF The Tribune made re-
peated efforts to obtain an interview
with ]. F.. Langford Wednesday, but he
was unable TO meet the gentleman
The Key System.
Manager Langford is quoted as offer
Ing as IN excuse for the lack OF facil-
ties at the bathrooms the statement
that many of the keys are carried
away by bathers and used by them
on future occasions. He says that he Is
convinced the key system as at present
in fails fbp SItnaiIon
and he is planning to put in a substitute,
Many have been suggested One is TO have
an attendant for each 100 rooms, with an
office to which the bathcr may apply TO
be admitted TO a room both on coming
out and going into the water. This plan
is said TO work successfully at Coney
Island, where a large number OF people
use the bathrooms. Another plan is to
charge a key deposit. and require the
bather to return the key to an attendant
before leaving the bathing platform.
The Lagoon Road.
AS TO conditions on the Lagoon road.
which have been similar to that on the
Saltair line, a Tribune reporter called
upon Senator Simon Bamberger presi-
dent OF the Salt Lake & Ogden railroad.
yesterday. and obtained from him a
statement as 10 present conditions on
the line. When asked concerning the
lack of communication with the engineer
by means of the bell cord, Mr. Bam-
berger said That on long train the
bell would not ring. Provision has been
made so that In case OF accident the
conductor can apply the brakes from any
of the cars by simply turning the handle
on the hose between the cars" II
passenger attempted to do this, however,
he would be liable TO fall and be In
jured.
Use of Air Brakes.
Mr.. Bamberger asserted that there had
been no crowding of the cars recently,
except on the day the Utah county bands
were at the resort, and that day spe-
cial train was run TO relieve the con-
gestion. Everything possible Is done
to prevent crowding." said President
Bamberger, "but 1t is impossible to con-
troll large crowd. train never leaves
Lagoon without the air brakes being
connected and tested, and last night
twenty minutes time was lost on ac-
count OF one OF the connecting hose be-
Ing faulty and having to be repaired
Closed vs. Open Cars.
I'VE have only five open excursion
cars now that we use on the run They
are heavy cars, and are only used on
big occasions. We use closed cars The
light. open cars are now used between
Pennington and Kaysvillc, and when the
open cars are used on the regular run
the protecting chains are utilized
especially when there are children on
board, The big, open cars are as heavy
as the closed coaches. and run as
steadily"
In view that other steam roads have
their cars, no difference what tho length
of tho train. connected with the engine
80 that communication can always he
had with the engineer. It seems
strange that on the Bamberger road 1t
cannot be done, Another important
matter is that ordinary steam railroads
do not haul their trains with the tenders
leading, unless that tender has a pilot
or cowcatcher thereon. Thus the Bam-