Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-03-18
FATALITIES OF THE RAILROAD
Extended Roll of Victims-SIethods to
Prevent Present Great
Mortality.

The modern car of Juggernaut Is the
railway locomotive. which every year Stays
its thousands-nay. its tens of thousands
in the United States. During the last year
S,7sS persons were killed on the iron roads
of this country and 55,466 were injured.
Think OF it, total of 1924 persons
killed and injured on the railroads of The
United States in a single twelvemonth. In
the bloody Crtmean conflict the British
lost 1900 in slain and wounded-hardly
more than a third OF the number killed
manned and mangled on our railways dur
ing the last year At the battle of Sedan,
which sealed the fate OF the Second En-
pire In France, the losses on both sides
were much less than the killed and
wounded on the rail In this country last
year Wellington won Waterloo and
Meade Gettysburg with losses of 2s,lS5 and
2S.OOs, respectively. and the total loss on
both sides at Shiloh in the two days muir
derous fight did not reach 1900
Railroads in foreign countries inhict no
such wholesale slaughter; They have ac-
cidents, but comparatively few Of them,
and with no loss of life and limb COMPARE
BILE to that suffered in the United States.
Why is this 50? Mainly because the rail-
ways are compelled to adopt safety con-
trlvanGes and other precautions for the pro-
lection OF passengers and employees
For one thing the railroads of the
! United States ought to be compelled to
adopt a standard cara car, that is TO say,
which is standard in strength, weight and
capacity The Interstate Commerce COM
mission is of the opinion that this preeau-
tion alone would save more than half of
| the lives now lost by disastrous collisions.
| The fact is that cars can be made acct
dent-proof TO q great extent Indeed, the
| vehicles which we call parlor cars corre-
/ spond in a measure TO this description.
Statistics carefully compiled prove that OF
| two passengers who board a train together
he who enters a palace" coach has only
one chance of getting hurt before his jour
ney's end against thirty-slx chances for his
! fellow passenger who takes one OF the
/ common coaches. Thus II would appear
/ that the best possible accident insurance
when travelling is a parlor car seat.
/ At the same time. under present condi-
! lions, parlor cars are a cause OF great loss
OF life and limb. In case of accident they
smash and telescope the lighter and
weaker coaches. What. then. IL the moral
II is simply that ali the cars on a given
train should be OF the same weight and
strength For safety It Is not necessary
/ tnat tney shOuid De very heaNys lue WelSl
OF parlor cars is largely in their Ornamental
work. And they heed not cost much more
than ordinary cars.
The chief victims of the railway Jugger
naut are not the people who ride. but the
men who attend to the business OF carry
ing them and their merchandise. Las
year one in every ten trainmen in tn
United states Ohis term including en-
gineers, iremen, conductors and brakemen
was injured. During the same period on'
trainman in every 1856 was killed Thinl
OF it-in single twelvemOnth. On th'
other hand. only one passenger was kilIe,
for every i,sSs.T o6 carried. and one injure,
for every s7.ai4. The average passenge
travels a9s6z72 miles before he is injured
and he goes 57072.2S3 miles before he Il
| killed.
Some railroads require that blocks o
wood shall be ft;ed into all frogs. thus rem
dering them harmless. but the adoption o
this precaution ought 10 be made eompul
sorry. The frog Is a V-shaped opening n
a place where two rails approach eacl
other Anybody who steps ineautiousl.
into such an opening is apt to have hi