The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-06-13
Public Sentiment Aroused as to
Necessity of Safeguarding
Human Life.
ACCIDENTS ATTRIBUTED TO
0LD-FASHI0NED EQUIPMENT
Pennsylvania Has Commenced
Construction of NOn-Tnham-
mable All-Steel Cars.

America s frightful record Of rail
road disasters has aroused public SEN
timent as never before to the necessity
of safeguarding human life. The death
rate on railroads throughout the United
States is from 20 TO 30 times greater
than in European countries, saws the
San Francisco Call The Government
reports show that in the last three
months of 1906 the most recent statis-
tics available, more than 10000 per
sons were killed or injured on railroads,
or about 700 a day. In time of peace,
in other words. tn eproportion of vic.
lent deaths is greater than during the
most bitter wars.
The amazing proportion of accidents
Is attributed by experts to the obvious
weakness of the old-fashioned equip
ment of many Of our railroads, such as
the wooden cars, the present form of
rails or the signal systems employed.
Rigid examination has been made by
the Government, by private parties and
by the railroads themselves to deter
mine the cause of accidents One of
the first fruits of this investigation is
the adoption by the Pennsylvania rail
road Of new steel cars. Some 200 Of
these cars, the largest order of its kind
ever gwen, are being constructed both
for suburban. and long distance travel
The cars are stronger than any now in
use and better able to meet the Sc
we're conditions of modern service.
Built almost entirely Of steel, the
new cars, first of all, are believed to he
absolutely inhammable TO the last de-
tail of their decorations. IT. is com
paratively q simple matter to build n
freight car which will not burn, but a
passenger car, which must be furnished
aud decorated to meet omdern demands
presents unusual difficulties The or
dinary materials used hv the deco
rator and upholscerer must be replaced
by clever limitations. The car frames,
the structural portions and the outside
sheathing are, Of course. OF steel. no
other material being suitable. Much of
the interior work of the cars again is
made of steel. which can be worked up
into Innumerahle forms. In order TO
initiate wood, sheets Of composite mate
rial made of compressed vegetable pulp
or asbestos have been used. Another
form of decorative material consists of
sheets Of steel. TO which fiber or as
bestos board has been glued.
The coverings used for the seats and
even the carpets on the floors are
chemically treated to render them proof
against FIRE The floors Of the cars arc
covered with corrugated steel plates,
which are covered with cement, Even
the paints used in the cars are so COM
posed that they will not produce any
smoke or dangerous fumes in case of
fire. The construction of steel cars has
become of late years not only sci
ence, hut an art 1t viii soon be
possible for one 10 travel in car ard
enjoy every luxury of modern travel
with the assurance that these palaces
on wheels are not death traps. The
first of these noninhammable cars were
merely designed for ordinary day travel,
but it is the plan eventually to have
all types of cars constructed with the
same care. Several types of sleeping
cars, dining cars and combination cars
have been designed and are now IN
process of construction.