The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1907-02-28
Government Appropriates $50,
600 to Test Safety Appliances
to Prevent Railroad Wrecks
KEN0SHA MAN TO SHOW PLAN
Every Safety Device Patented to BE
Carefully Tested at the Govern
ment Expense and Best
to Be Ordered

Harry Raymond, the inventor, is to
safety railway switch at the expense
Of the United States government, as
Friday the congress Of the United
States added to the Sundry Civil bill
an item Of $50, 600 which is to be used
for the testing of railway devices.
made for the purpose Of preventing
train wrecks. Raymond and his as
sociates in the Kenosha Safety Switch
company will take immediate action
to.1ay the device patented by Raymond
before the special committee to be APP
pointed by congress.
The interstate commerce commits
sion has concluded report on the
block signal system which will go to
congress within day or two. They
Investigated number of recent ter
rible wrecks, including that on the
Southern railroad, which cost Presi-
dent Spencer Of that line his life, and
the shocking catastrophe on the OUT
skirts of Washington only few weeks
later.
The hearings before the commission
demonstrated the disgraceful abuse of
the present block signal system and
made it evident that something in the
nature Of an automatic device must
be provided to prevent continuance
of accidents involving large loss of
life.
There are dozens of automatic de-
vices on the market. Inventors have
been almost as prolific IN this direc-
matte car couplers twenty years ago..
The difficulty which confronts the
commission lies in the fact thateno
one knows exactly what device will
work best in actual practice. It is to.
determine this that the house Friday
decided to set aside $4,000 to be. used
by the commission IN making prac-
teal tests on railroads.
According to reports made to- the.
Interstate F commerce. commission there
were 418 passengers killed and 11,185t
injured on railroads during the year
1906. AT the same time there were
3,S07 employees killed and 55,524 in
jured. From these figures Il is seen.
the railroads during the last fiscal
year claimed the lives of 4,225s hufiIarf
beings and injured the shocking total
of GO, 700. 1of
Not all of these people by any mans
ner Of means were killed in train ac-
cidents. In the item Of passengers
killed IN collisions and derailments
the ecord of the last fiscal year is
not so bad as that of 1905. On The
other hand, the number ofspersons in
jured has increased and casualties to-
both trainmen and passengers indi-
cate that in the great class of what
may be called ordinary train acct
dents there is no Improvement. The
advance in medical and surgical
bly, has length
ened ordinary human life, but the
railroads are nkilling and manning
their thousands and there is no ap-
parent diminution in the ratio of in
jured as the country grows Older and
the railroads themselves are better
equipped.
For long time the commission has
taken the ground that the block sig
nal system is indispensable to the
proper operation of any modern rail-
road except on small branches where
only one locomotive is used, so that
there is no possible chance Of Golf
sion. Congress has been urged by the
commission to pass law requiring all /
railroads to install the block signal
system within a reasonable length of 7
time, leaving it to future develop.
n1ents, if necessary, to determine the
best kind of system to be adopted and
the proportion of manual labor and 7
devices to be adopted.
The adoption of the block signal
system is one of the three great aims
Of the commission, the other two be-
ing a systematic investigation of ac-
cidents and regulation by govern
mental authority of the evil of over
work by trainmen, signal men and
telegraph operators.
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