Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-12-01
RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.
Appalling Array of Figures Showing
 that We Lead the World.

An admirable paper on American rail way accidents is that by Edward Bon- nell Phelps, in the November World s Work. MT. Phelps thinks that we have had loose statements and general figures, but outside of technical journals no scientific demonstration of the sub iect, so that it has not been sharply visualized to the people, and hence there has beeR no effective protest. Years of study given to the subject convince him that the first requisite is realization of our lamentable lack of leadership in effort to reform the evil. The situation is set out for the year 1903, that being the last for which the writer could obtain complete figures in all countries.
 The number of passengers killed in railroad accidents that year in the Unit ed States to each 10,000,000 carried was 5.l; in the United Kingdom, Is; in Europe at large, 1.4. The number of passengers carried in the United King dom was one and three-fourths as many as in our country and on one-ninth the mileage, thereby greatly increasing den- sity of traffic and hence liability to ac- cidents. The railroads of the United Kingdom killed one passenger to every 7,66l ,956 carried, while we killed one to every 1,957,45 carried. For every l,000,000 passengers carried we in- jured l1.s4; the United Kingdom, 2.S6; all Europe, l.70. In train accidents, only for the years 190l-'05, we killed for each 100,000,000 passengers carried 3l.64; in the United Kingdom it was l.27. In the number of passengers so injured for the same years to each l0,- 000,000 carried, with us it was 72.23; in the United Kingdom, 4.ss.
 For the five years ended with 1905, the number of passengers carried in the United Kingdom was 5,953,676,1s Con one-ninth our mileage). From "aeci- dents from trains, rolling stock, perma- nent way,'' etc, there were killed, 76; injured, 2,907. In this country in the five years ended with June, 1903, were carried 3,559, ,024 ,3S9, of which from the same accidents were killed, l,l26; in jured, 25,705.
 The case of employees was worse. In the old country 34 were killed and 63S injured; in this country 3,6l7 killed and 26,334 injured. A vital element in the problem and new to it as far as we know, is the increased strain on train men, which MT. Phelps considers in connection with the number and in crease of our accidents. We give the figures of his table of percentage, dis carding decimals. It covers the de- cade ended with June, 1905. Train man is used as meaning enginemen, firemen and conductors. For this de- sengers carried one mile was 95 per eent increase in passengers killed, 2l5 per cent; in passengers injured, 34O per cent; increase in number of employees, l 76 per cent; increase in number of em- ployes killed, s5 per cent; increase in number injured, l60 per cent; increased average strain on the individual train man by volume of traffic increase, both freight and passenger, l06 per cent; increase in total number of trainmen, 6s per cent; increase of average strain, measured by average ratio of increase to each trainman of number of tons of freight and number of passengers carried one mile, g per cent. MT. Phelps is much impressed with this increased strain on the trainmen as a | 9a. s, k. af tu More and more work, as his figures show, is put on the men, and Mir. Phelps thinks that only painstaking invest I igation by the national government will reveal what an element this is in eaus- ing the "American Lead in Railroad Accidents (which is the title of his article) ).--Indianapolis News.