New-York tribune., 1907-12-31
KILLED Or NAMED THIS YEAR 5791a
Appalling Record OF accidents in the
Disasters Second IN the Totals

The total NUMBER or killed and injured in the
principal accidents during the calendar year
1907 chronicled in The Tribune reached
enormous proportions. If the killed had been
concentrated in day at Elmira that city OF
politicians and prosperity would have been
wiped out Of existence completely as was
Pompeif or HerculaneuIn. If the fatal accidents
had been united in their dread force at Calves
ton the residents of the beautiful city on the
Gulf Of Mexico would have sunk into the past
es suddenly did appalling proportion Of
its population during the dread tidal wave.
Even the historic descent Of rushing waters
upon Johnstown. Penn would have been a boon
In comparison. for the existence Of its thirty
five thousand Inhabitants would have been sum-
rlarily ended.
Similarly, the concentration OF the injured IN
the principal accidents OF the year would have
transformed Osxego from a thriving mart into
q unified city OF hospitals, with nc able bodied
nurses obtainable except from the outside.
Newport instead of being the seaboard centre
Of fashion would have been & solidified home
Of physical suffering. Either Orange East
Orange. Poughkeepsie or West Hoboken would
have suffered a like fate.
Combining the killed and injured IN simulta-
neous visitation, practically 60 per cent of Eo-
boken's ffty-nine thousand residents. according
TO the United States Census OF 1900. would have
been shrouded for burial, while only q mere
handful Of the remaining 40 per cent left un-
scathed In the disaster would have been able
&c lend assistance to the manned survivors.
We're the blow to have fallen on Elizabeth or
Utica, on Manchester. N H. Wiikes-Barre,
PENN the conditions would have been even
worse because those escaping unhurt would
have been materially reduced in proportion.
The death list for the year in the accidents
thus chronicled mounts to the amazing total
z columns seriously In
jured foot UP to 22y3o7. Combined, the figure is
579Iq Aside from earthquakes and similar up
heavals OF nature. practically all Of these acci-
dents were in the United States The great dis
parity between the totals of killed and injured
the latter usually more than doubling the for
rner-is due to a number Of causes. Chief
among these is the fact that 60 per cent Of the
killed were victims of earthquakes landslides
or tidal waves. which uniformly kill instead Of
main Second, the table Of injured gives only
the more seriously hurt, not including the thou
sands who fall weekly before trolley cars or rail-
wav trains throughout the country, but who
soon recover from their injuries. Then, again.
It does not include practically any Of the vari-
Gus minor causes Of injury Were these in the
list the official reports of the Interstate Com
merce Commission, the public service comrnls-
eions and Of various state officials show the
total Of injured would have been in the hun
dreds Of thousands
Mine disasters and explosions of various kinds
stand second in the totals for the year. More
over. the killed in the month Of December
through this agency aggregate more than one
quarter Of the total for the entire year. Close
scrutiny into the causes of these disasters tends
to place the responsibility in great meas
ure on the contributory negligence OF en-
pIoyes. Investigation il some cases has re-
vealed almost criminal carelessness in the car
rying of lighted lamps in the danger zones de-
spite the most stringent regulations prepared
by the officials
The uoxto,s black damp, though, is the dead
lies. foe OF the miner, and both state and ma
tional governmental investigations are now under
vay TO ascertain how the fatal power Of this
noxious underground ruler can be curbed In
Oecen1ber alone its irresistible fumes killed more
than five hundred coal diggers in Fayette CITY,
Penn: Monongah W. Va, and Yolande. Ala The
explosion at Jacobs City, Penn, IN which nearly
two hundred and fifty men lost their lives, was
merely g. trffing variation Of this cause of dis
aster miniature mine is to be constructed
in OF near Pittsburg by the United States au-
.boritjes. ane experiments on exhaustive
s7caIe are TO be conducted in order to ascertain
how these dangers can best be avoided Both
miners and mine owners look hopefully 10 lfiis
source for relief from present per1ls
In large measure official accounts of the rail-
rnad wrecks of the year show violation or or
ders by employees, either through negligence OF
misunderstanding which could have been cleared
away with due care TO have been responsible
for the accidents. These official accounts, whlch
necessarily come from railroad chiefs have been
horne out in large part after investigation py
coroners' iuries or grand juries. The result Is
that the operating officials throughout the coun-
try are taking the most stringent measures 10
III, of a
A YEARS VICTIM
The following is a tabulated list by months
during .be calendar year 1907, with the vario