Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-16
Man AND HIS COLOR SENSE
RELATION BETWEEN RAILWAY
ACCIDENTS AND VISUAL ERROR
Stress Of Life Of Locomotive En-
gineer on a Fast Train-What
He Must Know and Do.
From Current Literature.

From Current Literature.
In considering whether some Of Amer
ica's frequent railway accidents may not
be due to the character of the signals en-
ployed. Prof. George M. StrattOn points
out that these signals must be caught and
instantly translated into action under
conditions of uncommon mental stress.
For this reason, he adds, defects of the
symbols which might otherwise be far
from serious become of vital moment. Yet
it has been said that the work OF the
locomotive engineer seems to the observer
more difficult than it is, that the long
training through which these men must
bass permits them to carry lightly their
great responsibilities. 1t was the more
interesting, therefore. when on an express
engine not long ago party of which
Prof. StrattOn was member had come
to the end of their long course and the
din and jostle had given way to calm, to
hear the engineer speak of the tension or
his work. He had been at the throttle
but three hours that day. and after going
for time to the round house would take
his express back over the same run that
night.
Rest Every Other Day.
'My partner" said he. will have the
run tomorrow. No man could stand 1t
holding her dowk in this way day after
day
And so the engine crews on such swift
express lie off on alternate days. The
engineer and fireman may not take out
their trains unless the entire preceding
day has been one of rest. Such CAREFUL
ness on the part of great corporation
calls for praise which should be all the
less restrained, Prof. Stratton says. when
so much must be said today Of the short
comings OF our railroads. Yet there
could hardly be stronger proof of the
strain under which the engineer must
labor; for no company would give TO us
hardy servants every alternate day for
freedom unless experience had taught that
the service required II.
Nor is it difficult to appreciate in some
measure the severity of the work. Nari-
Gus duties that on an ocean steamer are
distributed among helmsman. lookout. en-
gineer and the officer on the bridge here
fall chiefly upon single man, and this
where the care and instant judgment re-
quired seem at times to be not far below
those needed for the guidance of ship.
The locomotive engineer must control a
marvelously complex and ponderous piece
of mechanism, keeping his sight and hear
ing and sense of shock so alive that
amid the universe of whirl and glare
and explosive rattle in which. for the
time. he is conferred, he can detect the
foreign note or culver that speaks of
disarrangement. He must know that his
outside lights are burning bright, that
the water in the boiler is sufficient and
that the air brakes are in perfect working
tune. He must from moment to moment
glance at the hands of his watch and
must know exactly where he is upon the
road. All the while his eyes must hardly
be taken from the darkness into which
his engine rushes to catch the first glim-
mer Of the signal which is his guide. Prof.
Stratton, whose article appears in the
Science tn
The Signal Lights.
"Slnce the safety Of many lives thus de-
Ponds upon these signal lights and upon
their sudden cearness to a mind that
must attend to many things at once, the
symbols should at all times be the least
ambiguous that can be planned. Yet
the present night signals, given by colored
lights beside the track-upOn many roads,
white for safety red for danger, and
green for proceed with cautiOn'-are open
to grave objections. For the human eye
at it's best and without abnormality is
liable to mistake the signal hueS at night;
especially when the outward conditions
are anywise untOward, whether by the
distance or the low-burning Of the lamp.
or by fog or smoke or storm. And even
when the colors are perceived with per-
feet accuracy, the use of the common
oil-light called white as one of the signal
cOlors, throws dangerous task upon the
engineer, inasmuch as it requires him to
take constant heed lest he regard some
window lamp, or other meaningless light
along his course, as sign that all is
we'll, and in consequence rush onward to
his trains destruction.
THAT the color sense is wholly unfit for
the office it holds in railroading is hardly
open to any doubt whatever. One must
speak with less assurance. however as to
what should take its place. But even here
the general principle that might guide the
change is reasonably clear. Our eyesight
detects two different features in objects
their color and their spatial character
such as shape. position and movement;
and the sense Of color is far less primitive
and vital and masculine than is the rude
sense of space. Nature seems to have
held the sensitive to color cheap and
sighted accomplishment. to be crowded
out postponed to the mere finishing
school. like young ladies' French and
dancing.
I'm urging that we no longer rely upon
the color faculty for the safety of our
trains. l have spoken almost exclusively
Of those difficulties which color offers to
eyes that are entirely normal and sound
And upon such facts the main objection
to the present system may be based
Her Objections