The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-29
THE ENGLISH ROADS
WILLIAM E. CURTIS TELLS OF
 OPERATION.
AmeFScan 1sa1Iroaas lxfll More People, Altheuah Enxlish Roads Haul More People and Run
 FhafeF.

| l t,I rE &@-.-~-----
 I The report of the Interstate Com. merce Commission concerning railway
 accidents In the, United states, shows
 that during the year ending June 90.
 leos.y there were s,7sl people killed and
 ss.ssS injured. wfites William p Cur l Of these <s0 Killed ana l2,645 injured
 were passengera: employees, 3.3Ss Killed and S6,s4E Injured. There was grati- flying -decreaae from the previous year. when 647 pAssengers and 4,355 en1- ployes were killed and 13,B79 passen- gers 4nd 2.6ss employees, were injured,
 making . tctaI or 5000 killed ana 7s.- 1hese feures are appalling. esps- clAlfy when they. are compared with
 similar reports from foreign countries The total number of passengers killed in England last year was only 120,
 and e.6ee were injured, while the num-
 Der of railway employees killed was 4s4
 and Che number of injured S,S77. The
 annual average for the last ten years ins England has been 1,160 killed and 6,7e5 injured. This was an average of one passenger killed out of 70,000,000 travelling and one for every 100000 was injured. The annual average of
 accidents : in thS United Kingdom for the last thirty years has been one pas senger killed for eeyry 40,30o,000 travel ing and one injured for 1900, 900 tray. cling; so that the risk is very much less than formerly, and is diminishing
 every year. Tn 1906, there was a very
 bad record in England. because of two terrible Accidenta----one of them to c steamship train loaded with Amert- cans---and the total for that year was
 hfty.eight passengers killed and ss1
 injursds
 The ttoal number of passengers killed
 by accidents to trains In Great Britain
 last year was only eighteen, and the
 number injured was 5s4, while in the
 United States 166 passengers were kill- ed In train accidents and 7,7s4 were ir- jured,
 The greatest slaughter was in coi- iisions which seldom occur in Eng
 land. Last year In the United states injured in collisions. while in the
 United Kingdom the total was thirty
 one killed ana S04 injured. The num-
 Der killed in accidents due to derail-
 ments was S14, and the number injured 5,122 in the United States, while In England there were only thirteen. deaths due to tieraflmenfs and s56 inju-' riesy . This means that the railway tracks in Great Britain are much safer than in the United states: ana are much more carefully guarded. But it should also; be said that the trains over there are very much lighter than ours. and the number of employees is 50 much greater that; the tracks can be more carefully watched and prompt ly repaired. The track walkers on British railways are scarcely ever out Of sight of each other, and the distance allotted to section gangs 10 very much shorter than in the United States.
 As q rule. the trains in Great Bartain run faster than those in the United States. and they carry more passen- gers There are many trains which make an average of fifty miles an hour, and do not stop between the ter Bristol, E1olyhsad, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, and other cities. There are hfty-seven trains running daily between London and Manchester, a distance of over 200 miles, and five of them each way make no stops whatever between the two cities. l was told that there had never been an accident to one of these fast with passengers.
 We have some tracks in this country that are just as good as those in Eng land but our great trunk lines could not afrord to hrild road beds as they have over there. The earnings of the roads would nevGr pay dividends on the cost.
 The passenger and freight rates corre- : spond with the cost of construction The only feature of British railway mana cement that is cheaper than in the United States Is wages of employees. engineers. f1remen, brake men. mach inists, trackmen and others engaged upin British railways receive only about one-halt as much as is paid workmen in corresponding positions in the United States; their hours are long CT, and more is expected of them. Railway fares and freight charges as a rule are about one-third higher than in the United States, and in some cases they are 50 per cent higher.
 Notwithstanding the safety of Eng fish railways 1t is customary for pas- sengers to buy accident insurance tick etc. Insurance is carried to a much greater extent than in, the United States. and there are companies in England which will insure people against any kind of misfortune or ac- cident that may possibly befall them. saw an advertisement in an English review, in which a certain insurance company offered to issue policies. a gainst insanity. and stated in that con nection that ons person in every 2S0 of the population of the United King dom is insane. The company offered a life policy which would pay an an- nuity of $500 a year to any person who became insane for f20, or $100, and a suaranty of double thst amount for life for $160.