Graham guardian., 1908-08-14
RESPONSIBILITY FOR ACCIDENTS
Julius Kruttschnlit, in July Number
Of AppIston's Magazine, Defines
Causes for Accidents

In the July number of Apple
tons Magazine, Julius Kruttschnitt,
Director of Maintenance and OPP
erat,on of the Union Pacific Sys-
TEN and the Southern Pacific Co.,
has very interesting article under
the title: "The Public's Responsi-
bility for Railway Accidents" In
his article Mr.. Kruttschnitt states
that the accident record of Ameri-
can railroads, even though there is
popularity included in it much that
does not belong there, is appalling,
no one will deny, certainly not the
officials whose duty it is to operate
these railroads and to whom the
fearful cost of life makes it's daily
and hourly appeal. The latest
official tigures-widely published
on the authority of the Interstate
Commerce Com mmission-are famil-
lar, but none the less astonishing
They show that l0,6l8 were killed
and 97,7O6 persons injured durin &
ing the last year officially reported
Yet appalling as these totals are,
it is in my opinion the duty of
railroad managers rather to give
them greater publicity than to
minimize or conceal them. They
concern us all, railroad men and
public alike. They point to con
diticns which ought to be remedied
What every railroad official must
wish to do is to enlist the cooper
alton of the public in duty which
the railroads are making earnest
efforts to fulfill, but in which so
far they have not had the hearty
cooperation which is necessary
from the public.
The first step must be a clearer
understanding of the conditions to
be bettered--a truer appreciation
of the causes of accident which are
To be removed, Before turning to
this, however, / may point to one
hopeful fact and clear away mis-
conception-that the conditions
tend to get worse, and that acci-
dents grow more frequent. As a
matter of fact, on the railroad with
which / am most familiar, the
Union Pacific, not only the per.
centage OF accidents, but also the
absolute number of accidents has
been reduced. In 1906 the num-
Der of employees, passengers, and
others killed in all accidents was
ia; in 1907 it was los. Similarly
the number injured was reduced
from 1888 in 1906 to l,l04 in 1907.
Yet IN tho same time the number
of passengers carried increased by
1887 per cent. or, stated in tech
nical terms, this reduction in acct
dents was accomplished iI the face
of an increase of traffic equal to
l32,523,038 passengers carried one
mile. 1t may also be said in pass,
ing that the betterment was due to
the higher efficiency Of tho men AS
much as to greater use OF safety
appliances, although on these dc.
vices the company has expended in
the past two years S3,042,309.
Let me return to the causes Of
: accident, in removing which, as l
have said, the railroads so earnest
ly desire the help of the public
In the analysis of the figures the
first thing that strikes us is the
fact that a large part of the acc-
dents included in the Interstate
Commerce Commissions report are
not directly chargeable to railroad
ing strictly so called. Of the o.
706 cases of injury, over $4,000
occurred, as also did 25l fatal in
juries, in "handling tools, machin-
cry supplies in Shops ,"handling
freight at stations ETC., etc, etc.
We' might with equal reason
charge to the dangers of ocean
commerce all deaths and injuries
in sbipbuilding or repair plants
and on docks among dock laborers
and stevedores. Taking up the
casualties due to raiiroading prop
er--tbat is, train movement--we
find that of the total of l0,369
killed and 63,4l7 injured, 9,05l
deaths and As, ,455 injuries were at.
tributed to falling from cars, jump,
ing on and off cars, struck by cars
and other causes.
The striking and outstanding
fact here is that majority of the
4 killed, a number IN excess of pas
iengers and employees combined
4 who lost their lives during the
year, were trespassers. This great
1 waste of life was due to no fault O.