Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1910-06-23
Violation of Trespassing Law.

Irespassln ng on ra)lroau property III
violation of the law has caused the
death of more than $4,000 people in
the United States in the last eleven
years. In this same period more than
| So, 600 trespassers have been injured.
With view to reducing to a mini
mum the practice of trespassing on its
property, the Pennsylvania Railroad
has determined to redouble its efforts
to secure on it's lines that rigid en-
forcement of the law against trespass
! ing which in foreign countries has
| done so much to decrease the number
of fatalities resulting from trespassing.
In 1907 the Pennsylvania inaugural
ed vigorous campaign against tres
passing, and, due doubtless to this, the
number of trespassers killed in 1905
was only 757. In 1909, 732 lost their
| lives in this way. In the eleven years
prior to January lst, 1910, exactly y
| 972 people who were on the Pennsyl-
vania Railroads right of way in wilful
violation of the law, in spite of thous
ands of warning signs along the rail-
road, we're killed. 1t is thus seen that
in the eleven years an average of two
! trespassers a day have been killed on
Pennsylvania Railroad proper y.
! This long death roll is every year
. charged up to the Railroad even
though these people are killed as a re.
suit of their violating the law, and
under conditions over which the Com
pany has no control.
| II is not only tramps who are killed
and injured while trespassing, though
thousands of them lose their lives this
way every year. Men of the laborinS
class, factory workmen, their wives
and children, who use railroad tracks
as thoroughfares, are killed by hun
dreds. That the practice OF walking
on railroad tracks Is prevalent in in
dustrial districts gives added signih-
cance to the fatalities on the Pennsyl-
vania System "a a result of trespass.
/ ing. The tracks of the Pennsylvania
/ are lined with factories, as they run
\ through the densest industrial section,
/ through territory which holds more
/ than half Of the population of the Uni
ted States. over 10000 trespassers
were arrested in the year 1909
/ In 1895, i,063 trespassers lost their
+ lives on American railroads; five years
later the number was 1000 and in 1907
the number killed was 5,6t2 more
than IS a day. These figures are TAX
en- from the annual reports of tho In
terstate Commerce Commission, Fig
urcs complied by the Pennsylvania
Railroad alone show that 40 trespass-
\ era lost their lives on that Systems
lines IN 1893; 3sl were killed in 1904,
while in 1907 the number reached gl5-
an average of almost three for every
business day in the year.
The Pennsy lyania Railroad has now
posted Ia tracks aud stationed watch
men to see that warnings against tres
passing are respected, By redoubllng
its efforts the Company is endeavorng
TO reduce tho number Of trespassers
who aro killed and injured by an even
greater number than It has done In the
past three years,
The cooperation ofCity and County
authorities has been solicited Ia this
campaign. Heretofore the actual
punishment Of persons violating the
laws toroidding trespassing on rain.
road private property has been ia.
frequent The cost of imprisonment
haa le.urEyd tho local courts lr0m
holding those arrested whilo trospass.
ing ON railroad property
Cedar Shingles si5u per thousand al