The Washington times., 1910-02-25
ENGINEERS WANT
FEDERAL INSP PECTORS
Employees of Railroads Start
Fight for Safer
Boilers.
SENATE COMMITTEE
HEARS WITNESSES
Assistant Chief of National
Brotherhood Gives Interesting
Testimony at Hearing.

An interesting contest Is now going
on before the Committees Of Congress
on Interstate Commerce over the ques-
ton Of legislation to promote the safety
Of employees and travellers by compelling
railroads TO submit their locomotive
boilers 70 Government inspection and
10 equip these locomotives with safe
and suitable boilers and appurtenances.
Organized labor. more especially the
organizations Of railroad employees. are
fighting for the legislation The rail
roads are opposing il. From the stand
point of the engineers and fremen. who
spend their lives on the locomotives,
the proposed legislation is highly inn
porta3t They make astonishing charges
as to the risks taken in running engines.
A subcommittee OF the Senate Inter-
state Commerce Committee, consisting
Of Senators Cunmins. hean. and
Hughes. has been taking testimony on
the question Of whether there shall be
Federal inspection Of boilers. Tho bill
under consideration is one presented by
senator Burkett of Nebraska. 1t would
put the inspection Of the boilers in the
hands of the Department Of Commerce
and Labor and would provide Tor a
stringent system OF inspection.
Costs Many Lives.
The representatives OF the railroad
employees Organizations assert that un-
der the present system. with lack of
Federal inspection Of boilers, the loss Of
life and the proportion of accidents is
unduly high. II. Z. Wills who appear
cd before the subcommittee for the
Brotherhood Of Locomotive Engineers.
..aT.~ceawTfuo about EO O0n -yr.5r,c 49, .s..I
there were many reasons why the en-
Elneers wanted a Federal inspection of
lyilers, but the principal one was that
there had been % persons reported By
the railroad companies as having been
l>llled, and 3,O7o as having been injured
in inc i've years between July. 1904. and
June, 1902, by locomotive boiler explo-
EiODs. Mr.. Wills presented statements
rs 70 the causes of explosions as filed
I'm reports with the Interstate Com
Werce Commission.
7 blush when I read them" said Mr.
wis, not for the engineers, but for
the men who make these reports and CX-
heCt people g believe that men who
Fre employed and supposed 10 he cap
able Of filling the responsible position
pt locomotive engineer, knowing full
wei the result, viii sit on a seat in a
locomotive cab and take the lives of
others AMI commit suicide himself"
In substance, Mr.. Wills charged that
was not rightly stated in the reports
ip the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion He charged in effect that In some
cases locomotives were not made OF the
hest material and that there was not
I'M all cases being taken in their con-
StUcutlon every preCautlOn demanded by
up-tO-date scientific and practical
knowledge. lie declared that the crown
sheets Of boilers were often weakened
10y heat on account Of repeated tenn
porary absences OF water, but that the
railway officials IN charge OF repairs
were not liable to replace these aWak-
ened crown sheets under sch COndi-
tions, when there were only slight leaks
10 show e. In this connection Mr. Wills
gave this interesting testimony.
Must Do Work.
IT complaint is made by an engineer,
Il may be said 20 him. If you don't
want to run that locomotive there are
other men who do I have known men
F. being discharged because they declined
TO go cut on a locomotive when the
boiler was In bad condition. and in one
case. where they had laid four men off
for having had burned engines or, as 1t
Was put. we found you with the goods
on YOU In other words. they were
running the engine when il happened"
. Senator Burkett, before the sUbCOm-
mttee, said.
Engineers are required now TO take
engines out when the master mechanic
says 50. If he does not take IL out he
is subject to discharge or 10 be laid off
If he does take il out and comes back
with bad showing, then they. good
many times, make the engineer the goat
for that thing which he knew was trou-
bling the engine before ne took 70 out"
> In effect, Mr.. Wills e-Stified that
: engineers. ambitious TO obey instruc-
tionB, In many cases regardless OF con-
sequences. took long chances under
% orders. and in case OF death or injury
The results were reported Otherwise.
nothing was known OF the real situa-
.r- ion and the defects went concealed
Z Further than this, AIr. Wills made
!. this remarkable statement:
Engineer Blamed.
Most railway employees know that
some one has to be responsible when an
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