Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1910-01-26

prises. There is part Of your magnate
handiwork. You take these working
men into your service. these passen-
gers into your trains. you accept their
toll or their money. and then. instead
Of protecting them by safety appli-
ances that are perfectly well known
and in constant use abroad. you tor
ture them in criminal wrecks. you
burn them. you scald them you tear
off their hands or feet, you crush their
legs or arms. you wrench their backs.
you fracture their skulls. You do this
to little children, to loving mothers, TO
young men; you do it every day of the
year to over 200 of your countrymenr"
Haggleton was silent.
why is it that in a given number of
railway employees America kills near
ly three times as many as England and
Injuries five times as many?" asked
Gentle.
America is a bigger country, with
ten miles of railroad where England
has one mile"
Gentle shook his head
| L.
we killed more in proportion"
"Our people are in hurry. They in
~sist on going fast, and that increases
the danger
Pardon me-" replied Gentle, 'the
fastest trains in the world are in Eu-
rope"
You talk like childv' retorted Hag-
gleton- You know nothing about con-
ditions"
No? | know this-that for years
you magnates fought against air brakes
and automatic coUplerS, although you
knew they would save thousands of
lives. Now you're fighting the system
of block signals that is used every
where in England and that would save
thousands of lives more"
1--WE have block signals on some rail.
roads," insisted Haggleton.
ION very few, and where you have
them you don't use them half the
time. Your own engineers have ad
mitted that when forced to testify
about accidents"
IF we had to run freight trains un
der strict block signals we'd never ge
4 our business DONE" snorted the ole
man. Think Of the freight pili1fg w
all over this country. millions and mil
lions of dollars worth. far beyond wha
the roads can handle and much of i
perishable, We've promised to NOV,
+ it. and we've got to move it, haven
We?"
mo. sir" flashed Philip. "Not If I
means destroying lives"
Besides" resumed Gentle, Its no
only in railroading that you slaughte
people. It's the same In mining an,
building and manufacturing. Here
an article"-he turned to another pag
? that estimates at over half mi
/ lion year our casualties in variou
industries largely controlled by you
trusts. Half million killed and II
jured every year and the greater PAL
E needlessly! How? By dangerous ma
chinery in your factories that migt
a be protected. by wheels and saws an
: flying belts that might be covered, b
+ poisonous fumes and deadly dust tia
might be guarded against, by explc
I sions in your mines that might /
! avoided, by falls. by fires, by insidiou
I disease. by a hundred perils that best
r your toilers, all of which might /
lessened or removed, but for or
= thing"
What's that?" asked Haggleton.
+ Gentle seemed not to hear II
;, kind, thoughtful eyes were fixed c
O Philip as if speaking to the boys sou
+ Half a million killed snd ,nJure
every year" he went on sadly. Mi
times the total loss in the battle
9 Waterloo! Nearly all Of them wor
+ ingmen in the prime Of life, wa.
o earners whose injury means distre
n or ruin to family!t Think of tt
q poor wives, the helpless children
q more recruits for poverty, more ten
o ment misery, more wrecks! And Il
# greater part Of this immense har
might be averted but for one thing"
q "Yes?' said Philip eagerly. '"Wh
a. is that?"'
. Gentle looked steadily at Haggleto
=. You know what l mean?"
= "No."
g Then slowly and impressively the Q
n diver spoke.
\ 81 have studied this question.
D have lived it, and | tell you, sir. Y,
"a are defending a bad cause. You kno
that three-fourths of these acciden
a might be avoided and all this wretc
r. edness and pain be spared us and tt
!, enormous waste of human energy pl
! vented if you great captains of indU
q try had not made up your minds tn
- it's cheaper to kill men than to prote
= them"
= CHAPTER XIV.