Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-06-06
DANGEROUS WORK.

our railroads may be more or lest
safe for the passengers, though ever
thai is questioned when comparison il
made with other countries, but It is
certain that the fatalities TO railroad
employees are unusual. If a recent ar
tlcle in McClure's Magazine Is accur-
ate.
John NJ. Gitterman. who is respon-
sible for the article, likens the killing
and manning or railroad employees to
a continuous war, which saps the ma
ton Of It's best men.
His explanation OF the killing and
inJufing Of employees Is interesting;
THE railroad has TO pay for an in
jurcd passenger. therefore. It takes
pains not to injure him. The rail-
road has 70 stand the loss Of a dam
Jagged locomotive; therefore, II takes
pains not TO damage It. The railroads
do not. in general, have TO pay for
killed employees, therefore, they XIII
one In every two hours. The law
throws the whole borden Of industrial
accident on the t%oilers; the protection
that this affords the employer simply
encourages his negligence and in
creases the number OF mishaps, The
railroads are not philanthropic insti-
%tutions. Where the law eXempts them
from responsibility. they viii hardly
assume responsibility for themselves 2
While the proportion OF the killed
TO the whole number employed has
remained practically constant at about
o%ne-quarter Of ! per cent for the last
twcnty-onc years ia spite of safety de-
vices. IN that time the proportion of
injured q%uadruplcd.
Whereas once In two hours, month
In and month out, a conductor, brake
man, %switchmau. or railway laborer
porishes boy accident, one is manned
every six minutes, Last yea Ga per
cent Of AN the railway employees in
the United states were injured; thus
the chances are that no man can es-
cape accident for nine years. NO
wonder that most OF the life insurance
companies refuse TO insure q railroad
man on any terms, while In any sort
OF company "A switchman can he in
sured only az "a rating twenty years IN
advance OF his actual age.
I'm spite of double tracking and
safety devices and palliative l%cgisla-
ton, matters have come to such al
pass that ~ the injured OF one bad
year could an wait ga line before one
hospital door. the queue would reach
The length OF Manhattan Island, from
the Battery to spuyten Duyvil creek
back again to the Battery. and up
once more as far as Madison square
while the dead. IL laid side by side,
would make q row nearly two miles
long
Then what becomes of the manned.
and what provision is made for the
widows and orphans ~ the killed
Mi Cttcrman instances the case OF
Thomas Kane. a fireman employed by
Tho Erie railroad. whose widow. left
destitute by his death through AN ac-
cldent. succeeded in recovering dam-
ages in nine years. ten months. and
twpnty-seven DAYS. after the case had
been tried four times ia the lower
court aud had been heard five times
ou appeal. lie also cites the case eft
tho widow OF a yard empioye whose
suit for damages is still lingering in
the Pennsylvania courts after ten
years ~ litigation. the case of Hazel
rieg who managed 20 obtain S27l5i
for the loss OF his arm. and h case
OF q widow who was awarded SIC for
her husbands death, but whose case,
after more than eleven years, Is still
in the courts. with eighty or ninety
thousands accidents a year, and the
percentage of reversals on appeal
greater in this class Of eases than in
~any other. one can imagine the med
tey ef decisions and the extent OF the
injustice
The reluctance OF our ourts TO-
grant compensation to injured en-
ployes. the writer attributes Ia the
first place 10 adherence 90 an English
iudiclal decision Of 1882. by which IL
was laid down that "the master could
NOT be held responsible for the in
5uries inflicted hy a fellow servant
although. in England itself. where
this fellow servant idea originated. Il