New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-07-28

* LII aboard Tor the iuV-looI ulOi''
A I; will all be over in a moment ONE. t;
L n gentlemen, so don't hold back
If YOU are fond of life, does that SOUND
tempting to you? or would you rather
get standing room there for some or your
enemies? This Is not a parachute per-
Torrance but a sheer drop OF seven nun
bred feet into a gaping hole; ana lAe
strange part of this startling act Is thal
II is designed for the ultimate saving OF
life Does this paradox seem persuasive
10 YOU? Let us put the facts Of this IN
vitation TO you in another way; then per
hans. YOU will have no difficulty in max
ing your choice.
Suppose you were speeding overland by
express at the extraordinary rate of one
hundred and forty miles an hour and the
engineer suddenly applied the brakes IN
an effort to bring his train to stand
stn inside of a distance OF huhorOu
andstwenty-fv feet. A speed of this sort
would mean getting over ground at
rate more than double the average We
locity Of the best Of our flying specials
We have recently had a number OF grew
some examples of what happens Wh.h
trains are halted suddenly by some Cd
stacle-each disaster showing us the ire
mendous pent-up energy in these high-
sneed trains. But maybe you would
rather take your chances on one OF these
"limiteds" than to cut loose and drop
distance of seven hundred feet in a pas
senCer elevator, so as TO warn or 10 CONF
fort. as the result might warrant, thou-
sands of your fellow citizens. However
Notwithstanding your reluctance dem
onstration of this sort will be made at an
carly date right here in New York City,
and probably the man who speaks with
most calm Of the approaching test Is the
one who will surely take that fall.
DANGERS OF SKY PLOTTING.
The function OF Fastening skywa7d
daily is a pretty important part 81 Ne"
York's industrial lifc-hundrecs OF t"ou-
sands of persons have to do this going 10
and from their offices, while a vast army
Of others do this several times a DAY IN
keeping important engagements. Inc
steady increase Of tall buildings anC thr'
continual mounting upward demand the
utmost care in installing their elevator
services: the towering office structures
for this means Of going rapidly up aA6
down The fastening man OF affairs
wants u reach the desired HOor with the
utmost dispatch; and most Of us kno"
the feeling Of impatencc when We have
mistakenly taken a local instead of an
express" car. notwithstanding the lact
that even the slower vehicle makes us
trip at a goodly speed. 1t is, therefore.
of the utmost Importance hat the ele-
vator systems Of any city be capable OF
doing their twofold serl ice-uI and
down-with proper guarantee Of safety.
While safeguards against disaster arc
provided extensively, there still remain
many of these aerial vehicles which are
far from secure against mishap. This OK
plains the annual toll Of quite thou
sand which is cXactod in the way Of in
jured, manned ar killed.
The list Of rcDo..,d casualties through
out the country for the last three years
gives the followia2 astounding figures:
lJlJ..... ......... ...''''' '''''''''' '''.' o.
...................-.. ""'
Total. .................,.. .....'.....Z ."b
These figures are mainly from pub
Iished data prepared by various casualty
companies in this city. ami ii is quito
likely that complete details would dis
close even a larger number Of injured
and killed. The public learns of some OF
these disasters. but there IS strdiods
effort on the part Of many property
ownera to suppress or to withhold the
facts. What concerns US is thai New
YORK, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and
ST. Louis are the five cities that have
against them the largest number Of
casualties of this nature. named in the
order of their unfortunate precedence
New York has more to her discredit than
the combined showing of Chicago and