The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-19
Ahout Wrecks

| To the Editor of The e-Herald:
 l Following the wreck of No. at Cum
 ningham you made some timely and wise
 comments. You are correct in locating
 the cause in excessive speed. The trav- | cling public Is afflicted with the speed
 craze. To "get rich quick they must
 get there fright now'' The Louisville
 and Nashville company is hardly to blame
 for their present schedule. Competing
 lines advertise to convey passengers from
 the north and east to the south in so
 many hours. Other roads must meet this or lose the trade.
 | The duty of the press is plain. Don't
 waste any ink on the railroads, but "go | for this insane travelling public. Ham,
 mer on their reason and conscience un- l til they >come to their right mind. Re-
 mind them that the world was not made l in day or Rome built in a week. You | have begun a crusade that you can afford l to continue until there is change. II may be they can be brought to have some regard for human limb and life In
 recent years the trainmen have been the principal sufferers. Have pity on these brave and hard working men. To realize what an engineer and fireman risk you | have but to go from your Pullman coach | to the engine and ride 50 miles. You will | quite likely return wondering that the engine staid on the rails for mile. l If you are sufferer from indigestion and want to shake up' you will be &C., 1 commodated No. was wrecked when | going at a speed of 67 miles an hour and 1 No. 50 miles an hour. The engineer | pulling train No. remained rational to within 30 minutes of his death. He said | the disaster. came without warning. He .si ,,At | in the movement of his engine. Suddenly | the, engine leaped from the track, and l so great was it's momentum that it went beyond the right of way and against the | tree that pinoned him to his death. No l comfort comes to the bereaved by blam- i ing the delay in the going of the wreck | er They are supposed to have done all l that was possible to human beings They l loved and honored the engineer whose | life was in peril and wanted to save him. So of the injured passengers.
 The engineer murdered at Cunningham was one of our best citizens, devoted husband and father. To know what that wreck meant you must visit the once happy home and hear the vail of that widow and the sobs of those fatherless I children. Much the same in the home of | the. fireman. For want of particulars can't trace the sorrow in the homes of | the dead and injured passengers All from excessive speed. In a country so rugged and uneven as north Alabama, all curves ought to be eliminated or speed limited to | 30 miles an hour.
 1 I am rooming in a residence with 20 or
 more tranmen. They are among the old- I est and most skillful men in the service lof the Louisville and Nashville. I am | serving a congregation composed of men who work for the company. I don't hesi-
 rate to pronounce my sympathy for and
 interest in the mand the company. Thus prompted, thus write.
 Another menace to the travelling public
 and shippers is in the use of engines too heavy for the rails. There is danger and | hsS ster ahead on all the roads. Some
 of the trainmen appreciate that fact and
 say their prayers" before going on duty. w. H. WELLS. l New Decatur, Ala.