The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-17
ROADS RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY WRECKS, SAYS COMMISSION Of S215 Derailments During Year 1877 Caused by
 Defects of Roadway 10,5S5 KILLED AND
 169,53S INJURED The Interstate Commerce Commission Makes Recommendation to Pre-
 vent Railroad Collisions-Ex-
 cessive Speed Factor

 congress. Discussion of disasters on American railroads during the last year constitutes an important feature of the report.
 Il is pointed out that many of the accidents resulting in fatalities might have been averted by the exercise of proper precaution or the employment of suitable devices and good equip ment Figures given show that of the total Of S215 derailments during the year 1877 were caused by defects Of roadway and Ss47 were due to defec- tive equipment. This indicates an in crease over the previous year of e52 in the derailments due to bad roadway and 1923 due to bad equipment
 More Effective Measures Needed
 The investigation by the commission itself of railroad accidents involving loss of life. the report says, has pro- ceeded far enough to indicate the need of more effective measures than thus far have been taken to secure safety of railroad travel" While the previous suggestions of the commission as to the adoption by the railroads of all-steel, or steel-underframe. cars are being adopted "as rapidly as conditions will permit" and "the danger from the use of unsound cars Is gradually disap pearng' the serious dangers of defec- tive roadway and the use of unsound rails still remain, as a result of which derailments are likely at any time to occur. Concerning it's Investigations. the commission says
 of the s1 derallments investi gated IA were either directly or indirectly caused by bad track. In of these A cases the derailments would probably have been avoided had existing speed restrictions been observed; but in all the remaining eases no adequate speed restrictions were Tn force and in 3 cases the track conditions were so ob- viously unsafe that derailments were likely to occur even at low speed. In one serious derailment an examination of the track in the vicinity of the ac- cident disclosed 906 rotten ties within a distance of 147 rail lengths. Under many of the rails there were as many as II bad ties, and under each of rails there were 12 ties so badly decayed and broken as to be totally unfit for ser vice. In many of these ties the spikes were so loose that they were easily re- moved by hand, the wood having no longer any holding power. Tho track in the vicinity of this accident was poorly ballaSted and was unsafe for the passage of trains at ordinary speed. This derailment occurred on straight track while the train, was running about thirty miles per hour"
 A Disquieting Feature
 The report says that the most dis quieting and perple eXing feature in the problem of accident prevention is the large proportion of train accidents caused by dereliction of duty by the employees involved. The commission believes that as a rule there are no men that have a keener appreciation of their responsibilities than railroad trainmen and enginemen," and yet 1t Is pointed out that 65 per cent of tho whole mum Der of accidents investigated were caused by mistakes on the part Of employees.
 There is d disposition in some quar- ters," continues the report, Ito charge these lamentable errors to failure of dis cipline and to hold employees wholly re- sponslble for such failure. This is q su- perficial view which contains no promise of effective remedy.
 "A remarkable increase in the speed and weight of trains within recent years, and the crowding of tracks and terminals caused by the movement of an enormously enlarged volume of traffic, have greatly increased the duties and responsibilities of train service employees and multiplied tht, chances of error on their part. Not withstanding these added duties and re- responsibilities which the conditions of mod ern railroading have imposed upon em- ployes, the methods of discipline and reg
 fs.s.. sr. train opera ton have remained practically unchanged.
 .'To prevent railroad collisions adequate measures must be taken, first to reduce the chances of human error tO a minimum and second to neutralize the effects of such error when 1t occurs. The recom- mendations previously made by the com mission for legislation requiring the standardization of operating rules and the use Of the block system were designed to reduce the probability of mistakes by employees, and those recommendations are once more presented for consideration of the Congress. Uniformity and consistency in operating rules are necessary to se- cure safety. and it is not probable that satisfactory code which will meet the demands of modern operating conditions can be secured without appropriate action by the federal government"
 Excessive Speed Factor
 The commission points out that excess sivc speed has been an important factor in many train accidents, and that "condi- tions of safe operation are often ignored in the effort to bring fast train in on time. This is bad practice, for which the travelling public is largely responsi- ble, and it should be discontinued. Ade- quate measures should be taken to com pei low speed wherever conditions require it. whether schedules are maintained or not.
 The total number of casualties on steam roads during the year ended June 90 was 13o 123, of which 105S5 were persons killed and 169,52s injured These figures indi- cate an increase over the previous year of 1ss killed and l9,379 injured. Of the total number of casualties. 400 railway employees were killed and 92.3s3 injured through ''in- dustrial accidents" happenings incident to railroad business, but not due to the operation of trains
 An analysis of the figures furnished by the steam roads shows that of the num- Der of persons killed. SIS were passengers, s6s5 employees and 6GS2 other persons. tres
 (Continued 0n Page Seven)