The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-12-16
SCARED
BY /. C. C.'S REPORT
Many Accidents Resulting in Fatalities
Might Have Been Averted-Some Re-
suits Of Investigation Shown.

GRAFTON suggested by the interstate com
mercc commission in its twcnty.sixth
annual report submitted to-day TO Con-
gress. Discussion of disasters ON Amori-
can railroads during the last year con'
stitutes an important featare OF the
report.
Ii is pointed out that many OF the ac-
cidents resulting In fatalities might have
been averted by the exercise of proper
precaution or the employment of suit
rble devices and good equipment. Fig
ures given show that OF the total of : :
2l5 deraiments during the year, l,sl7
were caused by defects of roadway and
3s4T were due TO defective equipment.
This indicates an increase over the pre-
vious year of 652 in the derailment due
TO bad roadway, and ,023 due 10 bad
equipment.
The investigation by the commission
itself OF railroad accidents involving lcss
OF life, the report says, 'has proceeded
far enough 10 indicate the need OF more
reflective measures than thus far have
been taken 10 secure safety Of railroad
! travel" While the previous suggestions
of the commission as to the adoption hy
the railroads of all-steel, or steel-undei-
frame, ears are being adopted 'ao rapidly
as conditions will permit" and "the dan
ger from the use OF unsound cars is
gradually disappearing" the serious
dangers Of defective roadway and the
use Of msound rails still remain, as
result of which derailments are likely
at any time to occur. Concerning is
| investigations, the commission says;
"Of the 81 derailments Investigated,
IL were either directly or indirectly
caused by bad track. In five Of these
IA cases the deraiments would probably
have been avoided had existing speed
restrictions been observed; but in all
the remaining cases no adequate speed
restrictions We're in force, and in 3 eases
the track conditions were so obviously
unsafe that deraiments were likely to /
occur even at low speed. In one serious 1
deraiment an examination OF the track (
in the vicinity of the accident disclosed /
908 rotten ties within q distance OF III |
rail lengths. Under many OF the rails /
there we're as many as II bad ties. and !
under each of two rails there were II /
ties so badly decayed and broken rs TO
be totally unfit for service. In many OF /
these ties the spikes were 80 loose that |
they were easily removed by hand, .hc
wood having no longer any holding pow
er. The track in the vicinity of this
accident was poorly ballasted and was
unsafe for the passage Of trains at or
dinary speed. This derailment occurred
on straight track while the train was
running about 80 miles per hour"
The report says that .the most dis
quieting and perplexing feature in the
sssal.t f.f as4t
large proportion of train accidents
caused by dereliction Of duty by tho
employees involved. The commission be-
lieyes that as a rule there are no men
TINT have keener afSeeciatson af !
their responsibilities than railroad train. /,
men and enginemen. and vet II is K
pointed out that 60 per cent Of the K
whole number of accidents investigated |
were caused by mistakes on the part of {
employees. I
There is a disposition in some quart \
prs,' continues the report, to charge {
these lamentable errors to failures of i
discipline and to hold employees wholly i
responsible for such failure This is
superficial view which contains no prom i
Sc OF effective remedy. il
"A remarkable increase in the speed \
md weight Of trains within recent years, I
ind the crowding of tracks and termi- (
ials caused by the movement of an enor- h
nously enlarged volume of traffic, have | {
.reatly increased the duties and re- o
of train service employees b
md multiplied the chances of error on g
heir part. notwithstanding .hesc /
dded duties and responsibilities which 81
he conditions of modern railroading q
ave imposed upon employees, t,re,l &
Methods of discipline and regulations "
to insure safety in train op- y
ration have remained practically nm Il
hanged. 81
ITO prevent railroad collisions ade. b
uate measures must be taken first, to q
educe the chances of human error. 10 tC
and second to neutralize The OF
fleets of such error when it occurs. The Il
previously made by bt
he commission for legislation requiring hi
he standardization of operating rules te
nd the use of the black system were ia
esigned to reduce the probability Of pi
listakes by employees, and those rec III
are once more presented pl
,r consideration of the Congress- Uni
'rmity and consistency in operating ia
lies are necessary to secure safety. and in
is not probable that a satisfactory W
,de which will meet the demands 81 81
odern operating conditions can be Sc ar
lred without appropriate action by the bu
deral government
The commission points out that eN-
ssive speed has been an important fac
IT in many accidents, and that "cond. Tt
ons OF safe operation are often ig-
,red in the effort to bring fast train,
on time. This is bad practice. for u.
hich the travelling public is largely re- ~ ~
onsible, and it should be discontinued. .i'' .II
Iequate measures should be taken to -" ~,
mpel low speed wherever conditions a.,
quire it whether schedules are main
ined or not" - -
The total number Of casualties on JOY
cam roads, during the year ended Juno ~ ..
was lsO. .l23. of which I0,5S5 were ~
rsons killed and l6p.53s, injured. These ei
ures indicate an increase over TIE pre- !"
1us year of lS9 killed and 1879 in le'
red. OF the total number of casual ~. W
:. 400 railway employees were killed u"
d 92.363 injured through industrial 4,
ridents happenings incident to rail- e.'
nd business. but not due to the opera =,
IN of trains. @
An analysis OF the figures furnished by ~,
: steam roads shows that OF the num- :, :,
T Of persons killed. 3ls we're passen- ''a'
r.. 3.635 employees. and 6.632 otter
pam. sra.uuS4fnfr and upf fre=,sa setsto