Arizona republican., 1912-12-17
SAFETY SHOULD
 BE FIRST RULE
Prevention of Disasters is Made Paramount i'll Sug- gestions to Railroads by Interstate Commerc e Commission

AOtllutICe COnllllSSlOn III ltS twenty sixth annual report submitted today to congress. Discussion of disasters on American railroads during the last wear constitutes an important feature of the report.
 It 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 mcnt. Figures given show that of the total of S.215 derailments during the wear. I.S77 were caused by defects of roadway and 3.S47 were due to defect i've equipment. This indicates an in rtase over the previous year of 652 in .h z derailments due to bad roadway, sAd 1923 dne to bad equipment
 The investigation by the commission itself of railroad accidents involving loss of life, the report says, has pro cceded far enough to indicate the need of more effective measures than thus far have been taken to secure safety of railroad travel" While the pre- Vious suggestions of the commission as to the adoption by the railroads of all steel or steel underframe. cars are be- ing adopted "as rapidly as conditions will permit and the danger from the use of UnsOund cars is gradually dis appearing" the serious dangers of de fectiVe roadway and the use of un- sound rails still remain, as a result of which derailments are likely at any time to occur Concerning it's investi- gatiOnS. the commission says:
 Inc T 14 were either directly or indirectly caused by bad track. In of these 14 cases the derailments would probably have been avoided had existing speed restrictions been observed: but in all the remaining cases no adequate speed restrictions were in force, and in 3 cases the track conditions were so ob- Viously unsafe that deraiments were likely to occur at even low speed. In one serious derailment an examination of the track in the vicinity of the ac- cident disclosed 906 rotten ties with in q distance of 147 rail lengths. Und- CT many of the rails there were as II bad ties. and under each of rails there were F ties so badly decayed and broken as to be totally unfit for SEviCe Tn many of these ties the spikes were so loose that they were easily removed by hand, the wood hav- ing no longer any holding power The 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 run ming 90 miles per hour
 +l,1+ T quieting and perpleXing 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 nc men that have keener appreciation of their responsibilities than railroad enginmen". and yet it is pointed out that 63 per cent of the whole number of accidents investigated were caused by mistakes on the part of employees
 There is a disposition in some quarters" continues the report "tC charge these lamentable errors to fail urc of discipline and to hold employees wholly responsible for such failure This is a superficial view which con- tainS no promise of effective remedy
 "A remarka ble increase in the speed and weight of trains within recent years. and the croWding of tracks ant terminals caused by the movement ot an enormously enlarged volume o traffic, have greatly increased tho duties and responsibilities of trair service employees and multiplied th' chance of error on their rart. Not withstanding these added duties anC responsibilities which the condition; of modern railroading have imposed upon employees. the methods of disci pline and regulations calculated to in sure safety in train operation have re mained practically unchanged.
 TO prevent railroad collisions ade quate measures must be taken, first to reduce the chances of human erro to a minimum and second to neutral izc the effects of such error when l occurs. The recommendations preVi ously made by the commission for leg islatiOn requiring the standardization of operating rules and the use of tn block system were disigned to reduc the probability of mistakes by em ployees and those recommendations ar
 
 of the congress. Uniformity and con sistenCy in operating rules are neces sary to secure safety. and it is no probable that a satisfactory code whicl will meet the demands of moderl operating conditions can be secure, without appropriate action by the fed eral government"
 The commission poinst out that eX cessive speed has been an importan factor in many train accidents, ant that conditions of safe operation ar often ignored in the effort to brinl fast trains in on time. This is bat practice for which the travelling pub lie is largely responsible, and it shoul' be discontinued. Adequate measure should be taken to compel low spec wherever conditions require it whethe schedules are maintained or not"
 The total number of casualties ol steam roads. during the year ende June 30, was 1SO,123 of which 1O,5S were persons killed and 1895 injured These figures indicate an increase owe the previous year of 1S9 killed an I9379 injured. Of the total number c casualties, 400 railway employee
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