The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-02-21
Civil Engineer Raps
Gopher State Solons
From thursdays pa1ly. ~
Walter Brooks of Mankato was
elected president of the association.

ST. Paul, February l3.-Charging
that the Minnesota legislature makes
too many laws governing matters OF
which it knows little, B. Schreiner.
a Minneapolis engineer, made a bit,
ter attack on the lawmakers at yes.
terday's session of the Minnesota
Surveyors and Engineers society
Mr. Schreiner's short talk and the
address Of ID. +. Jurgensen, chief en-.
gineer of the Minnesota railroad and
warehouse commission. made the
meeting one of the most important
in the history of the society.
. IF the Legislature would let the
railroads alone matters would run
much more smoothly" said Mr.
Schreiner. ''In Germany, where rail,
road accidents are almost unknown
they leave the management of rail.
roads to railroad men. In this coun.
try the members of the Legislature
who know least about railroads, try
to run them. :,,,.
: Address Was AppIauded.
+ Mr.. Jurgensen's address, advocat'
ing the examination and licensing oil
railroad employees, will go down as
one of the, most notable speeches the
organization has ever heard, accord
ing to officers of the society. Mr.
Jurgensen kicked over a few pei
ideas and his remarks were chal.
lenged on several sides, but the adj
dress was vigorously applauded.
Regarding the examination of rail
road employees by state board, he
said such action. should extend even
to the manager and other Officials
He denied that steel cars will serve
efficiently TO eliminate loss OF life.
70 I've seen steel cars crushed like
eggs and demolished just as com
pleteiy as wooden cars. / believe
they are as susceptible to breakag Ga
Neither do | advocate mechanical
control of trains. The loss of life
must be prevented by the efficiency
of the employees"
He said the. Minnesota law, re-
garding the violation of rules which
leads to loss of life on railroads, i
practically worthless, as Willful neg
lCct must be shown.
" Anybody who has had anything
to do with the law knows that ii
is next TO impossible to show will
full neglect" he said.
Discusses Electric Headlights.
James Larson of the Wisconsin
railroad commission spoke informally
on locomotive headlights. He said
that while strong electric headlights
are dangerous in railroad yards and
that they cause phantom" signals
at times. they should be Endorsed as
they prevent many more accidents
than they cause.
John Wilson, city engineer Of Du
luth. gave a technical paper on Sew
-erage and Sewage Disposal"
I'm the afternoon Captain G. w
Freeman, assistant United States en-
gineer in charge of the Mississippi
high dam, discussed the enterprise
which will be continued Thursday
when the members of the society
will visit the dam. Adolph F. Mey
er, st. Paul engineer, also spoke
on the high dam. ,
Other addresses scheduled for this
afternoon are: 1.-The Twin City and
the Mississippi" Francis c.. Shene
hon, dean of the college of engineer
ing of the university; Electric Light
and Gas Rates." j. f., Druar, st
Paul; collection and Disposal o
Municipal Wastes" George IT, Her
rold, ST. Paul; Fairgrounds" c.. 4
Booth. Minneapolis; Fairgrounds
and Their Relation to Municipal
Life" Dr. Arthur W. Cumming, st
Paul. 1a..., -
The St. Paul Z Society of Civh. En-
gineers entertained the visitors last
night with banquet at seven O'Clock
at the Ryan. r. d. O'Brien delivered
an address on Lincoln.
Accidents on Railroads.
Il Four thousand, one hundred and
three Dreventable accidents occurring
on railroads in America from Octo
Der, 1911. to March, 1912, fmpresses
the need OF law requiring railroad
employees to serve apprenticeship
and to qualify before a state board
of examiners before being permitted
to hold responsible positions on
trains This is what n. r. Jurgef,
sen. engineer for the Minnesota rail
road and warehouse commission, told
members of the Minnesota Survey
ors' and Engineers society.
Referring to the remedy for falli
bility and methods of making EN-.
ployes more careful, he said:
- Would Require Apprenticeship.
Employees engaged in train opera.
ton should be required by law to
serve an apprenticeship Of a suffi.
cieht duration to- qualify themselves
for the position they seek Before
the applicant is permitted to serve
in any capacity in train service he
should be examined by competent
state board of examiners as to his
physical and mental qualifications
Such examinations and tests should
be graduated so as to meet the re-
quirements of the different grades
OF the service, and license should
define the kind of service the appli-
cant may perform.
Mr.. Jurgansen gave figures show.
ing that of the 4 LOS preventable7 ac-
cidents 3,1C0 We're collisions. AS
caused from spreading rails, 1888 from
soft tracks, so from bad ties, 25S
from irregular track. 16S from mis-.
cellaneOas roadway defects and pa
from negligence of employees. In the
3.100 collisions 267 persons we're kill
ed and 1904 injured total OF
295 persons were killed in the. pre-
ventable railroad accidents and $3.50
injured. Z
In nonpreventable. accidents, OF
Which there were 7,24S between Oc-
tober, 1911, and March. 1912, total
of AT persons were killed and 1888
injured. Mr.. Jurgensen figured that