Albuquerque morning journal., 1913-12-20

their fitness to perform the duties as
signed 20 them from time TO time.
"nhis lack of supervision and i'm
/ Ispectlon with respect 10 matters &C
/ fcctine the safety of trains Is unex
| IpIainablo when the careful supervi
Sion of AN matters directly affectint
the revenue Of the roads is considered
/ The auditing and checking system.
used for detecting the dishonesty %
kemployes are marvels of ingenuity ant
careful attention TO detail. but meanl
Iof determining whether train, ar,
operated In accordance with the re.
Quirements of safety and in confor
nifty with the rules are almost en-
tireiy lacking.
In previous reports the commis-
sion has recommended legislation re
Quiring the Standardization of operat.
ing rules It is vital to the safe move
ment of trains that rules should be
explicit and uniform I'm character. sd
that they may be easily understood
ANA that there may be no doubt as tc
their application To this end federal
legislation is necessary
"Disobedience of signal indications
on block -signaled railroads is one OF
the most serious phases Of the acCi-
dent situation such disObedicnce of
ten occurs i'm passenger trains, and
when it results in a collision or de-
railment a most deplorable casualty
list is its invariable accompaniment
Fourteen of the investigated accidents
which have occurred on bloCk-sig-
raled roads since July j, 1871, were
caused by enginemen running by stop
signals or falling to reduee speed as
directed by caution signals IN these
fourteen accidents 105 persons were
killed and 81 were injured ln seven
OF these accidents the cupable en-
ginemen themselves were killed.
no adequate reason can be offered
for these serious lapses from duty by
men Who in many cases suffer death
ass consequence Frequently it is
hard even to suggest a plausible eN-
PLANTATION for the disobedience of sig
nal indications That they are dis
obeyed, however, is a fact, and the
lives that are annually sacrificed from
this cause call loudly for some means
of arresting its results. The most dis
astrous accidents of this character oc-
cur on roads equipped with modern
systems of automatic block signals,
where elaborate precautions to pre-
won't accidents (short Of guarding
against the consequences Of signal dis
ohedience) have been taken The
trains involved in these lamentable
disasters generally are operated boy
trusted employees Of long experience.
But the record abundantly proves that
even splendid signal equipment and
admirable discipline, coupled with
long experience and high moral char
acter on the part Of employees, cannot
prevent the occasional man failures
which produce such fatal results.
These facts are brought to the atten-
tion Of the congress, with the sugges-
ton that these man failures indicate
the necessity for the development and
perfection Of some system Of auto
matte train control to be used in con-
nection with existing signal systems.
High speed was an important con-
ributng cause of several serious ac-
cidents during the past year on many
roads there is no limit to the speed
at which passenger trains are allowed
10 run. Enginemen are thus encour-
aged to run their trains at excessive
speed in an effort to make up time
lost on schedules that are in many
cases already sufficiently fast for
safety. such high speed is especially
dangerous in times Of fog or storm,
when signals can be seen but a COM
paratively short distance The maxi
mum allowable speed Of trains on all
roads should be established at a safe
limit, and it should not be left en-
tirely to tho Judgment Of engncmen
to determine whether or not this limit
is exceeded.
"Inasmuch as the only purpose OF
Investigation. the report continues
lis to learn the true causes Of acci-
deatg. 60 that such causes may bC