The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-06-14

the school. AT any rate, the
emphasis laid by the teacher upon
the necessity of care and
vigilance in avoiding danger will
emphasize whatever insistence
parents may place upon it in the
home. And, surely, there is great
need for calling the attention of
children to the necessity OF watch
fulness in this regard. One can
scarcely take up a paper from any
part of the country without find
ing in it an account of an accident
that occurred through negligence.
The number Of people who meet
accidental death or receive in
juries that MAIN them for life is
truly appalling; and the thought
Of all the sorrow and suffering
thereby entailed is intensified by
the knowledge that much OF it
could be avoided if people would
take even ordinary precautions to
insure their safety.
A paper read by Interstate
Commerce Commissioner McChord
at the first Cooperative Safety
Congress held in Milwaukee last
year stated that 181, 1873 persons
were either killed or injured on
the railroads Of this country dur
ing the past twenty years. Of
this number $4,000 were young
people under eighteen years of age,
residing in the vicinity of the
accident All of these were tres
passers on railroad tracks. When
we add to this the thousands who
meet death in other ways through
accident, or are more or less
severely injured by neglecting or.
binary precautions, one can
readily see the need Of impressing
upon people, and especially upon
the young, the necessity of exer.
cising more care in avoiding
dangers of all kinds.
In no better way can this in
struction be given than by i'm
parting it to the children in
school. Teachers should impress
upon their pupils the danger Of
walking on railroad or street cal
tracks; of lettering about railroad
stations or cars; of attempting tC
board trains or vehicles of any
kind while in motion; Of crawling
under railroad gates when they
are down; of crossing streets
where traffic is great without max
ing sure that they can do SO with
safety; Of going near machinery
in motion; of lettering near build
ings in course Of erection; of play
ing on streets congested by traffic
and many other things of similar
kind. Pupils should be frequently
warned of the dangers to which
they are exposed, and the neces
sity Of care and vigilance should
be impressed upon them by citing
examples to show what accidents
might have been avoided il
greater diligence had been exer
cised in guarding against them.
Teachers in public and private
schools should take advantage OF
the opportunity to instruct their
pupils regarding the precautions
to be taken in order to avoid the
dangers to which they may be ex.
posed in coming to school, return.
ing to their homes, taking needful
recreation, and while performing
the duties imposed upon them by
their superiors. If habits Of
watchfulness are thus inculcated
in their youth it will do much tc
ensure their future safety. If they
are cautioned against danger they
will be on their guard and thus
the number of avoidable accidents
due to neglect and carelessness
will be materially diminished
Parents and teachers should co
operate along these lines and the
municipal authorities should dc
all they can to remove whatever
may endanger the lives or limbs
of the members of the commun
ity.