The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1914-12-31
TOLL OF RAILROADS
IS 10000 PER YEAR
Maximum Lega, Indemnity
Would BE $101, 10000
II Collected.
A. 9. HenninE in the chicago Tribune.

A n =. honnlng, IN the CnlcaBo IFlOuho.
II the railroads OF the United States
were to pay the maximum legal In
demnity OF $4,000 for each life they
| took during the year ending June 80
last they would disburse $1O1. 10000 to
| widows, orphans and other dependents
OF the victims
The report of railway accidents for
the last fiscal year now being prepared
4 by the Interstate Commerce commits
sion discloses death roll OF l0,1bO per
| sons, the greater number OF whom
were employees. During the same period
100, 060 persons were injured In railroad
( accidents.
Confronted by this graphic evidence
| OF the deadliness OF the American rail-
road the commission has decided tnat
radical steps must be taken to achieVe
q greater measure OF safety for en-
| ployes and for the travelling public. Al
| though the efforts or the commission
80 far have resulted In some progress
in the direction OF safety first, the
shown by the official figures to pc
| slight. For the last fiscal year tins
number killed was only Sl4 less than
for the previous year.
Kill 10000 in rs Years.
i During the last % years more than
\ 10000 persons have been killed on
| American railroads and more than, e.
l 000,000 injured. The property, loss due
TO wrecks since 1907 totals $4,000, 900.
1.-THE favages OF war pale into In
1 significance before these silent indica-
tons Of the destruction Of human Ire
/ accompanying the peaceful operations
OF our railroads." said an official or
the commission. discussing the forth
coming report.
The causes Of death and injury are
legion. They include derailments, col
lisions boiler explosions, miscellaneous
train accidents, and Industrial acci-
dents to employees.
There is a dreary monotony In the
sameness of the reported cases OF these
| accidents" says report or the COM
| mission. Year after year derailments
and collisions due to identical causes
are reported
| Most Victims Employees.
Under the present law, railroads are
| required to report by telegraph 90 the
commission all accidents In which
human life is lost. There are more en-
| ployes killed than passengers, many
| employees losing their lives in the OPP
| GRAFTON Of trains in railroad yards. In
wrecks moro passengers than employees
| are killed. There are a surprisingly
large number of trespassers killed on
American railroads. This class includes
persons not employed nor passengers.
The Interstate Commerce commission
| Is doing all it can under present laws
to prevent accidents. 1t prescrtbes
safety appliances and enforces the law
which limits the hours of service Of
| train employees and telegraph opera
tors. This law was passed by con-
gress when 1t was shown that many
wrecks were due to the over working or
| train crews.
Great speed has been developed on
American railroads during the last dec
ade, and this speed seems to be in
1AEn 20 VNVthI 10 md hn
weight of trains has increased to such
| an extent that 1t has caused terrific
wear on steel rails, Notwithstanding
| the increase in the weight and size Of
I the rails. Ten years ago rails of less
| than 100 pounds were largely used on
American roads.
Now the prevailing rail weighs 100
pounds to every SO inches and on the
| large systems the main line rail weighs
| 10 pounds to the yard. In the recent
| hearing before the Interstate Com
merce commission, Samuel Rea, presi-
dent of the Pennsylvania system.
| stated that the Pennsylvania Is MAX
ing plans for laying 125-pound rails on
its main lines.
The high speed of trains has deveI-
| oped a defect in rails that is danger
Gus, particularly as the defect can"
not be detected under present meth
DDS in the making of the rail or after
| It is completed. A heavy train running
at high speed develops the defect and
| ultimately a derailment takes place
| that causes loss of life and injury to
/ many persons. This defect is what is
| known as transverse fssure. Its elm
| nation calls for better mill practice,
| the experts Of the commission say, and
| they are now engaged on a series of
| tests that may result in revolutioniZ-
| ing the making of rails In the United
| States. ....
Whenever q wreck Is reported to the
commission which involves the loss OF
life, an investigation Is made by IN
spectors IL possible and report pub
| lished. This ends the matter so far as
the federal government Is concerned.
| Publicity Not Enough.
Something besides publicity, the com
mission has found by experience, Is
necessary to effect a reform. It has
recommended that 1t be given authority
| to supervise to a large extent the ply
| steal operation OF railroads. This au-
| thority would include the prescribing
of signals and equipment, the character
Of rails compulsory use OF steel
coaches, and a variety OF other pre-
cautionary measures, including the reg
ulation OF speed. .
The New Haven investigation showed
that two wrecks In which couple OF
scores OF lives were lost were caused by
pTeClSGly SOuuAAOLS LAAoN ielu
| caused wrecks on the same line q few
months previous. To make the matter
worse and to accentuate the fact that
these wrecks could have been pre-
vented 1t was shown that the commits
sion in the case OF the earlier wrecks
| had made recommendations which the
| railroad had deliberately ignored. The
commissions experts think there is a
vital need for compulsory use Of the
| block system and for the use OF auto
matte stops in certain situations, and
| also for q uniform code OF signals and
| rules. ,... ..'..
Train Order System Rad7
II Is stated that the inherent weak
| ness of the train order system Is dis
closed by the fact that Of Al collisions
| investigated, % were due to failure OF
| conductors or engine men to under
| stand or obey orders. T..
--
Had 70 Put In Money.