The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-08-28
Railroad Accidents
Reduced to the
Minimum.
BY C. EDMUND HATCHER.

Lusitania. had himself become inter.
ested in train control to such an ex-
tent as to make visit West for a
personal examination of the device
| above referred to. This visit was
made few months before his death
and the result of his trip was a most
interesting story written in Hub
bards trenchant style and published,
or, as he put it, Done into print by
the Roycrofters at their shop. which
is in East Aurora, n. Y. MCNIXIV."
| 1t appears that Mr.. Hubbard was in
a railroad wreck himself at one time.
and for that reason any device prom
Using prevention of wrecks and safety
of life doubtless the more appealed to
his interest. AS one of the latest pro-
auctions from the pen of Mr. Hubbard
previous to his untimely death, ex-
tracts are given below concerning this
most interesting subject.
Horace GreeIey's Proposition Given
Original Interpretation.
Prefacing his real story. Mr.. Hub
bard took occasion to write:
That great and good man, Horace
Greeley. once put forth a formula which
he said would insure the world against
railroad accidents. His plan was this:
Strap the president of the railroad on the
pilot of the engine.
This was a silly suggestion.
In the first place, there is only one
PRESIDENT of a railroad. ana there are
a great many engines.
Horace Greeley's proposition involves
the necessity of selecting the railroad
engine that is going to have an acct
dent, and then having the president ride
OF the COW catcher.
Nevertheless, what Horace Greeley
meant was this: The officials of a rail-
road do not have sufficient thought for
the safety Of the passengers.
The engineer has a very good rea-
son for keeping wide-awake and observ-
ing carefully every signal and obeying
orders. because his own neck is at
stake.
The officials of a railroad. miles away,
in the safety of their offices or homes,
possibly have not the same reasons for
protecting the passengers that the en-
gineer has.
That railroad officials are very able
IlcIl, however,, always anu forever, tncTe
is no doubt. Most of them have come
up from the ranks. They know their
business as well and as thoroughly as
men do in any other line. and little
better. 1 once heard James ]. Hill say
I throw an engine on the scrap heap
every morning.
George H. Daniels, general pas
senger agent supreme. once said to mo.
I do love my wife. but even in the
t1ti &c 1yro
hear the rumble of the Empire State
Express.
Hubbard's One Experience In a Rail-
road Wreck.
railway accident, Mr.. Hubbard wildly
wrote: II am IS years Of age and have
Travelled on railroads for forty years.
Some months 1 am in sleeping cars over
half the time. I have never been in but
one accident. That was on the Michi-
81 left Buffalo at 11:20 at night.
climbed into my comfortable berth. and
went to sleep at once. as 1 always do.
for have gotten the habit of relaxing
on a railroad train. and thinking or
sleeping there as we'll as at home.
II was awake when we reached st.
Thomas. which is half way between
Buffalo and Detroit. At St Thomas /
knew We changed engines and engi-
neers. and 1 was family aware that we
were taking on new engine. Then |
slipped off into forgetfulness.
Il was awakened by my head bump
ing the headboard. The car was groan- |
ing. Keeling. rocking. screaming, with |
pain. I knew that an accident had 'oc- |
CURED. and was clinging to the berth. !
bracing myself, expecting the car was |
going to turn over.
1T seemed minutes before that Pull |
man quieted down. When silence came |
was out in the aisle in an instant, |
and every body else was out. but / beat |
them to it. / got out to the platform |
and jumped to the ground. |
1T was just daylight of a clear. cold |
beautiful, October day. The sun had |
not yet appeared. By a curious psy-
Geological twist my FIRST view out |
showed me the frost on the pastures. |
and / said to myself. How beautiful |
the landscape
And as I stepped on the track in |
my bare feet ! saw that the car was
in was the rear car of the train. and |
that this was the only one that had |
not left the rails. Ahead. the cars lay |
on their sides. One lay at right angles |
with the track. Mail and express cars |
' re in the ditch. And even as stood /
there saw the flagman. who certainly |
was on to his job. running up the track I
to protect our train from the limited. |
which was only half an hour behind |
us. And away down the track / saw
the spoke Of the fast train coming. |
and I>knew the reason for the rush I
and the speed that the flaGman was
making. More than once It has hap