The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-04-20
RAILROAD news
Safety Meeting Held Last Night
at High School Building.
Santa Fe Employees and Fami-
lies Hear Gospel of Care.
SUFFERING FALLS ON FAMILY
Safety Commissioner Says Men
Should Not Take Chances.
Other Items of General Interest
in the Traffic World.

ut is better to be careful a thou
sand times than to be crippled once
That was the moral of the motion
pictures and the slides shown before
1900 railroad men and their families
at the high school auditorium last
night. 1t was an impressive meeting
and the value of the safety habit was
forcibly told to those employees of the
Santa Fe railway. And the switch
men, the yardmen, brakemen, shop
employees and others saw in slides the
dangerous and thOughtlesS things
which they witness many times daily.
Their wives and children and sweet
hearts who were there saw it too, and
it probably set many of them to think
ing.
James Mullin, assistant foreman of
the boiler shops, made brief talk at
the opening of the meeting. He
urged that employees see the need of
safety first in their daily toll and said
that railroad men are beginning to
realize the fact that they must protect
their brother workmen. In speaking
of the care taken of the men by the
companies, Mr.. Mullin said that never
in his "a years as railroad man, had
such care been taken as today.
1T is our duty and our privilege"
said Mullin, ito protect one another.
Care should burden the heart and
mind of every railroad man.
Isaiah Hale, safety commissioner of
the Santa Fe, who had charge of the
meeting, said that the trouble was not
careleSSleSS, DuL InOuSnCleSSn0SS mat
is newer phase of the safety CAM
paign, as many roads did, and still do,
attribute the accidents to carelessnesS.
The safety commissioner spoke of
the terrible statistics of injuries and
death, of the fact that working man
was killed while on duty every fifteen
seconds and that one was injured eY-
cry sixteen seconds. Get into the
habit of thinking he urged Hale
then told of several instances where
by the thoughtless attitude of a yard
or trainman, some one was killed or
incapacitated for life.
When the slides We're first brought
on, pictures of the late ]. D. M. Hamii-
ton. father of the safety. first idea,
and E. p. Ripley, president of the
road and a safety booster, were
thrown on the screen and the audi
ence broke into hearty applause.
The slides showed actions that were
familiar to those present yet which
showed the dangers incurred by TAX
ing such, risks. And of the many
foolhardy stunts that many shopmen
concerning some man who, was killed
or, injured by, such Accidents, which,
could be prevented if the worker had
stopped to. think. ~r.
ut is not the injured man who suf-
fers the most Hale told them last
night, lit is his wife and family. 1t
is not fair to them, The man who
will take chances has no right to get
brought home on stretcher. When
caution becomes a habit there will be
fewer accidents"
Among the notices of the safety |
campaign, which were thrown on the
screen last night were Safety habit
is first aid to the uninjured," There's
a safe way to do it; do it that way
and There are various block sys-
TENS, but the best is to use your own
In England, according to Mr.. Hale. |
the fines are heavy for railroad tres
passing. An English official wrote to
an American railroad man recently |
and asked what the fine here was fol
trespassing. I'VE don't fine them,''
the Yankee wrote back. 1--WE kill
them.'
One of the best slides showed three |
little children playing on a railroad |
track. Another showed a time-worn
custom of boys, that of Tipping |
cars. When the fact is realized that |
1000 children have been killed in |
this manner in recent years, there is |
some reason to think about that.
The motion picture was ':Steve |
Hills Awakening" 1t is a typical |
railroad story, not dry and uninterest- |
ing, but played so we'll that the safety |
first features are mingled with the en- |
pertaining parts.
Mr.. Hale will give a second presen-
tation of the slides and picture tonight |
at O'Clock at the high school audi |
torium Employees will be admitted |
by ticket up to 8 o'clock and then the |
public will be welcome to go in. There |
will be a third program Wednesday,.