The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1916-08-04
STATISTICS NOT FAIR
AMERICAN RAILS FULLY EQUAL
TO THE FoREIGN-MADE.
Weight Of Locomotives and, Cars Must
Be Taken into. c6ns1deratipn1,.
Average Of A~eeidents ts:co~- "a.
stantly Being Reduced. ".r.,

s.in.. .4 - s
On April %, the bureau of stand
ards, ut Washington, made j report
on railway material which. indicated
that rails Of foreign manufacture We're
superior to those produced in this
country. Ii is understood that the re-
port was based mainly on accident
statistics, such as derailments, al
though, of course. the rail making
processes of Europe and America are
generally known to the bureau. 1t
was found that derailments in the
United States are 26 times as numer
Gus for each thousand miles of track
rs in Great Britain; three times rs
numerous as in Germany, cut not 50
numerous as in Austria-IIungary. Low
|. accident and derailment figures are
shown for France, Russia and Sweden.
In France one person is injured out
Of every 100000 carried; II persons
out of ever 100000 transported in
the United States are injured In
France one rail out Of 1000 has been
found DETECTIVES; in Germany, n in
1.35O; in the United States, II in
40.
This, apparently, is a bad showing
for the American rail. Generally
speaking, American rail t%ransporta-
ton is not regarded as being as safe
us that in England, but explanations
are necessary. The News Is in re-
ceipt of Il communication from George
C. Pyle Of Indianapolis, who writes
from Leeds, England. The report of
the bureau of standards was not fair,
in the opinion Of Mr.. Pyle. "The bu-
reau," he writes, "after having an
nounced rail accidents, derailments
and rail breakaSes, should state the
possible cause and not allow the aver
age American mind to discount home
made goods. The rails used here lin
England) are as heavy rs those in use
ut home. The freight cars here are
only Is feet loVg-on four wheels
and ten tons is Il good big load for
them. The passenger cars here are
about as long and perhaps less in
weight than the interIrban cars en-
tering your city and many are much
shorter. The average locomotive here
IS only about one-half the weight Of
ours, and ! { doubt if any of them could
pull three Pullmans forty miles an
hour. Compare the weight of our roll
ing stock to hat of any European
country and think any schoolboy can
figure out why we have more rail
breakages.'
The deficiency in the bureau of
standards report. which MI. Pyle
points out, is covered, however, in
many reports OF Investigations made
ny the interstate commis
sion. 4 few years ago, when the New
Haven "a having a series of bad ac-
cidents. it was shown that rail break
ages We're due to many causes. It is
difficult to discover flaws which ex-
ist in a steel rail. These may develop
through age and use. A rail which
might stand up on Il straight stretch
could not bear the strain of a cross
over. Possibly the most important
factor IS the weight of equipment. AT
SpOnSibility enters Perhaps the aver
age European train crew is subject to
s~tricter discipline, though not, Of
course. when the comparison is made
with the best American roads. An
other point which may be brought out
is that American railroad transporta-
ton, which is without doubt the most
highly developed in the world, is year
~ reducing the average of accidents
from all causes.-Indianapolis News.