The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1918-02-21
PROMISES AND PIECRUsT

AAGA ~ OAAonAo P6oSAAS I'LL OS010
had another scare the other day. A
switch engine struck man and his
car at an unf1agged crossing, almost
killed the man and made junk out of
the car. The Star let off howl, the
city marshal said tut, tut. and the
railroad magnates had dim shadow
of dream of the city, government
making them put gates at their cross
ings, so they said they wouldn't let
their trains run so fast thru the city.
the marshal reported this TO the coun-
ell, the council smiled and rubbed its
hands and said the Star was an alarm
ist, and dismissed the subject with
the joy it always feels when it gets
out Of the possibility Of doing some-
thing that might offend Mr.. Murchis-
on or Mr.. league. For a few days, the
trains will tiptoe over the crossings,
as they did few months ago, then
they will begin to hit 'em up again,
and so it will go on until a train
strikes an automobile fun of people
and snfears them along the track for
a hundred yards or so.a Then, we
don't suppose the members of our
council will admit it, even to them
selves, but they. will be particeps
crininis in o murder-maybe of some
of their own kinfolks, because when
a Coast Line or Seaboard engineer is
taking his chances at one of our
street crossings, he doesn't know an
alderman's family from anybody
else's.
When q railroad superintendent
says he will not allow trains on his
division to imperil the lives of the
people, he isn't lying. He is simply
making promise that he knows that
no experienced person expects him to
keep. He knows that when he orders
the engineers to slack up at the cross
ings that they are not going TO do so
any more than they can help, and he
knows that they know he doesn't ex-
pect them to do any slackening up
that they can get out, of. Any Amer
lean citizen who has watched the
ways of railroads and railroad men
as many as a dozen years knows this.
The fSeaboard crossing at EXPOSE
ton street is very dangerous one,
and the Coast Line crossing at South
Eighth street is almost as dangerous.
The Coast Line crossing of the
Gainesville road would be as danger
GUS as the Exposition street crossing
of the Seaboard but-fo the fact that
it is in better view than the other. Tt
vslsn,-xs loz,sro,.msar ;r,s@ ,.n-~.s.yv%
owing to the railroad scales in q hun
dred yards OF it, The accident the
other day Wassdue to- the yard crew
not watching the crossings. They had
backed the engine or cars across it
many times without anything hap
pening, so they took another chance,
andsprebably crippled a man for life.
It is not likely that crew will ever be
careless that way at that place again,
but their successors will be.
The council should make the rail-
roads put gates or at least watchmen
at the most exposed crossings, and it
should make the Coast Line move
those scales. It has the power to do
so, and it has no excuse for not using
it. Other towns safeguard the lives of
their people and our town can do the
same. In case of any bad accident at
one of these crossings, the victims, or
their relatives. viii have strong
case against the city for criminal
negligence, and sooner or later, un-
less precautions are taken, such an
accident is bound TO occur.