The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1924-07-24
DEATH GR1Ns ON THE SIDE LINES.

DEATH GRINS ON THE SIDE LINES.
When traffic regulates the operation of
oates supposed to be for the protection of a
railway crossing, death sits on the side lines
grinning
narlv Sunday morning, resulting in the lives of
two Kenosha mem being snuffed out and third
Kenosha man being seriously injured, was as
unnecessary as it was sickening.
These men, hurled to death or injury, had
q right to expect the protection Of their lives
barring their way at the crossing, and no ex-
cuse of a valid Mature can be made by the en-
ployees of the railway company charged with
fbe important work Of guarding this crossing.
The suggestion that the traffic was so heavy
that it was impossible to operate the gates is
as peuriIe as it is insufficient. Those gates
should have been down to protect life and prop
erty. and the fact that they were not down
is the probable cause of the tragedy. The
railway company may be forced to pay for the
lack of intelligence shown by it's employees, but
this payment will not bring back life or give
assurance to the public that similar careless
ness with human life at stake, will not be
found at this or other crossings in the future.
Tt is possible that if the gates had been down
that the car in which The victims of the acct
dent were riding would have plunged through
the gates but this is very improbable The
least that can be said is that these men had
the right to expect protection which they did
not get.
A man with lantern standing on rail
road crossing is no protection against acct
dents There are lot of lights on a road at
night and one more added to the list can hard
ly be expected to be taken as protection. The
whistles Of the train may have been footing /;
the bell ON the engine may have been changing,
but the paramount feature of the protection of
that crossing was absent-the gates were ex-
pected to be down when the train reached that
crossing.
Traffic can never be used as a regulator of
protection If drivers of automobiles break
through protection gates they do it at their
own peril. There can be no traffic so heavy
that it cannot be stopped when the bright face
Of danger looms in front of it, and there is no
driver so fool-hardy as to willingly risk his own
life and the lives of the people with him by
flying in the face of such danger.
True enough some automobiles may make
a run for il" even in the face of an onrushing
train, but the Waterman at the crossing is
there to protect the foolish as well as the care
full driver. The Waterman at the crossing has
as his first duty the operation of the gates at
this crossing. His standing in the road with
lantern is a second duty.
The best possible protected grade crossing is
a menace and one that is faulty protected
is danger de luxe. 1t is an invitation to
tragedy.
This accident must impress upon the people
of the city that the only way to protect roads
against just such accidents is to demand and
keep on demanding the elevation of the tracks
SO that they will not be a menace to traffic.
With an elevated track there is no danger of
unintelligent employees making an attempt to
regulate gates BY traffic. With an elevated
track this accident would have been impos-
sible.
Kenosha has already paid terrific price for
grade crossings and nearly every crossing with
in the limits of the city is stained with the
blood of victims of incompetent handling of
gates and warning signals.
We believe that the city should demand from
the North Western Railway company some i'm
mediate action on the elevation of its tracks
through Kenosha, and in the absence of such
an agreement, that the city should enforce
such laws as 1t may have and as may be nee
essary to make these crossings safe. We do
not want trains to crawl through Kenosha but
we do not want them to fly into the station with
wheels bathed in the blood of people who had
a right to expect protection of their lives and
property and who fail to get it.