The Sun. — 1864-07-18 (London, England)

THE "EXAMINER" ON RAILWAY COMMUNICATION.—On railway carriages should be written, " He who enters leaves hope of help and protection." No matter what may happen, the passenger is cut off from all succour between one stoppage and another. The carriage may be on fire, or the wheels broken, and the bottom knocking to pieces against the road, or some personal outrage may be in process of commission—robbery, rape, or murder, And there are no means of making known the danger, and stopping the train and obtaining assistance. All this has long been felt ; but the terrible murder on the North London line, and some recent outrages against woman, have produced a fearful conviction that there is no safety in the system of isolation in the railway carriage, and that there must be an end of it. The surest and best method of communication is the Continental, by a gangway running along the side of the train, by which the guard visits the carriages, takes tickets, and performs other services of the road. If this mode of communication were adopted a signal of alarm would summons the guard to the spot, and he would judge whether or not the occasion was one for communicating with the driver and stopping the train. The objection that nervous people would be stopping the train for foolish fancies cannot, therefore, apply to the arrangement. The check to outrages and crimes would be most effectual, for though a ♦illain might hope to so master his victim by a sudden attack so as to prevent recourse to the  means of alarm, yet he never could feel secure against guard's visits to the window. At any moment -night be passing by and hear the sounds -ies for help. But these visits of the guara of a struggle or e._ ' are not pleasant on foreign the guard, it may be saw,. have the guard poklines, and people will not like is goin on. ing his head into carriages to see wh.: Well, but the question is whether a little ih: g rusicln (if it amount to that) is not preferable to robber,-; rape, or murder. The face of the guard appearing when he is not wanted is not so bad as the face of a grinaing maniac. And is not improved safety worth some small inconveniences ? For the last twenty years the answers to all demands for legislation to place railway management under three or four broad and simple rules for the public safety, has been "Do not diminish their responsibility. Leave them to their responsibilities." But what has their responsibility availed ? Simply to make them pay damages; but not to cause them to correct the imprudences through which the mischief has hap 3 pene4. We could name a company which had to pay matt.; thousands for a disaster attended of loss ful injuries per- hie, wan -and fright bling severed yersons, all through Yet a few tra.llls. on the same line manently the practice of runninb at intervals of three mk..Tute6:^e was resumed, days after the catastrophe the practL 11 and has been continued. It seems quite ..7 in,f_ataa' tion of companies to run these risks, for they have sometimes to pay so dear, and which migi—t be avoided with so little inconvenience or disturbance of their arratlgements. But they prefer chancing it, to borrow the phra2,3 of the most impudent of men, sailors. The responsibility upon which such reliance has been placed has, after a trial of a quarter of a century, effected nothing for the improve,• ment of the public safety, removed nk: moved causes of danger, and the only remedy lies in i. talation. be The interference need not be much, and should confined to a few rules, which cannot possibly any harm, though it may be easy to dispute the advantage of them, such, for example, as a longer interval between ;,rains, and communication between passengers and guards, and between guards and drivers.  A