RAILROAD ACCIDENTS

THEIR CAUSE AND PREVENTION

BY

R. C. RICHARDS

Published by
THE ASSOCIATION OF RAILWAY CLAIM AGENTS
1906

COPYRIGHT, 1906
BY R. C. RICHARDS

GIFT OF
O. A. MOORE

Introduction

Railroad Accidents

Their Cause and Prevention

Much has been said and written during recent years about the increasing number of railroad accidents in this country—their cause and what action should be taken by the government, the railroads and the employees to reduce them and the consequent loss of life and limb resulting therefrom. Believing that if the cause of our many accidents were properly understood more care would be taken by the corporations, employees and persons at fault to reduce the number, I shall try to point out in the following pages what investigation has shown me to be the cause of many accidents and how their reoccurrence could, I think, be prevented.

In the transaction of the business of a railroad its first and highest duty is to the passengers, to carry them safely and speedily; next, to take care of the property entrusted to it for transportation, and for which it is practically an insurer against everything but the act of God or the public enemy, and deliver it with reasonable dispatch to the consignee in practically the same condition as that in which it is received.

It is a self-evident proposition that the nearer the railroads come to performing this duty, the fewer losses and claims for damages they will have to pay, and, as a matter of course, the more money there will be left with which to pay wages, interest, dividends, and make improvements. So it behooves all, who are working for those wages, to do everything they can to help carry on the business properly and correctly in order that the interest of the companies hiring them, as well as their individual interest, will be subserved, and for the more important reason of causing as little suffering, pain, and sorrow to those who by accident may be maimed or killed, which always brings trouble and sorrow to the victim as well as to his family, and frequently results in untold suffering and privation to the widows and children.

The report of the Interstate Commerce Commission shows that for the year ending June 30, 1904, there were

• 441 passengers killed.
• 3,632 employees killed.
• 839 not trespassers killed.
• 5,105 trespassers killed.
• 9,111 passengers injured.
• 67,067 employees injured.
• 2,499 not trespassers injured.
• 5,194 trespassers injured.

Making 10,017 killed and 83,871 injured, or a total of killed and injured of 93,888, many times over the casualties of our last war, and all the roads seem to have done their share of this havoc.

We should strive to see if in the coming year we cannot reduce the number, so that the casualties reported, and consequent loss to the companies, will be reduced, considering the number of employees, mileage, earnings, number of trains run, persons and property transported, and the territory traversed, and for the purpose of bringing this matter before you in a proper light I will call attention to a few of the many accidents which have recently occurred, which, with proper care and the use of good judgment, would have been avoided and fewer persons left to go through life crippled, fewer homes made desolate and fatherless, and sometimes motherless, and at the same time the money which has been necessarily paid out to settle the claims saved to the companies, and, consequently, just so much more money left in the treasury to pay for wages, interest, dividends, and betterments.

Taking into consideration the safety appliances installed by the railroads since 1898, the improvement in track and equipment, and the increase in wages paid, with even the same degree of care on the part of employees, the number of accidents should have decreased, but on the contrary they show an actual percentage of increase higher than that of earnings, and if the employees are onto their jobs they ought to and must find a way to reduce the number of such cases and consequent expense to the companies.

For the purpose of showing that the employees are the persons most vitally interested in this matter, as upon them falls the major part of the fatalities and injuries resulting from such accidents and upon themselves and families the suffering and pain which always comes after them, while upon the companies falls the immense and increasing financial drain, following their wakes, as well as loss of prestige and public criticism which necessarily follow, and which is increasing every day, I have prepared the following statement.

1. The percentage of employees to the number of passengers transported during the year ending June 30, 1904, was one for each 552.

2. The percentage of passengers killed (441) to the whole number of persons reported killed in all classes (10,017) was 4 per cent.

3. The percentage of passengers injured (9,111) to the whole number of persons reported injured in all classes (83,871) was 11 per cent.

4. The percentage of passengers injured (9,111) to the number transported (715,419,682) was about one in each 80,000.

5. The percentage of passengers killed (441) to the number transported was about one in every 1,600,000.

6. The percentage of employees injured (67,067) to the whole number of employees (1,296,121) was about one in every 19.

7. The percentage of employees killed (3,632) to the whole number employed (1,296,121) was about one in 360.

8. The percentage of employees killed (3,632) to the whole number reported killed in all classes (10,017) was about 36 per cent.

9. The percentage of employees injured (67,067) to the whole number reported injured in all classes (83,871) was 80 per cent.

10. The percentage of employees (300,000) engaged in the hazardous part of the business such as train, engine and yardmen to the whole number employed (1,296,121) was 25 per cent.

11. Percentage of those engaged in the hazardous part of the work, who were killed (2,343), to the whole number of employees reported killed (3,632), was 64 per cent.

12. The percentage of those engaged in the hazardous part of the work who were injured (32,345) to the whole number of employees injured (67,067) was 48 per cent.

An examination of the statistics published by the Commission also shows that the number of accidents depends not so much on the actual length of track of a railroad in miles, but upon the density of its traffic and of the population of the territory through which it runs, for illustration take one division on a system that runs through a thickly settled country, that has five per cent of the actual mileage of the system and fifteen per cent of the train mileage, and another division in the same system that runs through a sparsely settled country, that has ten per cent of the actual mileage of the system and five per cent of the train mileage, and it is a well-known fact that the percentage of accidents on the former will be many times that on the latter;

That the heavier the traffic the greater need there is of more care being taken in employing and educating the right kind of men to operate the trains; and

That with denser traffic there should come more and better supervision to insure observance of the rules adopted for the safe operation of trains and that the increase in quantity and quality of that supervision should at least equal in ratio the increase in traffic. Indeed, I believe that when this is done many of the troubles and difficulties the railroads now labor under will pass away, and that the additional expense caused by such increase will be saved many times over by a general reduction in operating expenses, especially in waste and damage.

Accidents should be divided into four classes:

First. Unavoidable accidents, or those caused by the act of God, the public enemy, or by some miscreant who takes up a rail, misplaces a switch, or puts an obstruction on the track.

Second. Accidents to passengers, outsiders trespassing or not trespassing, caused by the carelessness or wantonness of the injured or some other person for whose act the railroad is not liable, or by the failure on the part of the State or municipality to make and enforce proper laws and ordinances to prevent stoning trains and trespassing on the premises and cars of the companies.

Third. Those caused by the want of care, foresight, or supervision on the part of the management of the company.

Fourth. Those caused by the carelessness, thoughtlessness, or neglect of employees.

Neither employees nor company can be held to blame or can prevent accidents resulting from the first and second causes, and fortunately for the reputation as well as the treasury of the companies over one-half of all the fatalities and a large proportion of the seriously injured come under the second class, and until the life and limb of a trespasser (10 per cent or 1,000 of the 10,000 killed and injured on the railroads of this country every year being children under fourteen years of age) are considered to be of some value to their families and to the State, they will not only continue to occur, but will increase each year as our population and traffic grow.

Accidents caused by carelessness, thoughtlessness, or neglect of employees are the large majority of all that happen, and if we could eliminate them, or one-half of them, there would be little cause for complaint on the part of the management of the companies, or criticism on the part of the public, and the claim agent would have a bed of roses instead of the busiest and hardest worked office on the road, and I believe that when the employees really understand the matter many of them will be eliminated.

We should bear in mind that it is not the great train accidents that make the large majority of the total deaths and injuries on the railroads of this country, about which so much is said in the public press, but it is the little cases that are unheralded in the press, or in the courts, that make the totals so large; the little things that are happening every day, on every railroad in the country, which go on happening every year in the same old way, and they are the cases which could and should be avoided by the exercise of greater care and thoughtfulness—more of them come from thoughtlessness than any other cause. My experience leads me irresistibly to the conclusion that after all it is the man , not the safety appliance, that we must depend on to prevent accidents, as has been demonstrated by any number of cases that have occurred at points where the track has been lined with safety appliances.

The Cause

INJURIES TO PASSENGERS

Injuries to passengers for which employees are at fault, and which could and should be avoided, result from collisions, derailments, improper handling and management of trains and stations, and I will, by way of illustration, cite a few cases which have occurred and tell you how, in my opinion, they might have been avoided.

We will first take those caused by collisions:

In a dense fog and on a part of the division and at a time when trains were thick, with a knowledge that he had followed No. 112 all the way from Thornton, the engineman was so careless as to run by two automatic signals set at danger, a flagman, and into No. 112, and three lives go out and 20 odd are injured. Could anything be more reckless? Do any of you want to ride behind that kind of runner or be on a train in front of him, even if you have your life insured and your home paid for? Will we not all agree that such a man is unsafe and unfit for the service? And in view of the dense fog and the number of trains moving, should not trains have been blocked a station apart? It is an absolute protection against accident, which the time interval is not. And when you enginemen see a signal against you, think of the wrecks you have known of since you entered the service, and stop ; take no chances. If you can't see the signal, if your view is obstructed by smoke or steam so that you can't see the track beyond the smoke or steam, stop or slow down until you know it safe to proceed. And don't do as was done in the second case mentioned above, but slow down to such a speed that you can stop within the range of your vision. In case of doubt always take the safe course. If you know a man with defective vision and so little regard for the lives of others as to try to remain in the service with that defect, you owe it as a duty to yourself, to your family, the passengers, and other employees, as well as to the company, to report him to the proper officer before and not after an accident occurs. Some day there will be a law requiring frequent examination of the vision of trainmen, but until that time comes we should all do the best we can to guard against such men.

Next we come to accidents caused by making a switch of cars containing passengers without the engine being attached to the car:

Everyone knows that it is unsafe to handle a car containing passengers without the engine being coupled to it and air-brake in use, and that Rule 10 [1] expressly prohibits such work, yet in this case it was done by men long in the service, who probably had done the same thing before without accident and without being caught, so they chanced it once too often, and the cost in this case would pay many times over for the time they had saved before. It is just as unsafe to switch caboose cars in which train crews are resting or cars loaded with horses and cattle or emigrant movables in that way, and it ought to be stopped. If it was, there would not be the injuries to trainmen or damages to live stock that we have now from that cause.

We all have no end of trouble with circuses and theatrical troupes traveling in their own cars, many of which ought to be in the scrap heap. These cars should never be accepted, no matter who is in them or what notice you may have received about the runs to be made with them, unless the brakes, running gear, and everything connected with them are in good repair, but when you do take them, handle them as carefully as if they contained dynamite, and get them off the line without accident. When you find such a car on a track which you are obliged to use—it should when possible be set on a track not used for switching—either to move it or some other car, handle it with the greatest care; don't do as was done at Harrison just a short time ago when

Neither would any of the following cases, caused by careless handling, have happened:

Now we will take up cases caused by careless loading and unloading of freight from mixed trains:

It would not seem necessary to have to tell anyone that timbers or telegraph poles ought not to be unloaded from moving trains carrying passengers, or from any moving train, and yet that is exactly what was done, when

And when you have a car loaded with logs in your train see that they are secure. If you do an accident like the one near Hamlin, January 8th, won't occur:

It would seem to be a simple matter to see that logs, water pipes, machinery, or other property liable to fall from cars are properly secured before car is taken in the train, and so avoid such accidents. Why not do it?

When in a terrible rain-storm you are running with a slow order over a track which is being repaired, don't do it at a speed of 50 or 60 miles an hour, if you value your life and the lives of those in the cars behind you. If you don't value them, don't do it because it is dangerous and your orders tell you not to, and because your family will suffer if you get killed in the attempt and the company's property will be damaged, and don't, under such, or any other, circumstances, run by a station five minutes ahead of time contrary to Rule 4, and yet that is just what was done on the night of July 2, when

When you get a bulletin prohibiting your running down certain hills or around curves faster than 30 miles an hour, don't do it at 40 or 50 miles an hour, as it is unsafe, and yet that is exactly what was done May 12 near Wilkes, and resulted in the derailment of freight train No. 18, and

A bulletin was issued by Superintendent Davis prohibiting trains going down this hill faster than 30 miles an hour. From the statements of the train crew it would appear that no attention had been paid to this bulletin, and, from what the passengers say, it has been customary for a long time for trains coming into Wilkes from Notman and Guilford, if in sight of each other, to make a race to see which train could get there first, so as to get out of Wilkes for Joppa without delay.

Now, there was no excuse for the engineman and conductor not complying with the order. They both got off without injury, as the parties to blame for such accidents generally do. Neither was there any excuse for the train dispatcher not knowing that the order was being disregarded daily, as the train sheets would tell him that, and he should have stopped it. To my mind, he was just as guilty as the engineman and conductor, and should have received the same punishment. And when disregard of such orders and bulletins are not winked at, until an accident happens, there will be fewer cases of failure to observe them.

Don't try to run around curves 50 or 60 miles an hour, as a train I was riding on a few weeks ago did and went in the ditch; neither should freight or passenger trains run over interlocking switches faster than 15 and 25 miles an hour, respectively, because it is not safe to do so, and Rule 5 says you must not. Conductors, who are in supreme command of the train, should pull the air on any engineman who is running too fast around curves, over bad places, or through stations, and when you get in, report the matter to your superintendent, as reckless running should not and will not be tolerated.

Next we have the accidents resulting from occasional derailments, which were not serious, but might have been, and it is the cause, as well as the result, we want to eliminate, such as:

None of which would have happened if some one had not failed to perform his duty, and when every accident, no matter how slight, is investigated by an expert—who reports not to the officer who may be primarily at fault, but to the chief operating officer—to ascertain the actual cause and find a remedy, such cases will be largely eliminated.

The same is true of injuries like the following, resulting from trains breaking in two:

Another class of accidents which are of altogether too frequent occurrence are injuries caused by trains not stopping long enough for passengers to alight.

Frequently the persons injured are old people not accustomed to traveling, who are necessarily slow in their movements, and of whom we should take greater care. Think how you or I would feel if our mother or grandmother, if we were fortunate enough to have them with us still, were injured just because a conductor or brakeman didn't have forethought or decency enough to give them time to get off. If you will do that, there will not be a procession of such cases as the following, and the companies will be so much ahead.

It seems to me that if the instructions contained in Rule 19, requiring the announcing of stations by brakemen, were complied with and thereby passengers given ample notice of the approach of the train to their destination, they would be prepared to get off instead of in the present method, or, rather, lack of method, as the rule is so seldom observed as to cause comment when it is complied with, and if, before giving the signal to start, trainmen would get upon the car platform and look into the cars to see that there was no one else to get off, especially should this be done at night when passengers are tired and sleepy, when platform lights are not any too numerous, and with excursionists, and picnickers who are often none too sober and who are not accustomed to moving quickly, and if at division terminals trainmen would pay more attention to assisting passengers off instead of being in such a hurry to cut off a car, getting their markers, or getting away from the train, not only would such accidents as those last enumerated be avoided, but the journey would be made much more comfortable to passengers; and the road doing this would increase its traffic. Deadheads, who mostly ride in Pullmans or private cars, do not realize how annoying and exasperating to paying passengers is the present method of trainmen, going into the cars and pretending to call stations in some dead language, or by talking to themselves. In transferring passengers from express to local trains trainmen must bear in mind that the passenger is frequently unaccustomed to the surroundings, is generally overanxious about getting off so as not to miss connections, and coming from a lighted car out into the darkness, in his hurry and excitement may not notice that the train is running; in these cases the train is always moving so smoothly the passenger thinks (or says he does) that it has stopped, and off he goes, and it is necessary, to prevent such accidents occurring, to exercise the greatest care, and by proper announcement make it plain to all such passengers that ample time will be given them to alight, and that the train they are to take cannot pull out until after your train does.

And when you are receiving passengers, especially on mixed or freight trains, don't start until they have a chance to get seated, and then such cases as the following won't occur:

When you are making your station stop, don't jerk your train, after it has stopped, or is about to stop, and while the passengers are getting off, as they surely will commence to do so as soon as (if not before) the train is stopped. Don't pull up or back up a few feet to get to the standpipe or coal chute, because if you do, some one is liable to get hurt, as the following did:

And when you are pulling into a station and intend to take water and are going to run by the pipe a few feet, don't use the emergency brake to stop with, because, if you do, some one is liable to get hurt. Nearly every one has been on a train when this has been done contrary to Rules 42 and 43, and if you enginemen could hear some of the uncomplimentary remarks that are made about you and the company on such occasions, you would feel like thirty cents. And when it is raining to beat the band, stop your trains so that the passengers can get off opposite the station building and avoid getting wet, do not pull them by a couple of hundred feet just because the locomotive is thirsty. Pull up to the tank after the passengers get on and off, so says Rule 24, and the women, and men, too, for that matter, will think you are a dandy and vote for you the next time you run for school trustee; and perhaps, by so doing, you may prevent your best girl spoiling her dress.

And when you are running an engine you want to know that its grease-cups are screwed on tight and that its brake-shoes are not cracked, if you do not want to have cases like the following:

One of the rules most frequently disregarded is No. 11, prohibiting a train on the double track pulling through a station while another one is standing there unloading passengers.

About nine times out of ten you can do it without an accident, but the tenth time some one will get hurt and you will get a vacation from 30 days to life. I know it is tantalizing, when you are pulling a fast train and are, perhaps a little late, to be compelled to stop and wait until the other train has pulled out, and its last car passed the end of the platform nearest you, when you could sneak through the station and save a little time, and perhaps no harm be done and no one be the wiser; but don't do it, because the rule says you must not.

If that part of the rule which says, "When two trains are nearing a station from opposite directions at the same time, and only one of them is scheduled to stop, the train making the stop must reduce speed and let the other through the station before it arrives" was complied with, the trouble would be largely overcome.

You men who are running stations should see that your platform lamps are not only kept clean and properly filled, but that after dark they are burning so that passengers won't get hurt falling off platforms in the dark, and that the platforms are kept clear of freight as per Rule 17; that baggage and express trucks are placed where patrons won't fall over them, and, if there is a fast train coming, especially a mail or newspaper train, notify the passengers and get them inside the depot, the only safe place at such times. Especially is this necessary on the double track. If there is a broken plank or a hole in the station platform, nail a board over it until the carpenters can get around to fix it. See that the platforms are kept clear of snow and ice; but when there is ice on the platform throw ashes or sand over the ice so that people won't slip on it. And if you have people waiting for trains at your station, especially in the night-time, see that the fire in the stove in the waiting-room is kept going so that they will be comfortable and not catch cold. It will take you less time to do these things than it will to make a report of an injury, and then cases like these won't be put up to your claim agent to guess at:

And sweep the car platforms, so passengers won't slip on banana peels, and then such a case as the following won't happen:

When passengers are carried on freight trains Rule 12 says the car in which they are riding must stop at the platform to unload them. Don't do it out in the yard, and, if you have to do switching after unloading the passengers, stop at the station platform as you are pulling out and give the passengers a chance to get on and not compel them to go into the yard in order to do so. If at night, they might fall into a culvert or over some obstruction alongside the track and get hurt, and, if the platform at the station is short, arrange your work so as to make one stop where the passengers can get off safely, and notify them, so they will know when they can do so; and be sure to assist them in getting on and off, especially the old men and women, the children, and the cripples (that is what Rule 23 says, you always do it for the young and pretty girls) and then we won't be trying to conjure up excuses for cases like the following, or pay for them either:

Many of the roads have the steps on coaches that come near enough to the ground so that such accidents are practically impossible, but on the Pullmans and on cars of some of the roads they are so high from the station platform as to require a ladder to get on them. Why they are not all made on a proper and safe standard no one seems to know.

Another cause of injury to passengers, especially children, who always want the windows open, is by the windows falling and injuring them. Nearly always their little hands or fingers get hurt; or by ventilators falling on their heads. When you have an accident caused by a window falling examine it immediately and, if the catches are all right, show the injured person or, if a child, the man or woman in whose charge it is traveling, that is was not the fault of the window catch, and at the same time call the attention of some intelligent passenger and of your brakeman to the matter and have them try the window catch, and send in their names and addresses with your report. If, however, the catch is defective report the fact, but don't advertise it, and whenever you find any defective catches or anything else wrong about a car in your train call the attention of the first car repairer you meet to the matter and have it repaired, and report it to your superintendent. If the car repairers would make an examination of the windows, their catches, and of the ventilators, for the purpose of finding out their actual condition, we would get rid of many such cases. Do the same thing with the matting in the aisles, and when there is a hole in it get it fixed, or get a new one. If you can't do that, take the matting up and so prevent any one falling on it.

And, speaking of aisles, so far as possible get passengers to keep their valises, suit cases, and bundles out of the aisles so that other passengers won't fall over them. If the glass in a door gets broken, when the train is running, be sure that the glass is taken out of the frame, so that passengers won't catch their hands on it. Take pains to see that your passengers, especially the old and infirm, the women, and children, are provided with seats, and when some passenger, whether man or woman, who has paid for only one seat or is riding on a pass, is occupying three or four seats, have them make room for those standing. Pay some attention to ventilation—in cold weather open the ventilators on the side the smoke trails on, and then there won't be any draught. In other words, comply with Rule 20 and then cases like the following, which seem to be on the increase, won't happen:

EJECTMENT OF PASSENGERS AND OTHERS FROM TRAINS

Everyone is supposed to know that neither passengers or tramps should be ejected from a train when it is in motion, and, in the case of passengers, the ejectment must only be made at an open station, so that the person ejected will have a place of shelter if at night or if it is storming; that women and children of tender years must not be ejected at all; and that if a person refusing to pay his fare is in such condition as to be unable to care for himself, he must be placed in custody of the nearest station agent. So says Rule 21, which also tells you to make a report of the ejectment, giving the cause thereof and names of the witnesses on Form 992, a blank which every conductor running a train that carries passengers should have in his set of blanks, and use it when he puts anyone off.

The principal trouble in ejectment cases is when passengers are put off away from a station or when tramps are put off while the train is in motion, resulting often in a serious injury, and, while very frequently the patience of trainmen is severely tried by these "hoboes," don't put them off when the train is moving. After all, they are human beings and we don't want to maim or kill them. So stop the train; and don't shoot them unless in self-defense. I mention the following as a few sample cases:

When passengers are injured by stones or anything else thrown through or at the windows of cars render them such assistance as you can; have the company's surgeon called to treat them, and if the stone or object which broke the glass or which caused the injury comes in the car pick it up and mark it so that you can identify it in the future and send it in with your report, as per Rules 35 and 40. It is as unfortunate that so many such cases occur as it is that there is no way by which railroads can prevent them, and until the State and municipal authorities take a hand in the matter they will continue to happen and passengers will continue to lose their vision.

[1] Copies of all rules referred to will be found in the Appendix.

INJURIES TO PATRONS AND DAMAGE TO THEIR PROPERTY

Next come the accidents in which patrons are injured and their property damaged. It is generally understood, and has been the custom on all railroads, and Rule 50 requires, that before going onto a track on which cars are placed to be loaded or unloaded by patrons or employees it is the duty of the person in charge of the crew to go along the track to ascertain if there is anyone in the cars, loading or unloading them, or wagons close enough to the cars to be injured or damaged by their movement, and, if so, to give ample warning in order that such persons, wagons, and gang planks may be moved to a safe place. In the mining district especial care should be exercised in handling cars being loaded or unloaded by the mining companies' employees, many of whom do not understand our language or the danger of the business, in order that ample opportunity be given them to get off the car before it is moved. How often that rule and custom is violated is shown by the following cases:

No one will pretend that these accidents and consequent injuries and losses could not have been avoided by the exercise of a little forethought and care. Why not do it and stop them in the future, avoid the injuries and save the money they cost?

ACCIDENTS TO TRAVELERS ON THE HIGHWAY

The increasing frequency of accidents to travelers crossing the tracks at highways, one-third of which the country over are fatal, are caused by the increased number and speed of trains, increase in the population of the territory through which the roads run, by the failure to always give the required signal of the approach of the train, frequently by freight trains passing through stations at a speed prohibited by Rule 6, by failure to have gates or flagmen at crossings where they are needed, by failure of gatemen and flagmen, when provided, to properly perform their duties on account of ignorance or carelessness, generally the former; but chiefly is the increase caused by failure on the part of the persons crossing the track to exercise any care whatever. Gates and flagmen are generally disregarded by adults and, as a natural consequence, by children, and the result is death and injury. I think that as a matter of dollars and cents it would be profitable to the companies to increase the number and quality of flagmen and have greater supervision given to this class of the service, as it seems to me a self-evident proposition that the lower the grade of labor the more supervision there is needed.

Among the many cases of this kind, I have selected some which will illustrate the matter. They are selected for the purpose of calling the attention of employees to accidents which might be avoided by the exercise of care on their part, and do not include any cases caused by such negligence on the part of the person injured as should bar a recovery.

Many of these crossing accidents occur and no one on the engine knows that they happen. Whether it is because of the kind and position of the headlight now used or because the men on the engine are not keeping a proper lookout or by reason of the recent manner of construction of the large engines, making it impossible for the men in charge always to see an object on the track, I do not know, but I notice that some of the Class G-9 engines have the air cylinder and pump on top of the running board. While riding on a train the other day, I asked an old runner whether they obstructed the view. His answer was an object lesson. He took his hat and placed it in front of the window opposite which I was riding and asked me if that obstructed my view. The cylinder could, I think, be put on the tank and the pump below the running board, which is now made wide enough to hold a political meeting on. Formerly they were narrow, just wide enough for a man to walk on, the old theory of construction being, as I understand it, that there should be nothing protruding from the sides of the boiler which would prevent the man in the cab seeing the bunting beam. If it were practicable to so construct the running boards and place air cylinders, pumps, etc., so that this could now be done, the engineman would certainly have a much better chance to see, and possibly some of these accidents be avoided.

And while the public insist upon our running trains at a high rate of speed and guarding the crossings with gates, flagmen, or warning bells, they, at the same time, for some inexplicable as well as unconscionable reason, attempt to hold railroads liable for all deaths and injuries, no matter how great the care and foresight the companies have exercised, or how gross the neglect of the injured party. It therefore behooves us to do everything possible to prevent such accidents, not only that we may thereby save life, but also money.

If gatemen and flagmen were uniformed and given authority to arrest persons crossing the track when gates are down and a penalty provided and enforced against people attempting to cross or walk upon a railroad track when the gates are down or they are warned by a flagman, accidents at crossings would be greatly reduced. As it is now the public compels the erection of the gates and then almost universally disregards them.

Before leaving this subject of accidents at highway crossings I want to call attention to Rule 12, which says that when cars are being pushed by an engine (except when shifting or making up trains in yards) a flagman must be on the leading car, and Rule 9, which requires that when cars are being switched over highway or street railway crossings a man must be stationed on the ground to act as flagman. Too much importance cannot be placed upon the observance of these rules, not occasionally, but always. If employees would comply with them fewer people would be injured. Try it and see.

In municipalities, run as slowly and carefully as you can and see that the engine bell is always ringing. Rule 3. Freight trains in going through stations should reduce their speed and do so under control, as per Rule 6. The fireman, as well as the engineman, should be on his seat keeping a lookout, and not engaged in waving a signal to some one on another train or elsewhere, or putting in a fire, and the engineman should see that he does this. On the double track when you are going to meet another train at a crossing, try to get the engine over the highway before the tail end of the other train gets by it. If you can't do that, slow up a little, so as to give the people who may be waiting a chance to see you, and, if you think there is danger, open your whistle to let them know that you are coming; that is what the whistle is for.

In the country be sure to sound the whistle; not once, but four times as required by Rule 2, and see that the bell is kept ringing until the crossing is passed, at dangerous and obscure crossings where you can neither see the travelers approaching nor they you; if you are running at a high rate of speed, sound the whistle before you get to the post, as well as at it. The law requiring the giving of this warning eighty rods from the highway was enacted when few trains exceeded twenty-five miles an hour. Now, when few passenger trains make less than forty, and many over seventy, in the open country, so little time elapses between the sounding of the whistle and the reaching of the highway that when possible more timely notice should be given.

And I want to say here that one of the difficulties met with in this class of cases, is the fact that sometimes engineers fail to blow the whistle and ring the bell, and as long as men are human I suppose such things will happen; but let us commence now and try to do it every time. The greater the storm of rain, snow, or wind, the denser the fog, or the darker the night, the more important it is to give the warning. In most of the states the law provides penalties for failure to sound whistle or bell. Some day they will be enforced.

If there is any way to discover whether the engineman and trainmen are observing the signals, which are located along the track for the protection of the passengers, other employees, travelers on the highways, themselves, and the property in their care, other than having inspectors observe their action on approaching signals, and ascertain if they give the required warning of their approach to highway crossings, etc., and you will advise the managements what it is, I am sure they will be glad to adopt such a plan. It has always been customary to have auditors examine the accounts of officers and agents handling money to see that not only are their accounts correct, that the money collected is remitted, but also to ascertain if the business of the company is done in accordance with the rules and a correct record kept of the transactions. No one for an instant thinks that the fact that the officers' and agents' accounts are examined is any discredit to them; most of us are not only willing but anxious that it should be done, as it is a protection to us as well as to the company. And if it is necessary to check up the officers and agents who handle money, is it not much more necessary to check up men who handle human beings and property of immense value, to see that they observe signals and rules before, instead of after, an accident?

And as it sometimes happens that an engineman will not notice that his headlight has gone out, especially when there is snow on the ground, any employee who sees an engine moving after dark without the headlight burning should stop it and tell the engineman; if you can't do it yourself call up the train dispatcher, so he can do it at the next station.

TRESPASSERS

Occasionally we have an accident in which trespassers are killed or injured while walking or playing on the tracks, which might be avoided by greater care and watchfulness to discover their danger, by warning them of the approaching train, either by continuous sounding of the whistle, by slowing up, or by stopping when you have reason to think they do not know a train is coming, especially on the double track when trains are moving on both tracks. The most heartrending of them all are injuries to children, and, sometimes, to women.

Let me cite you several of such cases:

As the traffic and population increase, cases of this kind grow in number, and, for some unknown reason, the public think that, while they must keep off the property of private individuals, where there is no danger, they are privileged to go onto a railroad track where everyone knows there is great danger, and after doing so a few times, the courts say they have a license to do so, and that we must look out for them and see that they don't get hurt. On the same theory I suppose the courts would say after a man burglarizes your house six or seven times that he has a license to try it again, and if he gets hurt because too much force was used in throwing him out, that you must respond in damages. So when you discover that people, old or young, are making a custom of walking through the yards or on the track, report it to your superintendent before, not after, someone is killed or injured, and he will try to stop it. And if you find a child or a drunken man on the track, drive him off, because if you don't they are likely to get killed; and your company will not only back you up but thank you for your thoughtfulness.

INJURIES TO OUTSIDERS

Rule 27 says that cars must be placed so as not to project over highway crossings, and yet any one going over a railroad will see any number of them so left, and the result is that about once in so often a wagon strikes a car in an attempt to get across, a horse is frightened, and a runaway results, someone is hurt, and money paid to settle the claim.

When cars are left in such position they not only frighten horses and cause accidents similar to the one last mentioned, but also obstruct the view of approaching trains. Both the law and rules of the company prohibit this, and the practice should be stopped.

And right here I want to call attention to Rule 32, which prohibits engines standing within 100 feet of a highway crossing, under a bridge, or near cars occupied by passengers, when it can be avoided, and yet the rule is so often disregarded that one wonders whether any one knows of its existence. Especially is this so with engines hauling passenger trains stopping at stations and occupying half of the highway, when they could just as conveniently be back some distance from it.

The stoppage of trains with the rear car standing in the highway should also be avoided so far as possible, particularly in the winter time, when there is always more or less steam leaking from the hose, as it is likely to frighten horses waiting to get by or in crossing the track.

Rules 18 and 50 say that trains must not block highway crossings more than five minutes. The failure to observe these rules is the cause of as much, if not more, criticism and profanity on the part of the public than almost any other one thing that train and switchmen do. No one but the person who is waiting to get across the track, and sometimes it is a doctor answering an emergency call, can realize how tantalizing and annoying it is, so, for goodness sake, observe the rules in the future.

LOCK TURNTABLES

Turntables should be locked (that is what Rule 31 says), and yet they are often left unlocked. The result is that children are attracted to the place, and sooner or later one of the little ones gets hurt as did the following, which are cited as examples:

Now, it wouldn't take but an instant to lock the turntable. Why not do it and prevent some child, perhaps your own, from going through life a cripple?

Be careful not to leave any torpedoes around that are not attached to the rail, as required by Rule 7, and never put them on a rail in a highway; if you do children may pick them up and in playing with them get injured as did

DAMAGE BY FIRE TO ADJACENT PROPERTY

One of the great risks that every railroad that uses coal for fuel runs is the risk of fire to adjacent property started by sparks or ashes from engines. Any man running an engine ought to know from the sparks thrown out and fires started whether the engine is in good or bad order. Rule 29 says that the enginemen must report defects in netting and ash pans; this is required so that if the inspector overlooks the defect, or if one occurs between the regular inspections, it will be remedied before any damage is done, and if an engine is throwing more fire than she ought to, it is up to the engineer to report it and get it fixed. It will take less time than to make a report about the fire and condition of the engine, and, at the same time save both the owner of the property and the company a loss. In the lumber and sawmill country it is especially important that this be done, and where engines are working in or around sawmills, lumber yards, powder and tie plants, and other places where danger of fire is great, the apparatus for preventing the escape of fire should be absolutely perfect, and it ought to be the personal business of the engineman to know that fact; he should be present when the inspection is made, and see that it is done thoroughly, the same as he would if he and not the company had to foot the bill if the engine started a fire.

On the outlying divisions where traffic is light and trains are few, if an engine starts a fire, stop and put it out. If conditions are such that you can't do that with safety, drop a note off to the first section crew or agent, so that they can send men out to extinguish the fire. If you don't the Lord only knows where it may run to (on the western prairies I have known it to go twenty-five miles) or how much damage it will do in the lumber country.

If the precautions suggested here, which are neither new nor original, but can be found in the rules and on the bulletin boards, had been adopted, none of the following cases would have occurred:

INJURIES TO EMPLOYEES CAUSED BY THE CARELESSNESS OF OTHER EMPLOYEES

And, first, as in the case of passengers, those caused by collisions. From the number of collisions on the main track and in yards one would almost think that the general and fundamental customs and rules on railroads that "In case of doubt always adopt the safe course," and that "Speed must always be sacrificed to safety" were seldom observed; on the contrary, I believe it to be the exception and not the rule, else the number of accidents resulting from such failure, though many times what they should be (and as long as men are human we will have some accidents), would be so much greater in number that people would be unwilling to travel at all. I believe that in the near future the number of such cases will be so greatly reduced that the least thoughtful of us will stand aghast at the record of 1904 and 1905, and that these fundamental rules and the instructions contained in what are known as the "Flag Rules" and "Caution Card," will be so strictly observed and enforced and that blocking of trains by space , not time, intervals will become so general as to practically eliminate this class of accidents, which are caused:

By failure to watch for and observe block and other signals.

By trains following each other too closely.

By trains following at too high a rate of speed.

By failure to protect trains stopped on the main track.

By cars not being left in to clear at sidings.

By switches being left wrong.

By lack of caution in time of storm or fog; and

By general carelessness and failure to realize the terrible result which is bound to follow any lack of care, failure to comply with the rules and the uncertainty of detection and punishment if such carelessness and failure to comply with rules does not cause an accident .

Every man in the train, engine, and switching service ought to have every requirement of these rules by heart, understand exactly what they mean, and be ready at any instant, and in any weather, to execute them to the letter, and no punishment should be too severe for failure to observe them to the very letter, for on their faithful observance depend the lives of passengers—it may be some of your own loved ones—of employees, and the safety of the property entrusted to the companies for transportation, as well as their own. And yet, if the instructions contained in the two fundamental rules and those known as the "Flag Rules" had been observed, none of the following cases and many others that help fill the records and the daily press would have happened. It is a standing disgrace that such accidents happen, and the sooner employees help get the careless and reckless men and the drones out of the service, as it is your duty to yourself and the companies to do, the quicker the traveling public, yourselves, the property in transit, and that belonging to your employer and yourselves, will be safe and the greater your certainty of getting to the end of your run to be welcomed by the wife and children awaiting you.

In this connection I want to suggest to the enginemen that when you discover a cause for the sending out of a flagman give him a chance to go back before you get stopped, so that he can cover the required distance quicker. And as these rules are among the most important, if not the most important, in the book, I call especial attention to them.

The following cases will illustrate how much room there is for improvement in this regard:

Rule 12a says: When you get a train order the conductors must read it aloud and then sign it and show it to the engineman, the rear brakeman or flagman, and the engineman must show it to the fireman and in case of freight train to the head brakeman, who are required to read it, the object being that every employee on the train will know what the order is and if the engineman or conductor forget it the brakeman or fireman may remember and by remembering prevent an accident.

DERAILMENTS

Next come injuries caused by derailments, which generally result from running into open switches, off derails, too fast running at bad places in the track, defective equipment or track. Nearly all of the cases would be avoided by careful running, proper inspection of track and equipment, and by compliance with the rules.

ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE EQUIPMENT

I shall next call your attention to accidents caused by defects in the equipment, especially in that of freight cars and engines. They are of such frequent occurrence as to no longer attract attention, but when the time comes that the man who inspects reports not to the foreman, whose duty it is to keep the equipment in repair, but to a superior, whose duty it is to find defects , there will be a material reduction in such cases. Train and enginemen should report defects discovered by them on Form 995 and attach card to truss rod of car or locomotive tank. And first we will take up those caused by defective cars:

How many of the accidents caused by defective running boards, handholds, ladders and brakes would have been avoided had Rules 25, 26, and 28, requiring trainmen to examine cars, brakes, and ladders and to set out bad order cars been complied with, I leave you to guess. And why when such defects are discovered by train and yard men they do not report them to the next crew taking the car, so as to prevent any of the latter being injured, I never could understand.

One cause of the great increase in accidents by trains breaking in two and by defective couplers is probably on account of the fact that many of the automatic couplers are commencing to wear out and are not repaired or renewed promptly enough, and, also, because the levers and chains of the coupling apparatus do not receive sufficient attention. Another reason is because of the unnecessarily hard usage given the couplers, especially in the yards where trains are made up. Just why an appliance to save life and limb should be abused by the employees, for whose benefit it was put on the cars and engines, is one of the things which it would take a mind-reader to answer. But the truth of the matter is, as every experienced adjuster knows, that the automatic coupler has cost the railroads for equipment and freight damaged many times over what it cost them to settle claims for personal injuries caused by the old link and pin coupler; and when the brotherhoods take up such matters as this and try to remedy them, they will not have so many crippled members drawing insurance for permanent disabilities, which would have been avoided by the proper handling of cars.

Another class of injuries which has come with the safety appliance is that caused by the bursting of air hose, and it is surprising how many of them there are.

Some day a man will get up a hose which won't burst, or which will give notice of its intention so to do, and we will all rise up and bless him. The following are samples taken from a job lot of such cases:

Now let us see the result to persons by reason of improper loading of cars:

And it is just as important to properly unload packages of newspapers and mail from moving trains, and to exercise a little care in throwing coal from engines, as it is to see that freight is securely loaded. The number of accidents caused in this way since the running of the fast mail and newspaper trains commenced would fill a book and could all have been avoided by the exercise of that care which employees or postal clerks would have exercised if they, instead of the company, had to foot the bills caused by their carelessness. To me, it seems not a difficult or unreasonable precaution to look, before you throw out a heavy bag of mail or half a dozen packages of newspapers, to see that no one will be hit by them, and that they could and should be dropped just beyond the far end of the station platform, but never in a street or public highway; and don't throw your clinker bars or ash bars off engines, or anything else for that matter, without looking to see if anyone is passing and when through with them put them in a safe place so they won't project and strike anyone on the next track or fall off and injure someone. If this had been done cases like the following would not have happened:

ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE ENGINES

During the last two years there has been an epidemic of accidents caused by defective grate-shaking rigging and defective shoveling sheets on engines, especially of the former. A few years ago they were practically unknown. Now they come so often as to create no remark. The following cases will demonstrate the necessity either of some different apparatus for shaking grates of engines, of greater care in using the apparatus, or of some better method of inspection and repair:

Next we come to a class of accidents which is also on the increase and which is of comparatively recent origin, and which, I believe, could and should be absolutely prevented by the exercise of a little mechanical ingenuity or which, even under present conditions of engine construction, would be avoided by greater care on the part of the engineman. And some day when an injector breaks or a blow-off cock is opened as some mechanical superintendent is passing an engine, and his legs are scalded, I will bet my next month's salary against an 1899 bird nest that they will find a way to prevent such injuries, which are as painful as they are unnecessary and expensive, either by putting the blow-off cocks under or on top of the engines, instead of having them project from the side.

Every year a number of accidents occur to employees caused by defects in engines and appliances furnished enginemen, nearly all of which could and should be avoided if there was a more thorough inspection, greater care taken in repairs and, what is just as necessary, more care taken by enginemen in reporting defects; and when you report defects, and repairs are not made, call the attention of your master mechanic or division roundhouse foreman to the matter and I doubt not that not only will the defects be repaired but greater pains will be taken in the future to see that your engine is kept in good condition.

The thought has often occurred to me that if the master mechanic or some one other than the foreman, whose duty it is to inspect and repair, would check up the work slips Form No. 141 and inspection records to see that the repairs called for on them were made, we would not have so many engine failures or accidents of this kind.

Before leaving the subject of engines I want to say a few words about accidents caused by the breaking of lubricator glasses and water gauges; they grow more frequent every year and until somebody invents something to take the place of glass—possibly the celluloid glass now used on automobiles may be available—which will not burst, as you value your eyesight, which becomes more necessary every day as the number, speed of trains, and signals increase, carry the shields, which the company has provided for your, not its, protection, over the glass, not in your seat box as many enginemen do now, and then when the glass breaks, and no one can tell when it will do so, there is little danger of your vision being impaired or lost by your eyes being struck by flying particles of glass.

DEFECTIVE SCAFFOLDS, DERRICKS, ETC.

Accidents caused by use of defective derricks, scaffolds, and the careless handling of derricks are comparatively new and are one of the recent surprises in the business. I venture to say that the companies have paid out during the last 18 months in the investigation and settlement of accidents caused by defective scaffolds enough money, not only to furnish the most approved scaffold now known, but to nickel plate them as well. The following cases will show what is going on in this way:

Within the last few years injuries caused by defective jacks and drop cables, which, when I commenced to investigate accidents, were unknown, have become very frequent. I mention the following to show what they are. All of them would have been prevented by proper inspection—not by inspections made to find things O.K., but by inspections made to find defects; and if not made for that purpose they had better be discontinued.

In the same category, while perhaps not of the same class, come accidents at coal chutes and water tanks, roundhouses, stations, and other places. Had inspectors, repairmen and employees using the appliances, done as they would have done if the loss occasioned by neglect was to be theirs, none of the following accidents would have happened:

ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE FLOORS, PLATFORMS, ETC.

Another class of accidents which might also be avoided is that caused by defective floors and platforms in roundhouses and at stations, the failure to keep tools in repair, lack of light, and failure to properly secure lights on switches. While, fortunately, they are not so great in number, yet they go to swell the total, as well as the expense, and ought to be cut out, as they could be with proper care and supervision.

ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY OBSTRUCTIONS

Next in order, I wish to call your attention to accidents caused by overhead obstructions, drawbars, lumber, poles, cinders, and other obstructions left too near the rail, holes and trenches left uncovered, and failure to block guard-rails and frogs, etc. Everybody is or should be familiar with Rules 45 and 49, which require blocking of frogs and guard-rails and a clear space of six feet from the rail, and yet one would sometimes think, from the appearance of some yards, side tracks and switches, that the rules, like the midnight closing ordinance, were dead letters. It, however, is the intention and desire of the managements that they, like all other rules, should be enforced, and no one is so much interested in that enforcement as the train and yard men, who work in the yards and on side tracks and switches. If they had been observed, or if their non-observance had been reported by the men who must have known of their violation, none of the following accidents would have occurred:

I want to call especial attention to the Alton, Montgomery, Purdy and Kendrick cases. In the former the crossing sign had been in the same place for over 20 years. The man who put it there, roadmasters, and section foremen, who should have discovered its dangerous proximity to the track and moved it to a safe distance, the one required by Rule 49, were grossly careless, and the injured man and other trainmen who had passed it daily for years must have discovered that it was too close to the track, and if they had reported it, as they should have done, this accident would not have happened, and they were blamable for not doing so. In the Montgomery case the section foreman was at fault for not properly blocking the frog, as required by Rule 45, the roadmaster for not seeing it was done, and the car inspector and repairer for not discovering that the coupling apparatus was defective and repairing it. In the Purdy case the management was at fault for not seeing that warning whips were up for the viaduct—they are now; and in the Kendrick case the man who hung up the lamp too close to the track to warn people, instead of making it a protection, increased the danger, and the division engineer who allowed it to be done was inexcusably careless. Such cases not only swell the total number, but account in a large measure for the total increase in personal injury accounts of the railroads.

Section foremen do not seem to realize the importance of examining the whip guards for overhead obstructions every time they pass them to see that they are in proper position and if not, pull them down with the hook provided for that purpose. If the roadmasters would be more particular to see that this is done we would have fewer accidents of this kind in the future.

And in removing hand cars in yards, place them far enough away from the rails so that a man riding on the side of a freight car won't be struck by them, as happened to

ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY CARELESSNESS OF ENGINEMEN

I shall next call your attention to accidents caused by carelessness of enginemen which should not have happened and with proper care and thoughtfulness will not occur in the future:

In a double track district, if you are running on the wrong track and there are any section men working on the track or employees or others walking or running on the track, you should act upon the theory that even if they know you are coming they will think you are on the track usually occupied, and until you know that they actually understand the conditions you must be prepared to stop in time to prevent injuring them. And if two trains are passing on the double track and there is anyone around, don't let it be your fault that an injury occurs because ample warning was not given of the approach of two trains instead of one.

ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY MOVING CARS ON OR UNDER WHICH MEN ARE WORKING

Injuries caused by the moving of cars being iced or on or under which men are working seem to me of a class so inexcusable as to merit the discharge of the party at fault. Think how you would feel if you or your boy was under, on, or in, a car with a flag out and someone moved the car without notice and you or he was run over. The following are a few such cases:

Injuries caused by carelessness in throwing switches and derails we all know ought not to occur, and yet they are of frequent occurrence. The following are samples.

ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY KICKING CABOOSES

Accidents caused by kicking caboose cars in which men are resting are of altogether too frequent occurrence, and are as inexcusable as they are frequent. Rule No. 10 should, I think, prohibit the practice, as it does of moving cars containing passengers unless coupled to the engine and air-brakes in use. Had this been done, the following cases would not have happened:

Indeed, I believe that if the practice of kicking freight cars in yards and at stations was prohibited the saving in the cost of repairs of equipment and for damage to contents of cars would be greater than the increase in pay-roll caused by necessary increase in the number of men in the crews.

Speaking of accidents of this kind brings to mind those resulting from careless handling of boarding cars, which are now so common during the summer season. We all know the class of people who inhabit boarding cars, how little they appreciate the danger, that they are on the sides, top, under, and in the cars. So handle them, not as some brakemen do egg cases, but carefully; never move the cars without going to see that no one is under them cooking his dinner, that the occupants of cars are all in a place of safety, and never make a fly or kick with them, always have the engine coupled up, and don't uncouple it until the car has got to the place it is to be left. Roadmasters and foremen should see that the opening for ingress and egress from the cars is on the side away from the traffic. The switch to the track on which the cars stand should be locked and the key in the foreman's pocket, or else a rail taken up so that no one can get in on the track without notice. If you run across any cases where this is not done, report them before, not after, some one is hurt.

MOTOR AND HAND CAR ACCIDENTS AND INJURIES TO SECTION MEN

Before leaving the subject of injuries to employees caused by the carelessness of other employees, I want to mention some motor and hand car accidents and injuries to section men caused by the use of defective cars, by fast running, overloading, and by failure to comply with the rules. Why men on motor cars and hand cars coming in from work want to run faster than is safe (they never do it on the way out), why they should overload, use defective cars, run closer together than 300 feet, be out after dark without a light, leave their cars on the highways to obstruct the same and frighten horses, contrary to Rules 46, 47, and 48, we may perhaps guess. And yet we can see no good reason for failure to comply with the rules which are made for their own protection, as well as that of the company, and if more careful instructions were given them by the roadmasters and more supervision exercised, many of the accidents mentioned below would not have happened. And on account of the class of men now employed on the track, such instruction and supervision is more necessary than ever, as the records show that we have many more such cases in proportion to the mileage and business than we did a few years ago.

In passing over highway crossings, especially in cities and in running past stations, hand and motor cars should be so run that the man in charge could stop the car in its own length.

INJURIES TO EMPLOYEES CAUSED BY THEIR OWN CARELESSNESS

Lastly, I shall call your attention to a few of the accidents in which employees are injured by their own carelessness, thoughtlessness or recklessness, and frequently it is the latter. If we could eliminate them and one-half of those caused by the carelessness of other employees much of the unfavorable criticism of railroads would cease, as the cause would no longer exist.

We will take up some of the most common accidents of this class, caused by coupling cars, getting on or off, or falling from, trains or engines, moving or standing. The following cases will serve to illustrate how frequently unnecessary chances are taken and the result.

Can anyone imagine a reason why a man of common sense who is old enough to be out of school should stand on a footboard and when the couplers are almost together put his hand in between them to pull them over or try to kick them over with his foot, walk backwards, contrary to Rule 51, between the rails fixing a Jenney to get ready to couple, instead of stopping the car or engine and getting the coupler in position; why they should stand in the middle of the track and wait for an approaching engine or car to reach them and then step onto the footboard or brake-beam, when they could just as well get on the side or other end, and do it with safety; why men jump on an engine pilot, which Rule 33 prohibits, or on a moving car to ride a few feet to a switch, when the same is going so fast as to make it dangerous, unless they want to show how expert they are; why they should get off moving cars or engines under the same circumstances; why a man should not get off a standing car or engine without getting hurt; undertake to climb from car to car when unnecessary; cross the track in front of moving cars or engines, when they are so close to them that to the uninitiated it looks like suicide; or cross between cars, when they could just as well climb over? But rather than take the time, which the company pays for, they take the chances, and then if they get across, like the man who drove over in front of the engine at the last highway crossing and waited on the other side to see the train go by, they wait until the tail end comes along and get on there, but if they get caught blame the engineman for coming too fast, or the company for not having the track nickel plated, or for having a handhold in the wrong place.

Why they should allow themselves to be struck frequently in broad daylight by overhead obstructions, for which tell-tales are erected to warn them; by building close to the track, with the location of which they are familiar. Yet rather than work their gray matter a little, they get hurt. Why a man sent out to look after broken rails or defects in the track shouldn't watch for trains from both directions or take the trouble to ascertain before starting whether trains are on time. And yet we all know that just such chances are taken every day with results shown in the following cases, which are such as happen all the time; the only reason or excuse that can be given for them, that I can imagine, is, that the men injured never should have been employed; that instead of being employed on trains and engines and drawing—not earning—more pay than principals of schools, and frequently than school superintendents, they should be working in a barn or shoveling dirt instead of on a railroad, where their recklessness, carelessness, and failure to realize the dangers of the business and the necessity of complying with the rules and taking no unnecessary chances, not only endanger their own lives, but those of others. They are of the same class that the railroad organizations, for the protection of their desirable membership, ought to help get out of the service, not try to keep in until someone is seriously injured or killed, and then complain and say the company is liable because they kept such a grossly careless, incompetent man in the service; and if you will think for a minute, you will know that none of the careful, forehanded men—the men who own homes and have a little money in the bank—are in this class.

I will first refer you to some cases caused in coupling cars, and by getting on and off cars, of which the following are fair samples, each of which not only could but should have been avoided by the exercise of a little common sense by the injured person:

Then comes the class of injuries caused by crossing between or going between moving cars or in front of moving cars or engines, and those caused frequently in broad daylight by obstructions with the location of which employees are perfectly familiar, but fail to take any care to avoid, such as the following:

Among other classes, altogether too frequent, as well as unnecessary, are those caused by leaving cars too near a switch to clear a man on a car on the next track; by going under cars to repair them, or under engines to clean the fires, without putting out a flag; by cutting steam hose without first knowing the steam is turned off.

Now why a man switching cars will not take the trouble to put them far enough in on the track to clear himself riding the next cut in on the adjacent track, or why a man will go under an engine or car to repair it or for any other purpose, without protecting himself from injury by putting out a flag as required by Rule I, passes my understanding. Whenever you find the rule disregarded, report it, so that it will not happen with the same man in the future; why a man should undertake to cut the steam hose before he knows the steam has been turned off, the devil himself could not tell, and yet the following cases would seem to show that a man with a big stick is needed on the railroads as well as elsewhere.

And lastly I will refer to a few cases of injuries which cannot well be classified, so we will say from other causes. They are a miscellaneous lot, none of which ought to have happened, or indeed would have happened if the first rule of nature, self-preservation, had been observed. But I will give you several examples:

Prevention

SUGGESTIONS

And so I might go on detailing the various accidents that have occurred from the carelessness of employees, but I believe I have enumerated enough of them to illustrate the point I wish to make; that is, the employee is too careless, thoughtless and negligent; and I hope also to demonstrate that the larger part of them could be avoided and that a united effort should be made by all to prevent them in the future. It does not require any argument to prove that the many accidents occurring every day, and the resulting injuries and destruction of property, ought to be reduced, and that, if the rules were complied with and proper care and supervision exercised in transacting the business of the companies, their number and consequent money loss would be materially reduced; and it is up to the employees to do their share to bring about this necessary result. Railroads that advertise that they have the best of everything—including men—that have spent not thousands but millions for safety devices and appliances, as many of the lines have, ought to be able to make a better record; and I believe when the employees really understand the matter such roads will be where they belong—at the head of the procession, not only so far as freedom from accident is concerned, but in everything else.

Blackstone, in his Commentaries on the Common Law of England, said that the great beauty of the common law was that under it "there was no wrong without a remedy," and so I say that there must be some remedy which, if properly applied, would prevent the happening of a large proportion of these casualties; and I suppose that the man who says there is a wrong or criticises results ought to be able to suggest some remedy which will sound plausible, even if it is not practicable.

In addition to the suggestions which I have made in discussing the different classes of accidents herein mentioned, there are several others which, in a general way, I submit.

The most necessary thing in securing good results and as few casualties as possible is to hire good, competent, careful and sober men to do the work, and when the railroads have bureaus of employment properly conducted to secure the best men and schools in which to instruct them as to the rules under which railroads are operated, what their duties are, and how to perform them, in conjunction with the physical examination of applicants for employment they will have taken the most important step to do away with accidents; and when they clear their roundhouses, repair yards, coal stations, gate houses and all other branches of the service connected with the transportation of persons and property of men with whom neither other employees nor the public can communicate because of their inability to understand or talk the English language, they will have taken the next one.

When labor organizations and employees generally do what they can to keep incompetent, careless men out of the service, not in it, and when they are discovered in some careless act, or cause some accident, and are discharged or suspended, instead of trying, through the influence and power of their organization, to have the discharge or suspension set aside, do all they can to sustain the order of suspension or discharge, we will not have the list of casualties staring us in the face that we do now, and the organizations will not have so many crippled members asking for assistance, and the proportion of employees killed and injured to the whole number won't be 36 and 80 per cent respectively.

Employees should read the newspapers, railroad as well as brotherhood, so that they will get some of the theory of the business to fit them for a better place. Familiarize yourselves with the advertisements of the company, train schedules, maps, names of the officers and where they are located, so that you can answer questions of patrons and others. Treat everybody politely and decently, as by your conduct and manners the corporation and management will be judged. Take advantage of what others have learned by the greatest of all teachers— experience .

After getting good competent men we need good track and equipment and sufficient and intelligent inspection to see that not only the track and equipment are kept in good repair, but also that the men keep in good physical and mental condition.

A method of inspection and repair by which the man who inspects will be required to have some mechanical experience, who can talk and understand English and comprehend what the result will be if he fails to discover defects and have them remedied, and who will report, not to a foreman whose duty it is to repair the defect, but to a superior whose business it is to find them. This is the sort of inspection necessary to prevent injury and loss. And when we do this the record will be different.

Then we want good rules and instructions (the fewer and simpler the better) telling how the trains shall be run and the business of the companies conducted, and if it is true that one of the worst evils from which our country is now suffering is the failure to enforce all the laws on the statute books, I am afraid the same saying will apply to the operation of railroads. Too many rules, orders and bulletins are disregarded by employees, and that disregard not discovered or is overlooked until some accident occurs. If there are any rules that are impracticable they should be cancelled, but until they are their observance by officers and employees should be insisted upon. The quickest and best way to get a bad rule or law cancelled or repealed is to enforce it.

And last but not least, we want sufficient and efficient supervision. Poor Richard, the philosopher, never said a truer thing than that " The eyes of the master will do more work than both his hands ." And as the business of a railroad increases and grows more complicated every day, it requires more and better, and not less, supervision. If the number of employees and the tonnage of trains increase fivefold, so should the supervision increase, in order that the business be conducted in accordance with the rules and that safe and economical operation be secured, and there should always be enough supervision to obtain this necessary result.

After we get the men, the track, the equipment, rules and supervision, we should see that all employees know and understand the rules and their duties and how to perform them. Some day we will have a training school for this purpose, just as the government has for its soldiers and sailors, and many municipalities for their police. Employees should study and familiarize themselves with the time-tables and rules, the same as they do with their pay schedule—they all understand that. The rules were made by men who have come from the ranks, who know from actual experience what the failure to observe them means to passengers, to yourselves, and the companies, and if you don't understand them, have someone who does explain them to you until you know them by heart and exactly what they mean, and when you have done this, comply with them and things will go better; there will then be few accidents, suspensions and discharges.

Do the company's business the same as you would your own. If the time ever comes when you are unwilling to do this, quit. Think before you act, not afterwards, as then it will be too late. And remember that other lives, perhaps that some one near and dear to you, may depend upon your acting and doing immediately, and not to-morrow, the right thing and in the prescribed way.

Make it your first duty to protect the lives and property entrusted to your company, as well as the lives of those crossing over its tracks and those of your fellow employees, then will come to you not only the knowledge of duty performed, but promotion in position and increase in salary. That is why your president, general manager, and the whole push are where they are now, instead of working in the ranks.

Never go out without sufficient rest. Don't try to get in too many miles or hours for the pay there is in it, as you may get hurt or killed doing so, or injure some one else.

When an order is given you in writing, or verbally, if you don't understand it, ascertain exactly what it means before you undertake to execute it, and if you understand what is wanted, but don't know how to do the thing, find out from someone who does before, not after, you have made a mistake, as it will take you less time to learn to do it right than it will to explain why you did it wrong, and by so doing you may prevent yourself or someone else getting hurt.

With additional care on your part and that of your fellow workers, together with more and better supervision, based on the theory that it is equally as important to see that rules and orders are observed as it is to issue them, that men are more important in the running of a railroad than things , accidents and consequent losses will, I believe, be reduced one-half.

APPENDIX

The following operating rules are referred to in the foregoing:

In case of doubt, adopt the safe course.

Speed must always be sacrificed for safety.