Randolph Smuck, brakeman, injured at Parrott, April 3, was going down side car; stirrup was gone and he fell to the ground.
Matthew Brummage, switchman, injured January 4, at Keewahtah, was riding on car which was being switched; he tightened the brake, but the dog was in bad order and he had to hold brake with his hand. There was two inches of slack on the bottom brake rod, the chain slipped, and he was thrown from the car and his left foot run over.
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:
G. A. Graham, conductor, injured June 4, three-quarters of a mile north of Bogle; caused by air hose on car bursting, causing Graham to fall against stove in way-car.
K. L. Grobbet, brakeman, injured one mile north of Brandon; caused by the air hose bursting, throwing on emergency brakes. This man, who was in front end of way-car, was thrown to the ground.
Now let us see the result to persons by reason of improper loading of cars:
R. Puddles, switchman, injured at Grammaton, March 4, was hanging on side of car loaded with lumber, engineman shut off suddenly, and when car stopped the lumber slid and caught his hand between lumber and stake on car. Lumber was loaded in two piles 16 ft. lengths, leaving a space of about six or eight inches between the piles.