This discussion will be chiefly devoted to the first class, as being distinctively “railway accidents.”
PROGRESS IN THE PAST.
The loss of life from railway accidents began with the day of the opening of the first railway in England, in September, 1830, on which occasion a prominent citizen, a member of Parliament, was knocked down and fatally injured, sending a thrill of horror not only through the great throng of spectators, but also throughout the civilized world. That unfortunate accident was not due to any defect in track or equipment, nor to any fault in the operation of the train. It was due to the victim’s failure to appreciate the danger attending the then new and novel mode of transportation, and inadvertently putting himself in a position of danger. It was the forerunner and prototype of many thousands of others which have since occurred through carelessness and sheer recklessness of the victims, and which the railway companies are powerless to prevent.
But as railways multiplied other accidents occurred, which were due to defects of one kind or another in track and equipment, or to inadequate rules governing train movements, and the duties of the several employes. Each accident has been carefully studied as to its cause, and, so far as possible, remedies have been applied. Thus the immense system of transportation as it exists today has been a gradual development from crude beginnings. The light iron rails inadequately secured at the joints have been replaced with heavy steel rails with effective joint fastenings. Train movements have been safeguarded by a well-digested system of rules, uniform on all railroads; by standard forms of train orders with all ambiguities of language eliminated, and by block signals, interlocking and automatic couplers, air brakes and other safety devices. Stoves and oil lamps, with their menace of fire, have given way to steam heating and electric lighting. The inflammable wooden cars are being replaced with steel equipment. In fact, there has been a steady progress from the beginning in the effort to reduce the danger to life and limb.
But accidents continue to happen, partly because the rapid growth of traffic and the demand for greater speed are creating new conditions, partly because materials have hidden defects and the human machine is not infallible, and partly because discipline has been largely subverted through the attitude of the brotherhoods of employes.
In order to show in a general way what has been accomplished, the average figures for the five-year period from 1889 to 1893, inclusive, have been compared with the corresponding figures for the years 1907 to 1911, inclusive, with the following results:
Ratio of passengers carried to one killed has increased 35.5 per cent.
Ratio of employes to one killed has increased 54.7 per cent.
This shows a very decided gain in the twenty-two years covered by the record.
The number injured cannot be compared in the same way, for the reason that in the later years the reports include large numbers of minor injuries of a more or less trivial nature, which were not included in the earlier reports, but which the Interstate Commerce Commission now requires to be reported, thus swelling the number injured out of all proportion to the earlier reports. Under the present rules, if a passenger lets a window sash bruise his finger, and it is brought to the attention of any of the train crew, it must be reported, and enters into the final statistics with as much weight as the loss of an arm or a leg.