Accidents Increase in 1909-10.
Accident Bulletin No. 33 for the first quarter of the current fiscal year shows the unfavorable turn in casualties always attendant on reviving business. Given in brief the figures are as follows:
| Casualties to Persons, July, August and September, 1909. | ||
| Class | Killed | Injured |
| To passengers: | ||
| From accidents to trains | 56 | 2,325 |
| By accidents from other causes | 48 | 2,088 |
| To employes: | ||
| From accidents to trains | 137 | 1,427 |
| By accidents from other causes | 611 | 13,401 |
| Total classes | 852 | 19,241 |
| Corresponding quarter 1908 | 734 | 16,545 |
As this report goes to press, the Commission, through the Associated Press, has issued a summary of Accident Bulletin No. 34 which states that there were 1,073 persons (105 passengers and 969 employes) killed and 21,849 injured on the steam railways of the United States during the three months ending December 31, 1909.
This shows an increase over the corresponding quarter last year of 275 killed and 5,003 injured. For the same quarter in 1907 the killed were 1,092; in 1906, 1,430; and in 1905, 1,109. As the quarter ending December 31, 1909, saw railway traffic at its highest pressure, it shows an improvement over the records of 1907, '06 and '05.
The number injured is the highest ever recorded for three months, surpassing the quarter ending September 30, 1907, however, by only 126. But as explained elsewhere, "injuries" is too elastic a term for comparative statistics.
Accidents to Other Persons.
Where the quarterly Bulletins of the Commission make no mention of the accidents to persons other than passengers and employes, the annual reports of the carriers supply the missing data as to "Other Persons." These include casualties at highway crossings, to trespassers, persons walking, standing or sleeping on the track, workmen in railway shops and all other accidents directly or indirectly connected with the transportation industry. Accidents to "Other Persons" cover over 60% of all fatalities charged to the railways and of these over 80% are to trespassers.
The returns to this Bureau show the following casualties to persons other than passengers and employes during the year ending June 30, 1909: