| Class | Killed | Injured |
| Trespassers (including suicides) | 4,919 | 5,697 |
| Not trespassing | 820 | 3,069 |
| Total other persons | 5,739 | 8,766 |
These figures warrant the estimate that the total number of trespassers and other persons killed and injured in the United States in 1909 through the operation of railways was approximately 5,978 and 9,132 respectively. This marks a decrease from 1908, but not nearly so great as in the case of passengers and employes.
Fatalities in Railway Accidents Since 1888.
We are now enabled to present a complete statement of the fatalities connected with the transportation industry since the Commission began compiling casualty statistics in 1888. The figures in this summary are confined to fatalities, for the reason given by the Commission that it "is well known the term 'injury,' as used in statistics of this character, is elastic." As a matter of fact the terms injury and casualty are so individually or locally indefinite and variable as to have little or no statistical value.
| Passengers, Employes and Other Persons Killed in Railway Accidents from 1888 to 1908. | |||||
| Year | Passengers | Employes | Other Persons | Total | |
| Trespassers | Not Trespassing | ||||
| 1909 | 335 | 2,456 | 5,124 | 854 | 8,769 |
| 1908 | 406 | 3,358 | 5,560 | 940 | 10,264 |
| 1907 | 647 | 4,353 | 5,612 | 1,044 | 11,656 |
| 1906 | 359 | 3,929 | 5,381 | 949 | 10,618 |
| 1905 | 537 | 3,361 | 4,865 | 940 | 9,703 |
| 1904 | 441 | 3,632 | 5,105 | 868 | 10,046 |
| 1903 | 355 | 3,606 | 5,000 | 879 | 9,840 |
| 1902 | 345 | 2,969 | 4,403 | 871 | 8,588 |
| 1901 | 282 | 2,675 | 4,601 | 897 | 8,455 |
| 1900 | 249 | 2,550 | 4,346 | 660 | 7,865 |
| 1899 | 239 | 2,210 | 4,040 | 634 | 7,123 |
| 1898 | 221 | 1,958 | 4,063 | 617 | 6,859 |
| 1897 | 222 | 1,693 | 3,919 | 603 | 6,437 |
| 1896 | 181 | 1,861 | 3,811 | 595 | 6,448 |
| 1895 | 170 | 1,811 | 3,631 | 524 | 6,136 |
| 1894 | 324 | 1,823 | 3,720 | 580 | 6,447 |
| 1893 | 299 | 2,627 | 3,673 | 647 | 7,346 |
| 1892 | 376 | 2,554 | 3,603 | 614 | 7,147 |
| 1891 | 293 | 2,660 | 3,465 | 611 | 7,029 |
| 1890 | 286 | 2,451 | 3,062 | 536 | 6,335 |
| 1889 | 310 | 1,972 | Not | (a)3,541 | 5,823 |
| 1888 | 315 | 2,070 | given | (a)2,897 | 5,282 |
| (a) Includes trespassers. | |||||
To the most casual student this table illustrates how railway accidents increase and decline with periods of business activity and recession. The effect of the panic of 1893-94 is seen in the decrease in accidents in 1895 and 1896. The temporary slowing up in 1904 is reflected in fewer fatalities in 1905, and a drop of 11% in the business of 1908 was followed by a decreased death roll of 12% for that year and 25% in 1909.
Relation of Accidents to Passenger Traffic.
The relation of railway accidents to passenger travel is most accurately measured in the following statement of the number of passengers carried one mile to one killed in train accidents during the years for which these statistics have been compiled: