The telegram published in these columns yesterday morning, and recording an accident to the Chicago and Minneapolis flyer, in which eleven persons were killed and seven injured, lends additional point to an article by Mr. Carl S. Vrounan in MeClare's Magazine. Mr. Vrooman makes out a startling indictment against the railways of the States, Yearly, for the past four years, 10,000 pereans have been killed, and 80,000 mangled by American railroads, and perhaps the significance of these figures can best be understood by [computing that, upon this bessis, more than 246 persons are killed or maimed daily. Mr. Vrooman alleges that at least sixty per cent of these accidents are inexcusable. He attributes them to bad organization, incompetency of employes, and the belief breva ent. among railway directors that it costs less to pay for accidents than prevent them." Could it be shown that American railways earn avery narrow margin of profit the frequency talked with which railway catastrophes occur would be better understood. But so far from this being the case dividends have increased by something like 200 per cent during the past ten years, and yet accidents are three times more common than in 1895. It would be interesting to know the death-roll of the American shunting yards. Some years ago an agitation was started in Great Britain for the introduction of automatic couplings, and it was argued that by this means the risk to midway servants employed in shunting operations would be very materially lessened. The terrible death roll in American yards seems to prove the contrary to be the case. tis noticeable that the C.P. R. has lately introduced a rule that, when it is necessary to adjust automatic couplings, the men employed in the work must not go between the cars, but must use poles for the purpose. It is an interesting, if somewhat ghastly, question, whether there is another country in the world where, one passenger is injured for every 70,655 earried—as was the case in 1905 in America. Many reasons can be asigned for the frequency with which railway accidents occur in America. Railway tracks are said by exports to be badly laid and ballasted; the hours of labour extract ly long; and owing to the immense length of the tracks the metals fare not as carefully watched and repaired as in the United Kingdom. But. the fact remains that many companies corn their Increased dividend: almost eri President Roosevelt has not taken in hand his drastic schemes for improving the operation of American railways a moment too soon.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.