Railroad Accidents, Their Cause and PreventionRichards, R. C. (Ralph Coffin)
History
Railroad Accidents, Their Cause and Prevention
Richards, R. C. (Ralph Coffin)
Railroad accidents
And, speaking of aisles, so far as possible get passengers to keep
their valises, suit cases, and bundles out of the aisles so that other
passengers won't fall over them. If the glass in a door gets broken,
when the train is running, be sure that the glass is taken out of the
frame, so that passengers won't catch their hands on it. Take pains to
see that your passengers, especially the old and infirm, the women,
and children, are provided with seats, and when some passenger,
whether man or woman, who has paid for only one seat or is riding on a
pass, is occupying three or four seats, have them make room for those
standing. Pay some attention to ventilation--in cold weather open the
ventilators on the side the smoke trails on, and then there won't be
any draught. In other words, comply with Rule 20 and then cases like
the following, which seem to be on the increase, won't happen:
Mrs. Alice Gahriels, passenger from Clinton, Iowa, to Lincoln,
Neb., on train No. 3, June 2d, while returning from the dining car
between Cedar Rapids and Belle Plaine stumbled over a valise which
was left in the aisle of the chair car and fell and was injured.
Mrs. Little, passenger, injured at Van Buren Street depot at 9:52
p.m., March 9th, was alighting from train No. 594, and in doing so
took hold of frame of vestibule door of coach. The glass in door
had been broken and this lady's hand was seriously cut on the
broken pieces which had not been taken out of the frame.
EJECTMENT OF PASSENGERS AND OTHERS FROM TRAINS
Everyone is supposed to know that neither passengers or tramps should
be ejected from a train when it is in motion, and, in the case of
passengers, the ejectment must only be made at an open station, so
that the person ejected will have a place of shelter if at night or if
it is storming; that women and children of tender years must not be
ejected at all; and that if a person refusing to pay his fare is in
such condition as to be unable to care for himself, he must be placed
in custody of the nearest station agent. So says Rule 21, which also
tells you to make a report of the ejectment, giving the cause thereof
and names of the witnesses on Form 992, a blank which every conductor
running a train that carries passengers should have in his set of
blanks, and use it when he puts anyone off.
The principal trouble in ejectment cases is when passengers are put
off away from a station or when tramps are put off while the train is
in motion, resulting often in a serious injury, and, while very
frequently the patience of trainmen is severely tried by these
"hoboes," don't put them off when the train is moving. After all, they
are human beings and we don't want to maim or kill them. So stop the
train; and don't shoot them unless in self-defense. I mention the
following as a few sample cases:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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