We sympathize with France in the series of disastrous railway
accidents of the past few days, and we have our own share in the feelings of the French public, since the number of British travellers in France is nowadays enor- mous. Most of the lines have been relaid since the War, which had left the permanent ways in bad condition. The fault seems not to lie there, but in the unpreparedness of the companies for extra holiday traffic, and in that side of French gaiety and gallantry which shows itself in the incorrigible habit of taking exciting risks. This habit often made the hair of our generals stand on end during the War. It is illustrated on the railways by a system (so we read) under which engine drivers are fined for every minute they lose, and rewarded for every minute by which they improve on scheduled time. To us this sounds like a premium on recklessness, and may have been one reason why the train wrecked at Amiens had been travelling at about eighty miles an hour, and approached the station at nearly sixty miles, where the maximum speed is supposed to be twenty-five miles
an hour.
* * *
Previous page
