retrTO to t it (EMIL
PREVENTION OF RAILWAY ;ACCIDENTS.
91 Hercules Buildings, iambeth, 4th Octohetr 1850.
Bra—The -cycle of railway accidents has come again—and come with fear- fdl warning this time. Surely some endeavour should be made to avoid suck sad occurrences. An eminent literary-and politioaleharactersome-years ago ;preposed a remedy for architectural blunders will not some-one do the like for railways ? Looking at all the aemidents that have.occurred.of lato, they have all more-or less been the result of carelessness. A Laxity•htf disci- pline creeps in amongst the various employes, i causedre by a long turn of work- ing without an accident. When one occurs, there the spur put-on and for a while will the greatest strictness ,prevail. But, Sir, what iwodd call upon the-various officials to do is, always•to be strict; never towelasin the smallest: degree; as far as possible to see ;personally that-everything &done they order ; visiting with a severe pecuniary fine theleast deviation from orders. The lower class of servants on railways have little conception of their responsibility, and -I -believe there is-no method of awakening-them toit but by some -such measures. The remedy _proposed byescan in sate of the dailypapera, thisweek, is really no remedy at all. If the carriages are light, they goetlittlespead,; and if ours are heavy, they are proportionately strong to resasta eoilimno Eor such .melancholy accidents as occurred. on the Eastern Counties the other day, I will tell you how, when -manager of railway works, Iprevented such results. Where accidents might happen, when works were gOing.on, I invariably was present,-not trusting to a -" ganger" • and I never allowed the men to be on that line'of mile-upon which a trail; was-expected, for ten minutes before.it a-as due at the next station beyond; always at night harm- ing a blue light four 'hundred yards beyond, thus cautioning the -train' .te preeeed-slowly. And if there was mew:wait-1,1ot men-to jump off their wag- sons,.as there -seem to have been in this ease, they. were made to dump -on that. aide where they could net be run over : there is plentry ofroomaordoso even in cuttings. Had these ordinary -precautions beenarlepted .by the manager of -works -or ":gauger," this ,great "loss-of life would have been avoided.
Moping you willexouse-me ler trespassing upon -your-valuable-time, Etc-
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