Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 January 1915 — BLAME NOW PUT ON FLAGMAN [ARTICLE]

BLAME NOW PUT ON FLAGMAN

Interstate Commerce Commission Inclined to Hold Him Responsible for Railroad Wrecks. No more is the engineer of the fast flier the “goat” of big railroad wrecks. The interstate commerce commission’s annual report gave him a nearly clean bill of health. Where he used to bear the blame, a new victim 4ias been raised —the flagman, ignorant of the company’s rules. The commission pointed out that there has been a “considerable decrease in the number of collisions due to the failure of the enginemen to obey the indications of the block signal.” At the same time it held that it is unreasonable to expect freedom from wrecks when railroads employ flagmen of little experience without any examination as to their knowledge of rules. Strong recommendation was made for universal use of a system of automatic train control in conjunction with other safety devices. During the year the commission investigated 63 train wrecks which caused death to 169 persons and injuries to 2,134. Improper flagging was given as the prime cause of wrecks. Inherent weakness of the train order system was responsible in several cases, and the commission advised use of extra checks to safeguard against danger of forgotten instructions. Inspection and supervision of work of train service employees is Improving, the report stated, but there is still need for standardization of operating cules.