opinions having the nature of verdicts, upon delicate questions
relating to the train-order system of train movements, while confessing
themselves ignorant of the terms “O. K.” and “complete,” is beyond the
comprehension of railroad men; and public opinion would quickly see the
point and recognize the justice of this criticism, if its attention
should happen to be called to the members of a naval board of inquiry,
for example, whose previous experience had been such that they were
unfamiliar with the terms “port” and “starboard.”
A careful perusal of the foregoing arguments and illustrations should
have the effect of impressing upon the public mind two simple, yet very
significant, conclusions:--
In the first place, it will be evident that the safety problem on
American railroads must be taken in hand and solved by the people. The
present tangled condition of affairs can be straightened out only by
supreme authority.
And our second conclusion is the revelation that the area in American
industrial life covered by these preventable railroad accidents and
the causes that lead up to them is practically, at the present day, a
_terra incognita_. Of course the railroad man who steps out from the
rank and file, and undertakes to give away the plans and topography of
the country for the benefit of those who are interested in improving
conditions, exposes himself to all sorts of cynical criticism in
the minds of his fellows. However, as a matter of fact, your true
philosopher thrives in this kind of atmosphere. He is born of the
battle and the breeze, and spends a lifetime in fortifying the walls of
his “tub,” into which, when hard beset, he retires to enjoy himself.
The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS
U . S . A
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Transcriber’s note:
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original.