INCALCULABLE ACCIDENTS. 667 



in a slanting position, plowing up the gravel, for about a thou- 

 sand feet along the edge of a high embankment. The occupants 

 of that car never forgot the awful sensation, like that of a violent 

 earthquake with its resulting uncertainty of footing. A striking 

 characteristic of this accident was that the engine and forward 

 car were not thrown from the track. Another accident of this 

 kind, equally unexpected, took place under somewhat similar con- 

 ditions, when one of the driving-wheels burst with terrific explo- 

 sive force, a solid piece of the iron crashing through the wood- 

 work of a passenger car, after having shattered the glass of a 

 door. This ponderous missile shot along the aisle between the car 

 seats, unpleasantly near the heads of the passengers. 



The sign on many car doors notifying passengers not to ride 

 on the car platforms calls attention to a danger which is more 

 real than may be at first supposed. Some people who easily 

 lose their balance may be thrown off a train, owing to the 

 sudden jar of the cars at the beginning of a sharp curve, and the 

 same effect may be brought about by the stopping and starting 

 caused by coupling cars. In one such instance a man was 

 thrown from the rear platform as the train made a jerking 

 movement forward. There is also the possibility of a fall due 

 to dizziness or momentary faintness. But probably the most 

 remarkable case recently recorded occurred during a very high 

 wind when a passenger was blown from the platform of a car 

 which was running across the wide, windy expanse between 

 Jersey City and Newark, New Jersey. 



There is marked danger in trying to board a moving train, as 

 shown by repeated accidents ; yet so irresistible is the temptation 

 to do this that it would be difficult to find a man who has not 

 taken the risk. The car steps, as related to the position of an 

 ordinary station platform at the level of the rails, are too high to 

 be easily gained, and the rails over which the wheels of the car are 

 to pass are nearer the edge of the car steps than is generally sup- 

 posed. If, owing to miscalculation, haste, or a stumble, the pas- 

 senger's foot is placed under instead of upon the step, the result 

 may be fatal, because the movement of the body when swinging 

 from the perpendicular railing at the corner of the car is then 

 toward a position beneath the car platform. It is probably safer to 

 jump from a rapidly moving train than to board the same train. 

 The extent of the peril in leaping from a moving car obviously 

 depends upon the amount of skill shown in alighting upon ground 

 that slants away from the track. Of course, the many serious 

 accidents caused in this general way suggest the radical impor- 

 tance of waiting for a train to stop. 



The rules pertaining to the safety of passengers using the 

 great transportation lines seem at times needless. But the move- 



