668 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



merits of people who are distracted by trouble, who are absent- 

 minded, excited, mentally disordered, almost crazed by an amaz- 

 ing success as well as by an equally amazing failure, may be 

 characterized by incalculably erratic action, even if the action be 

 decidedly exceptional. Such people may have little more than 

 the power of ordinary locomotion. In many instances, owing to 

 the unprecedented nature of the occurrence, the individual at his 

 best can not cope with the conditions. Some accidents may take 

 place only once in a lifetime, and the person threatened is neces- 

 sarily unable to instantly decide upon the wisest course. 



Accidents may be dealt with coolly by the professional man, 

 or the coroner who attends like cases. The growing complications 

 of modern life are such that the highest form of natural shrewd- 

 ness is almost inoperative under these rare circumstances when 

 compared with experienced intelligence. 



The modern railroad train, with its tremendous momentum, 

 calls for a greater number of mechanical engineers of superior 

 ability whose ingenious constructive power shall further lessen 

 not only the danger but the amount of destruction caused by rail- 

 road accidents. Prevision of the effects of an accident may in- 

 volve the elaborate calculations necessary to the solution of an 

 intricate mathematical problem. In fact, the contingent or pos- 

 sible results in a given instance suggest the importance of long 

 and careful training. Undoubtedly, with the lapse of time, and 

 with wider experience, the imperfections in railroad construction 

 and material will steadily decrease. 



The accidents from contact with electric-light wires that carry 

 a deadly current are well known, but the complex nature of these 

 accidents demands special attention. Sometimes the attempt to 

 close an iron door or an iron window shutter is at once followed 

 by a severe electric shock, if not by serious injury. The men who 

 repair ordinary telegraph wires have learned to be cautious be- 

 cause of the possible presence of a deadly current. An operative 

 who was accustomed to the work of readjusting dangerous wires 

 was killed because, unknown to him, an apparently disused, rusty 

 wire was charged with intense electric force, as evinced by the 

 fact that a metal cornice, wet with rain, carried the current from 

 the wire through his body. A somewhat similar accident oc- 

 curred to a skilled electrician who was connecting one wire with 

 another on a switchboard. He lost his balance while on a step- 

 ladder, and, as he put out his hand to save himself, he by chance 

 touched another wire, and this completed a circuit that killed him 

 instantly. Still another phase of this kind of accidental death 

 from electricity was seen in New York city when an Italian, who 

 was cleaning a window, completed a circuit from his hand through 

 his body, the current penetrating the sole of his shoe which rested 



