26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Committee on interstate and Foreign ( (nnmerce, anil unieied to lie 

 f.riuted : 



A bill to promote tlie safety of passengers and other persons upon rail- 

 roads by compellinK carriers engajred in interstate commeree and in 



carrying United States mails to properly locate in trains cars constructed 



of wood. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Kepresentatives of the United 

 States of America in Congress assembled : That from and after the first 

 day of January, nineteen hundred and twelve, it shall be unlawful for 

 any common carrier engaged in interstate commerce or in carrying United 

 States mail to locate or run in any train between adjoining steel ears, 

 or between the engine and steel car adjoining, any wooden mail car, any 

 wooden express car used in interstate tratlic, or any wooden car used 

 for the interstate transportation of passengers. 



Sec. 2. That any such common carrier \inlating tlie provisions of this 

 att shall be liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars for each and every 

 sucli violation, to be recovered in a suit or suits to be brought by the 

 I'nilcd States district attorney in the district court of the United States 

 having jurisdiction in the locality where such violation shall have been 

 committed : and it shall be the dut.v of such district attorney to bring 

 such suits upon duly verified information of such violation being lodged 

 with him : and it shall be the duty of the Interstate Commeree Com- 

 mission to lodge with the proper district attorneys information of any 

 snch violations as may come to its knowledge. 



H. E. 13038 



On July 28, 1911, in the House of Representatives, Congressmai; 

 Taieott of New York, inti educed the following bill which was referred 

 to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce and ordered to 

 be printed : 

 A bill to promote the safety of passengers and others upon railroads by 



compelling common carriers engaged in interstate commerce to use cars 



constructed of steel, and for other purposes. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and Honse of Representatives of the United 

 States of America in Congress assembled: That from and after the first 

 day of .lanuary, nineteen hundred and sixteen, it shall be unlawful for 

 any common carrier engaged in carrying United States mails to use on its 

 lines any mail car not constructed of steel, and that from and after the 

 fii-st day of January, nineteen hundred and eighteen, it shall be unlawful 

 for any common carrier engaged in interstate commerce to use on its 

 lines in interstate tratfic or in interstate transportation of passengers 

 any e.xpress car, baggage car, or passenger car not constructed of steel. 



Sec. 2. That from and after January first, nineteen hundred and twelve, 

 it shall be unlawful for any common carrier engaged in carrying United 

 States mail, to locate or run in any train between adjoining steel cars 

 or between the engine .'tnd an adjoining steel car, any mail car not con- 

 structed of steel : and from and aftei- the said first day of Januar.v. nine- 

 r.en hundred and twelve, it shall be unlawful for any common carrier 

 engaged in interstate commerce to locate or ruti in an.v train on its line 

 in interstate traffic or in interstate transportation of passengers between 

 adjoining steel cars, or between the etigine and an adjoining steel car, 

 any express car, baggage car. or passenger car not constructed of steel. 



Sec. 3. That from and after January first, nineteen hundred and thir- 

 teen, any common carrier engaged in carrying United States mail is pro- 

 hibited from bringing into use on its line any new mail car not con- 

 structed of steel; and that from and after January first, nineteen hun- 

 dred :iiid thirteen, any (oramon carrier engaged in interstate commerce is 

 prohibited from bringing into use on its line in interstati' tratfic or inter- 

 state transportation of passengers an.v new or additional express cars, 

 baggage cars or passenger cars unless constructed of steel in accordance 

 with plans approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission. 



Sec. 4. That any sueli common carrier using on its lines any mail car. 

 express car. baggage car or passenger car in violation of any of the pro- 

 visions of this act shall be liable to a penalty of one thousand dollars 

 for each and every such vIoI,*itlon, to be recovered in a suit or suits to 

 be brought by the United Slates district attorney in the district court 

 of the United States having jurisdiction in flie locality where such viola- 

 tions shall have been committed : and it shall be the duty of such district 

 attorney to bring such suits upon duly verified information of such viola- 

 tion being lodged with him : and it shall t)e the duty of the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission to lodge with the proper district attorne.vs information 

 of any such violations as may come to its knowledge. Kvery distinct 

 violation shall be a separate offense, and in ease of a continuing violation 

 each day shall be deemed a sep:irate olTense. 



Sec. 5. That the Interstate Commerce Commission may from time to 

 time, upon full hearing anil for good cause, extend the period within 

 which an.v common carrier shall comply with the provisions of section 

 one of this act. and the Iiilerslatc Commerce Commission may from time 

 to time, after such Investigation as may be necessary, permit any such 

 coranlon carrier to use particular mall cars, express cars, baggage cars 

 or passenger cars, the tise of wlilr-h shall be deemed by the commission 

 to lie reasonable and proper. 



FAVOR IN WHICH STEEL CAEF AltE HELD BY INTER 

 STATE COMMERCE COMMISSION 

 -V resolution was passed in the J^enatc on .liine "J."), liilii, calling 

 upon the Interstate Commeree Commission for infortnation relative 



to the cost ot building aiul iiuvintaiuLng rtiihvay postotiice cars. The 

 commission made a report in which the following statement occurs: 



We regard the steel car for use in passenger trains as having passed 

 the experimental stage, as is evidenced by the rapidly increasing use of 

 that type in newly const met ed sleeping cars, coaches and dining cars. 

 There can be no doubt that ;i steel mail car will afford much more pro- 

 tection to tlie safety of the employes in the car. as well as to the mail 

 matter. The cost of the steel car is but little more than that of a wooden 

 ear. The cost of maintenance of the steel car cannot be accurately stated 

 at this time, but there is no reason to assume that it will be much greater 

 than of a woodi'n car. In any event the extra cost of construction and 

 maintenance cannot equal the advantages arising from the added safety 

 which the steel car affords. We think that hereafter steel mail cars 

 should be constructed in the jilace of other types made partly or largely 

 of wood. 



As a result of this report, and the action of the postoflice depart- 

 ment, bills calculated to eliminate wooden cars for railway postoiKce 

 purposes were introduced in the last session of Congress, as recited 

 in the early part of this article, and are now pending. This report 

 makes it certain, in the light of the evidence at hand at the time, 

 that the interstate Commerce Commissiou was very favorably jire.iu- 

 diced in favor of all-steel ears. 



THE NATIONAL RAILWAY COMMISSION'S ATTITUDE 



More recently the Xational 3-vailway Commission, composed of 

 members of the various state commissions, and the Interstate Com- 

 merce commissioners, in reporting on pending legislation, and refer- 

 ring specifically to the proposed measure that no railroad be per- 

 mitted to use -for interstate transportation of passengers any car not 

 constructed of steel, upon the plan approved by the Intersttite Com- 

 merce Commission, notes: 



The conmiission has cotisidered this latter bill and has approved of its 

 general purpose as a reasonable provision for greater safety. The follow- 

 ing modifications have been suggested by the commission : 



1. That its provisions should include all mail, baggage and express 

 cars. 



2. That the liiuil of lime within which carriers should be permitted 

 to bring into use new equipment not in conformity with the provision of 

 the bill should be approximately one year from the date of the passage 

 of the act. 



S. That the period within which all carriers should be required to 

 bring into conformity with the act all their equipment ought to be not 

 less than ten years from the date of the passage of the act. 



4. That the commission should be given authority to permit the fur- 

 ther use of cars which were then deemed to be reasonably safe. 



In view of its importance, jour committee believes that this associa- 

 tion should go on record in favor of legislation of this general character, 

 and should recommend similar legislation covering intrastate carriers in 

 the several states. 



There is no law in effect at the present time permitting federal 

 or state commissions to issue orders compelling railroads to employ 

 steel equipment, but the transcripts show the trend of sentiment of 

 the Interstate Commerce Commission, the state railway commissions 

 and the National Railway Connnission. It is certainly high tiim> that 

 complete and indisputable evidence reganling the relative merits of 

 all-steel and of wooden cars built on an underframe of steel should 

 be presented to both national and state legislative bodies; and fur- 

 thermore, that the same information should be placed in the hands of 

 the railroad authorities and the traveling |iulilic. .\s matters now 

 stand there is every evidence to believe that it tremendous and un- 

 necessary expense is about to be imposed upon the railroads for the 

 |)urchase of all-steel cars that have absolutely no merit of additional 

 safety over wooden ears, and have many disadvantages, that have 

 been fully recited in this series of articles. It is iiractically iip)iarent 

 that the steel inlerests are baek of this nuiveiTieiit of t'oreing steel 

 car equipment on the railroads and the )iublie. 



RAILWAY JOURNALS AND DAILY PRESS COMMENTS 

 I'.elow is suliiiiillcd an excerpt from an editorial in the S ■iileinbcr 

 issue of the Railway Master Mechanic. It will be noteil that the 

 ticeount of the Fort Wityne wreck tallies very illy with the facts as 

 were carefully recited in IIakdwood Rkcoup of September 2."i. The 

 analysis is faulty, and the deductions incorrect. The lives of the 

 passengers on this train were saved by reason of the fact tli:il at the 

 time of the wreck the greater number were at dinner in a wooden 

 ilining car located between two steel cars. This ear escaped essential 

 in.jury while the steel etirs, l.oili in front and rear of the wooden car, 

 were folallv wre:'kod: 



