Popular Science Monthly 



755 



An Iron "Flag" for Protecting the 

 Railroad Gar Inspector Against Injury 



EST year a single railroad killed four 

 men and injured nearly four hundred 

 others who were underneath the cars in- 

 specting and making repairs. The blue 

 flag which they had stuck in the ground a 

 short way off to warn locomotive engineers 

 of their dangerous position had fallen down 

 or had perhaps been knocked down by some 

 careless workman. 



In an effort to put an end to such need- 

 less and pitiful slaughter, a railroad 

 equipment company has developed a fool- 

 proof flagging device. A blue "flag" of 

 iron is placed on the track in front of the 

 car to be repaired. The repair inspector 

 locks this to the track and only he can re- 

 move it. Little chance now for an engineer 

 to plead ignorance and to back his train 

 into the other car. 



This iron flag can be planted on the track, 

 winter or summer, in a few seconds. The 

 flag standard is an iron pipe inside which 

 two clamp arms slide. When the 

 arms drop down, they can 

 be placed over the sides of 

 one of the car rails. The 

 inspector then shoves the 

 pipe down. The arms 

 come together and hug 

 the rail securely. The 

 inspector then pad- 

 locks them to the rail. 



Padlocking the blue metal 

 flag to the track to warn 

 engineers against backing 

 their trains into the car 

 that is being repaired 



When the flag standard is 

 shoved down, the arms 

 clamp the rail. When it is 

 locked, only the inspector 

 himself can remove it 



The tree stood in the pathway. Rather 

 than chop it down a path was cut through it 



"Woodman, Spare That Tree," Said 

 the People to the Roadmaker 



WEST of the Rocky Mountains, trees 

 of enormous size are numerous. 

 Many of them are supposed to be 

 hundreds of years old and are con- 

 sequently revered. To cut down 

 a tree which has taken so 

 many years to reach devel- 

 opment seems a crime. 

 Therefore when the West- 

 erners find one of them 

 blocking the path of 

 progress they resort to 

 various expedients to 

 give it the right of way 

 without sacrificing the 

 public needs. 



The accompanying 

 photograph shows a tree 

 which completely blocked 

 the foot-path of a new 

 street in Everett, Washing- 

 ton. The tree was a fir and 

 was in full foliage. Rather 

 than cut it down or compel 

 people to make a detour 

 around it, a pathway was cut 

 directly through it, wide 

 enough for two people to 

 pass abreast. It was finished 

 off at the top in an arch, 

 which enhanced the orna- 

 mental effect. The cutting 

 did not harm the tree. In 

 some of the redwood trees of 

 California paths have been 

 cut wide enough for horses 

 and wagons to pass through. 



