| Show THE chicago and eastern illinois testing miller signal system CAUSE OF ACCIDENTS moat ot them doe to Sen roal say dr alexander scott ot several cae on ienn vanla datch by the lebleu valley road the chicago and eastern illinois la equipping its double track between chicago and momence Mo mence ills a distance of 33 miles with a new safety signal system says the st louis republic this will be the first test ever made 0 this device on a full division of road and it will be carefully watched by railroad men from all parts of tho country the miller signal 19 an electrical device invented by U V miller superintendent of telegraph at the alton railroad and does away with semaphores ap hores their complicated machinery and expensive maintenance the miller system Is placed in the engine cab when the track Is clear a white light bums constantly when it Is obstructed a red light burns the track Is divided into insulated blocks the length varying according to the conditions it the road Is crooked the blocks are not to exceed half a mile long it the track Is may be longer any obstruction in any block whether it be a train an open switch or a car blown off the siding Is at once detected by the engineer the signal Is operated by a small storage battery under the cab seat in the engine and by batteries placed in boxes below the frost line along the track it Is claimed that neither frost fog snow rain nor any of the things which eo seriously interfere with the working of other signals can have any effect on the miller signal the engineer has the lights in front of him and as long as his s burning he knows that the track ahead of him Is clear for at least two blocks it la also claimed that by the use of this device trains can be run on closer schedule with less danger than by any other method now in use the block systems now in us cost about 1000 a mile while the mil signal costs about half that sum the cost of maintenance of the miller signal Is quite small at the recent annual meeting of the british medical association in london dr alexander scott of glasgow made the alarming assertion that most railway nix scents were due to neurosis of railway men caused by the nerve ten elon of their duties to prove this ho cited many cases which had come under bis own observation A man who had been promoted feord fireman to engineer soon complained of dyspepsia the usual remedies taw cd and he sent the man to a physician the latter also failed cure the man then the engineer went through a whole course of quack alne without any success it was eniy after a big smash up on the railway as a result of which the man was dismissed that he finally got welt lie had simply been suffering from nervous tension another man who had been working on a farm became a railway servall and afterward a signalman the nervous tension was so great that it brought on headache weariness and insomnia Us ultimately recovered and Is now an excellent workman but not a signalman another case cited was that of a signalman who was found on the floor in convulsions when he was able to speak he said he never entered the signal box without feeling that be was on the brink of a precipice and that aonie day would occur another man who was put in the signal box after doing general railway work developed an acute mania in the form of an affection of the nervous cells dr scott referred to tho slough accident in this case the de dared that he did not know how he had run past the danger signal the jury found that the engineer had been for a moment with aberration of the mind yet this bame man had conveyed over passengers without a single mistake the valley railroad struck a blow at the perpetuation of the pennsylvania german language when an order was issued to the shifting engine crews that all conversation social and business while on duty must be in the english language says the philadelphia ledger the order says that under no circumstances shall penn german be spoken station agent pratz saya the real reason for i issuing the order Is that some time ago i a conductor gave directions to the crew of his train in pennsylvania gori man and a serious collision nearly re suited because a brakeman who did not understand the language perfectly had a string of cars shifted on the wrong track railroad officials say that as the book of rules la printed in english that language should be used by crews for the benefit of to the swiss government has sanctioned the con of a new railway from mon treux to the which will be finally extended to |
