IOO  3 Passengers: a . While ascending or descending steps at stations b . By being struck by barrows, by falling over packages, &c., on station platforms . .

Total of servants 432 24,181 509 21,514 Other Persons: 7 In train accidents o 7 5 II 8 . At level crossings 51 44 50 30 9 . Trespassing on line 291 99 278 115 so . Suicides (including unsuccessful attempts) 188 19 169 ' 18 1908 . 1907 . Killed. jured . Killed. jnied . 3 370 5 339 I22 1908 . 1907 .

Killed. jured . Killed. jured . c . From falling off platforms upon the

ballast . . I 1 05 . . 110 d . By other accidents I 246 .. 265 Total of passengers 5 863 5 - 836servants employed, that the figures showing the percentages vary from year to year considerably; but in other classes of accidents, in which a large proportion of the cases may be classed as unpreventable, the percentages do not vary greatly . The following are the more significant ratios in the year 1907, as shown in the Board of Trade returns: Servants: I . While loading, unloading or sheet- ing wagons, trucks and horse- 8 4,018 5 boxes . 2 . While moving goods and luggage 2 1,992 2 in stations or sheds .

. 3 . While working at

cranes or capstans 3 411 8 4 . By the falling of wagon-doors, I 583 lamps, bales of goods, &c . . 5 . While attending to engines at rest 4 2,479 4 6 . From falling off, or when getting 3 I ,504 2 on or off, engines or vehicles at rest 7 . From falling off, or when getting I 483 2 on or off, platforms 8 . From falling off ladders, scaffolds, II 449 II &C . 9 . By stumbling while walking on 2 1,o68 1 the line . To . By being trampled on or kicked I 94 by horses while engaged in rail- way work .

. . 11 . From being struck by articles 7 thrown from passing trains . 12 . From the falling of rails, sleepers, 686 I &c., when at work on the line . 13 . Otherwise injured when at work on 5 2,182 5 the line or in sidings . 14 .

Miscellaneous 9 3,o85 14 Total of servants . 5o 19,041 55 (a) Passengers killed in train accidents, approxi- mately . i in 83,000,000 (1908, o in 1,500,000,000.) (b) Passengers injured in train accidents, ap- proximately . I in 3,000,000 (1908, approximately i in 6,000,000.) (c) Servants killed in train accidents: Number of servants killed per Io,000,000 train miles . 0.329 Engine drivers, ratio killed to number employed .

1 in 5,628 Firemen, ratio killed to number employed . 1 in 12,857 Passenger

guards, ratio killed to number employed . I in 4,237 Goods guards and brakemen, ratio killed to number employed . i in 8,438 Servants killed in work about trains, &c . (ex- cluding train accidents), ratio killed to number employed . I in 790 Goods guards and brakeme• n, ratio killed to number employed i in 409 Shunters, ratio killed to number employed I in 337 Engine drivers, ratio killed to number employed . 1 in 1,126 Passenger guards, ratio killed to number employed . • . 1 in 1,059 Railway Accidents in America.—The statistics of accidents in America are kept in a form somewhat different from the fore-going . Table XIV. is taken from the Accident Bulletin of the Interstate Commerce Commission (No . 32), the items being numbered to correspond as nearly as practicable with the numbers in the British table (No . X.) . The items 7–8 embrace the statistics which most nearly correspond to the items 7–12 in the British table .

Year ending

June 30 . 1909 . 1908 . Killed . Injured . Killed . Injured . Passengers: I . In train accidents . 131 5,865 165 7,430 2, 3 . Other causes 204 6,251 241 5,215 Total of passengers . 335 12,116 406 12,645 Servants: 4 .

In train accidents 520 4,877 642 6,818 5, 6 . Other causes . 1,936 46,927 2,716 49,526 Total of servants . 2,456 51,804 3,358 56,344 Year ending June 30, 1907 . Trespassing . Not Trespassing . Total . Other Persons:— Killed . Injured . Killed . Injured . Killed .

Injured . 7 . In train accidents 97 171 52 I202 149 1373 8 . Struck by trains at

highway cross- ings . 237 274 696 1523 933 1797 Do. at stations 421 423 89 259 510 682 Do. at other places 3732 2063 113 200 3845 2263 Other causes .. 1125 2581 94 I287 1219 3868 Total of " other 5612 5512 1044 4471 6656 9983 persons " The salient feature of Table XIV. is the diminution from 1908 to 1909 . This is mainly due to a great falling off in traffic, because of a general business depression ; from 1907 to 1909 the reduction in the accident record is still greater . In items I and 4 the increase in safety is due in part, no doubt, to the extension of the use of the block system . The accidents to " other persons " cannot readily be compared with items 7–12 in the British record, except as to the totals and a few of the items . In any comparison between British and American records the first point to be borne in mind is the difference in mileage and traffic . The American railways aggregate approximately ten times the length of the British lines; but in train miles the difference is far less . In the latest years in which comparisons can be made, the passenger journeys in the United Kingdom amounted to 1500 millions (including season-ticket holders, estimated) and the train miles to 428.3 millions, while the corresponding figures in the United States were 873.9 millions and 1171.9 millions .

The

average length 2,899 975 304 390 2,363 1,495 404 400 1,049 71 6 611 1,981 2,753 15,701 43 48 78 70 180 216 7 22 20 17 15 25 30 7 94 1o6 407 483 368 364 195 170 3 4 7 13 61 86 125 172 2 8 165 16o 2,346 2,440 3 287 289 24 40 18 28 30 22 I (A) Accidents to trains:— United United Kingdom . Kingdom . 8 . Goods trains or parts of goods trains, light-engines, &c., leaving the rails 9 . Trains running through gates at level- crossings or into other obstacles . to . Fires in trains . . I1 . Miscellaneous (B) Accidents to or failure of rolling stock and permanent-way : 12 . Bursting of boilers or tubes, &c., of engines 13 . Failure of machinery, springs, &c., of engines . . 14 .

Failure of tires . 15 . wheels . 16 . „ axles . . 17 . „ couplings . . 18 . „

ropes used in working inclines 19 . „ tunnels, bridges, viaducts, cul- verts, &c . . 20 . Broken rails .

21 . Flooding of portions of permanent-way 22 . Slips in cuttings or embankments . Collisions between passenger trains or I. parts of passenger trains . . 2 . Collisions between passenger trains and goods or

mineral trains or light-engines 3 . Collisions between goods trains or parts of goods trains and light-engines 4 . Collisions between trains and vehicles standing foul of the line . 5 . Collisions between trains and buffer-stops or vehicles standing against buffer- sto s: () From trains running into stations 6 . Trains coming in contact with projections from other trains or vehicles on parallel lines 7 . Passenger trains or parts of passenger trains leaving the rails or sidings at too high a speed .

(b) From other causes 23 . Fires at stations or involving injury to bridges or viaducts 24 . Miscellaneous Percentages.—On British railways the casualties from train accidents, especially fatal injuries, have been reduced to so small a

pro-portion of the number of passengers travelling, or the number of (d) of the passenger's journey in the United States is reported to be about 32 M.; in Great Britain it is undoubtedly less, but no record is published . Of the total train mileage in America more than half is freight; in Great Britain much more than half is passenger .