ent terms in this as in other departments of the railway service. The supervisor of signals, as the term indicates, has general supervision of the signal system for the protection of trains on that part of the permanent way assigned to him. The signal inspector's work is to regularly inspect the signals and to see that they are kept in good working condition. Signal repairers are more or less skilled men and it is their duty to make the necessary repairs to the apparatus along the line, and this work involves more or less exposure to moving trains. The men who actually control the signals are often stationed in towers and are then termed tower-men. They may, however, be stationed in what are called switch or signal stations on stretches of track where it is not necessary to have a general view of the road. Towers are used at junction points, at terminal points, and in yards where a commanding view of the track or tracks is essential. The switch or signal stations are employed where there are not more than three or four tracks and the necessary view can be secured from a lower elevation than a tower. The duties of signalmen and towermen, however, are practically the same.

Lamp men are required to keep the signal or switch lights in excellent condition, and to see that they are kept properly filled and clean.

In the following tables all employees operating, repairing, etc., signals have been grouped, because otherwise the numbers would be too small to warrant the tabulation of the statistics. The next table shows that during the twenty-year period, 1888 to 1907, this group of employees suffered a total of 54 accidents, of which 13, or 24.1 per cent, were fatal and 41, or 75.9 per cent, were nonfatal.

CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS TO SIGNALMEN, ETC., FATALLY AND

INJURED IN NEW JERSEY, 1888 TO 1907.

NONFATALLY

[Data compiled from the annual reports of the railroads of New Jersey to the state comptroller.]

NATURE AND EXTENT OF NONFATAL INJURIES TO SIGNALMEN, ETC., INJURED IN ACCIDENTS IN NEW JERSEY, 1888 TO 1907.

[Data compiled from the annual reports of the railroads of New Jersey to the state comptroller.]

SUMMARY OF THE NONFATAL INJURIES TO SIGNALMEN, ETC., BY NATURE OF THE

These returns indicate that a considerable proportion of the injuries sustained by signalmen were due to train accidents. Of the 13 fatal accidents to this group of railroad employees, 10, or 76.9 per cent, were the result of the victims being struck by trains, locomotives, or cars. Of the other 3 fatal accidents, 1 was due to a fall from a train, 1 to a fall from a signal pole, and 1 to a fall not specified.

As regards the nature and extent of the injuries received, 7, or 17.1 per cent of the total of nonfatal injuries, represented fractures. It is of interest also to note that the fractures among this group were serious, 1 being of the jaw, 1 of an arm, 1 of two or more ribs, 2 of a leg, and 1 of an arm and two or more ribs. Of the nonfatal injuries representing losses of parts, 1 was of a leg and 1 was of a foot. These facts are sufficient to indicate that the nonfatal injuries to this class of railroad employees often represent serious, if not permanent, disability.

In concluding the review of the accidents to men employed in the maintenance-of-way department of the railway service in New Jersey, it may be said that the tables and other facts set forth in the preceding descriptive and statistical statements clearly prove that men engaged in almost any employment in this branch of railroad work are exposed to more than average liability to fatal and nonfatal injuries. It is also important to note that the various safety devices which are adapted to the possible saving of life among trainmen are not likely to result in any material reduction in the number of accidents to men employed in the maintenance-of-way service. The increased speed of trains probably has made the work of the section hand more dangerous, and what applies to the section hand applies equally to other men at work in positions where they are exposed to the hazards incident to moving trains, locomotives, or cars. As a matter of fact some of the trains move so fast at the present time that men working alongside the track are not infrequently injured by objects sent flying by the passing trains. Sometimes the force of the wind or air currents generated by the train is sufficient to pick up pieces of ballast or wood and hurl them with such violence that men are injured. If a steam hose or any similar part of the train by chance gets loose and drags, the ballast is thrown in such manner that men working on or along the track are seriously injured. This statement is made to illustrate how in two of many ways the increased speed of trains tends to increase the danger of injury to men working on or along the track. Of course, the danger of being struck by trains, especially in foggy weather or at night, is proportionately increased with the speed of the trains. On the other hand, it is generally considered safer for men to work on or along a multiple track than a single track, for the reason that in the one case they have, as a rule, to watch for trains coming from only one direction, while in the other case the approaching trains may come from either direction.

The facts set forth are sufficient to demonstrate that in any consideration of accidents to men employed on the permanent way of railroads it is essential that the different employments, which often involve very different exposure, should be clearly differentiated; otherwise the statistics are likely to be either of no value, or, what is perhaps worse, entirely misleading.

ACCIDENTS TO FLOATING EQUIPMENT EMPLOYEES. Railroads which connect with ports usually possess more or less floating equipment, so that the movement of passengers and freight across rivers, bays, or harbors may be effected with the greatest possible economy and dispatch. Sometimes one Sometimes one railroad uses another road's floating equipment, in part at least, when both use

the same terminal site. In a State like New Jersey the railroads, taken together, have a comparatively large amount of floating equipment, and the employees are carried on the pay rolls of the various roads owning the equipment.

In 1907 the number of men reported by the railroads with interstate business in Group II (") as having been employed in connection with floating equipment was 5,537, and it is safe to say that the proportion of such employees to the total was greater for New Jersey than for any other one State in the group.

Ferryboats, barges, and floats make up the larger part of the floating equipment of railroads, and New Jersey lying next to New York City and having the terminal sites of several of the trunk railroadsPennsylvania, Philadelphia and Reading, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, Erie (including the New York, Susquehanna and Western), Lehigh Valley, and the West Shore division of the New York Central-this equipment is necessarily quite extensive to facilitate the handling of the heavy passenger and freight traffic in its movement to and from the metropolis or other points east of New Jersey. Possibly this equipment will eventually be considerably reduced, particularly that required for passenger service, on account of the tunnels which already serve an important purpose as a partial substitute for the ferry in the handling of passenger traffic. It is very doubtful, however, if this change in the method of transporting persons and goods across waterways will result in a saving of life among employees engaged in the work. Already several employees occupied in the handling of tunnel and subway trains and in the repair of tunnel and subway tracks in New York and vicinity have been killed, and several have been more or less seriously injured.

Men employed on shipping are not, properly speaking, railroad employees, but since they are carried on the pay rolls of the railroads those injured in the floating equipment service are reported, in part at least, by the railroads in their returns of accidents to the state comptroller of New Jersey. As only 32 floating equipment employees under specific titles were reported by the railroads as having been injured in New Jersey during the period 1888 to 1907, it is doubtful whether the returns of the injuries to this class of employees have thus far been made with even approximate completeness. Injuries to New Jersey railroad employees on the shipping in New York Harbor and on the North River may be considered by the railroads as not having occurred in New Jersey, although the accidents may have occurred while the vessels were plying on the waters within the State's territorial jurisdiction. Some of the inju

a Comprising the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. Statistics of Railways, Interstate Commerce Commission 1907, page 57.

ries to employees of this class were also probably reported simply as "employees" without other qualification, making classification by specified employments impossible. But with full allowance for these omissions there certainly would have been a showing of more than 32 injuries in New Jersey to specified employees in the floating equipment service of the railroads of the State if the accidents had been fully returned. The employees on account of floating equipment of railroads in Group II averaged 4,209 per year during the last ten years, and if one-third were credited to New Jersey it can readily be seen that the accidents to this class of employees have not been completely reported, because the injury rate per 1,000 would otherwise be lower than in any occupation or industry for which accident statistics are available. Unfortunately the Interstate Commerce Commission's annual reports, Statistics of Railways, throw no light on the accident liability of this class of employees, for no attempt is made to collect the statistics. (a)

There are other persons employed on account of floating equipment besides those actually in service on board the shipping; men employed, for example, in the loading and unloading of barges, tugs, etc., and men employed on docks, piers, etc., in work on account of floating equipment. But, making due allowance for all the injuries to these men reported as employees not specified and under other titles, the following table would appear to represent only a fragment of the probable actual number of injuries that have occurred to floating equipment employees of the railroads of New Jersey during the two decades, 1888 to 1907:

FLOATING EQUIPMENT EMPLOYEES INJURED FATALLY AND NONFATALLY IN ACCIDENTS IN NEW JERSEY, 1888 TO 1907.

[Data compiled from the annual reports of the railroads of New Jersey to the state comptroller.]

a" Accidents to employees on boats, in shops, or on wharves or other places remote from the railroad, should not be reported."-Interstate Commerce Commission. Instructions to be followed in filling up blanks. Form of 1905.

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