OF THE BOARD OF RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS, STATE OF KANSAS, FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 1, 1891. COMMISSIONERS: GEO. T. ANTHONY. W. M. MITCHELL. CHAS. S. ELLIOTT, Secretary. TOPEKA. PRESS OF THE HAMILTON PRINTING COMPANY: EDWIN H. SNOW, State Printer. REPORT. To the Honorable LYMAN U. HUMPHREY, Governor of Kansas: SIR -We have the honor to present herewith the Ninth Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of Kansas. As provided by law, this report embodies all the proceedings, opinions and decisions of the Board which have been deemed of general interest, together with the reports of the different railroad companies operating lines within the State, including a detailed exhibit of the business of the year and the financial condition of the roads. All the principal lines of railroad in the State have been maintained in excellent condition, both in respect to road-bed, equipment, and service. The branch lines generally are in as good condition as their business will justify, and with a return of good seasons will no doubt be greatly improved. Less than two miles of road have been constructed in the State during the past year. It is well. ACCIDENT STATISTICS. A summary of the accident statistics reported to this office show the following casualties during the year: Grand total killed and injured, employés, passengers, and others, by railroad accidents.. 2,175 The nature of the accident by which the casualty was occasioned is given, and a few of these cases are here referred to as suggesting the inquiry whether additional precautions are not demanded for the better protection of the lives of employés and the traveling public. For example: In coupling and uncoupling cars, 48 employés were killed and 323 were injured. By falling from trains, 60 employés were killed and 130 injured. By overhead obstructions, 12 were killed and 16 injured. In regard to accidents to persons not in the employ of the roads, the reports show that 46 were killed and 36 injured at highway crossings. The foregoing, and more of the same character that may be discovered from a careful perusal of this volume, presents a fruitful theme for the attention of the statesman and philanthropist. DISRESPECT FOR ORDERS. Attention is respectfully called to failure and refusal of companies to respond to recommendations of the Board relating to added train service and needed improvements in physical condition of track and road-bed, in order to insure a reasonable service to the public in promptness and personal safety. They may be found under titles and on pages of this report, as follows: Citizens Lincoln Center et al. vs. Union Pacific Railway Company, May 27, 1891, page 18. Citizens of Kingman et al. vs. Missouri Pacific Railway Company, October 12, 1891, page 46. Citizens of Lindsborg vs. Union Pacific Railway, December 31, 1891, page 64. Trustees of Topeka and Tecumseh townships, Shawnee county, vs. East Side Circle Railway Company, November 10, 1891, page 51. J. K. Mayberry vs. Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad Company, December 24, 1891, page 51. In connection with the above, attention is respectfully called to the case of the Kansas Central Railway, owned by the Union Pacific Company, which was reported to you, and made a matter of contention in the Supreme Court at the instance of the Attorney General. The rule of law laid down by the Supreme Court in that case applies to all of those above reported to you. It was held that the power of the Commission in respect to repairs of track, extent and kind of train service, were advisory only, and that procedure must be by mandamus and a trial of fact as to the reasonableness of the recommendation of the Commission. The action in that case not having been amended and pursued in the form indicated by the Supreme Court, all seem now to rest upon a common plane, and are submitted without suggestion or recommendation. RELIABILITY OF STATISTICAL REPORTS. In submitting the statistical reports called for by section 6 of the act of March 6, 1883, it is due to say that they are as full and as lucid as the Commission has been able to obtain, but, at the same time, not of a character to form reliable information as to the financial standing and operation of the roads. As words have been defined as the means of concealing their own meaning, so figures in railroad financial records are too often made to conceal their own showing. The problems they are used to work out are so extended and complicated in elements and relations as to make it easy to produce almost any desirable showing; and when explanations have been asked, they have been refused, or answered in a manner more confusing than the unexplained original. Respectfully submitted, GEO. T. ANTHONY, Railroad Commissioners. |