Speed Limit is the Cause of Accident - 1904

KOESTER, CLEARY

Posted By: Cheryl Locher Moonen (email)
Date: 1/28/2016 at 10:06:40

Dubuque Telegraph Herald, July 21, 1904

SPEED LIMIT IS
THE CAUSE OF
ACCIDENT
~
THE SIX MILES AN HOUR
ORDINANCE IS THE CAUSE
OF MUCH ANNOYANCE TO
TRAINMEN
~
“The slowness with which our trains are compelled to pass through the city,” said Mr. Cleary, of the Great Western freight office, “is responsible for a large number of the accidents which occur to boys on the railroad tracks. Since the six-miles-an-hour ordinance was passed, our trouble with boys who persist in ‘catching rides’ has increased. Six miles an hour is little more than a walk, and it is an easy thing for a lad to jump aboard. The Koester accident probably would not have occurred if the train had been going at a greater speed”.

“The boys of Dubuque are a real trouble to us. Sometime ago a party of smart ones on a flat car, cut a train in two on Rhomberg Avenue, and when we reached the fairgrounds our caboose was missing. We had to lose valuable time going back. The 1:55 passenger usually carries a number of boys to the fair grounds. The train men don’t dare throw them off when the cars are moving, and time is too valuable to stop for them. Their lawlessness is a source of much annoyance to our men, and salutary steps ought to be taken to prevent it.”