John Hessin Clarke

“ It is for such emergencies that these safety appliances are provided,-for service in those instant decisions upon which the safety of life of limb of a man so often depends in this perilous employment,-and therefore this law requires that ultimately the location of these ladders and handholds shall be absolutely fixed, so that the employee will know certainly that night or day he will find them in like place and of like size and usefulness on all cars, from whatever line of railway or section of the country they may come. ”

“ The plaintiff, a switchman in the employ of the defendants, was in the act of mounting, by means of a ladder, to the top of a box car to set the brake, when the hand-hold or grab iron placed at the top of the ladder, and intended to be fastened securely to the roof of the car, gave way, causing him to fall to the ground and sustain injuries, for which he instituted suit in a circuit court of Mississippi, and recovered a judgment, which was affirmed by the supreme court of the state. ”

“ To this primary purpose of protecting the life and limb of employees is added the purpose of protecting the lives of passengers and of securing the safety of property by requiring uniform standards as to other equipment of cars, such as coupling appliances, brakes, and the like. ”