WHO AM I?
I am more powerful than the combined armies of the world.
I have destroyed more men than all the wars of the nations.
I am more deadly than bullets and I have wrecked more homes than the mightiest of siege guns.
I steal in the United States alone over $300,000,000 each year.
I massacre thousands upon thousands of wage-earners a year.
I lurk in unseen places and do most of my work silently.
You are warned against me, but you do not always heed.
I am relentless.
I am everywhere—in the house, on the streets, in the factory, at the railroad crossings, and on the sea.
I bring sickness, degradation and death, yet few people seek to avoid me.
I destroy, crush, or maim; I give nothing, but take all.
I am your worst enemy.
I spare no one, and I find my victims among the rich and poor alike, the young and old, the strong and weak. Widows and orphans know me.
I cast my shadow over every field of activity, from the turning of the grindstone to the moving of a railroad train, from the rocking of a boat to the spinning of a top.
Do you know who I am?
Are you anxious to be a friend of mine?
You will have tothink hardnot to help me, for I am CARELESSNESS.
It is only Thoughtfulness or Safety First that keeps me from doing more.
I started the great fire that swept away the greater part of the city of Chicago. You see Thoughtfulness or Safety First wasn’t working, so I let the woman who was milking a cow set a lantern too near the cow’s heels.
If Thoughtfulness or Safety First had been on board theTitanic, the Captain would have listened when the wireless warned him of icebergs ahead.
I was there! You remember what happened.
I help in every accident. If Thoughtfulness or Safety First were “on the job,” almost every accident would be avoided. I don’t like SAFETY FIRST. Do you? I wonder why?
—Selected.
SAFETY FIRST
Safety First is a policeman guarding our bodies from accidents.
Do you know that the word accident grew out of Latin words which meanto fall? When anything happens suddenly and unexpectedly, we say it happened accidentally or fell upon us.
Safety First means preventing accidents. Almost all accidents happen from the carelessness of somebody. Safety First means Thoughtfulness.
Safety First is your friend.
Soldiers and Sailors are Safety-First Men because they guard the safety of our countrySoldiers and Sailors are Safety-First Menbecause they guard the safety of our country.