 A man was selected by the company for the important duty of head guard to a heavy train who proved to be anything but trustworthy and careful, and who, in not performing that duty with the attention that it required, caused the fracture of a defective coupling, and permitted the greater part of his train to run backwards down a steep gradient, on which it came into violent collision with a following train.Tyler had not restricted his criticism to Cooke.The best insurance against failure of couplings was the selection of intelligent men of known character and steadiness for the execution of responsible duties.