(b) It shall be capable of supporting in fresh water for twenty-four hours at least thirty-one pounds avoirdupois of iron. Life buoys filled with rushes, cork shavings, or granulated cork, or any other loose granulated material, or whose buoyancy depends upon air compartments which require to be inflated, are prohibited. Third. The minimum number of life buoys with which vessels are to be provided is fixed as follows: Length of the vessel under four hundred feet, minimum number of buoys, twelve; length of the vessel, four hundred and under six hundred feet, minimum number of buoys, eighteen; length of the vessel, six hundred and under eight hundred feet, minimum number of buoys, twenty-four; length of the vessel, eight hundred feet and over, minimum number of buoys, thirty. Fourth. All the buoys shall be fitted with beckets securely seized. At least one buoy on each side shall be fitted with a life line of at least fifteen fathoms in length. The number of luminous buoys shall not be less than one-half of the total number of life buoys, and in no case less than six. The lights shall be efficient self-igniting lights which can not be extinguished in water, and they shall be kept near the buoys to which they belong, with the necessary means of attachment. Fifth. All the life buoys and life jackets shall be so placed as to be readily accessible to the persons on board; their position shall be plainly indicated so as to be known to the persons concerned. The life buoys shall always be capable of being rapidly cast loose, and shall not be permanently secured in any way. The owner of any vessel who neglects or refuses to provide and equip his vessel with such lifeboats, floats, rafts, life preservers, line-carrying projectiles, and the means of propelling them, drags, pumps, or other appliances, as are required under the provisions of this section, or under the regulations of the Board of Supervising Inspectors, approved by the Secretary of Commerce, authorized by and made pursuant hereto, shall be fined not less than $500, nor more than $5,000, and every master of a vessel who shall fail to comply with the requirements of this section, and the regulations of the Board of Supervising Inspectors, approved by the Secretary of Commerce, authorized by and made pursuant hereto, shall upon conviction be fined not less than $50, nor more than $500. 142. Stairways and deck room. Every such steam-vessel carrying passengers on the R. S., 4484. main-deck shall be provided with permanent stairways and other sufficient means, convenient to the passengers, for their escape to their upper deck, in case of the vessel sinking or of other accident endangering life; and in the stowage of freight upon such deck, where passengers are R. S., 4485. R. S., 4486. R. S., 4480. R. S., 4470. R. S., 4471. carried, gangways or passages, sufficiently large to allow persons to pass freely through them, shall be left open both fore and aft of the vessel, and also to and along the guards on each side. The captain or mate of every such steam-vessel carrying passengers upon the main-deck shall assign to all deck-passengers, when taking passage, the space on deck they may occupy during the voyage, and such space shalt not thereafter be occupied by freight, nor overcrowded by other persons, nor shall freight be stowed about the boilers or machinery, in such a manner as to obstruct or prevent the engineer from readily attending to his duties. For every violation of the provisions of the two preceding sections the owners of the vessel shall be punished by a fine of three hundred dollars. 143. Wire tiller ropes. Every steamer carrying passengers shall be provided with such tiller ropes, tiller rods, or chains for the purpose of steering and navigating the vessel, and such bellpulls for signalizing the engineer from the pilot house, and such tubes or other arrangement to repeat back the signal to the pilot house, as may be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce. 144. Protection against fire. Every steamer carrying passengers or freight shall be provided with suitable pipes and valves attached to the boiler to convey steam into the hold and to the different compartments thereof to extinguish fire, or such other suitable apparatus as may be prescribed by the regulations of the board of supervising inspectors, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, for extinguishing fire in the hold and compartments thereof by the introduction through pipes into such hold and compartments of carbonic acid gas or other fire-extinguishing gas or vapor; and every stove used on board of any such vessel shall be well and securely fastened, so as to prevent it from being moved or overthrown, and all woodwork or other ignitible substances about the boilers, chimneys, cook houses, and stovepipes, exposed to ignition shall be thoroughly shielded by some incombustible material in such a manner as to leave the air to circulate freely between such material and woodwork or other ignitible substance; and before granting a certificate of inspection the inspector shall require all other necessary provisions to be made throughout such vessels to guard against loss or danger from fire. Every steamer permitted by her certificate of inspection to carry as many as fifty passengers, or upward, and every steamer carrying passengers, which also carries cotton, hay, or hemp, shall be provided with a good double-acting steam fire-pump, or other equivalent appa ratus for throwing water. Such pump or other apparatus for throwing water shall be kept at all times and at all seasons of the year in good order and ready for immediate use, having at least two pipes of suitable dimensions, one on each side of the vessel, to convey the water to the upper decks, to which pipes there shall be attached, by means of stop-cocks or valves, both between decks and on the upper deck, good and suitable hose of sufficient strength to stand a pressure of not less than one hundred pounds to the square inch, long enough to reach to all parts of the vessel and properly provided with nozzles, and kept in good order and ready for immediate service. Every steamer exceeding two hundred tons burden and carrying passengers shall be provided with two good double-acting fire-pumps, to be worked by hand; each chamber of such pumps, except pumps upon steamers in service on the twenty-eighth day of February, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, shall be of sufficient capacity to contain not less than one hundred cubic inches of water; and such pumps shall be placed in the most suitable parts of the vessel for efficient service, having suitable well-fitted hose to each pump, of at least one-half the vessel in length, kept at all times in perfect order, and shipped up and ready for immediate use. On every steamer not exceeding two hundred tons, one of such pumps may be dispensed with. Each fire-pump thus prescribed shall be supplied with water by means of a suitable pipe connected therewith, and passing through the side of the vessel so low as to be at all times under water when she is afloat. Every steamer shall also be provided June 30, 1906. with a pump which shall be of sufficient strength and suitably arranged to test the boilers thereof. Every steamer carrying passengers during the night- R. S., 4477. time shall keep a suitable number of watchmen in the cabins, and on each deck, to guard against fire or other dangers, and to give alarm in case of accident or disaster. For any neglect to keep the watchmen required by the R. S., 4478. preceding section, the license of the officer in charge of the vessel for the time being shall be revoked; and every owner of such vessel who neglects or refuses to furnish the number of men necessary to keep watch as required, shall be fined one thousand dollars. The board of.supervising inspectors may require steam- R. S., 4479. ers carrying either passengers or freight to be provided with such number and kind of good and efficient portable fire-extinguishers as, in the judgment of the board, may be necessary to protect them from fire when such steamers are moored or lying at a wharf without steam to work the pumps. pre Every such steam vessel carrying passengers shall keep R. S., 4483. such fire buckets, axes, and water barrels as shall be Mar. 3, 1905. scribed by the regulations established by the board of Sec. 3. supervising inspectors, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce. The buckets and barrels shall be kept R. S., 4492. R. S., 4422. Sec. 2. in convenient places and filled with water, to be in readiness in case of fire, and the axes shall be kept in good order and ready for immediate use. Tanks of suitable dimensions and arrangement, or buckets in sufficient number, may be substituted for barrels. Every barge carrying passengers, while in tow of any steamer, shall be subject to the provisions of this Title [R. S., 4399-4500] relating to fire-buckets, axes, life-preservers, and yawls, to such extent as shall be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors; and for any violation of this section the penalty shall be two hundred dollars, recoverable one-half for the use of the informer. 145. Inflammable or explosive cargo. Upon the application of any master or owner of any Mar. 4, 1915. steam vessel employed in the carriage of passengers, for a license to carry gunpowder, the local inspectors shall examine such vessel, and if they find that she is provided with a chest or safe composed of metal, or entirely lined and sheathed therewith, or if the vessel has one or more compartments thoroughly lined and sheathed with metal, at a secure distance from any fire, they may grant a certificate to that effect, authorizing such vessel to carry as freight within such chest, safes, or compartments, the article of gunpowder, which certificate shall be kept conspicuously posted on board such vessel. R. S., 4472. Sec. 8. No loose hay, loose cotton, or loose hemp, camphene, Mar. 3, 1905. nitroglycerin, naphtha, benzine, benzole, coal oil, crude or refined petroleum, or other like explosive burning fluids, or like dangerous articles, shall be carried as freight or used as stores on any steamer carrying passengers; nor shall baled cotton or hemp be carried on such steamers unless the bales are compactly pressed and thoroughly covered and secured in such manner as shall be prescribed by the regulations established by the board of supervising inspectors with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce; nor shall gunpowder be carried on any such vessel except under special license: nor shall oil of vitriol, nitric or other chemical acids be carried on such steamers except on the decks or guards thereof or in such other safe part of the vessel as shall be prescribed by the inspectors. Refined petroleum, which will not ignite at a temperature less than one hundred and.ten degrees of Fahrenheit thermometer, may be carried on board such steamers upon routes where there is no other practicable mode of transporting it, and under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce; and oil or spirits of turpentine may be carried on such steamers when put up in good metallic vessels or casks or barrels well and securely bound with iron and stowed in a secure part of the vessel; and friction matches may be carried on such steamers when securely packed in strong, tight chests or boxes, the covers of which shall be well secured by locks, screws, or other reliable fastenings, and stowed in a safe part of the vessel at a secure distance from any fire or heat. All such other provisions shall be made on every steamer carrying passengers or freight, to guard against and extinguish fire, as shall be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors and approved by the Secretary of Commerce. Nothing in the foregoing or, following sections of this Act shall prohibit the transportation by steam vessels of gasoline or any of the products of petroleum when carried by motor vehicles (commonly known as automobiles) using the same as a source of motive power: Provided, however, That all fire, if any, in such vehicles or automobiles be extinguished immediately after entering the said vessel, and that the same be not relighted until immediately before said vehicle shall leave the vessel: Provided further, That any owner, master, agent, or other person having charge of passenger steam vessels shall have the right to refuse to transport automobile vehicles the tanks of which contain. gasoline, naphtha, or other dangerous burning fluids. Provided, however, That nothing in the provisions of May 28, 1906. this Title shall prohibit the transportation by vessels not carrying passengers for hire, of gasoline or any of the products of petroleum for use as a source of motive power. for the motor boats or launches of such vessels. Provided further, That nothing in the foregoing or Jan. 24, 1913. following sections of this Act shall prohibit the use, by steam vessels carrying passengers for hire, of lifeboats equipped with gasoline motors, and tanks containing gasoline for the operation of said motor-driven lifeboats: Provided, however, That no gasoline shall be carried other than that in the tanks of the lifeboats: Provided further, That the use of such lifeboats equipped with gasoline motors shall be under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce. Provided, however, That nothing in the foregoing or Oct. 22, 1914. following sections of this Act shall prohibit the transportation and use by vessels carrying passengers or freight for hire of gasoline or any of the products of petroleum for the operation of engines to supply an auxiliary lighting and wireless system independent of the vessel's main power plant: Provided further, That the transportation or use of such gasoline or any of the products of petroleum shall be under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Board of Supervising Inspectors, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce. Every bale of cotton or hemp that shall be shipped or R. S., 4473. carried on any passenger-steamer, without conforming to the provisions of the preceding section, shall be subject to a penalty of five dollars, and shall be liable to seizure and sale to secure the payment of such penalty. |