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.

SEC. 4484. Every such steam-vessel carrying passengers on the maindeck shall be provided with permanent stairways and other sufficient means, convenient to the passengers, for their escape to the 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 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.

SEC. 4485. 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 shall 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.

SEC. 4486. 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.

SEC. 4487. On any steamers navigating rivers only, when, from darkness, fog, or other cause, the pilot or watch shall be of opinion that the navigation is unsafe, or, from accident to or derangement of the machinery of the boat, the chief engineer shall be of the opinion that the further navigation of the vessel is unsafe, the vessel shall be brought to anchor, or moored as soon as it can prudently be done: Provided, That if the person in command shall, after being so admonished by either of such officers, elect to pursue such voyage, he may do the same; but in such case both he and the owners of such steamer shall be answerable for all damages which shall arise to the person of any passenger, or his bag. gage, from such causes in so pursuing the voyage, and no degree of care or diligence shall in such case be held to justify or excuse the person in command, or the owners.

SEC. 4488. Every steamer navigating the ocean, or any lake, bay, or sound of the United States, shall be provided with such numbers of life-boats, floats, rafts, life-preservers, and drags, as will best secure the safety of all persons on board such vessel in case of disaster; and every sea-going vessel carrying passengers, and every such vessel navigating any of the northern or northwestern lakes, shall have the life-boats required by law, provided with suitable boat-disengaging apparatus, so arranged as to allow such boats to be safely launched while such vessels are under speed or otherwise, and so as to allow such disengaging ap paratus to be operated by one person, disengaging both ends of the boat simultaneously from the tackles by which it may be lowered to the water. And the board of supervising inspectors shall fix and determine, by their rules and regulations, the kind of life-boats, floats, rafts, life-preservers, and drags that shall be used on such vessels, and also the kind and capacity of pumps or other appliances for freeing the steamer from water in case of heavy leakage, the capacity of such pumps or appliances being suited to the navigation in which the steamer is employed.

SEC. 4489. The owner of any such steamer who neglects or refuses to provide such life-boats, floats, rafts, life-preservers, drags, pumps, or appliances, as are, under the provisions of the preceding section, re

quired by the board of supervising inspectors, and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be fined one thousand dollars.

SEC. 4490. Every sea-going steamer, and every steamer navigating the great northern or northwestern lakes, carry[ing] passengers, the building of which shall be completed after the twenty-eighth day of August, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, shall have not less than three water-tight cross-bulk-heads, such bulk heads to reach to the maindeck in single-decked vessels, otherwise to the deck next below the main-deck; to be made of iron plates, sustained upon suitable framework; and to be properly secured to the hull of the vessel. The position of such bulk-heads and the strength of material of which the same shall be constructed shall be determined by the general rules of the board of supervising inspectors.

SEC. 4491. No kind of instrument, machine, or equipment, for the better security of life, provided for by this Title shall be used on any steam vessel which shall not first be approved by the board of supervising inspectors, and also by the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 4492. Every barge carrying passengers, while in tow of any steamer, shall be subject to the provisions of this title relating to firebuckets, 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 onehalf for the use of the informer.

SEC. 4493. Whenever damage is sustained by any passenger, or his baggage, from explosion, fire, collision, or other cause, the master and the owner of such vessel, or either of them, and the vessel shall be liable to each and every person so injured, to the full amount of damage, if it happens through any neglect, or failure to comply with the provisions of this Title, or through known defects, or imperfections of the steam apparatus or of the hull: and any person sustaining loss, or injury through the carelessness, negligence, or willful misconduct of any master, mate, engineer, or pilot, or his neglect or refusal to obey the laws governing the navigation of such steamers, may sue such master, mate, engineer, or pilot, and recover damages for any such injury caused by any such master, mate, engineer, or pilot. (See § 5344.)

SEC. 4494. Every master, or commander of any steam-vessel carrying passengers shall keep on board of such vessel at least two copies of the provisions of this Title, to be furnished to him by the Secretary of the Treasury and if the master or commander neglects or refuses to do so, or shall unreasonably refuse to exhibit a copy of the same to any passenger who asks for it, he shall be liable to a penalty of twenty dollars.

SEC. 4495. Every steam vessel of the United States, in addition to having her name painted on her stern, shall have the same conspicuously placed in distinct, plain letters, of not less than six inches in length on each outer side of the pilot-house, if it has such, and in case the vessel has side wheels, also on the outer side of each wheel-house; and if any such steamboat be found without having her named placed as required, she shall be subject to the same penalty and forfeiture as provided by law in the case of a vessel of the United States found without having her name, and the name of the port to which she belongs, painted

on her stern.

SEC. 4496. All collectors, or other chief officers of the customs and all inspectors within the several districts, shall enforce the provisions of this Title against all steamers arriving and departing.

* See act last cited, sec. 52.

SEC. 4497. Every collector, or other chief officer of the customs, or inspector, who negligently, or intentionally omits any duty under the preceding section, shall be liable to removal from office, and to a penalty of one hundred dollars for each offense, to be sued for in an action of debt. SEC. 4498. No license, register, or enrollment shall be granted, nor any other papers be issued by any collector or other chief officer of the customs to any vessel propelled in whole, or in part by steam, until he shall have satisfactory evidence that all the provisions of this Title have been fully complied with.

SEC. 4499. If any vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam be navigated without complying with the terms of this Title, the owner shall be liable to the United States in a penalty of five hundred dollars for each offense, one-half for the use of the informer, for which sum the vessel so navigated shall be liable, and may be seized and proceeded against by way of libel in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the offense.

SEC. 4500. The penalty for the violation of any provision of this Title, not otherwise specially provided for, shall be a fine of five hundred doilars, recoverable one-half for the use of the informer.

4.-INSPECTION, &C.

Title LII, chap. 1.-Regulation of Steam-Vessels.)

INSPECTION.

SEC. 4399. Every vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam shall be deemed a steam-vessel within the meaning of this Title.

SEC. 4400. All steam-vessels navigating any waters of the United States which are common highways of commerce, or open to general or competitive navigation, excepting public vessels of the United States, vessels of other countries, and boats propelled in whole or in part by steam for navigating canals, shall be subject to the provisions of this Title.

SEC. 4401. All coastwise sea-going vessels, and vessels navigating the great lakes, shall be subject to the navigation laws of the United States, when navigating within the jurisdiction thereof; and all vessels, propelled in whole or in part by steam, and navigating as aforesaid, shall be subject to all the rules and regulations established in pursuance of law for the government of steam-vessels in passing, as provided by this Title; and every coast wise sea-going steam-vessel subject to the navigation laws of the United States, and to the rules and regulations afore said, not sailing under register, shall, when under way, except on the high seas, be under the control and direction of pilots licensed by the inspectors of steamboats.

SEC. 4402. There shall be a supervising inspector-general, who shall be appointed from time to time by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall be selected with reference to his fitness and ability to systematize and carry into effect all the provisions of law relating to the steamboat-inspection service, and who shall be entitled to a salary of three thousand five hundred dollars a year, and his reasonable traveling expenses, or mileage at the rate of ten cents a mile, incurred in the performance of his duty.

SEC. 4403. The supervising inspector-general shall, under the direc tion of the Secretary of the Treasury, superintend the administration of the steamboat-inspection laws, preside at the meetings of the board of supervising inspectors, receive all reports of inspectors, receiye and examine all accounts of inspectors, report fully at stated periods to the Secretary of the Treasury upon all matters pertaining to his official duties, and produce a correct and uniform administration of the inspection laws, rules, and regulations.

SEC. 4404. There shall be ten supervising inspectors, who shall be ap pointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Each of them shall be selected for his knowledge, skill, and practical experience in the uses of steam for navigation, and shall be a competent judge of the character and qualities of steam-vessels, and of all parts of the machinery employed in steaming. Each supervising inspector shall be entitled to a salary of three thousand dollars a year, and his actual and reasonable traveling expenses at the rate of ten cents a mile, incurred in the performance of his duty, together with his actual and reasonable expenses for transportation of instruments, which shall be certified and sworn to under such instructions as may be given by the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 4405. The supervising inspectors and the supervising inspectorgeneral shall assemble as a board once in each year, at the city of Washington, District of Columbia, on the third Wednesday in January, and at such other times as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe, for joint consultation, and shall assign to each of the supervising inspectors the limits of territory within which he shall perform his duties. The board shall establish all necessary regulations required to carry out in the most effective manner the provisions of this Title, and such regu lations, when approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall have the force of law. The supervising inspector for the district embracing the Pacific coast shall not be under obligation to attend the meetings of the board oftener than once in two years; but when he does not attend such meetings he shall make his communications thereto, in the way of a report, in such manner as the board shall prescribe.

SEC. 4406. Each supervising inspector shall watch over all parts of the territory assigned to him, shall visit, confer with, and examine into the doings of the local boards of inspectors within his district, and shall instruct them in the proper performance of their duties; and shall, whenever he thinks it expedient, visit any vessels licensed, and examine into their condition, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of this Title have been observed, and complied with, both by the board of inspectors and the master and owners. All masters, engineers, mates, and pilots of such vessels shall answer all reasonable inquiries, and shall give all the information in their power in regard to any such vessel so visited, and her machinery for steaming, and the manner of managing both.

SEC. 4407. Whenever a supervising inspector ascertains to his satisfaction that any master, mate, engineer, pilot, or owner of any steamvessel fails to perform his duties according to the provisions of this Title, he shall report the facts in writing to the board of local inspectors in the district where the vessel was inspected or belongs; and, if need be, he shall cause the negligent or offending party to be prosecuted; and if the supervising inspector has good reason to believe there has been, through negligence or any other cause, a failure of the board which inspected the vessel to do its duty, he shall report the facts in writing to the Secretary of the Treasury; who shall cause immediate investigation

into the truth of the complaint, aud, if he deems the cause sufficient, shall remove any officer found delinquent.

SEC. 4408. The supervising inspectors shall see that the several boards of local inspectors within their respective districts execute their duties faithfully, promptly, and, as far as possible, uniformly in all places, by following out the provisions of this Title according to the true intent and meaning thereof; and they shall, as far as practicable, harmonize differences of opinion existing in different local boards.

SEC. 4409. The supervising inspector shall visit any collection-district in which there is at any time no board of inspectors, and within which steam-vessels are owned and [or]* employed. Each supervising inspector shall have full power in any such district, or in any district where, from distance or other cause, it is inconvenient to resort to the local board, to inspect any steam-vessel and the boilers of such steamer, and to grant certificates of approval, and to do and perform all the duties imposed upon local boards.

SEC. 4410. Each supervising inspector shall report, in writing, at the annual meetings of the board, the general business transacted in his district during the year, embracing all violations of the laws regulating steam-vessels, and the action taken in relation to the same, all investigations and decisions by local inspectors, and all cases of appeal, and the result thereof; and the board shall examine into all the acts of each supervising inspector and local board, and all complaints made against the same, in relation to the performance of their duties under the law, and the judgment of the board in each case shall be entered upon their journal; and the board shall, as far as possible, correct mistakes where they exist.

SEC. 4411. The board of supervising inspectors shall establish such regulations as may be necessary to make known in a proper manner, to local inspectors, the names of all persons licensed under the provisions of this Title, the names of all persons from whom licenses have been withheld, and the names of all whose licenses have been suspended or revoked; also the names of all steam-vessels neglecting or refusing to make such repairs as may be ordered pursuant to law, and the names of all that have been refused certificates of inspection.

SEC. 4412. The board of supervising inspectors shall establish such regulations to be observed by all steam-vessels in passing each other, as they shall from time to time deem necessary for safety; two printed copies of such regulations, signed by them, shall be furnished to each of such vessels, and shall at all times be kept posted up in conspicuous places in such vessels.

SEC. 4413. Every pilot, engineer, mate, or master of any steam-vessel who neglects or willfully refuses to observe the regulations established in pursuance of the preceding section, shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars, and for all damages sustained by any passenger, in his person or baggage, by such neglect or refusal.

SEC. 4414. There shall be, in each of the following collection-districts, one inspector of hulls and one inspector of boilers; who shall be entitled to the following salaries, to be paid annually, under the directions of the Secretary of the Treasury:

In the districts of New York and New Orleans, to a salary of two thousand two hundred dollars a year each.

In the districts of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Buffalo, Saint Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit,

*See Act of Feb. 28, 1871, chap. 100, sec. 27.