WARRANT ENGINEERS.

Qualification.-16. Royal Naval Reserve Engine-room Artificers will be eligible for advancement to the rank of Warrant Engineer, and will, when advanced to that rank, receive a Warrant from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. They will rank with, but after, Royal Naval Engineer Warrant Officers. Advancements to this rank will be made by selection from experienced Royal Naval Reserve Engine-room Artificers, who have been specially recommended on completion of their period of training in the Fleet. (See Temporary Provision, para. 26.)

Training.-17. They will be required to undergo Naval Training to the same extent and under the same conditions as Royal Naval Reserve Engineroom Artificers. When serving in the Fleet th y will mess with the Royal Naval Engineer Warrant Officers. Reasonable travelling expenses to and from the port of embarkation will be allowed.

Annual Retainer. -18. The Annual Retainer will be £15 a year, payable quarterly up to the age of 50, subject to the conditions laid down in paragraphs 6 and 7. At the age of 50 a Deferred Pension Certificate will be granted and training will cease.

Life Pension.-19. At the age of 60 (or at an earlier age, as in the case of Engine-room Artificers-see para 8), a Life Pension of £15 a year will be granted to all those who have served 20 years in the Reserve before attaining the age of 50, subject also as to the conditions as to training, &c, having been complied with. (See Temporary Provision, para. 26.)

Liability to Serve in Emergency.-20. In times of emergency, Warrant Engineers will be liable to serve in the Fleet when called out by Royal Proclamation. Such service will only be continued so long as the emergency lasts. When so serving, and when under raining, they will be considered in all respects as Warrant Officers of His Majesty's Fleet.

Pay.-21. When called out for service in the Fleet, or whilst under training, they will receive, in addition to the retainer, the same scale of pay as Royal Naval Engineer Warrant Officers, i.e., £155 per annum. If placed in charge of the engines of a small vessel they will rec:ive charge pay in addition.

Uniform Allowance.-22. When called out for service in the Fleet in emergency, they will be granted an allowance of £25 for uniform. When embarked for three months' traming, they will receive an allowance of £10, but this allowance will not be paid more than once in five years.

Uniform.-23. They will wear the saine Uniform as Naval Warrant Officers, with a distingui hing Keserve mark.

Pensions, and Care of Widows and Children.—24. If wounded or injured while serving in the Fleet, they will be entitled to the same pensions and allowances as Warrant Officers of the Royal Navy would receive for a similar wound or injury, and if killed or drowned on service their widows and chil tren will be entitled to the same pensions and compassionate allowances as the widows and children of Warrant Officers of the Koyal Navy.

Resignation and Removal.-25. They will be allowed, when not called out, to tender the resignation of their Warrants, but th acceptance of such resignations will be subject to the discretion of the Admiralty.

No Officer will be retained in the Reserve if he permanently ceases to be employed as an Engineer, or if, in the opinion of the Admiralty, he becomes unfit for sea service, or in other respects unsuitable.

Temporary Provision.-26. A few specially qualified Engineers will be

allowed to join direct as Warrant Engineers, provided they hold First Class Board of Trade Certificates, and are recommended by their employers as having a thorough practical knowledge of the machinery of His Majesty's Ships, and as being in all respects suitable for Warraut rank.

Candidates may at first be enrolled as Warrant Engineers or Engine-room Artificers up to 40 years of age; those who cannot complete 20 years before attaining the age of 50 will be eligible for proportionate rate of Pension, eg, 15 years' service would qualify for three-fourths full Pension, ten years for onehalf, and so on.

Enrolment.-27. Candidates should apply personally to the, Registrar of Naval Reserve at any Mercantile Marine Office in the United Kingdom, or by letter to the Registrar-General of Seamen, Carlisle Place, Westminster, S.W.

ENROLMENT OF GAS

ROYAL

STOKERS AND OTHERS IN THE
NAVAL RESERVE.

ADMIRALTY, June, 1903.

PERMANENT. ADDITION, TO WAGES UP TO THE AGE OF 50. Remunerative Employment in the Fleet during the Summer Months.

LIFE PENSION AT THE AGE OF 60. FREE KIT.

Establishment of Force.-A special class of Royal Naval Reserve Firemen has been established under the Royal Naval Reserve Act, 22 & 23 Vict., A P. 40, for Stokers having not less than two years' experience in gas and electric light factories and other works.

Qualifications.-Every applicant for enrolment in this special class will be required to produce satisfactory evidence of proficiency and good conduct, and, if enrolled, will be liable to be discharged from the Royal Naval Reserve should he permanently abandon working as a Stoker.

Age for Entry.-The age for entry is from 21 to 35.

Height and Chest Measurement.-The standard of height for Royal Naval Reserve Men is 5 feet 4 inches, but specially desirable inen may be entered Though under that height. Chest measurement not less than 32 inches.

Medical Examination.-The Medical Examination will be the same as for Royal Naval Reserve Firemen.

Advantages.-Men of this special class will be given the same advantages in regard to retainer, pay, and pension as the present Firemen Class in the Royal Naval Reserve as set forth below.

Training in the Fleet. They will be required, before being entitled to a retainer, to serve three months under instruction on board one of His Majesty's Ships, and to pass a test of efficiency.

To entitle them to a Life Pension they will be required to serve afloat two further terms of three months, or one of six months.

Annual Drill.-Until they attain the age of 50 they will be required to drill at a Royal Naval Reserve drill station for 14 days each year except in years when they embark for training afloat, when each period of training may reckon as a year's drill.

Term of Enrolment.—They will be enrolled for a term of five years, and re-enrolment will be for successive periods of five years or for any broken period to complete 50 years of age.

Retainer. If found to be duly qualified as Royal Naval Reserve Firemen ⚫ on completion of their term of three months' training they will be granted a retainer of £6 a year, payable quarterly. Retainers will be paid until they attain the age of 50, when they will cease to be liable to dri 1, and will receive a Deferred Pension Certificate, provided they have served at least 15 years if entered above the age of 30, or 20 years if entered below that age.

Lije Pension. At 60 years of age they will be entitled to receive a Life Pension of £12 a year.

Liability to Serve in the Fieet. They will be liable to serve as Firemen in the Fleet when called out by Royal Proclamation in time of emergency under the regulations for the government of the Royal Naval Reserve.

Care of Widows and Children --If wounded or injured while on service or on drill, they will be entitled to the same pension as Stokers R. N., would receive for a similar wound or injury. Pensions for injuries and wounds are either temporary or permanent, and range from 3s. 6d. to 14s. a week, according to circumstances and the nature of the injury or wound. If killed or drowned while on service or on drill, their widows and children will be entitled to the same allowances out of Greenwich Hospital Funds as the widows and children of Stokers, R.N. The widow's pe asion ranges from 35. 6d. to 4s. 6d. a week. according to age and other circumstances, and the allowance for each child, dependent on the mother, Is. 61. a week. Rates in excess of these amounts may be awarded by the Admiralty in cases needing special relief, or in the event of death resulting from warlike operations.

Pay and Allowances.—Whilst undergoing their training in the Fleet, to qualify as sea-going Stokers, they will be paid the same rates of pay as Naval non-continuous Service Stokers, i.e., Is. 9d. a day, with free rations, also a gratuity of £1 per month paid in advance, and £2 in addition, if at the end of their term of training they pass the required test.

During the 14 days' annual drill they will be paid Is. 9d. a day, with an additional allowance (if not lodged and victualled) of Is. 8d. a day, total 3s. 5d. a day.

Α

Free Clothing-They will be granted a suit of uniform free on each enrolment for five years, and they will be given a clothing gratuity of £5 Is. to complete their outfit on their first embarkation for three months' training. The clothing gratuity will not be granted a second time within five years. man, however, embarking before the expiration of that period will receive £1 towards complet ng his kit for each complete year that may have elapsed since his last embarkation. When called out for service on emergency they will be credited with the value of a complete regulation kit.

Enrolment.--Candidates should apply personally to the Registrar of Naval Reserve at any Mercantile Marine Office in the United Kingdom, or by letter to the Registrar-General of Seamen, Carlisle Place, Westminster, S.W.

LIABILITY OF SHIPOWNERS AND OTHERS.

(Chapter 32.)

AMENDMENT TO "THE MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT, 1894." Came into operation 6th August, 1900.

I. The limitation of the liability of the owners of any ship set by section five hundred and three of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, in respect of loss of or damage to vessels, goods, merchandise, or other things, shall extend and apply to all cases where (without their actual fault or privity) any loss or damage is caused to property or rights of any kind, whether on land or on water, or whether fixed or moveable, by reason of the improper navigation or management of the ship.

2. (i.) The owners of any dock or canal, or a harbour authority or a conservancy authority, as defined by the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall not, where without their actual fault or privity any loss or damage is caused to any vessel or vessels, or to any goods, merchandise, or other things whatsoever on board any vessel or vessels, be liable to damages beyond an aggregate amount not exceeding eight pounds for each ton of the tonnage of the largest registered British ship which, at the time of such loss or damage occurring, is, or within the period of five years previous thereto has been, within the arca over which such dock or canal owner, harbour authority, or conservancy authority performs any duty, or exercises any power. A ship shall not be deemed to have been within the area over which a harbour authority or a conservancy authority performs any duty, or exercises any powers, by reason only that it has been built or fitted out within such area, or that it has taken shelter within or passed through such area on a voyage between two places both situate outside that area, or that it has loaded or unloaded mails or passengers within that area.

(ii.) For the purpose of this section the tonnage of ships shall be ascertained as provided by section five hundred and three, subsection two, of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and the register of any ship shall be sufficient evidence that the gross tonnage and the deductions therefrom and the registered tonnage are as therein stated.

66

(iii.) Section five hundred and four of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall apply to this section as if the words owner of a British or foreign ship" included a harbour authority and a conervancy authority, and the owner of a canal or of a dock.

(iv.) For the purpose of this section the term "dock" shall include wet docks and basins, tidal docks and basins, locks, cuts, entrances, dry docks, graving docks, gridirons, slips, quays, wharves, piers, stages, landing-places, and jetties.

(v.) For the purposes of this section the term "owrers of a dock or canal" shall include any person or authority having the control and management of any dock or canal, as the case may be.

(vi.) Nothing in this section shall impose any liability in respect of any such loss or damage on any such owners or authority in any case where no such liability would have existed if this Act had not passed.

3. The limitation of liability under this Act shall relate to the whole or any losses and damages which may arise upon any one distinct occasion, although such losses and damages may be sustained by more than one person, and shall apply whether the liability arises at common law or under any general or private Act of Parliament, and notwithstanding anything contained in such Act.

4. This Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Liability of Shipowners and others) Act, 1900.

5. This Act shall be construed as one with the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and that Act and the Merchant Shipping Act, 1897, the Merchant Shipping (Exemption from Pilotage) Act, 1897, the Merchant Shipping (Liability of Shipowners) Act, 1878, the Merchant Shipping (Mercantile Marine Fund) Act, 1898, and this Act, may be cited together as the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 to 1900.

CONTINUOUS DISCHARGE CERTIFICATES OF

SEAMEN.

BOARD OF TRADE INSTRUCTIONS.

On the 1st October, 1900, a new form of Certificate of Discharge was issued by the Board of Trade. It is in book form, and will be a continuous record of service. In the first instance, it was

given only to deck hands engaged or discharged in the presence of a Superintendent of a Mercantile Marine Office in the United Kingdom, or a Consular Officer at Antwerp, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Dunkirk, or Havre; but at different dates, notice of which was given, it was extended to engine-room hands, to members of the steward's department, and to officers, whether engaged at home or abroad. Early in 1901 it was extended to all hands engaged in foreign going British ships.

With the new system now in working order, it is very desirable that shipmasters should, in conjunction with the superintendents, require every seaman to produce his continuous certificate at the time of engagement. When the engagement is concluded, the master should take charge of the books and retain possession of them during the voyage.

Should a seaman desert or fail to join at a home port, his book should, without fail, be returned to the Mercantile Marine Office, together with the Form Eng. 2, reporting the changes ia crew, and, should he desert during the voyage, the book should be handed to the Consul or Colonial Officer at the port of desertion. In either case the master should be careful to make no entries or marks in the book.

On the completion of the voyage, the master should lose no time in handing to the Superintendent or Consul at the port of discharge