221 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Bureau of Labor StatIstica 

*UtJtiE, TeXae 

Gsntlelcen : AttentiopC%r& *+ Steward 

t for our opinion 

with seteronee t qbo ve . 

otment on the rub sotbetinted as d hapter GM, 

of the Forty-fifth 

rtaia aeotlona were 

ae BilL Ro. 419, prlnted aa 

8, General laua of the Fortybovs anaotmenta the word *bolloP ia 

used for gsneratlng ataam for power or 

e oagtton to tkie origEiZ7aat aeolsroa 

provide fox thr, fnapectton of atam 

tion 9, which rsqtiirea each o&m-to 

have a Csrtificats of Qpsratlon before a boiler may ba lawfu~~ 

operated, begins as followa: %o steam boiler, unleaa othorwlae speclf’ioally exaurpted in this- shall be operated 

within the &tats of TSIWW uolesa auah bollsr has baen ze&latere4 with the Bureeu of labor 8tatiatioa,w eto. .ieotion ,4 mqtires the Colpleiaaioner of Labor Statiatios to make, or tzauae 
22: 

Bureau or Labor Statiatios, page 9 

to be made, periodio ioapeotions of both stationary and portable boilers refers to auoh a8 "etationary eteam" and "portable steam" boilers. 

&t, 

And so on through outthebody cf the 

the word boiler ia almost always prefaced cith the word 

"steam." The emeqenoy olause avsrsx "'The ract that we do 

not have a law in kesas providing for the inspection of steam 

boilers areatea an exergenoy,* eta. 

No different language bearing on the question b&ore ua 

appears in the amendatory act of 1939, aupra. The oommlaaioner 

la empowered to fix and collect fees for the insp8otion or 

"steam boilers" only. 

Webster'8 New International Uictionsry, Ed 3d., define8 

"steam" aa "the inviaibls gae or vapor Into whioh water ie oonverted when heated to the boiling point.8 

Word8 h Phraaea, Per& Ed., Yol, 40, p. 4Sl,.deflne8 

“steam” a8 "the elastic acriform fluid Into wbioh water is oonverted when heats& to tL8 boiLing polnt;v 

iiashington iIea1 Kstate Co., 

citing Reyno'lde v. 

49 A. 707, 709, 23 R. I. 199. 

In your letter of inquiry you state the tooiler in que8- 

tlon contain *dowtherm instead of water" end generate "dowtherm 

vapor .w You also apprise u8 that "dowtherW i8 a *8p80l~1 

oomposltlon ~of disphenyl and diphenlyoxide" 8mrketed under the 

trade naz16of *dowtherm " The queatioa we 8m8t determine ia 

whether the gaa or vapoi produoed by boiling "dowtherm" mey be 

at all olesairled as~H8team.W It ia olear rrom analy8la or the 

terminology of the legislation hereinabove discusred that your 

departv&t ie 1in;ited to the registration and in8p4OtiOn of. 

*8teamv boilera; that other typea of boilers do not dome wlthfn 

the purview of tne statutse. 

iihether the gas or vapor generated by h8atlng wdowtherm" 

to'lts boiling point I.8 "steam* requires ttchnioal and aolentlfio 

knowledge not posseaaed by ~8. Aooorbingly, w@ oonsulted Dr. 

X. P. giohoch and i?oiesaor 8f. A. Cunninghem of the Vn!niveroity 

of Texar Chemioal G&neering bohool. Ye are indebted to them 

for the lnrormetion thatthe boiling of "dowthermW~produoe8 a 

low-preeeura h dro-oarbon vapor - never "8teeQ*; that thiJr4fOrcl 

a vessel oonta f ning "dowthermv instead or "water'" oould in no 

proper aanse be termed a "steam boller"i ~: that tith hydrO-Oarbon 

vapor produoed by boiling *dowtherm* the pre88ure i8 alwaya very 

low as oompared to ,steam$ that it 18 easily aontrolled and not 

nearly so dangaroua. 
22: 

Bureau or Labor statI4tic8, prigs 3 

You are, thererore, advised that in our opinion your 

question should be anawered in th8 negative. 

YoUrB very truly 

WrlZR;IL OF TEXAS 

ATTOFBEY GEXKHAL 

BWlN 

hs8Irtant