The national Republican., 1866-08-15
Approved, July 25, 1866.
[PuBLIC-No. 1911

| AN ACT further to provide for the safety. of
the lives Of passengers on board of vessels
propelled in whole or in part by steam, to
| regulate the salaries OF steamboat inspect
ors, and for other purposes.
Be tt enacted by The Senate and House OF
Representatives. of the United States Of
America an Congress assembled, That if any
engineer or pilot, licensed in pursuance of law
by any inspector or board Of inspectors,
shall, to the hindrance Of commerce, wrong
fully or unreasonably refuse to serve as such
on any steam vessel, as authorized by the
terms of his license, or shall fail to deliver
to the applicant for such services, at the
time of such refusal, if the same shall be de-
manded, q statement in writing, signed by
such engineer or pilot, Of the reasons there
for or il any pilot shall refuse to admit into
the pilothouse with him any person or per-
sons whom the captain or owners Of any
steamboat may desire to place there for the
purpose Of acquiring the knowledge Of pilot.
ing, he shall forfeit and pay to the party ag.
grieved thereby the sum Of three hundred
dollars, to be recovered in an action of debt
founded on this statute. And thereupon on
such recovery, as well as on such refusal to
give such statement in writing, or to admit
such persons into the pilothouse as afore-
said, his license shall be Immediately re-
voked, upon the same proceedings as are
provided by law in other cases of the reyoca.
ton Of such licenses.
SIC. 2. Aid be II further enacted, That
when boilers are 80 arranged on steamer
that there is employed water connecting.
pipe through which the water may pass from
one boiler to another, there shall also be
provided q similar steam connexion, having
an area of opening into each boiler of Of
least one square inch for every two square
feet of effective heating surface contained in
any one Of the boilers so connected, half the
fiue and all other surfaces being computed
as effective. And no boiler shall hereafter
be allowed, under any circumstances, a
greater working pressure than one hundred
and fifty pounds to the square inch.
SEC. 3. And be 1t further enacted, That
one or more additional safety-valves, of such
dimensions and arrangement as shall be pre-
scribed by the board Of supervising inspect
Ors, shall be placed on the boilers of every
steamer, and shall be loaded to q pressure
not exceeding two pounds above the working
steam pressure allowed, and shall be secured
by the inspector against the interference Of
all persons engaged in the management Of the
vessel or her machinery. And the alloyed
metals now required by law to be placed in
or upon the flues Of boilers shall be fusble,
as now required by law, and at q temperature
not exceeding four hundred and fOrty-fve
degrees Of the Fahrenheit thermometer; and
good and reliable water-gauge and full
set of gauge cocks shall be provided for each
boiler, whether connected or otherwise.
SIC. a. And be al further enacted, That
no steamboat boiler hereafter built, to which
the heat is applied on the outside of the shell,
shall be constructed Of plates Of more than
three-tenths Of an inch in thickness the ends
or heads Of the boiler only excepted. And
every steamboat boiler hereafter built, if en-
ployed on rivers flowing into the Gulf of
Mexico, or their tributaries, shall have not
less than three inches of clear space for water
between and around its internal fues. And
steamers hereafter built, which shall employ
four or more boilers set in battery, shall
have the same divided in such q manner that
one-half, as nearly as may be, of the number
OF boilers employed will act independently
Of the other half, so far as relates to the
water connexion; but the steam from all the
boilers may be connected as provided by this
act.
SEC. 8. And be ii further enacted That
cotton, hemp, hay, straw, or other easily ig-
nitble commodity, shall not be carried on
the decks or guards Of any steamer carrying
passengers, except, on ferry boats crossing
rivers, and then only on the sterns Of such
boats, unless the same shall be protected by
complete and suitable covering Of canvass
or other proper material, to prevent ignition
from sparks, under penalty Of one hundred
dollars for each offence. Nor shall coal oil
or crude petroleum be hereafter carried on
such steamers except on the decks or guards
thereof or In open holds where free eircu-