The Cairo daily bulletin., 1871-10-26
A PETITION.
HOW ALL PILOTS MAY KNOW THE RIVER
l.1I ~ A Ia

Inc ioilowiDg Is the text Of u petition
peing circulated by the author, Chas. NJ.
scott, an old pilot and boatman, now in
this city. Mr.. Scott claims in favor { f the
petition that it is based on the laws of
navigation in existence all over the civil.
lied world, that require all naviga,ors to
keepa log in which all dangerous obsta-
cles and all changes Of channel are accu-
rately noted down, and when the navigator
arrives at any port, to give to the proper
officer a transcript from his log by which
means dangers are Immediately made
known to all interested. Scott also claims
that the navigation Of our rivers is Of as
much Importance as the navigation Of the
ocean, and that all those interested In river
navigation should be required, as by his
plan they would be, to furnish to each 9TH
er all the information they may have or
obtain that will contribute TO making the
navigation Of rivers less dangerous If not
safe. Tho petition Is as follows
To the Board Of United States Supervising inspec-
| tors:
We, you petitioners, steamboat owners,
captains, pilots and others, all deeply in
terested in the navigation of the western
and southern rivers Of the United States,
would respectfully ask of your honorable
body to amend the rules governing pilots
by adding the accompanying rules.
We believe that the constant changes in
our western rivers require that hose
| na yi la, - 10 70 al of al
such changes as much as possible, and, that,
If rule of this kind is adopted and rigid
| ly enforced IL will do more to secure life
and property than anything
else that could be done. A rule
Of this kind has already been
adopted by several associations, but it has
worked injury TO commerce by enabling
the members to combine and extort from
owners exorbitant salaries, which eXorbi-
tant rates have a direct tendency TO de-
stroy commerce; and the license system
serves only TO protect their monopoly but
does not make better pilots. We believe
this rule will remove all Objectionable fea-
lures in the law as farjas pilots are concerned
and make it as perfect as human foresight
can make il
It shall be the duty of the local inspee-
tors Of all districts on the interior waters
Of the United States to cause boxes Of
suitable size, with locks on them, to be
pu, up at convenient places along the
river for the use Of all pilots say
On the Mississippi, beginning at New
Orleans, mouth of Red river, Vicksburg,
mouth OF White river, Memphis, Cairo,
st. Louis, Keokuk, Dunleitb, La Gross and
st. Paul;
On the Arkansas, at Little Rock
On White river, at Jacksonport
On the Ohio, at Paducah, Evansville,
Louisville, Cincinnati Wheeling and Pitts
burg;
On the Missouri, at Jefferson City Lex
ington, Kansas City and Sioux City;
Also, at such other point- MS may be
found convenient.
The keys Of said boxes shall only be
given TO those who possess a license TO
pilot, and shall be surrendered to the in
spector if the holder shall, a, any time,
} be suspended or have his license revoked.
DUTY OF PILOTS.
1t shall be tho duty OF every pilot to
keep q correct log or memorandum Of each
trip from port to port, noting down all
changes in the channel with marks to run
such changes he shall also give the depths
Of water on the bars, or where he has
had the lead hove he shall also note down
the situation of all snags and breaks that
would be dangerous to a boat passing
them in the night; he shall write, or cause
to be written, transcript from his log
and place it in each box as he passes.
(rhe transcript shall only be from box to
bJx).
When the boat arrives in port, il shall
be the duty of the pilot to hand to the
Inspector his log who shall post it in a
convenient place in his office for the use
of those interested in navigation.
PENALTY.
Any pilot refusing to keep log, or re-
fusing to put correct transcript in the
way boxes, or refusing to furnish his log
to the inspectors, or for giving false infor-
nation, shall have his license revoked for
not less than six months, and second
revocation shall be perpetual. Nothing
in this shall be so constructed so a. 10 hold
the pilot guilty Of violating it If he does
not land at box; but at the hrst he does
land at, he shall put in memorandum
embracing all the river from where he
last put a communication in n box. All
logs and transcripts shall be signed by the
pilots who make them.
SLEEPING Rooms FOR RENT Ten
we'll ventilated sleeping rooms in City Ma
tional Bank building. Apply to
EDWARD DEZONIA,
At City National Bank.
| ECoNoMY-By using Mrs Whitcomb' :