New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-06-02
THE AMENDED STEAMBOAT BILL

and it was accordingly sent to the Senate,
and ordered TO be printed:
Section one grants nothing to the in
former"
Section two gives no discretionary power
to inspectors in guarding against fire.
Section three provides that each chamber
of fire pumps shall be of sufficient capacity
to contain not less than eighty INSTEAD OF
1907 cubic inches of water. Feed and hre
pumps are not to be arranged to test boil
ers.
Section four permits cOmbustlble articles
to be carried if used as stores, but not as
freight; strikes out some OF the restrictions
on carrying hemp and cotton.
SEC. 6. The following Senate amendment
is stricken Out: THAT every vessel so pro-
PEELED by steam and carrying passengers
during the night time shall keep a suitable
number of watchmen in the cabins n on
each deck to guard against fire or other
dangers, and to give alarm IN case, OF ac..
cident or disaster; and for every neglect OF
this duty the license of the officer IN charge
of the vessel for the time being shall be re-
voked; and the Board of Supervising In
spectors may require every such steamer,
and also steamers carrying freight, TO De
provided with such number and kind OF
good and efficient portable fire extingulsh-
.ers as in the Judgment OF the board may De
necessary to protect them from IRE wnen
such steamers are mOored or lying at a
wharf. without steam to work the pumps;
and if any owner of such vessel shall neglect
or refuse to furnish tie requisite number OF
men necessary to keep watch as herein re
quired, he shall he fined $1,000"
SEC. 7. The following clause is stricken
ont "That every steam vessel navigating
rivers only Except ferry boats, freight
boats, canal boats, and towing boats OF less
than fifty tOns), shall have at least one
49, -Srh iSnag ntfunhnn
and properly supplied with oars and kept
in good condition at all times and ready for
Immediate use; and, in addition thereto,
every such steamer carrying passengers
shall have one or more metallic hteboats,
fre-proot, and in all respects good and sub
stantial boats, of such dimensions and ar
raugemAnts as the Board of Supervising
INSPECTORS by their rules and regulations
shall prescribe, which boats shall be carried
in the most convenient manner so as to be
brought into immediate use in case OF acct
dent; provided, that where the character
of the navigation is such that in the Opin-
ion of the supervising inspector, the me-
talIlc lifeboats can be dispensed with,
he is hereby authorised to exempt any
such steamer from carrying the same, or
NAV REQUIRE a substitute thereof, at his
discreti0n; and 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, RATS aud LIE
preservers, also drags when necessary, as
will best secure the safety of all persons on
board such vessel in case of disaster; n
every seagOing vessel carrying passengers,
and every such vessel navigating any of
the northern or northwestern lakes, shall
have the life boats required by law, pro-
vided with suitable bOat-disengaging ap-
~paratus, 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 apparatus to be
operated by one person, disengaging
both ends of the boat simultaneously
from the tackles by which they may
be lowered to tne water. Aud it
shall be the duty of the Board of Super
vising Inspectors to fix and determine, by
their rules and regulations, the kind of life
boats, floats, RATS, lfe-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 said pumps or appliances being
suited to the navigation in which the steam
er is employed; and if the owners of any
such steamers neglect or refuse to provide
such drags, lite-bOats, floats, RATS, life-pre-
servers, pumps, or appliances, as shall be
required bv the Board of Supervising In
spectors, and approved by the Secretary OF
the Treasury, such owners shall be fined
$1,000"
Section eleven takes from the inspectors
the discretionary power to secure safety
valves, and takes from the engineer the
whole control OF them. The corrected
language of the bill is, One of which (safe-
ty Valves) may, if necessary, in the opinion
of the supervising and local inspectors, to
secure safety, be taken wholly from the
control OF all persons engaged in navigating
any such vessel, and be secured by the in
spectOrs." And then follow these pro-
visions, viz: And that the weights of the
safety valves are properly adjusted, so as
to relieve the boiler of the pressure pre-
scribed by the inspectors certificate" The
following entire clause in section eleven is
stricken put: "1hirdly-That in subjecting
to the hydrOstatio tests boilers called and
usually known under the designation o fhigh
pressure boilers, the inspector shall assume
one hundred and ten pounds TO the square
inch as the maximum pressure allowable as
a working power for a new boiler fOrty-twO
inches in diameter, made in the best man
ner, of inspected iron plates, one-tourth OF
an mel thick, and of a quality required by
law, and shall rate the working power
of all high pressure boilers, whether
old or new, according to their strength,
compared with this standard, and in
all cases the test applied shall exceed
Llb WOEkLlR DONGE dllONEu III llle IdtlO OF
los to ITO; and in subjecting to the test
aforesaid that class Of boilers usually des-
ignated and known as low pressure boilers,
the said inspectors shall allow as a working
power Of each new boiler a pressure of only
three-fOurths the number of pounds to the
square inch to which it shall have been
subjected by the hydrOstatic test. and
found to be sufficient therefor; but should
such inspector be of the opinion that said
hAf1nr h- ~ - aan1~v,,n%TCr nv VAo
terial, will not safely allow so high a work
ing pressure, they may, for reasons to be
stated specially in their certificate, fix the
working pressure of said boiler at less than
three-tOurths OF said test pressure; but all
boilers used on steam vessels, and con-
structed of iron or steel plates, inspected
under the provisions OF section thirty-six
of this act, shall be subjected to a hydro
static test, in the ratio of $50 pounds to the
square inch to l60 pounds to the square
inch of the working steam power allowed;
and no boiler or pipe, or any of the connec-
siOns Herewith, shall be approved which
is made, in whole or IN part, of bad mate
rial, or is unsafe in its form, or dangerous
from defective workmanship, age, use or
other cause.
Section sixteen adds as a qualification for
the position OF Supervising Inspector Cen
eral that he shall have a practical knowl-
edge Of steam navigation.
Section Twenty-Five is entirely stricken
out. 1t reads as follows:
'SEC. %. That it shall be the duty of the
Board OF Supervising Inspectors to estab-
fish such rules and regulations to be OBJ
served by all steam vessels in passing each
other as they shall from time to time deem
necessary for safety. two printed copies of
which rules and regulations, signed by said
inspectors, shall be furnished to each Of
such vessels, and shall at all times be kept