Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-22
USE OF SAFEGUARDS
Precautions Taken to Secure
Lives of Passengers.
POTOMAC RIV Err 30 ATS
TALK WITH OFFICERS OF IN
SPECTIoN SERVICE.
Not a Life Lost by Accident in This
District in Four Years
Millions Carried.
POTOMAC RIV Err BOATS

| III the last lOuF years tHc StcdIHCio III
this District have carried 1o,OO0,OO0 per-
sons, and not one life has been lost nor a
| bone broken
This was the statement made this MORN
| ing by e. F. White, inspector of boilers I'M
| der the steamboat inspection service of the
| Department of Commerce and Labor. 1t
was in response to an inquiry by Star re-
porter to the adequacy of the equipment
| on local steamers for the protection Of the
passengers from fire and drowning.
! Chief Clerk w. F. Gatchell of the steam
| boat inspection service. with headquarters
| in this city, said the system Of eXanlina-
| ton, both annually and at intermediate
times, was carried on in this district Win
| out a hitch and. while, Of course, equip
ment might get slightly out of order he,
| tween times. this very unlikely and
| should cause no fear
Rats sometimes knaw the cork life pre-
| servers" said Inspector White, who was IN
Dr. Gatchells Office this morning, land in
| a month or less render many of them use
| less But whenever we discover anything
| like that we Immediately condemn them"
The inspector went on to say, however.
| that a still more troublesome destroyer OF
| life preservers is the passenger himself.
| why" he said, 81 have gone over
vessel three months after an annual inspec-
| ton and found necessary straps missing
from new life preservers. The officers tell
| me that the passengers cut them off for
| souvenirs-make belts, hat bands and even
| garters out of them. l think there ought
| to be severe penalty for such destruction
| of protective apparatus. l would like to see
| the law changed in this respect
Up to the Requirements.
Present equipment of vessels carrying
passengers in this vicinity is entirely up to
| the requirements of law. said both Mr.
White and DR.. Gatchell. An intermediate
| inspection is going on at present and there
| is no reason to fear a discovery that any
| thing is wrong.
Before vessel is allowed to go into serv-
ice it must be provided with fresfghting
| and life-preserving equipment that Is ap-
proved by the board of supervising IN
spectors. and each part must be stamped
by an official of the board These parts are
| ordered to be renewed as soon as anything
wrong is detected about them 1t makes
no difference the officials say, how new
the life preserver, for instance hapPens
| to be when inspected. If 1t is not up to the
mark it is ordered to be replaced by good
one. e.. =:
The hose which is used in case of fire IS
always kept in order. because IL - eo III
stantly used for washing the decks ana TOT
like PURPOSES. Each month the crew IS re-
ouired to go through fire drill ana the
captain reports the same, togetner WIN
the number of passengers carried uuf'"s
the month to the Office of the inspectors.
While praising the condition of the Vesseis
in this district which besides Washington
Includes Baltimore and Chesapeake pay as
south the 1OIk river vi tiS w.
shore and Crisfeld on the east. and as
far north as point just this side of VIII
nineton Del Inspector White said 1T might
nevertheless be impossible to prevent an ac-
o.dent like the one in the East river
IT was the panic and quick spread OF
the fire that caused the loss of life, ne saln
st know Capt. Schaick of the General
Slocum personally, and / believe his Doat
had good equipment. 1t was not MS vi INC
crews fault
Inspectors Precautions.
Cant. G. NJ. Wright the other inspector Of
steam vessels in this district was In the
CITY from Baltimore this morning on bust
ness connected with the steamboat 1nspec-
ton service and in response to question
Of The Star reporter as to the safety or
passengers aboard steamboats, corroborated
Jnsnector Whites statement as to the abb
scence of accident in the last four years
In the carrying of fifteen million persons
on steamboats, he said. but three lives have
been lest and they were all suicides ana
not the result of an accident
This speaks WELL re said. FOR the care
taken by the officials of the steamboat In
srection service. aided by the steamboat
men to keep tie steamers In this district
I'D to the standard required by the marine
laws. , ..
The method IF conducting the inspection
Of a steamboat will be of interest at ms
time Two inspectors conduct the examine
ton one for hulls and the other for Doll
ers One is practical steamboat engineer.
the other nilot. and both have had many
years experience in their professions ana
are past masters in them. The hest mate
rial Is selected for the service While the
boiler inspector is making his tests or the
boiler and pumps the hull Inspector -
looking after the boats, life RATS and lire
preservers .,, IT,
The condition of the hull is examined. the
timhers being bored into to determine their
scundress Before the inspectors come
Ste the life DrpSorVeTS are
taken from their storage places and piled
up on the deck Each one is closely eN-
amined by the inspector. For every pas-
sonper carried aboard the boat there IS \
life preserver. and steamers are only
licensed to carry passengers when the IN
snector3 know the life preservers are
aboard.
The INSPECTOR also has TIE boats swing
out on their davits to assure himself that
their holdings are sound. The boiler IN
snection is also severe. he SAID. Cold water
PRESSURE far in excess of tie steam pressure
allowed. is put upon the boiler and the in
spector goes over il inside and outside with
a hammer to locate any weak spots
Before the inspectors will pass the steam
boat Ter boiler, pumps. life saving and
| fire apparatus must be ell tie law calls for
| This III, local steamboat owners know.
| The ATTEMPTS to evade the law are few
| and far between.
since the disaster to the General Slocum
| in New York the vigilance of the local In
spectors which was not lax. has greatly
increased.
Inspectors Precautions.
In order that better idea might be had
| Of the causes for such disasters as that
which happened to the General Slocum the
officials of the steamboat inspection service
referred The Star reporter to a record OF
| the proceedings of the twenty-second an
nual meeting of the board of supervising
inspectors, In which the official record OF
| the awful calamity on the Potomac river In
| 1873 is given.
The interesting part of the report is that
| il states, as the opinion of the investigators
| of the affair that the loss OF life need not
have been so great. even that there would
not have been any loss of life. had the
officers of the boat done their duty and had
the passengers had better knowledge of the
vessels equipment.
The record is as follows
THE steamer Wawassett,, belonging to
| the Potomac Ferry Company. caught fire
on the Sth of August 1878, on the Po-
tomac river about forty miles below
Washington, and was entirely destroyed
AS nearly as could be ascertained about