Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-18
TO INSPECT STEAMERS
MEETING OF THE SUPERVISING
INSPECTORS.
Nine of the Ten Attend-Not Enough
for the Requirements of
the Service.

Nine OF the ten supervising inspectors OF
the steamboat inspection service of the De-
partment of Commerce and Labor met i'll
the office of George Uhler. supervising in
spector general, this morning for their an
nual consultation. John Birmingham, in
charge Of the district which embraces all
of the waters OF the United States west of
the Rocky Mountains and whose headdtiar-
ters is at San francisco, was the only one
absent and he will not be able to attend
the meeting. The others present were:
Those Present.
Ira Harris. New York, second district, in
charge of the waters of the Atlantic coast.
rivers and tributaries between Passama-
quoddy bay and Cape Charles: John W.
CAST Norfolk Va. third district, in charge
Of the waters between Cape Charles and
Cape Sable; Ralph j. Whtledge. st. Louis.
Mo-. fourth district. in charge of the Mis-
slSslppl river and tributaries above Green
field Mo. up to and including Keokuk,
Iowa: the Illinois river below Peoria and
the Missouri river up to the mouth of the
Niobrara at its junction with the Mis-
souri,: John D. Sloane, Dubuque Iowa
fifth district, in charge of the Upper Mis-
sissippi and its tributaries above Keokuk,
Iowa; the Red River of the North and
that part of the Missouri above its juno
ton with the Niobrara, and all that por-
ton of Lake Superior bounded by the
states of Wisconsin and Minnesota; Ell
gene l.. Dorsey, Louisville, Ky, sixth lis
trict, the Ohio river and tributaries up to
Carrollton, Ky, and the Mississippi and
tributaries from Greenville, Miss, to Green
field Mo-. Samuel r. Crumbaugh. Cincin-
natl. Ohio, seventh district. the Ohio river
above Carrollton. Ky; Charles II. Vest
colt. Detroit, Mich, eighth district, the
waters of the lakes north and west Of
Lake Erie, except that portion of Superior
bounded by Minnesota and Wisconsin. AMI
also the Illinois river down to Peoria;
James Stone. Cleveland Ohio, ninth dts
trict, the St. Lawrence river Lakes Erie
Ontario. Champlain and their tributaries.
and John A. Cotter. New Orleans, La. tenth
district the coast and tributary waters of
the Gulf of Mexico between Cape Sable and
the mouth of the Rio Grande, and the Mis-
sissipp river and tributaries up to Green
Vile, Miss.
More Needed for the Service.
In the territory covered by the service
there are about 100 supervising and local
Inspectors. and according to the stories of
the supervisors, there should be many more
Tor the perfect working of the service and
the administratiO of the laws relating TO
the inspection of steamboats,. Every man
Of them has proven his worth by test, ana
every one is held to be reliable and trust
worthy. Yet there are not enough of them
and more are necessary. In some cases
irregularities have been discovered, but the
nan has suffered for his fault by being dis
discovery and proof of his unworthiness.
They must inspect boilers and all equip
ment of the vessels coming under the laws
relating to steam navigation, and at all
times be prepared to furnish data relating
to any vessel in their territory. They are
held personally responsible for any infrac-
ton of the laws. and, as in the case OF
the Slocum disaster, quickly disciplined If
they prove remiss.
Object of the Gathering.
The supervising inspectors who are gath
cred in Washington now will discuss the
affairs in which they are interested, and
may report to the Secretary of Commerce
and Labor the ACCESSIBILITY of changes in
several ways They will this time pay par
ticular attention to the revision of the rules
of the inspection service, which they made
at their recent meeting held here for that
purpose. These rules have received criti-
cism at the hands of the various passenger
lines in the country, particularly the ferry
lines, and 1t Is expected that some of the
revisiOns viii be again revised, that they
may meet with the principal objections OF
the representatives of the vessel owners
and at the same time amply provide for
the proper protection of life on excursion,
passenger and ferryboats of the country.
Mr.. Chler. who acted as chairman of the
meeting. said that nothing of the delibera-
tons of the board would be made public
until it came from the Office of the Secre-
tary OF Commerce and Labor. The men,
bers have barely got to- work and will not
be In full swing until tomorrow.