Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-03

! Though 1t would be difficult to cite a
| case of any canoe ever having been run
| down on the river at night, the constant
danger OF such catastrophe is apparent
| TO all followers of the sport. l personally
warned several members Of the Washing
| ton canoe Club on the eve of the recent
| arrests that they not only placed their
! lives In jeopardy by padding at night
without a light of some sort. but con-
| tinually ran a risk of being made TO ex-
| plain the absence of one to the officials
| or commerce and Labor. The law is
good one and my club is strongly In favor
| OF II. But the other side of the question
| Is brought up by Vice Commodore Horace
T. Candlee of the Capital Yacht Club
! and his opinion of the matter seems to
| be that of every cruising yachtsman on
| the Potomac. Mr.. Candlee says:
| Nv lille believe the law requiring canoe
| lists to carry white lights is good one
! ana one calculated to lessen the chances
OF disaster on the water at night. the
government should look to its own short
conlhss before making any arrests and
| ieVyln@ any fines. l refer to the long pier
az Fort Hunt. which was abandoned about
| two years ago.
The piles that remain are unlighted in
any way and present a very serious OBJ
%truct1on to navigation that only the own
{ CT Oh Il large boat can appreciate. They
! are OF course, impossible to see at night,
anu 1attlng out to the edge of deep water
as they do. have been the cause Indirectly
! or more than one accident. The ground
ing of one of the Norfolk steamers in a
fog. Just below Fort Washington last fall
could undoubtedly be laid to the presence
| OF that old wharf, which caused the skip
per to hold farther away to port than
would have been necessary in clear
weather. After thoroughly sizing up the
question. any fair minded person will GER
talnly come to the conclusion that before
any laws governing the equipment OF
motor boats or canoes are enforced the
river should be properly lighted for their
protection"
The clause in the code of inland rules
furnished by the Department of Com
merce and Labor reads as follows:
Rowing boats. whether under oars or
sail. Shall have ready at hand a lantern.
showing white light, which shall he
temporarily exhibited In sufficient time to
prevent collision
Almost every motor boatist is familiar
with the rules regarding lights to be car
red on power craft under way. but some
misunderstanding seems to be prevalent
regarding whistles. fog horns. fog bells.
fire extinguishers and life preservers. The
act to amend laws for preventing COLI
sions OF vessels and to regulate equipment
/ OF certain motor boats on navigable
waters of the United States was approx
led by Congress June 10. 1910. and. though
III is unnecessary to cite the provisions of
the act word for word. the division of
classes should be understood before the
aforementioned subjects are taken up.
| The law provides that all motor boats
less than twenty-six feet in length shall
come under class L: under forty feet in
length Iength measuring from end to
erd over deck) and over tWentySix feet.
! than sixty-fiv feet in length, class }.
! The following chart covers the require
ments of each class in q manner that
should be understood by every one: