Norwich bulletin., 1912-05-29
Gold Medal for
 Captain RostrOn
SENATE RESOLUTION APPRoPRl-
 ATEs SUM OF s1ooo.
THANKED BY CONGRESS
House Expected to Take Prompt Ac- ton on RssoIution-Two Bills to h. crease Safety of Ocean Travel

Washington, May 2S.-The formal thanks of congress to the steamer Carpathia's officers and crew for the rescue of the Titanic survivors were expressed in a joint resolution which was passed today by the senate. The house will take prompt action. The resolution is the first of three meas ures introduced by Senator Smith of Michigan, following his speech in the senate today, and the presentation of his report for the commerce commit tee on the investigation of the Titan ic disaster.
 The resolution read:
 Text of Resolution.
 "The thanks of congress are hereby presented to Captain Arthur Henry ROstron, and, through him, to the off, cers and crew of the steamship Carpa- thia of the Cunard line for promptly going to the relief of the steamship Titanic and heroically saving the lives of 7O4 people who had been shipwreck ed in the North Atlantic ocean. $1,oo0 Appropriation for Gold Medal.
 ''The president of the United States is hereby authorized and requested to cause to be made and presented to Captain Rostron a suitable gold medal appropriately inscribed, which shall express the high estimation in which | congress holds the service of this off, cer, to whose prOmptness and viz ilance was due the rescue of 374 wom- en and children and 330 men.
 "The sum of $1 GOO or so much there of as may be necessary for the pur- chase and manufacture of said medal is hereby appropriated out of any money In the treasury not otherwise appropriated"
 Bills for Further Protection
 Two other measures were introduced and referred to the commerce commit | tee. One was a bill requiring that ev- | cry steel ocean of coastwise sea-going steam vessel and every steel steam vessel navigating the great northern and northwestern lakes, carrying 10( | or more passengers, must have 8 'Watertight skin in-board from the | forward collision bulkhead over not l less than two-thirds the length of the vessel, and the bulkheads so spaced that any two adjacent compartments may be flooded without destroying the | floatability or stability of the vessel.
 Increase of Lif7boats. Every ocean or. coastwise sea going steam vessel naviga ting between diff ferent lake ports and allowed to carry more than fifty passengers must have | on board Iifeboats of an aggregate car ! rying capacity computed in cubic fec 1 equal to ten times the total number of her crew. plus the total number O. | her passengers. There are minute de- | tails of technical requirements are tC | the efficiency of lifeboats. Every yes | sel, except river craft, would have tC 1 carry one life preserver for each per son allowed to be carried on that ves- l sel, including the crew. Every steam CT must have lifeboats, t1oats,s rafts | life preserveTs, lief carrying projectilel and drags to secure the safety of al aboard in case of disaster At leas | four members of the crew must be as | signed to each lifeboat and drill a | stated intervals.
 A Commission Proposed.
 A resolution introduced would pro- vide for creation of commission, un- der a S10,000 appropriation for ex penses, to investigate the laws anC regulations regarding equipment anC l navigation of vessels and to report t congress through the president it findings and recommendations, togeth
 CT with a draft of legislation and ref
 ulation it shall propose by January | 1913.
 (The report of the committee on tn
 Titanic disaster is printed on page 2)