SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the district judge of the United States, within whose district any ports of entry or delivery may be, on the navigable waters, bays, lakes, and rivers of the United States, upon the application of the master or owner of any steamboat or vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam, to appoint, from time to time, one or more persons skilled and competent to make inspections of such boats and vessels, and of the boilers and machinery employed in the same, who shall not be interested in the manufacture of steam engines, steamboat boilers, or other machinery belonging to steam vessels, whose duty it shall be to make such inspection when called upon for that purpose, and to give to the owner or master of such boat or vessel duplicate certificates of such inspection; such persons, before entering upon the duties enjoined by this act, shall make and subscribe an oath or affirmation before said district judge, or other officer duly authorized to administer oaths, well, faithfully, and impartially to execute and perform the services herein required of them. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the person or persons who shall be called upon to inspect the hull of any steamboat or vessel, under the provisions of this act, shall, after a thorough examination of the same, give to the owner or master, as the case may be, a certificate, in which shall be stated the age of the said boat or vessel, when and where originally built, and the length of time the same has been running. And he or they shall also state whether, in his or their opinion, the said boat or vessel is sound, and in all respects seaworthy, and fit to be used for the transportation of freight or passengers; for which service, so performed upon each and every boat or vessel, the inspectors shall each be paid and allowed by said master or owner applying for such inspection, the sum of five dollars. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the person or persons who shall be called upon to inspect the boilers and machinery of any steamboat or vessel, under the provisions of this act, shall, after a thorough examination of the same, make a certificate, in which he or they shall state his or their opinion whether said boilers are sound and fit for use, together with the age of the boilers; and duplicates thereof shall be delivered to the owner or master of such vessel one of which it shall be the duty of the said master and owner to deliver to the collector or surveyor of the port whenever he shall apply for a license, or for a renewal of a license; the other he shall cause to be posted up, and kept in some conspicuous part of said boat, for the information of the public; and for each and every inspection so made, each of the said inspectors shall be paid by the said master or owner applying, the sum of five dollars. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the owners and masters of steamboats to cause the inspection provided under the fourth section of this act to be made at least once in every twelve months; and the examination required by the fifth section, at least once in every six months; and deliver to the collector or surveyor of the port where his boat or vessel has been enrolled or licensed, the certificate of such inspection; and, on a failure thereof, he or they shall forfeit the license granted to such boat or vessel, and be subject to the same penalty as though he had run said boat or vessel without having obtained such license, to be recovered in like manner. And it shall be the duty of the owners and masters of the steamboats licensed in pursuance of the provisions of this act, to employ on board of their respective boats a competent number of experienced and skilful engineers, and, in case of neglect to do so, the said owners and masters shall be held responsible for all damages to the property or any passenger on board of any boat occasioned by an explosion of the boiler or any derangement of the engine or machinery of any boat. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That whenever the master of any boat or vessel, or the person or persons charged with navigating said boat or vessel, which is propelled in whole or in part by steam, shall stop the motion or headway of said boat or vessel, or when the said boat or vessel shall be stopped for the purpose of discharging or taking in cargo, fuel or passengers, he or they shall open the safety-valve, so as to keep the steam down in said boiler as near as practicable to what it is when the said boat or vessel is under headway, under the penalty of two hundred dollars for each and every offence. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the owner and master of every steam vessel engaged in the transportation of freight or passengers, at sea or on the lakes Champlain, Ontario, Erie, Huron, Superior, and Michigan, the tonnage of which vessel shall not exceed two hundred tons, to provide and to carry with the said boat or vessel, upon each and every voyage, two long-boats or yawls, each of which shall be competent to carry at least twenty persons; and where the tonnage of said vessel shall exceed two hundred tons it shall be the duty of the owner and master to provide and carry, as aforesaid, not less than three long-boats or yawls, of the same or larger dimensions; and for every failure in these particulars, the said master and owner shall forfeit and pay three hundred dollars. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the master and owner of every steam vessel employed on either of the lakes mentioned in the last section, or on the sea to provide, as a part of the necessary furniture, a suction-hose and fire engine and hose suitable to be worked on said boat in case of fire, and carry the same upon each and every voyage, in good order; and that iron rods or chains shall be employed and used in the navigation of all steamboats, instead of wheel or tiller ropes; and for a failure to do which, they, and each of them shall forfeit and pay the sum of three hundred dollars. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the master and owner of every steamboat, running between sunset and sunrise, to carry one or more signal lights, that may be seen by other boats navigating the same waters, under the penalty of two hundred dollars. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the penalties imposed by this act may be sued for and recovered in the name of the United States, in the district or circuit court of such district or circuit where the offence shall have been committed, or forfeiture incurred, or in which the owner or master of said vessel may reside, one half to the use of the informer, and the other to the use of the United States; or the said penalty may be prosecuted for by indictment in either of the said courts. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That every captain, engineer, pilot, or other person employed on board of any steamboat or vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam, by whose misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his or their respective duties, the life or lives of any person or persons on board said vessel may be destroyed, shall be deemed guilty of manslaughter, and, upon conviction thereof before any circuit court in the United States, shall be sentenced to confinement at hard labor for a period not more than ten years. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That in all suits and actions against proprietors of steamboats, for injuries arising to person or property from the bursting of the boiler of any steamboat, or the collapse of a flue, or other injurious escape of steam, the fact of such bursting, collapse, or injurious escape of steam, shall be taken as full prima facie evidence, sufficient to charge the defendant or those in his employment, with negligence, until he shall show that no negligence has been committed by him or those in his employment. Approved July 7th, 1838. AN ACT to modify the act entitled "An act to provide for the better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam," approved July seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That every boat or vessel which existing laws require to be registered, and which is propelled in whole or in part by steam, shall be provided with such additional apparatus or means as, in the opinion of the inspector of steamboats, shall be requisite to steer the boat or vessel, to be located in such part of the boat or vessel as the inspector may deem best to enable the officers and crew to steer and control the boat or vessel, in case the pilot or man at the wheel is driven from the same by fire; and no boat or vessel, exclusively propelled by steam, shall be registered, after the passage of this act, unless the owner, master, or other proper person, shall file with the collector or other proper officer the certificate of the inspector, stating that suitable means have been provided to steer the boat or vessel, in case the pilot or man at the wheel is driven therefrom by fire. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful in all vessels or boats propelled in whole or in part by steam, and which shall be provided with additional apparatus or means to steer the same, as required by the first section of this act, to use wheel or tiller ropes, composed of hemp or other good and sufficient material, around the barrel or axle of the wheel, and to a distance not exceeding twenty-two feet therefrom, and also in connecting the tiller or rudder yoke with iron rods or chains used for working the rudder: Provided, That no more rope for this purpose shall be used than is sufficient to extend from the connecting points of the tiller or rudder yoke placed in any working position beyond the nearest blocks or rollers, and give sufficient play to work the ropes on such blocks or rollers: And provided further, That there shall be chains extending the whole distance of the ropes, so connected with the tiller or rudder yoke, and attached or fastened to the tiller or rudder yoke, and the iron chains or rods extending towards the wheel, in such manner as will take immediate effect and work the rudder in case the ropes are burnt or otherwise rendered useless. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the master and owner, and all others interested in vessels navigating lakes Champlain, Ontario, Erie, Huron, Superior and Michigan, or any of them, and which are propelled by sails and Erickson's propeller, and used exclusively in carrying freight, shall from and after the passage of this act be exempt from liability or fine for failing to provide, as a part of the necessary furniture of such vessel, a suction hose and fire engine and hose suitable to be worked on such vessel in case of fire, or more than one long boat or yawl. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the court before which any suit, information or indictment is or shall be pending for the violation, before the passage of this act, of so much of the ninth section of the act aforesaid as requires "that iron rods or chains shall be employed and used in the navigation of all steamboats, instead of wheel and tiller ropes," to order such suit, information or indictment to be discontinued, on such terms as to costs as the court shall judge to be just and reasonable: Provided, That the defendant or defendants in such prosecution shall cause it to appear, by affidavit or otherwise, to the satisfaction of the court, that he or they had failed to use iron rods or chains in the navigation of his or their boat or boats, from a well-grounded apprehension that such rods or chains could not be employed for the purpose aforesaid with safety. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That in execution of the authority vested in him by the second section of the joint resolution "authorizing experiments to be made for the purpose of testing Samuel Colt's sub-marine battery and for other purposes," approved August thirty-first, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, the Secretary of the Navy shall appoint a board of examiners, consisting of three persons, of thorough knowledge as to the structure and use of the steam engine, whose duty it shall be to make experimental trials of such inventions and plans designed to prevent the explosion of steam boilers and collapsing of flues as they may deem worthy of examination, and report the result of their experiments, with an expression of their opinion as to the relative merits and efficacy of such inventions and plans, which report the Secretary shall cause to be laid before Congress, at its next session. It shall also be the duty of said examiners to examine and report the relative strength of copper and iron boilers of equal |