STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE. STATISTICAL SUMMARY OF WORK. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1912, there were transported on all vessels of United States registry which by law are required to report the number of passengers carried, 307,692,494 passengers. The total number of accidents resulting in the loss of life during this period was 39, a decrease from the previous year of 9, and the number of lives lost 264, including passengers and crew, a decrease from the previous year of 128. Of the total number of lives lost, 183 were from suicide, accidental drowning, and other causes not incident to the perils of navigation, which leaves 81 which can fairly be chargeable to such perils. The total number of 264 lives lost, when compared with the number of passengers that were carried, makes a ratio of 1 life lost, including passengers and crew, for every 1,165,501 passengers carried. The number of vessels inspected and certificated in the fiscal year 1912 was 7,836, with a tonnage of 8,755,280, a decrease of 499 in number, with an increased tonnage of 260,294, as compared with the previous fiscal year. Of the vessels certificated 6,432 were domestic steamers with a tonnage of 4,872,532, a decrease of 567 in number, with an increased tonnage of 169,014; and 438 were foreign passenger steamers with a tonnage of 3,384,905, a decrease of 30 in number, with an increased tonnage of 54,638. Sail vessels and barges to the number of 38 were inspected, with a tonnage of 18,755, an increase of 2 in number and of 194 tons, and also 502 seagoing barges of 458,245 tons were inspected, an increase of 27 in number and of 33,416 tons over the previous year. Four hundred and twenty-six motor vessels with a tonnage of 20,843 were inspected and certificated, an increase of 69 in number and 3,032 tons over the previous year. Licenses were issued during the year to 28,036 officers of all grades, an increase of 14,030 over the preceding year. There were 7,616 applicants examined for color blindness, of whom 206 were rejected and 7,410 were passed. As compared with the previous year, these figures show an increase of 6,299 in the number examined and 6,123 in the number passed. At the various mills 3,786 steel plates for the construction of marine boilers were inspected, a decrease from the previous year of 130, and of this number 263 were rejected. In addition to these plates, there were inspected at the mills a large number of steel bars for braces and stay bolts for marine boilers, and also several hundred plates for stock and repair purposes. Many requests were received from other branches and departments of the Government for the testing of boiler material at the mills. These received the attention of the Service, and prompt reports were rendered to the proper officials. During the year there were examined and tested at various manufactories 244,565 life preservers, of which 2,750 were rejected. The total number of persons in the Service at the end of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1912, was 263, consisting of 186 officers, 76 clerks, and 1 messenger. One vacancy existed in the Service on that date. CLASSIFICATION FOR HULL INSPECTION. It becomes more apparent each year that there should be some classification for hull inspection, and there is no reason why there should not be an American standard of construction. At the present time the American Bureau of Shipping, closely allied with and supported by shipowners, shipbuilders, and marine insurers, is the only standard that we have in this country. The Board of Supervising Inspectors is the body that should formulate the rules for this American standard, preliminary to which it should examine the rules of the American Bureau of Shipping and make such changes as seem desirable, and it should also suggest some basis of cooperation with that Bureau. It is believed that under sections 4405 and 4417, Revised Statutes, the Board has the authority to undertake this work, and the Department has under consideration the assignment to it of this duty. TRANSPORTATION OF DANGEROUS ARTICLES. The Service is given a certain control over the transportation of dangerous articles on steamers carrying passengers; but the provisions of section 4472, Revised Statutes, are imperfect, and there are still some dangerous conditions that the Service is powerless to correct. Therefore, section 4472 should be so amended as to give the Service authority to formulate for the transportation of dangerous articles regulations similar to those of the Interstate Commerce Commission for railroads. In the formulation of such regulations valuable suggestions and data may be furnished by the Bureau of Standards, the Bureau for the Safe Transportation of Explosives and other Dangerous Articles, of New York City, and the Interstate Commerce Commission. In the same connection may be considered the dangers which arise from the transportation of automobiles. The statute places the re sponsibility for the enforcement of the law relating to the transportation of automobiles upon vessel owners, but correspondence on file in the Bureau shows the difficulty that has been experienced by inspectors and by ferry companies. The statute provides that all fire in such vehicles be extinguished immediately after entering upon such vessel, but it is obvious that the owner of the vessel is not in a position to enforce this provision, and that any attempt on his part to do so would result in disorder and probably in damage. A large number of these vehicles are carried on passenger steamers, and in spite of every care there is constant danger of a great conflagration that will result in the loss of many lives. INSPECTION OF MOTOR VESSELS. The Bureau has on previous occasions stated that motor boats should be subject to its inspection. Could motor boats be inspected and certificates of inspection be issued to them, operators of such vessels would know exactly how to equip them; and it is believed that the owners themselves, could inspection once be had, would support the efforts of the Service for safer conditions on these boats. UNIFORM ADMINISTRATION OF LAW. Section 4403, Revised Statutes, requires that the Supervising Inspector General shall produce a correct and uniform administration of the inspection laws, rules, and regulations, and he has made constant effort, more especially by working through the ten supervising inspectors, to comply with that requirement. The supervising inspectors are constantly kept informed of the policy of the Bureau, and they in turn keep the local inspectors informed. The ten supervising inspectors meet as a board in January of each year. At these board meetings matters that have occurred in the several districts are brought up, and from the discussion that follows the proper rules are decided upon. For nearly three years now the Bureau has followed the custom of issuing monthly bulletins that contain rulings of interest to the merchant marine and to the inspectors of the Service. These bulletins are distributed for the guidance of the inspectors, and, further, to keep the merchant marine informed as to the rulings. The purpose, of course, is not so much to apprehend those who violate the law as to prevent the violation, and this the bulletins of the Service assist in accomplishing. The last, but by no means the least, effective method of securing uniform administration of law is the license and vessel card system that is in effect in the Service. By means of these cards, which are received every day, the central office is able to detect at once errors that are being made in the districts, instead of waiting as heretofore for the end of a quarter, or for the end of the year, at which time the reports formerly submitted were so large as to render it impossible to detect and to correct errors that had been committed throughout the year. OVERLOADING OF PASSENGER STEAMERS. The number of persons permitted to be carried on passenger steamers presents a question that has received the careful and constant attention of the Bureau. Section 4464, Revised Statutes, requires inspectors to state in every certificate of inspection granted to steamers carrying passengers, other than ferryboats, the number of passengers for which any such steamer has accommodations. This provision is probably wise; local conditions vary and the local inspectors are presumably best informed as to the number of passengers a steamer can carry with safety. The Bureau endeavors, however, to impress upon the local inspectors that the responsibility is theirs, and that the constant temptation to overcrowd constitutes an increasing danger to life against which the vigilance of the inspectors alone can protect the public. It is believed that the new rules governing life-saving equipment will materially aid the inspectors in the performance of this duty. The requirements of the new rules vary greatly according to ocean, coastwise, lake, or river service; also according to season and other conditions which go to determine risk. But throughout the equipment is predicated upon the number of passengers and not, as was the case before, upon tonnage, so that the inspectors now have at least one positive restriction against overcrowding to rely upon and to enforce. TRAVELING EXPENSES. If inspectors were placed upon actual expenses when traveling, and not upon mileage, a large saving in travel expense would undoubtedly result, and it is recommended that such a change in practice be given the sanction of law. |