Long Island and Rhode Island, who shall perform the duties required of the superintendent at the life-saving stations within the State of Rhode Island, and reside on Block Island, and for his services he shall receive an annual salary of five hundred dollars.

The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to Sec. 5. employ crews of experienced surfmen at such of the stations herein denominated complete stations and at such of the life-boat stations on the Pacific coast as he may deem necessary and proper, for such periods, and at such compensation, not to exceed forty dollars per month, as he may deem necessary and reasonable.

The Secretary of the Treasury may accept the services Sec. 6. of volunteer crews of any of the life-boat stations herein authorized, who shall be subject to the rules and regulations governing the life-saving service; and a list of the names of each crew shall be kept in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury. Such volunteers shall receive no compensation except a sum of not more than ten dollars each for every occasion upon which they shall have been instrumental in saving human life, and such of the medals herein authorized as they may be entitled to under the provisions hereinafter made: Provided, That no payment shall be made to any person who shall not have actually participated in the efforts to save the life or lives rescued.

Sec. 10.

Section six of said act of June twentieth, eighteen hun- June 18, 1878. dred and seventy-four, is so amended as to extend the compensation of the enrolled members of volunteer crews of life-boat stations therein named to occasions of actual and deserving services at any shipwreck, or in the relief of any vessel in distress, and that such persons as may volunteer to take the place of any absent or disabled enrolled members of a crew, and who shall be accepted by the keeper, may be paid therefor, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, a sum not to exceed eight dollars each on every such occasion: Provided, That all crews and volunteers employed under authority of this act who may be present at a wreck shall be required to use their utmost endeavors to save life and properly care for the bodies of such as may perish, and, when such efforts are no longer necessary, to save property and protect the same, under the direction of the senior keeper present or of the superintendent of the district, until the arrival of persons legally authorized to take charge; and for the time employed in so saving and protecting prop

143562°-19-34

May 4, 1882.
Sec. 7.

Sec. 8.

Mar. 26, 1908.
Sec. 3.

June 18, 1878.
Sec. 9.

erty volunteers shall be entitled to compensation not to exceed three dollars per day each, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury.

If any keeper or member of a crew of a life-saving or life-boat station shall be so disabled by reason of any wound or injury received or disease contracted in the Life-Saving Service in the line of duty as to unfit him for the performance of duty, such disability to be determined in such manner as shall be prescribed in the regulations of the service, he shall be continued upon the rolls of the service and entitled to receive his full pay during the continuance of such disability, not to exceed the period of one year, unless the general superintendent shall recommend, upon a statement of facts, the extension of the period through a portion or the whole of another year, and said recommendation receive the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury as just and reasonable; but in no case shall said disabled keeper or member of a crew be continued upon the rolls or receive pay for a longer period than two years.

If any keeper or member of a crew of a life-saving station shall hereafter die by reason of perilous service or any wound or injury received or disease contracted in the life-saving service in the line of duty, leaving a widow, or a child or children under sixteen years of age, or a dependent mother, such widow and child or children and dependent mother shall be entitled to receive, in equal portions, during a period of two years, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, the same amount, payable quarterly as far as practicable, that the husband or father or son would be entitled to receive as pay if he were alive and continued in the service: Provided, That if the widow shall remarry at any time during the said two years her portion of said amount shall cease to be paid to her from the date of her remarriage, but shall be added to the amount to be paid to the remaining beneficiaries under the provisions of this section, if there be any; and if any child shall arrive at the age of sixteen years during the said two years, the portion of such child shall cease to be paid to such child from the date on which such age shall be attained, but shall be added to the amount to be paid to the remaining beneficiaries, if there be any.

Upon the occurrence of any shipwreck within the scope of the operations of the Life-Saving Service, attended with loss of life, the general superintendent shall cause an investigation of all the circumstances connected with said disaster and loss of life to be made, with a view of ascertaining the cause of the disaster, and whether any of the officers or employees of the service have been guilty of neglect or misconduct in the premises; and any officer or clerk in the employment of the Treasury Department who may be detailed to conduct such investigation, or to

examine into any alleged incompetency or misconduct of any of the officers or employees of the Life-Saving Service shall have authority to administer an oath to any witness attending to testify or depose in the course of such investigation.

The enrolled members of the crews of life-boat stations Sec. 11. may be called out for drill and exercise in the life-boat and life-saving apparatus as often as the general superintendent may determine, not to exceed twice a month, for each day's attendance at which they shall be entitled to the sum of three dollars each.

Sec. 2.

The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to May 4, 1882. discontinue any life-saving or life-boat station or house of refuge whenever in his judgment the interests of commerce and humanity no longer require its existence. The General Superintendent may transfer the appara- Sec. 3. tus, appliances, equipments, and supplies of any discontinued station or house of refuge to such other stations or houses of refuge as may need them, and may also transfer any portion of the apparatus, appliances, equipments, and supplies, of one station or house of refuge to another whenever in his judgment the interests of the service may require it.

Hereafter all district superintendents of life-saving Sec. 4. stations shall be disbursing officers and paymasters for their respective districts, and shall give such bonds as the Secretary of the Treasury may require, and shall have the powers and perform the duties of inspectors of

customs.

The appointment of district superintendents, inspec- Sec. 10. tors, and keepers and crews of life-saving stations shall be made solely with reference to their fitness, and without reference to their political or party affiliations.

Sec. 4.

Hereafter the compensation of the keepers of life-sav- June 18, 1878, ing and life-boat stations and houses of refuge shall be at the rate of four hundred dollars per annum; and they shall have the powers of inspectors of customs, but shall receive no additional compensation for duties performed as such: Provided, That said keepers shall have authority and be required to take charge of and protect all property saved from shipwreck at which they may be present, until it is claimed by parties legally authorized to receive it, or until otherwise instructed to dispose of it by the Secretary of the Treasury; and keepers of lifesaving stations shall be required to reside continually at or in the immediate vicinity of their respective stations. [Note: Compensation changed June 22, 1892; but powers bestowed in this section remain.] ·

Hereafter the life-saving stations upon the Atlantic Sec. 5 and gulf coasts at which crews are employed shall be manned and the stations opened for active service on the

first day of August in each year, and so continue until the Aug. 3, 1894, first day of June succeeding, and upon the lake coasts

May 4, 1882.
Sec. 6.

June 20, 1874.
Sec. 8.

R. S., 2761.

R. S., 2762.

June 17, 1910.
Sec. 4.

from the opening to the close of navigation, except such stations as, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, are not necessary to be manned during the full period specified; and the crews shall reside at the stations during said periods.

Crews may be employed at any of the life-saving or life-boat stations on the Pacific coast during such portion of the year as the general superintendent may deem

necessary.

The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to make all necessary regulations for the government of the life-saving service not inconsistent with law.

470. Coast Guard.

The master of any Coast Guard cutter shall make a weekly return to the collector, or other officer of the district under whose direction it is placed, of the transactions of the cutter, specifying the vessels that have been boarded, their names and descriptions, the names of the masters, from what port or place they last sailed, whether laden or in ballast, to what nation belonging, and whether they have the necessary manifests of their cargoes on board, and generally all such matters as it may be necessary for the officers of the customs to know.

The officers of Coast Guard cutters shall perform, in addition to the duties hereinbefore prescribed, such other duties for the collection and security of the revenue as from time to time shall be directed by the Secretary of the Treasury, not contrary to law.

471. Bureau of Lighthouses.

Hereafter there shall be in the Department of Commerce a bureau of light-houses and a commissioner of light-houses, who shall be the head of said bureau, to be appointed by the President, who shall receive a salary of five thousand dollars per annum. There shall also be in the bureau a deputy commissioner, to be appointed by the President, who shall receive a salary of four thousand dollars per annum, and a chief clerk, who shall perform the duties of chief clerk and such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Secretary of Commerce or by the commissioner. There shall also be in the bureau such inspectors, clerical assistants, and other employees as may from time to time be authorized by Congress, and there shall also be employed one

chief constructing engineer at a salary of four thousand dollars per annum and one superintendent of naval construction at a salary of three thousand dollars per annum, both to be appointed by the President. The commissioner of light-houses shall make an annual report to the Secretary of Commerce, who shall transmit the same to Congress at the beginning of each regular session thereof; and such commissioner, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, is hereby authorized to consider, ascertain, adjust, and determine all claims for damages, where the amount of the claim does not exceed the sum of five hundred dollars, hereafter occasioned by collisions, for which collisions vessels of the Light-House Service shall be found to be responsible, and report the amounts so ascertained and determined to be due the claimants to Congress at each session thereof through the Treasury Department for payment as legal claims out of appropriations that may be made by Congress therefor.

That all employees of or in the Light-House Board or Sec. 5. the Light-House Establishment are hereby transferred to the bureau of light-houses, excepting, however, army and navy officers.

All duties performed and all power and authority now Sec. 6. possessed or exercised by the Light-House Board, under any provision of law not hereby repealed, are hereby transferred to and imposed and conferred upon and vested in the commissioner of light-houses, under the direction and control of the Secretary of Commerce.

The commissioner of light-houses shall, under the di- sec. 7. rection and control of the Secretary of Commerce, have charge and control of the construction, maintenance, repair, illumination, inspection, and superintendence of light-house depots, supply stations, light and signal stations, light-houses, light-vessels, light-house tenders, fog signals, submarine signals, beacons, buoys, day marks, post-lantern lights, and seamarks and their appendages, and generally of the Light-House Service; and the charge and custody of all the archives, books, documents, drawings, models, returns, apparatus, and other things appertaining to the Light-House Establishment.

All materials for construction, maintenance, repair, and Sec. 8. operation shall be procured by public contracts, under such regulations as may from time to time be prescribed