Every steamer carrying passengers during the night-time shall keep a suitable number of watchmen in the cabins, and on each deck, to guard against fire or other dangers, and to give alarm in case of accident or disaster. (R. S., 4477.)
For any neglect to keep the watchmen required by the preceding section, the license of the officer in charge of the vessel for the time being shall be revoked; and every owner of such vessel who neglects or refuses to furnish the number of men necessary to keep watch as required, shall be fined one thousand dollars. (R. S., 4478.)
The board of supervising inspectors may require steamers carrying either passengers or freight to be provided with such number and kind of good and efficient portable fire-extinguishers as, in the judgment of the board, may be necessary to protect them from fire when such steamers are moored or lying at a wharf without steam to work the pumps. (R. S., 4479.)
Every such steam vessel carrying passengers shall keep such fire buckets, axes, and water barrels as shall be prescribed by the regulations established by the board of supervising inspectors, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce. The buckets and barrels shall be kept in convenient places and filled with water, to be in readiness in case of fire, and the axes shall be kept in good order and ready for immediate use. Tanks of suitable dimensions and arrangement, or buckets in sufficient number, may be substituted for barrels. (R. S., 4483; Mar. 3, 1905; sec. 3.)
Inflammable or explosive cargo.
Upon the application of any master or owner of any steam vessel employed in the carriage of passengers, for a license to carry gunpowder, the local inspectors shall examine such vessel, and if they find that she is provided with a chest or safe composed of metal, or entirely lined and sheathed therewith, or if the vessel has one or more compartments thoroughly lined and sheathed with metal, at a secure distance from any fire, they may grant a certificate to that effect, authorizing such vessel to carry as freight within such chest, safes, or compartments, the article of gunpowder, which certificate shall be kept conspicuously posted on board such vessel. (R. S., 4422; Mar. 4, 1915; Sec. 2.)
No loose hay, loose cotton, or loose hemp, camphene, nitro-glycerine, naphtha, benzine, benzole, coal oil, crude or refined petroleum, or other like explosive burning fluids, or like dangerous articles, shall be carried as freight or used as stores on any steamer carrying passengers; nor shall baled cotton or hemp be carried on such steamers unless the bales are compactly pressed and thoroughly covered and secured in such manner as shall be prescribed by the regulations established by the board of supervising inspectors with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce; nor shall gunpowder be carried on any such vessel except under special license; nor shall oil of vitrol, nitric or other chemical acids be carried on such steamers except on the decks or guards thereof or in such other safe part of the vessel as shall be prescribed by the inspectors. Refined petroleum, which will not ignite at a temperature less than one hundred and ten degrees of Fahrenheit thermometer, may be carried on board such steamers upon routes where there is no other practicable mode of transporting it, and under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce; and oil or spirits of turpentine may be carried on such steamers when put up in good metallic vessels or casks or barrels well and securely bound with iron and stowed in a secure part of the vessel; and friction matches may be carried on such steamers when securely packed in strong, tight chests or boxes, the covers of which shall be well secured by locks, screws, or other reliable fastenings, and stowed in a safe part of the vessel at a secure distance from any fire or heat. All such other provisions shall be made on every steamer carrying passengers or freight, to guard against and extinguish fire, as shall be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors and approved by the Secretary of Commerce.
Nothing in the foregoing or following sections of this Act shall prohibit the transportation by steam vessels of gasoline or any of the products of petroleum when carried by motor vehicles (commonly known as automobiles) using the same as a source of motive power: Provided, however, That all fire, if any, in such vehicles or automobiles be extinguished immediately after entering the said vessel, and that the same be not relighted until immediately before said vehicle shall leave the vessel: Provided further, That any owner, master, agent, or other person having charge of passenger steam vessels shall have the right to refuse to transport automobile vehicles the tanks of which contain gasoline, naphtha, or other dangerous burning fluids. (Mar. 3, 1905; sec. 8.)
Provided, however, That nothing in the provisions of this Title shall prohibit the transportation by vessels not carrying passengers for hire, of gasoline or any of the products of petroleum for use as a source of motive power for the motor boats or launches of such vessels. (May 28, 1906.)
Provided further, That nothing in the foregoing or following sections of this Act shall prohibit the use, by steam vessels carrying passengers for hire, of lifeboats equipped with gasoline motors, and tanks containing gasoline for the operation of said motor-driven lifeboats: Provided, however, That no gasoline shall be carried other than that in the tanks of the lifeboats: Provided further, That the use of such lifeboats equipped with gasoline motors shall be under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce. (Jan. 24, 1913.)