It shall be unlawful to transport, carry, or convey, any dynamite, gunpowder, or other explosive, between a place in a foreign country and a place within or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, or between a place in any State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof, and a place in any other State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof, on any vessel or vehicle of any description operated by a common carrier, which vessel or vehicle is carrying passengers for hire: Provided, That it shall be lawful to transport on any such vessel or vehicle small arms ammunition in any quantity, and such fuses, torpedoes, rockets, or other signal devices, as may be essential to promote safety in operation, and properly packed and marked samples of explosives for laboratory examination, not exceeding a net weight of one-half pound each, and not exceeding twenty samples at one time in a single vessel or vehicle; but such samples shall not be carried in that part of a vessel or vehicle which is intended for the transportation of passengers for hire: Provided further, That nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the transportation of military or naval forces with their accompanying munitions of war on passenger equipment vessels or vehicles. (Mar. 4, 1909; Repeals R S., 5353 and 5354; sec. 232.)
The Interstate Commerce Commission shall formulate regulations for the safe transportation of explosives, which shall be binding upon all common carriers engaged in interstate or foreign commerce which transport explosives by land. Said commission, of its own motion, or upon application made by any interested party, may make changes or modifications in such regulations, made desirable by new information or altered conditions. Such regulations shall be in accord with the best known practicable means for securing safety in transit, covering the packing, marking, loading, handling while in transit, and the precautions necessary to determine whether the material when offered is in proper condition to transport. Such regulations, as well as all changes or modifications thereof, shall take effect ninety days after their formulation and publication by said commission and shall be in effect until reversed, set aside, or modified. (Sec. 233; Repeals R. S., 5355.)
It shall not be lawful to transport, carry, or convey, ship, deliver on board, or cause to be delivered on board, the substance or article known or designated as nitro-glycerine, or glynoin oil, nitroleum or blasting oil, or nitrated oil, or powder mixed with any such oil, or fiber saturated with any such article, or substance, upon or in any vessel or vehicle used or employed in transporting passengers by land or water between a place in any foreign country and a place within the limits of any State, Territory, or district of the United States, or between a place in one State, Territory, or district of the United States, and a place in any other State, Territory, or district thereof. (R. S., 4278.)
It shall not be lawful to ship, send, or forward any quantity of the substances or articles named in the preceding section, or to transport, convey, or carry the same by a vessel or vehicle of any description, upon land or water, between a place in a foreign country and a place within the United States, or between a place in one State, Territory, or district of the United States, and a place in any other State Territory, or district thereof, unless the same shall be securely enclosed, deposited, or packed in a metallic vessel surrounded by plaster of Paris, or other material that will be non-explosive when saturated with such oil or substance, and separate from all other substances, and the outside of the package containing the same be marked, printed, or labeled in a conspicuous manner with the words "Nitro-glycerine, dangerous." (R. S., 4279.)
The two preceding sections shall not be so construed as to prevent any State, Territory, district, city, or town within the United States from regulating or from prohibiting the traffic in or transportation of those substances, between persons or places lying or being within their respective territorial limits, or from prohibiting the introduction thereof into such limits, for sale, use, or consumption therein. (R. S., 4280.)
CHAPTER VII
THE CHIEF MATE
The Chief Officer of an ocean steamer is officially styled the Chief Mate. Also, he is often referred to simply as the Mate. In passenger liners, transports, and the like, the term Chief Officer, finds favor. But among men of the sea, the fine old sailor title "Chief Mate" prevails.
The Chief Mate has the most difficult, and in many ways, the most important position on a vessel. An energetic Chief Mate, who is also competent, makes his vessel a successful organization. He should possess the necessary knowledge and skill in his profession, combined with initiative, tact, and executive ability of a high order.
The position of Chief Mate is the test job of the sea. An indifferent junior officer can survive for years, but when he is appointed Chief Mate, he must either make good, and achieve promotion, or his faults and shortcomings overtake him and ruin his career. This is the hard screen through which the master mariners are sifted.