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Ship Construction Bill Senator Smith's Bill Definivis How Passenger Ships Shall be Constructed ENATOR William Alden Smith, as S a result of his investigation into the Titanic disaster, has framed a bill which seeks to minimize the conse- quences of any similar accident in the future. There is no likelihood of the bill becoming a law at this ses- sion, as congress is now in its clos- ing days and many other measures of somewhat similar character are pending, and are in a more advanced stage of legislation. whe. Smith bill) is< certainly . very sweeping in many of its provisions, and practically prohibits any foreign- owned vessel from entering or Clear- ing from an American port unless its provisions are. observed. Section 1 provides that all foreign corporations with headquarters abroad engaged in carrying passen- gers to and from American ports shall file with the commissioner of Garporations a. copy: ot..its: charter and a sworn statement giving the following particulars: Statement of Charter (a) The state or country in which the corporation, joint-stock company or association was incorporated or organized or in which the principal place of business of the partnership is located. (b) The: date of incorporation or organization. {c) The 'location of the: 'principal Gmce: in the United States: and the Mame and address of the agent or agents upon whom process may be served in this country, and attaching the consent of such agent or agents to accept service of such process. (d) The names and addresses of officers and members of the board of directors. (e) The amount of authorized cap- ital stock and the amount thereof outstanding. () the amount ot authorized bonded or other indebtedness and the amount thereof outstanding. (8) ihe assets and liabilities as shown by the last annual balance sheet. (h) The name and principal place of business of any individual or cor- poration, joint-stock company or as- sociation owning 50 per cent or more of the stock of the corporation, joint- stock company or other association making such statement. Section 2 provides that the usual certificate of inspection provided for by Section 4421 of the revised sta- tutes, shall be withheld by the in- spectors unless there shall be pre- sented to them the certificate of the commissioner of corporations that all and How Provided With Life Saving Equipment statements required under the pre- ceding section have been furnished. Section 5, dealing with the con- struction of vessels, is one tiat wiil greatly interest all shipbuilders since it practically requires both the longi- tudinal and transverse bulkheads in all passenger vessels carrying 100 or more passengers, whether operating on the ocean or the great lakes. The phraseology of this' section' is such that it is doubtless intended to em- brace existing tonnage, which, 'of course, would: mean extensive alter- ations in vessels now in commission. The exact language of: Section 5 is as tollows:". Construction of Vessel Every steel ocean or coastwise sea- going steam vessel and every steel steam vessel navigating the great northern and northwestern lakes, car- rying 100 or more passengers, shall have a water-tight skin inboard of the outside plating extending not less than 10 per cent of the load draught above the full load water line, either in the form of an inner bottom or of longitudinal water tight bulkheads, and this construction shall extend from the forward collision bulkhead over . not less than two-thirds of the length of the vessel; and every such vessel shall have bulkheads so spaced that any two adjacent compartments of the vessel may be flooded without destroying the floatability or stability of the vessel. Watertight transverse bulkheads shall extend from side te side OF othe: Vessel. attachine' to the outside shell. The transverse bulk- heads forward and abaft the machin- ery spaces shall be continued water- tight vertically to the uppermost con- tinuous structural deck. The upper- most continuous structural deck shall be fitted watertight. Bulkheads with- in the limits of the machinery spaces shall extend not less than 25 per cent of the draught of the vessel above the load water line and shall end -at a watertight deck. All watertight bulkheads and decks shall be propor- tioned to withstand, without material permanent deflection, a water pres- sure equal to 5 it.° more' than the full height of the bulkhead. Bulk- heads of novel dimensions or scant- lings shall be tested by being sub- jected to actual water pressure. That Senator Smith did not draw the bill is obvious, as it contains a great deal of technical knowledge with which he could not be expected to be acquainted. The provision con- cerning lifeboats reads as follows: Every ocean or coastwise seagoing steam vessel and every steam vessel navigating between different ports on the great northern or northwestern lakes, allowed by its certificate of inspection to carry more than 50 pas- sengers, shall have on _ board life boats of an aggregate carrying ca- pacity computed in cubic feet equal to ten times the total number of her crew plus the total number of pas- gciigets, "Stated th. stich certificate. The 'eapacity.. in. cubic feet ofall such ' lifeboats shall be determined by the following rule: Measure the length and _ breadth outside of the planking or plating and the depth inside at the place ot aiinimum. depth... Lhe. product of these dimensions multiplied by six- tenths resulting in the nearest whole number shall be deemed the capacity in cubic feet. Such lifeboats shall in all, cases. have, sufficient. room, freeboard and stability to safely carry one person for each ten cubic feet Of Us capacity, which' tact' mist: be determined by actual experiment in the water at the time of the first in- spection of said boats after passage of this rule. Where a vessel is car- rying boats of different types or ca- pacities, at least one boat: of each type ox. capacity.shall be. .so.,tested. Lifeboats required on ocean vessels of "150 ofoss tons and over shall be of suitable dimensions and of not less - than: 180. cubic: feet capacity. All such lifeboats shall be substan- tially constructed, and the-~ tensile strength of the metal used therein shall be not less than 45,000 pounds and the reduction of area shall be at least 50 per cent. There shall be afixed to such lifeboats .a plate or other device having thereon the build- ers name, number of boat, date of construction of boat, cubical contents of boat, and number of persons said boat: will carry, allowine 10. cu. ft, to each person, as above provided. All such lifeboats shall be provided with air tanks, entirely independent of the hull or other construction, and of suitable non-corrosive material of a thickness of not less than No. 18 B..v. G., of a cabacity of not Tess than 1 5/10 cu. ft. for each person in the case of metallic boats and not less than 1 cu. ft. for each person in the case of wooden boats. Such air tanks shall be firmly and securely fastened in the hull in such manner as will allow them to be temporarily removed; and in no case shall the tank be punctured or opened for such fastenings. The tops of such tanks shall be thoroughly protected by a grating or platform or by the thwarts or seats. All joints of air tanks shall be properly double riveted and tight- ly calked or securely hook jointed and efficiently soldered. The cubical contents of the air space of the air tank shall be stamped on the tank where the stamp can be seen wher the air tank is placed in the boat. All air tanks shall be fitted with a connection of '%-in. outside diameter, for testing purposes, and shall be tested at the original and all subse- quent annual inspections, and oftener if in the opinion of the inspectors: