exceed two hundred tons, it shall be the duty of the owner and master to provide and carry, as aforesaid, not less than three longboats or yawls, of the same or larger dimensions; and for every failure in these particulars, the said master and owner shall forfeit and pay three hundred dollars. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the master and owner of every steam-vessel employed on either of the lakes mentioned in the last section, or on the sea, to provide, as a part of the necessary furniture, a suction-hose and fire-engine and hose suitable to be worked on said boat in case of fire, and carry the same upon each and every voyage, in good order; and that iron rods or chains shall be employed and used in the navigating of all steamboats, instead of wheel or tiller ropes; and for a failure to do which, they, and each of them, shall forfeit and pay the sum of three hundred dollars. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the master and owner of every steamboat, running between sunset and sunrise, to carry one or more signal lights, that may be seen by other boats navigating the same waters, under the penalty of two hundred dollars. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the penalties imposed by this act may be sued for and recovered in the name of the United States, in the District or Circuit Court of such district or circuit where the offence shall have been committed, or forfeiture incurred, or in which the owner or master of said vessel may reside, one half to the use of the informer, and the other to the use of the United States; or the said penalty may be prosecuted for by indictment in either of the said Courts. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That every captain, engineer, pilot, or other person employed on board of any steamboat or vessel, propelled in whole or in part by steam, by whose misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his or their respective duties, the life or lives of any person or persons on board said vessel may be destroyed, shall be deemed guilty of manslaughter, and, upon conviction thereof before any Circuit Court in the United States, shall be sentenced to confinement at hard labor for a period not more than ten years. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That in all suits and actions against proprietors of steamboats, for injuries arising to person or property from the bursting of the boiler of any steamboat, or the collapse of a flue, or other injurious escape of steam, the fact of such bursting, collapse, or injurious escape of steam, shall be taken as full prima facie evidence, sufficient to charge the defendant or those in his employment, with negligence, until he shall show that no negligence has been committed by him or those in his employment. Approved, July 7, 1838. ACT OF 1843, CHAP. 94. An act to modify the act entitled "An act to provide for the better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam," approved July seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That every boat or vessel which existing laws require to be registered, and which is propelled in whole or in part by steam, shall be provided with such additional apparatus or means as, in the opinion of the inspector of steamboats, shall be requisite to steer the boat or vessel, to be located in such part of the boat or vessel as the inspector may deem best to enable the officers and crew to steer and control the boat or vessel, in case the pilot or man at the wheel is driven from the same by fire; and no boat or vessel, exclusively propelled by steam, shall be registered, after the passage of this act, unless the owner, master, or other proper person, shall file with the collector or other proper officer the certificate of the inspector, stating that suitable means have been provided to steer the boat or vessel, in case the pilot or man at the wheel is driven therefrom by fire. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful in all vessels or boats propelled in whole or in part by steam, and which shall be provided with additional apparatus or means to steer the same, as required by the first section of this act, to use wheel or tiller ropes, composed of hemp or other good and sufficient material, around the barrel or axle of the wheel, and to a distance not exceeding twenty-two feet therefrom, and also in connecting the tiller or rudder yoke with iron rods or chains used for working the rudder: Provided, That no more rope for this purpose shall be used than is sufficient to extend from the connecting points of the tiller or rudder yoke placed in any working position beyond the nearest blocks or rollers, and give sufficient play to work the ropes on such blocks or rollers: And provided, further, That there shall be chains extending the whole distance of the ropes, so connected with the tiller or rudder yoke, and attached or fastened to the tiller or rudder yoke and the iron chains or rods extending towards the wheel, in such manner as will take immediate effect, and work the rudder in case the ropes are burnt or otherwise rendered useless. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the master and owner, and all others interested in vessels navigating Lakes Champlain, Ontario, Erie, Huron, Superior, and Michigan, or any of them, and which are propelled by sails and Erickson's propeller, and used exclusively in carrying freight, shall from and after the passage of this act be exempt from liability or fine for failing to provide, as a part of the necessary furniture of such vessel, a suction hose and fire-engine and hose suitable to be worked on such vessel in case of fire, or more than one long-boat or yawl. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the court before which any suit, information, or indictment is or shall be pending for the violation, before the passage of this act, of so much of the ninth section of the act aforesaid, as requires "that iron rods or chains shall be employed and used in the navigation of all steamboats, instead of wheel and tiller ropes," to order such suft, information, or indictment to be discontinued, on such terms as to costs as the Court shall judge to be just and reasonable: Provided, That the defendant or defendants in such prosecution shall cause it to appear, by affidavit or otherwise, to the satisfaction of the court, that he or they had failed to use iron rods or chains in the navigation of his or their boat or boats, from a well-grounded apprehension that such rods or chains could not be employed for the purpose aforesaid with safety. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That in execution of the authority vested in him by the second section of the joint resolution, "authorizing experiments to be made for the purpose of testing Samuel Colt's sub-marine battery and for other purposes," approved August thirty-first, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, the secretary of the navy shall appoint a board of examiners, consisting of three persons, of thorough knowledge as to the structure and use H* of the steam-engine, whose duty it shall be to make experimental trials of such inventions and plans designed to prevent the explosion of steam boilers and collapsing of flues, as they may deem worthy of examination, and report the result of their experiments, with an expression of their opinion as to the relative merits and efficacy of such inventions and plans; which report the secretary shall cause to be laid before Congress, at its next session. It shall also be the duty of said examiners to examine and report the relative strength of copper and iron boilers of equal thickness, and what amount of steam to the square inch each, when sound, is capable of working with safety; and whether hydrostatic pressure, or what other plan is best for testing the strength of boilers under the inspection laws; and what limitations as to the force or pressure of steam to the square inch, in proportion to the ascertained capacity of a boiler to resist, it would be proper to establish by law for the more certain prevention of explosions. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act aforesaid as is inconsistent with the provisions of this act shall be, and the same is hereby repealed. Approved, March 3, 1843. FORM OF A LIBEL IN A SUIT IN REM IN CASES OF COLLISION OF VESSELS UPON THE LAKES. Libel in a suit in rem, for damages by collision, under the Act of February 26, 1845, "extending the jurisdiction of the District Courts of the United States to certain cases upon the lakes and navigable waters connecting the same." IN ADMIRALTY. To the Judge of the District Court of the United A. B. of owner of the schooner Sylph hereinafter mentioned, exhibits this his Libel against the steamboat Vixen, (whereof C. D. is or lately was master,) now lying in the port of — in the district of aforesaid, and within the Admiralty and Maritime jurisdiction of this Honorable Court; her engine, machinery, boats, tackle, apparel, and furniture, and against all persons lawfully intervening for their interest therein, in a cause of collision, civil and maritime. And thereupon the said A. B. doth allege and articulately propound as follows, to wit: First. That the said schooner Sylph is a vessel of more than twenty tons burthen, to wit, of the burthen of tons or thereabouts; and at the time when the cause of action hereinafter mentioned and set forth, arose, was enrolled and licensed for the coasting trade, and was employed in the business of commerce and navigation between ports and places in different States and Territories of the United States, upon the lakes and navigable waters connecting the said lakes. Second. That on the day of in the year the aforesaid schooner, being tight, stanch, and well manned and provided, sailed from the port of Sandusky in the State of Ohio, with a valuable cargo of wheat, on a voyage to the port of Buffalo in the State of New York. day of Third. That during the said voyage, to wit, about eleven P. M. of the the said schooner being then about eight miles westerly from Cleveland, with the wind blowing hard from the east-southeast, and the said schooner being close hauled on the starboard tack, her course lying east-northeast, R. T. the first mate of the said schooner, who then had the watch and was the commanding officer on deck, being on the lookout, descried lights ahead, |