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May, 1914 The practice of using a mixture of gasoline and oil in torches for light- ing purposes was _ prohibited. It was recommended that the in- side of hatch coamings be painted white. Dock companies will be instructed not.to allow their men on board until notified that the vessel is ready for the men, owing to the danger that they run of being injured by the ca- bles that are used to take off the steel hatches. The recommendation that temper- ance should be encouraged and be made a consideration for promotion as between men of otherwise equal merit was heartily approved, as was also the recommendation to prohibit the carrying of liquor aboard the ves- sel. Temperance pledgés and buttons will be provided for free distribution to the men in the assembly rooms and aboard the vessels. It was recommended that all water tanks for sanitary use aboard vessels should be so constructed that they could be easily got at and cleaned, and they should be filled through in- dependent pieces of hose and not through regular pipes. In other words, they cannot. be filled with hose that is used for swabbing down the deck because such hose may have been used in water from a possibly pol- luted area. Considerable attention was paid to the following recommendation: "That the masters and engineers of all ves- sels in the association be instructed to have the dynamo run so that the ship can be properly lighted at night whether working or not; that the dynamo be run in the day time when in the judgment of the masters and engineers it is necessary." It is generally known that the dynamo is a frequent source of fric- tion between the forward and after end of the ship. It was felt that the 'responsibility for its operation should not be divided and the recommenda- tion was amended to read as follows: "That the masters of all vessels having dynamos be instructed to have the dynamo run when in their judg- ment it is necessary for the proper lighting of the ship." Wherever practicable or necessary for safety, proper foot gratings and hand rails will be placed athwart- ships above the boilers, the gratings to run full length between the boilers on all boats. No attempt shall be made to re- move a bonnet from a valve until the steam line on which the valve is sit- uated has been opened to the atmos- Phere. Repair work of any kind is to be avoided whenever possible on boil- THE MARINE REVIEW ers or pipe lines while the same are under pressure. The vessels of the association will carry cards bearing the words "Safety First", or language to the same effect, in all dangerous places on board ship. The vessels of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co, already indicate these places with a blue enamel sign and those of the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. with a red disc. The disc is in general adoption on all the railroads of the United States. It was decided to com- bine the two, having signs on both for- ward and after deck houses and in the engine room accompanied with the red disc. The committee recommended that the Lake Carriers's Association bring its influence to bear upon the proper authorities having jurisdiction over marine boiler construction to have all boilers constructed in the future in such manner as to allow as much as possible the further examination of the internal parts. The recommendations dealing with the filling of the drinking tanks and the care of the toilet facilities were referred to the committee on sanitation. Money-Saving System The committee recommended the money-saving system to those who have not availed themselves of this convenience. In this connection Mr. Sheadle stated that a bank account had an undoubted steadying influence and that there was a direct ratio. be- tween the changes in crew and the size of the bank account. Fewer shifts are made by the money-saving element. The committee strongly endorsed the holding of monthly meetings of licensed officers aboard ships and rec- ommended that they be held on the vessels that have not so far followed this practice. It was the testimony of those managers on whose vessels monthly meetings are held that it has been one of the best features ever introduced and that some of the re- ports that are sent into the office are regarded as invaluable. Before proceeding to the consid- eration of the recommendations of the Committee on Aids to Navigation, L. C. Waldo recommended that a few cases of food be always carried for- ward for use in cases of emergency. He recommended this as a result of the experience of the crew of the L. C. Waldo in the storm last No- vember. The after deck house was completely swept away by the sea and for 72 hours the crew had nothing to live on except one can of tomatoes and two cans of peaches. This rec- 191 ommendation was referred to the In- dustrial Committee. The Committee on Aids to Naviga- tion recommended that the Living- stone channel, which is now 300 ft. wide, be increased to 450 ft. This «was endorsed. The committee endorsed the request made by the lake survey for $175,000 to carry on the work of surveying and charting the great lakes. An addi- tional appropriation for making a thor- ough survey of the southern end of Lake Huron and also the Nine Fath- om Bank in Lake Huron was recom- mended. This was, of course, ap- proved. It was recommended and approved that the following signals be univer- sally recognized on the lakes as dis- tress signals and should be used only in case of distress and when assist- ance is needed: : By day--four long blasts of the steam whistle and the ensign hoisted up-side down. At night--rockets sent up and exploding in the air and emitting red stars. The firing of a gun at frequent intervals or four blasts of the steam whistle. If none of these are at hand, then the burning of an oil barrel or some inflammable material will be used to attract at- tention. W. E. Lloyd proposed an amend- ment that the rockets be the regula- tion government four-pound ship rock- ets and that each lifeboat be pro- vided with a regulation government distress outfit, consisting of 12 pyro- technic red lights carried in a metal case. Mr. Lloyd stated that life boats of the Mutual Transit Co.'s fleet had been so provided for years and his amendment together with the charac- ter of the signals was approved. Searchlights were held to be of no material benefit in aiding safe naviga- tion and that for the purpose of pick- ing up a derelict crew or a man over- board, water lights were far more prac- tical. The masters of the committee who command vessels with steel hatches having three athwartship bars and three windy youngs considered them very secure fastenings, and _ those masters of the committee having ves- sels with hatches secured with but- terflies also considered them very se- cure, but in the latter case wooden battens, 1 in. x 2% in. wide should be placed along the forward and after end of the upper side of the hatch upon which the butterfly fasteners are to be tightened. It was recommended that reliable barometers should be furnished to all vessels and that they should be period-