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SINAC x aT al HE United States shipping board recruiting service, Henry Howard, director, is taking a country-wide census of licensed ma- riners, in order to deal intelligently © with the present emergency. The board urges all licensed mariners who are engaged in shore occupations to come back to the sea, for the new merchant marine will need great num- bers of competent men. Data covering the ‘numbers. of licensed officers, together with the grades of ocean and coastwise licenses which they hold, have been prepared here for the recruiting service by the United States steamboat inspection service. There are about 40,000 _ licensed officers. Many are not now engaged in the seafaring profession. These are all men of considerable sea ex- perience, and it is this class that the board is now urging to return to the sea. Some leading authorities believe that all men who hold licenses should be drafted and forced to assist the government in the present emergency. Others believe that unless the men come forward and serve willingly their licenses should be taken away. A letter which will go forward from Henry Howard to every person in the country holding a license as officer of an ocean or coastwise steam or sail vessel will say, in part: “The recruiting service of the United States shipping board is at present engaged in compiling detailed statistics as to the number of persons holding United States licenses as officers of ocean or coastwise steam or sail vessels, their present address and occupation. Opportunities are Great “This information is desired in or- der that this service may have a ready reference list of all officers available for service in the large number of vessels that will be placed in coast- wise and overseas service. “Opportunities for the advancement of licensed officers were never so promising as at the present time; and Rulings on Marine Matters NA Improvements to Waterways Hints to Navigators salaries are on a higher plane than ever before. “It has been said that to win this war, the United States must provide ships in large numbers to offset the activities of the enemy submarines. These ships are required for the maintenance of our military forces on the battlefield and also to supply food and supplies to our allies. _ “Ships are now being built as rap- idly as the facilities of our shipyards will allow. There are now under con- struction about 1,500,000 tons for pri- vate order for service in the coast- wise or overseas trade; and in addi- tion there are 1,900,000 tons building for government order for overseas service. Stupendous as these figures may appear, as compared to previous records of shipbuilding in this coun- try, even this output will be material- ly increased as additional shipyards are completed. As soon as these ships are completed, work will be com- menced on others, contracts for which have already been let. “With the ships assured, the prob- lem is presented of securing a suff- cient number of licensed officers to man the vessels. as they are made ready for service. “These are days of self-sacrifice for every liberty-loving American. The world must and shall be made free that future generations may enjoy the blessing of liberty, and you, of course, realize the important part the officers and seamen of our merchant marine must take to bring success to the cause of democracy. “The American seaman has never been a slacker, and history records that in every case of danger to our nation, he has come valiantly to his country’s aid without thought of per- sonal comfort or advantage; and there is every reason to believe that the seamen of the present day will be just as patriotic as their predecessors. Are you willing to do your part to preserve the glorious traditions of our merchant sailor? “The United States shipping board, through its recruiting service, is now engaged in educating both deck and 313 ig AINA WUUtUKWTH86G§6$EUBMIIn_II=iVnivr«|*itc#©c:ciicicciGKiiscisi0iniii:, ya. Z\ Vp ) Y ye U Z U eC rs engineer officers free of charge, hav- ing established schools in cities along the seaboard and Great Lakes. “In addition, the recruiting service is taking a census of the officers at present holding license in order that it may intelligently deal with the sit- uation at hand. You are, therefore, requested to fill out the enclosed card and return it as soon as possible. To insure accurate records, you should be careful to see that all blanks are properly filled in and contain the cor- rect information. “Your country desires your service.” Letting Down the Bars At a meeting of the executive com- mittee of the board of supervising in- spectors of the steamboat inspection service recently the sulphur limit in open-hearth steel for boiler plate was raised from 0.04 to 0.05 per cent in order, it is stated, that production may be increased without lessening the safety of this material. Rules re- garding the stamping of boiler plates also have been revised to read as fol- lows: “Every iron and steel plate in- tended for the construction or repair of boilers to be used on steam vessels shall be stamped by the manufacturer at two diagonal corners at a distance of about 18 inches from the edges.” Previously the distance was 8 inches. The executive committee also amended the general rules and regula- tions of the board of supervising in- . spectors relating to ocean, coastwise and lake shipping, other than the Great Lakes, bays and sounds, in re- gard to experience qualifications re- quired for license as master, mate, pilot and engineer of vessels. The amendments received the approval of the secretary of commerce. The length of service required for license has been reduced in some in- stances, and some option as to service requirements for license has been left to the judgment and discretion of the local inspectors examining applicants for license. : These modifications of the rules and