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toward the promotion of safety.” “Warned shipmates to use ladder in coming aboard instead of walk- ing up the mooring cable.” Our office deals directly with em- ployes in handling all claims for in- juries. All accident reports are care- fully gone over by our fleet super- intendent, and any accidents involv- ing laxity in the enforcement of safe- ty rules, lack of proper supervision or bad practices, are promptly dis- cussed with the ship’s officers, who know that a full explanation is go- ing to be required. While the committee system is help- ful, it is not a complete panacea in preventing all injuries. Some men seem to be slow to know when they are in danger themselves or doing something that may injure others. We have found that injuries occur fre- quently when handling lines’ and cables. The men apparently misunder- stand signals or neglect to use the becket, and fingers are caught be- tween the spile and cable when the engine takes up on the cable. Quite a number of accidents happen when men run along the deck. Recently one of our sailors who was in a_ hurry to get back to supper, while running down the deck, slipped and severely injured his knee. The fire hold and engine room contribute to the _ ship- board injuries; clinkers get on fire- men’s ankles while cleaning fires; coal passer neglects to have a blister taken care of and finally infection sets in; fingers damaged when oiling or feeling engine. Compensation Should Include Seamen We have been very insistent in keep- ing strangers and newsboys off our ships. Some time ago a_ newsboy, attempting to board one of the ships, fell from the ladder to the dock, quite severely injuring his hip. As a result, we have had to be very care- ful in keeping everybody off the ship who has no business aboard. In- juries have been quite frequent also on account of falls, such as slipping on an oily hatch cover, and slipping on the deck during a storm. Men have attempted to go aboard while intoxicated, and have fallen off the gangplank. We have also had _ in- stances where men in the same condi- tion attempt to get aboard on the mooring line, which has not proven to be a very safe means of getting aboard. Accidents happen because ma- terial has been left where it should not have been causing injury when it fell from some upper place on the ship. Ladder accidents have been caused by slipping, barking shins, by not having a sure hold, or going down . the ladder the wrong way. Not long ago a sailor was going ashore and went down and off a ladder which was about four feet from the dock; he did not notice that it was not on the dock, and that the vessel was shifting along the dock. As we all know, the United States longshoremen’s and harbor workers’ compensation act, effective since July 1, 1927, applies to employes, excepting seamen, injured on shipboard, and this will do away with the litigations which have heretofore been possible between employe and employer. ‘The principle of compensation has now been well established and it is to be hoped that in the near future our congress will enact a fair compensa- tion law which will include seamen and provide an equitable remedy to assure injured seamen and their de- pendents certain and sure relief, While they do receive medical service now, their injuries and misfortunes still ex- pose them to a certain class of at- torney who perhaps would not wel- come a law which would take away a large source of income. When the state compensation acts began to op- erate, many employers seemed to show considerably more interest in acci- dent prevention, but many industries always had given that work the at- tention it deserved. It is pleasant to realize that many ship owners have accepted their responsibility to their employes in seeing that any- thing possible and reasonable is done for their safety and freedom from accidents. Twin Diesels Drive Sternwheel Boat Diesel stern-wheel tow boat DuNCAN Bruce—Built by Charles Ward Engineering Works for W. C. Kelly Barge Line IESEL engine application to Western river boats is con- stantly growing. Only last month, what is said to be the larg- est and most powerful diesel driven sternwheel river towboat, the DUNCAN BRUCE designed and built by the Charles Ward Engineering Works, Charleston, W. Va., was delivered to the owner, the W. C. Kelly Barge line, and entered the Pittsburgh-New Orleans service. This vessel is the MARINE REVIEW—October, 1927 last of four diesel towboats, and 22 steel barges built by the Ward com- pany for the Kelly interests. Her principal dimensions are: Length overall, 160 feet; length between per- pendiculars, 135 feet; beam molded, 27