shall arise to the person of any passenger, or his baggage, from such causes in so pursuing the voyage, and no degree of care or diligence shall in such case be held to justify or excuse the person in command, or the owners. (R. S. 4487.)

Rules for the St. Marys River.

The Secretary of Commerce is authorized and directed to adopt and prescribe suitable rules and regulations governing the movements and anchorage of vessels and rafts in Saint Marys River from Point Iroquois, on Lake Superior, to Point Detour, on Lake Huron, and for the purpose of enforcing the observance of such regulations the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to detail one or more Coast Guard cutters for duty upon the request of the Secretary of Commerce on said river. (Mar. 6, 1896; Apr. 26, 1906.)

All officers of the Coast Guard who are directed to enforce the regulations prescribed by the above rules are hereby empowered and directed, in case of necessity, or when a proper notice has been disregarded, to use the force at their command to remove from channels or stop any vessel from violating the prescribed rules. (Mar. 6, 1896, sec. 2.)

In the event of the violation of any such regulations or rules of the Secretary of Commerce by the owners, master, or person in charge of such vessel, such owners, masters, or person in charge shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding two hundred dollars: Provided, That the Secretary of Commerce may remit said fine on such terms as he may prescribe: Provided also, That nothing in this Act shall be construed to amend or repeal the Act entitled "An Act to regulate navigation on the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters as far east as Montreal," approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five. (Mar. 6, 1896, sec. 3; Apr. 26, 1906, sec. 2.) Regattas and Marine Parades.

The Secretary of Commerce is hereby authorized and empowered in his discretion to issue from time to time regulations, not contrary to law, to promote the safety of life on navigable waters during regattas or marine parades. (Sec. 1.)

To enforce such regulations the Secretary of Commerce may detail any public vessel in the service of that Department and make use of any private vessel tendered gratuitously for the purpose, or upon the request of the Secretary of Commerce the head of any other Department may enforce the regulations issued under this Act by means of any public vessel of such Department and of any private vessel tendered gratuitously for the purpose. (Sec. 2.)

The authority and power bestowed upon the Secretary of Commerce by sections one and two may be transferred for any special occasion to the head of another Department by the President whenever in his judgment such transfer is desirable. (Sec. 3.)

For any violation of regulations issued pursuant to this Act the following penalties shall be incurred:

(a) A licensed officer shall be liable to suspension or revocation of license in the manner now prescribed by law for incompetency or misconduct.

(b) Any person in charge of the navigation of a vessel other than a licensed officer shall be liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars.

(c) The owner of a vessel (including any corporate officer of a corporation owning the vessel) actually on board shall be liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars, unless the violation of regulations shall have occurred without his knowledge.

(d) Any other person shall be liable to a penalty of two hundred and fifty dollars.

The Secretary of Commerce is hereby authorized and empowered to mitigate or remit any penalty herein provided for in the manner prescribed by law for the mitigation or remission of penalties for violation of the navigation laws. (Apr. 28, 1908, sec. 4.)

The Coast Guard cutters on the northern and northwestern lakes, when put in commission, shall be specially charged with aiding vessels in distress on the lakes. (R. S. 2759.)

The President may, when the necessities of the service permit it, cause any suitable number of public vessels adapted to the purpose to cruise upon the coast in the season of severe weather and to afford such aid to distressed navigators as their circumstances may require; and such public vessels shall go to sea fully prepared to render such assistance. (R. S. 1536.)

Removal of Derelicts.

The President of the United States is hereby authorized to make with the several governments interested in the navigation of the North Atlantic Ocean an international agreement providing for the reporting, marking, and removal of dangerous wrecks, derelicts, and other menaces to navigation in the North Atlantic Ocean outside the coast waters of the respective countries bordering thereon. (Oct. 31, 1893.)

The President in his discretion may temporarily detail any vessel or vessels of the Navy to remove or destroy derelicts in the course of vessels at sea. The regulations to govern the detail and service of said vessels shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy and approved by the President. (Mar. 3, 1905.)

Lights and Buoys.

The Commissioner of Lighthouses may, when he deems it necessary, place a light vessel or other suitable warning of danger on or over any wreck or temporary obstruction to the entrance of any harbor or in the channel or fairway of any bay or sound. (R. S. 4676; June 17, 1910, sec. 6.)

The Commissioner of Lighthouses shall properly mark all pierheads belonging to the United States situated on the northern and northwestern lakes whenever he is duly notified by the department charged with the construction or repair of pierheads that the construction or repair of any such pierheads has been completed. (R. S. 4677; June 17, 1910, sec. 6.)

All buoys along the coast, or in bays, harbors, sounds, or channels, shall be colored and numbered so that passing up the coast or sound, or entering the bay, harbor, or channel, red buoys with even

numbers shall be passed on the starboard hand, black buoys with uneven numbers on the port hand, and buoys with red and black stripes on either hand. Buoys in channelways shall be colored with alternate white and black perpendicular stripes. (R. S. 4678.) Charts and Manuals.

There shall be a Hydrographic Office attached to the Bureau of Navigation in the Navy Department for the improvement of the means for navigating safely the vessels of the Navy and of the mercantile marine, by providing, under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, accurate and cheap nautical charts, sailing directions, navigators, and manuals of instructions for the use of all vessels of the United States and for the benefit and use of navigators generally. (R. S. 431.)

The Secretary of the Navy is authorized to cause to be prepared, at the Hydrographic Office attached to the Bureau of Navigation in the Navy Department, maps, charts, and nautical books relating to and required in navigation, and to publish and furnish them to navigators at the cost of printing and paper, and to purchase the plates and copyrights of such existing maps, charts, navigators, sailing directions, and instructions as he may consider necessary, and when he may deem it expedient to do so, and under such regulations and instructions as he may prescribe. (R. S. 432.)

The charts published by the Coast Survey shall be sold at the office at Washington at the price of the printing and paper thereof, and elsewhere at the same price with the average cost of delivery added thereto; and hereafter there shall be no free distribution of such charts except to the departments of the United States and to the several States and officers of the United States requiring them for public use. (R. S. 4691; June 20, 1878.)

Storm and Weather Signals.

The Chief of the Weather Bureau, under the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture, on or after July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, shall have charge of the forecasting of weather, the issue of storm warnings, the display of weather and flood signals for the benefit of agriculture, commerce, and navigation, the gauging and reporting of rivers, the maintenance and operation of seacoast telegraph lines and the collection and transmission of marine intelligence for the benefit of commerce and navigation, the reporting of temperature and rain-fall conditions for the cotton interests, the display of frost and cold-wave signals, the distribution of meteorological information in the interests of agriculture and commerce, and the taking of such meteorological observations as may be necessary to establish and record the climatic conditions of the United States, or as are essential for the proper execution of the foregoing duties. (Oct. 1, 1890, sec. 3.)

Private Signals.

If a shipowner desires to use for the purpose of a private code any rockets, lights, or other similar signals, he may register those signals and house flags and funnel marks with the Commissioner of Navigation, who shall give public notice from time to time of the signals, house flags, and funnel marks so registered in such manner as he may think requisite for preventing those signals from being

mistaken for signals of distress or signals for pilots. The Commissioner of Navigation may refuse to register any signals which in his opinion can not easily be distinguished from signals of distress, signals for pilots, or signals prescribed by laws for preventing collisions. (May 28, 1908, sec. 7.)

Interference with Range Lights.

It shall be unlawful for any person to obstruct or interfere with any aid to navigation established or maintained in the Lighthouse Service under the Bureau of Lighthouses, or to anchor any vessel in any of the navigable waters of the United States so as to obstruct or interfere with range lights maintained therein, and any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be subject to a fine not exceeding the sum of five hundred dollars for each offense, and each day during which such violation shall continue shall be considered as a new offense. (May 14, 1908, sec. 6; June 17, 1910.)

The penalties provided in section six of the Act of May fourteenth, nineteen hundred and eight, for obstruction to or interference with any aid to navigation maintained by the Lighthouse Service shall apply with equal force and effect to any private aid to navigation lawfully maintained under the authority granted the Secretary of Commerce and the Commissioner of Lighthouses by section six (three) of the Act of June twentieth, nineteen hundred and six. (Mar. 3, 1915, sec. 8.)

Exemption from Tolls.

No tolls or operating charges whatever shall be levied upon or collected from any vessel, dredge, or other water craft for passing through any lock, canal, canalized river, or other work for the use and benefit of navigation, now belonging to the United States or that may be hereafter acquired or constructed; and for the purpose of preserving and continuing the use and navigation of said canals and other public works without interruption, the Secretary of War, upon the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, is hereby authorized to draw his warrant or requisition, from time to time, upon the Secretary of the Treasury to pay the actual expenses of operating, maintaining, and keeping said works in repair, which warrants or requisitions shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated: Provided, That whenever, in the judgment of the Secretary of War, the condition of any of the aforesaid works is such that its entire reconstruction is absolutely essential to its efficient and economical maintenance and operation as herein provided for, the reconstruction thereof may include such modifications in plan and location as may be necessary to provide adequate facilities for existing navigation: Provided further, That the modifications are necessary to make the reconstructed work conform to similar works previously authorized by Congress and forming a part of the same improvement, and that such modifications shall be considered and approved by the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors and be recommended by the Chief of Engineers before the work of reconstruction is commenced: Provided further, also, That an itemized statement of said expenses shall accompany the annual report