Chapter 173. To amend section one of chapter three hundred and ninety-eight of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-two, entitled “An Act to provide for deductions from the gross tonnage of vessels of the United States.”March 2, 1895. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Sta
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CHAP. 173.— An Act To amend section one of chapter three hundred and ninety-eight of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-two, entitled “An Act to provide for deductions from the gross tonnage of vessels of the United States.”March 2, 1895. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Navigation.Deductions from gross tonnage United States vessels.Vol. 22, p. 300. That section one of chapter three hundred and ninety-eight of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty two, approved August fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty two, entitled “An Act to provide for deductions from the gross tonnage of vessels of the United States,” be amended so as to read:
" “That section forty-one hundred and fifty-three of the Revised Statutes[R. S., sec. 4153, p. 801, amended](/us/rs/t/s4153/p801). of the United States be amended by inserting before the last paragraph thereof the following words: “‘ That from the gross tonnage of every vessel of the United StatesSpaces deducted. there shall be deducted— “‘(a) The tonnage of the spaces or compartments occupied by orUse of crew. appropriated to the use of the crew of the vessel. Every place appropriated to the crew of the vessel shall have a space of not less thanAllotment. seventy-two cubic feet and not less than twelve superficial feet, measured on the deck or floor of that place, for each seaman or apprentice lodged therein.
Such place shall be securely constructed, properly lighted, drained, and ventilated, properly protected from weather and sea, and as far as practicable properly shut off and protected from the effluvium of cargo or bilge water; and failure to comply with this provisionPenalty for failure. shall subject the owner to a penalty of five hundred dollars. Every place so occupied shall be kept free from goods or stores of any kind not being the personal property of the crew in use during the voyage; and if any such place is not so kept free the master shall forfeit and pay to each seaman or apprentice lodged in that place the sum of fifty cents a day for each day during which any goods or stores as aforesaid are kept or stored in the place after complaint has been made to him by any two or more of the seamen so lodged.
No deduction from tonnage as aforesaid shall be made unless there is permanently 742 cut in a beam and over the doorway of every such place the number of menCertificate. it is allowed to accommodate with these words, “Certified to accommodate seamen.” “‘(b) Any space exclusively for the use of the master certified Use of master. the collector to be reasonable in extent and properly constructed, and the words “Certified for the accommodation of master” to be permanently cut in a beam and over the door of such space.
“‘(c) Any space used exclusively for the working of the helm, theUse of gear, charts, etc. capstan, and the anchor gear, or for keeping the charts, signals, and other instruments of navigation and boatswain’s stores, and the words “Certified for steering gear,” or “Certified for boatswain’s stores,” or “Certified chart house,” as the case may be, to be permanently cut in the beam and over the doorway of each of such spaces. “‘(d) The space occupied by the donkey engine and boiler, if connectedPumps. with the main pumps of the ship.
“‘(e) In the case of a ship propelled wholly by sails any space, notStorage of sails. exceeding two and one-half per centum of the gross tonnage, used *Proviso*.Certificate of collector.exclusively for storage of sails: *Provided*, That spaces deducted shall be certified by the collector to be reasonable in extent and properly and efficiently constructed for the purposes for which they are intended, and the words “Certified for storage of sails” to be cut on the beam and over the doorway of such space.
“‘(f) In the case of a ship propelled by steam or other power requiringUse of propelling power, steam vessels. engine room, a deduction for the space occupied by the propelling power shall be made, as follows: “‘In ships propelled by paddle wheels in which the tonnage of thePaddle wheels. space occupied by and necessary for the proper working of the boilers and machinery is above twenty percent and under thirty per centum of the gross tonnage, the deduction shall be thirty-seven per centum of the gross tonnage; and in ships propelled by screws in which the tonnage of the space is above thirteen per centum and under twenty per centum Screw propellers.of the gross tonnage, the deduction shall be thirty-two per centum of the gross tonnage.
In the case of screw steamers the contents of the trunk shaft shall be deemed spaces necessary for the proper working of the machinery. “(g) In the case of other vessels in which the actual space occupiedAllowance for variations. by the propelling machinery amounts in the case of paddle vessels to twenty per centum or under and in the case of screw vessels to thirteen per centum or under of the gross tonnage of the ship, the deduction shall consist in the case of paddle vessels of once and a half the tonnage of the actual machinery space and in the case of screw vessels of once and three-fourths the tonnage of the actual machinery space.
But if the actual machinery space is so large as to amount in the case of paddle vessels to thirty per centum or above, and in the case of screw vessels to twenty per centum or above of the gross tonnage of the ship, the deduction shall consist of thirty-seven per centum of the gross tonnage of the ship in the ease of a paddle vessel and thirty-two per centum of the gross tonnage in the case of a screw vessel; or if the owner prefers there shall be deducted from the gross tonnage of the vessel the tonnage of the space or spaces actually occupied by or required to be inclosed for the proper working of the boilers and machinery, including the trunk shaft or alley in screw steamers, with the addition in the case of vessels propelled with paddle wheels of fifty per centum, and in the case of vessels propelled by screws of seventy-five per centum of the tonnage of such space.
“‘(h) If there be a break, a poop, or any other permanent closed-inAddition of closed space on upper decks. space on the upper deck available for cargo or stores, or for the berthing or accommodation of passengers or crew, the tonnage of that space shall *Proviso*.No addition unless closed.be ascertained and added to the gross tonnage: Provided, That nothing shall be added to the gross tonnage for any sheltered space above the upper deck which is under cover and open to the weather; that is, not inclosed. 743 “‘(i) On a request in writing to the Commissioner of Navigation byAllowance for light and air. the owners of a ship the tonnage of such portion of the space or spaces above the crown of the engine room and above the upper deck as is framed in for the machinery or for the admission of light and air and not required to be added to gross tonnage shall, for the purpose of ascertaining the tonnage of the space occupied by the propelling power, be added to. the tonnage of the engine space; but it shall then be included in the gross tonnage; such space or spaces must be reasonable in extent, safe, and seaworthy, and can not be used for any purpose other than the machinery or for the admission of light and air to the machinery, or for the admission of light and air to the machinery or boilers of the ship.
“‘And the proper deduction from the gross tonnage having beenNet tonnage. made, the remainder shall be deemed the net or register tonnage of such vessels. “‘The register or other official certificate of the tonnage or nationalityRegister to state deductions, etc. of a vessel of the United States, in addition to what is now required by law to be expressed therein, shall state separately the deductions made from the gross tonnage, and shall also state the net or register tonnage of the vessel.
“‘But the outstanding registers or enrollments of vessels of theOutstanding registers to have appendix, etc. United States shall not be rendered void by the addition of such new statement of her tonnage, unless voluntarily surrendered; but the same may be added to the outstanding document or by an appendix thereto, with a certificate of a collector of customs that the original estimate of tonnage is amended. “‘In the ease of a ship constructed with a double bottom for waterDouble-bottom vessels. ballast, if the space between the inner and outer plating thereof is certified by the collector to be not available for the carriage of cargo, stores, or fuel, then the depth of the vessel shall be taken to be the upper side of the inner plating of the double bottom, and that upper side shall for the purposes of measurement be deemed to represent the floor timber.
“‘Upon application by the owner or master of an American vessel inStatement of foreign deductions.*Ante*, p. 636. foreign trade, collectors of customs, under regulations to be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, are authorized to attach lo the register of such vessel an appendix stating separately, for use in foreign ports, the measurement of such space or spaces as are permitted to be deducted from gross tonnage by the rules of other nations and are not permitted by the laws of the.
United States.” " Sec. 2. That this Act shall not be construed to require the remeasurementRemeasurements not required. of any American vessel duly measured before April first, eighteen hundred and ninety-five: but upon application by the owner of any such vessel collectors of customs shall cause such vessel, or the spaces to be deducted, to be measured according to the provisions of this Act, and if a new register is not issued the statement of suchStatement if remeasured. remeasurement shall be attached by an appendix to the outstanding register or enrollment with a certificate of the collector of customs that the original estimate of tonnage is amended pursuant to this Act.
Sec. 3. That the provisions of this Act requiring a crew space ofCrew space provisions applicable to ships built after June 30, 1895. seventy-two cubic feet per man shall apply only to vessels the construction of which shall be begun after June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five. Sec. 4. That under the direction of the Secretary of the TreasuryRegulations. the Commissioner of Navigation shall make regulations needful to give effect to the provisions of this Act. Sec. 5.
That this Act shall take effect on the first day of April, eighteenEffect. hundred and ninety-five. Approved, March 2, 1895.