Chapter 103.
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CHAP. 103.— AN ACT To promote the safety of employees and travelers upon railroads by compelling common carriers engaged in interstate commerce to equip their locomotives with safe and suitable boilers and appurtenances thereto. February 17, 1911.[[S. 6702](/us/bill/36/s/6702).][[Public, No. 383](/us/bill/36/pl/383).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Locomotive boilers.That the provisions of this Act shall apply to any common carrier or carriers, their officers, agents, and employees, engaged in the transportation of passengers Common carriers affected by act.or property by railroad in the District of Columbia, or in any Territory of the United States, or from one State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia to any other State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia, or from any place in the United States to an adjacent foreign country, or from any place in the United States through a foreign country to any other place in the United States.
Meaning of terms.The term “railroad” “Railroads.”as used in this Act shall include all the roads in use by any common carrier operating a railroad, whether owned or operated under a contract, agreement, or lease, and the term “ employees” “ Employees.”as used in this Act shall be held to mean persons actually engaged in or connected with the movement of any train. Sec.2.That from Locomotives.and after the first day of July, nineteen hundred and eleven, it shall be unlawful for any common carrier, its officers or agents, subject to this Act to use any Use, unless with safe boilers, unlawful.locomotive engine propelled by 914steam power in moving interstate or foreign traffic unless the boiler of said locomotive and appurtenances thereof are in proper condition and safe to operate in the service to which the same is put, that the same may be employed in the active service of such carrier in moving traffic without unnecessary peril to life or limb, and all boilers shall be inspected Inspection.from time to time in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and be able to withstand such test or tests as may be prescribed in the rules and regulations hereinafter provided for.
Sec.3.That there shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a chief inspector Chief and two assistant chief inspectors.and two assistant chief inspectors of locomotive boilers, who shall have general superintendence of the inspectors hereinafter provided for, Appointment, etc.direct them in the duties hereby imposed upon them, and see that the requirements of this Act*Post*, p. 1397.and the rules, regulations, and instructions made or given hereunder are observed by common carriers subject hereto.
Selection.The said chief inspector and his two assistants shall be selected with reference to their practical knowledge of the construction and repairing of boilers, and to their fitness and ability to systematize and carry into effect the provisions hereof Salaries, etc.relating to the inspection and maintenance of locomotive boilers. The chief, inspector shall receive a salary of four thousand dollars per year and the assistant chief inspectors shall each receive a salary of three thousand dollars per year; and each of the three shall be paid his traveling expenses incurred in the performance of his duties.
Office, etc.The office of the chief inspector shall be in Washington, District of Columbia, and the Interstate Commerce Commission shall provide such stenographic and clerical help as the business of the offices of the chief inspector and his said assistants may require. Sec.4.That immediately after his appointment and qualification the chief inspector Inspection districts.shall divide the territory comprising the several States, the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona, and the District of Columbia into fifty locomotive boiler-inspection districts, so arranged that the service of the inspector appointed for each district shall be most effective, and so that the work required of each inspector shall be substantially the same.
District inspectors.Thereupon there shall be appointed by the Interstate Commerce Commission fifty inspectors of locomotive boilers.In classified civil service.Said inspectors shall be in the classified service and shall be appointed after competitive examination according to the law and the rules of the Civil Service Commission governing the classified service. The chief inspector shall assign one inspector so appointed to each of the districts Salaries, etc.hereinbefore named.
Each inspector shall receive a salary of one thousand eight hundred dollars per year and his traveling expenses while engaged in the performance of his duty. He shall receive in addition thereto an annual allowance for office rent, stationery, and clerical assistance, to be fixed by the Interstate Commerce Commission, but not to exceed in the case of any district inspector six hundred dollars per year. Examinations of applicants.In order to obtain the most competent inspectors possible, it shall be the duty of the chief inspector to prepare a list of questions to be propounded to applicants with respect to construction, repair, operation, testing, and inspection of locomotive boilers, and their practical experience in such work, which list, being approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission, shall be used by the Civil Service Commission as a part of its examination.
Disqualifications.No person interested, either directly or indirectly, in any patented article required to be used on any locomotive under supervision or who is intemperate in his habits shall be eligible to hold the office of either chief inspector or assistant or district inspector. Sec.5.That each carrier subject to this Act shall file its rules and instructions for the inspection Inspection by carriers.of locomotive boilers with the chief 915inspector within three months after the approval Approval, etc., of rules filed.of this Act, and after hearing and approval by the Interstate Commerce Commission, such rules and instructions, with such modifications as the commission requires, shall become obligatory upon such carrier: *Provided, however,**Proviso.*That if any carrier subject to this Act shall fail to file its rules Rules to be observed if carrier fails to file anyand instructions the chief inspector shall prepare rides and instructions not inconsistent herewith for the inspection of locomotive boilers, to be observed by such carrier; which rules and instructions, being approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and a copy thereof being served upon the president, general manager, or general superintendent of such carrier, shall be obligatory, and a violation thereof punished as hereinafter provided: *Provided also,* Changes.That such common carrier may from time to time change the rules and regulalations herein provided for, Office rules, etc.but such change shall not take effect and the new rules and regulations be in force until the same shall have been filed with and approved Approval of all rules.by the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The chief inspector shall also make all needful rules, regulations, and instructions not inconsistent herewith for the conduct of his office and for the government of the district inspectors: *Provided, however,*That all such rules and instructions shall be approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission before they take effect. Sec.6.That it shall be the duty of each inspector District inspection.to become familiar, so far as practicable, with the condition of each locomotive boiler ordinarily housed or repaired in his district, and if any locomotive is ordinarily housed or repaired in two or more districts, then the chief inspector or an assistant shall make such division between inspectors as will avoid the necessity for duplication of work.
Each inspector shall make such personal Personal inspection of boilers.inspection of the locomotive boilers under his care from time to time as may be necessary to fully carry out the provisions of this Act, and as may be consistent with his other duties, but he shall not be required to make such inspections at stated times or at regular intervals. Inspection by carriers.His first duty shall be to see that the carriers make inspections in accordance with the rules and regulations established or approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and that carriers repair the defects which such inspections disclose before the boiler or boilers or appurtenances pertaining thereto are again put in service.
Sworn reports to be filed.To this end each carrier subject to this Act shall file with the inspector in charge, under the oath of the proper officer or employee, a duplicate of the report of each inspection required by such rules and regulations, and shall also file with such inspector, under the oath of the proper officer or employee, a report showing the repair of the defects disclosed by the inspection. Repairing defects.The rules and regulations hereinbefore provided for shall prescribe the time at which such reports shall be inaile.
Notice of defective boilers, etc.Whenever any district inspector shall, in the performance of his duty, find any locomotive boiler or apparatus pertaining thereto not conforming to the requirements of the law or the rules and regulations established and approved as hereinbefore stated, he shall notify the carrier in writing that the locomotive is not in serviceable condition, and thereafter such boiler shall not be used until in serviceable condition: *Provided,* *Proviso.*That a carrier, when notified by an inspector in writing that a locomotive boiler is not in serviceable condition, because of defects set out and described in said notice, may within five days after receiving said notice,Appeals to chief inspector by carrier.appeal to the chief inspector by telegraph or by letter to have said boiler reexamined, and upon receipt of the appeal from the inspector’s decision, the chief inspector shall assign one of the assistant chief inspectors or any district Reexamination.inspector other than the one from whose decision the appeal is taken to reexamine and inspect said boiler within fifteen days from date of notice.
If upon such reexamination the boiler Effect.is found in serviceable condition, the chief inspector shall immediately notify the carrier in writing, whereupon such boiler may 916be put into service without further delay; but if the reexamination of said boiler sustains the decision of the district inspector, the chief inspector shall at once notify the carrier owning or operating such locomotive that the appeal from the decision of the inspector is dismissed, and upon the receipt of such notice the carrier may, within thirty days, appeal Appeals to Interstate Commerce Commission.to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and upon such appeal, and after hearing, said Commission shall have power to revise, modify, or set aside Final action.such actionFinal action.of the chief inspector and declare that said locomotive is in serviceable condition and authorize the same to be operated: *Provided further,* Inspector’s requirements effective pending appeals.That pending either appeal the requirements of the inspector shall be effective.
Sec.7.That the chief inspector shall make an annual reportAnnual report of chief inspector.to the Interstate Commerce Commission of the work done during the year, and shall make such recommendations for the betterment of the service as he may desire. Sec.8.That in the case of accident resultingAccidents from failure of boilers.from failure from any cause of a locomotive boiler or its appurtenances, resulting in serious injury or death to one or more persons, a statement forthwith must be made in writing of the fact of such accident, by the carrier owning or operating said locomotive, to the chief inspector.
Investigation.Whereupon the facts concerning such accident shall be investigated by the chief inspector or one of his assistants, or such inspector as the chief inspector may designate for that purpose. And where the locomotive is disabled Disabled parts to be preserved.to the extent that it can not be run by its own steam, the part or parts affected by the said accident shall be preserved by said carrier intact, so far as possible, without hindrance or interference to traffic until after said inspection.
Detailed reports.The chief inspector or an assistant or the designated inspector making the investigation shall examine or cause to be examined thoroughly the boiler or part affected, making full and detailed report of the cause of the accident to the chief inspector. The Interstate Commerce Commission may at any time call upon the chief inspector for a reportReports by Interstate Commerce Commission of cause, etc.of any accident embraced in this section, and upon the receipt of said report, if it deems it to the public interest, make reports of such investigations, stating the cause of accident, together with such recommendations as it deems proper.
Such reports shall be made public in such manner as the commission deems proper. Reports, etc., not admitted in damage suits.Neither said report nor any report of said investigation nor any part thereof shall be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose in any suit or action for damages growing out of any matter mentioned in said report or investigation. Sec.9.That any common carrier violating this Act or any rule or regulation made under its provisions or any lawful order of any inspector shall be liable to a penalty Penalty for violations by carriers.of one hundred dollars for each and every such violation, to be recovered in a suit or suits to be brought by the United States attorney in the district court of the United States having jurisdiction in the locality where such violation shall have been Duty of district attorneys to bring suits.committed; and it shall be the duty of such attorneys, subject to the direction of the Attorney-General, to bring such suits upon duly verified information being lodged with them, respectively, of such violations having occurred; and Information from, chief inspector.it shall be the duty of the chief inspector of locomotive boilers to give information to the proper United States attorney of all violations of this Act coming to his Knowledge.
Sec.10.That the total amounts directly appropriated Limit of appropriations.to carry out the provisions of this Act shall not exceed for any one fiscal year the sum of three hundred thousand dollars. Approved, February 17, 1911.