Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 5.djvu/342



not exceed two hundred tons, to provide and to carry with the said boat or vessel, upon each and every voyage, two long-boats or yawls, each of which shall be competent to carry at least twenty persons; and where the tonnage of said vessel shall exceed two hundred tons, it shall be the duty of the owner and master to provide and carry, as aforesaid, not less than three long-boats or yawls, of the same or larger dimensions; and for every failure in these particulars, the said master and owner shall forfeit and pay three hundred dollars.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the master and owner of every steam vessel employed on either of the lakes mentioned in the last section, or on the sea, to provide, as a part of the necessary furniture, a suction-hose and fire engine and hose suitable to be worked on said boat in case of fire, and carry the same upon each and every voyage, in good order; and that iron rods or chains shall be employed and used in the navigating of all steamboats, instead of wheel or tiller ropes; and for a failure to do which, they, and each of them, shall forfeit and pay the sum of three hundred dollars.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the master and owner of every steamboat, running between sunset and sunrise, to carry one or more signal lights, that may be seen by other boats navigating the same waters, under the penalty of two hundred dollars.

. And be it further enacted, That the penalties imposed by this act may be sued for and recovered in the name of the United States, in the district or circuit court of such district or circuit where the offence shall have been committed, or forfeiture incurred, or in which the owner or master of said vessel may reside, one-half to the use of the informer, and the other to the use of the United States; or the said penalty may be prosecuted for by indictment in either of the said courts.

. And be it further enacted, That every captain, engineer, pilot, or other person employed on board of any steamboat or vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam, by whose misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his or their respective duties, the life or lives of any person or persons on board said vessel may be destroyed, shall be deemed guilty of manslaughter, and, upon conviction thereof before any circuit court in the United States, shall be sentenced to confinement at hard labor for a period not more than ten years.

. And be it further enacted, That in all suits and actions against proprietors of steamboats, for injuries arising to person or property from the bursting of the boiler of any steamboat, or the collapse of a flue, or other injurious escape of steam, the fact of such bursting, collapse, or injurious escape of steam, shall be taken as full prima facie evidence, sufficient to charge the defendant or those in his employment, with negligence, until he shall show that no negligence has been committed by him or those in his employment.

, July 7, 1838.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this law, a court shall be established in the District of Columbia, for the trial of all crimes and offences against the laws now in force in the said District, and such as may be hereafter enacted, to be composed of one judge, to be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the consent of the Senate, and to receive as compensation for his services, an annual salary of two thousand dollars,