SAFETY OF LIFE FROM FIRE AT SEA. 53 



negligible as far as the larger ones are concerned, and this disadvantage would be greatly off- 

 set by the great increase in the efficiency of the fire protective equipment. 



With reference to remarks by Mr. Forbes, I am surprised that he is satisfied with the 

 partial protection afTorded by the perforated system which was abandoned many years ago 

 on land, especially since such excellent protection is available by the use of the automatic 

 sprinkler system. 



I do not agree with him that "A dry-pipe system is of very little value in shore work, 

 under most conditions." The fact is that this system has proven to be quite reliable, and is 

 used to a very large extent to-day where the heating of buildings is expensive or undesirable. 

 It should also prove satisfactory on vessels, provided an approved type of dry-pipe valve is 

 used and the system is properly installed and maintained. 



Mr. Stevenson Taylor, Past President (Communicated) : — My attention has been es- 

 pecially called to the figures of loss of life by fire on the "Merchant Vessels of the United 

 States" for the years 1906-1910, inclusive, originally given by Mr. McComb in his paper at 

 our 1910 meeting, and which are now repeated by Mr. W. O. Teague, who has added similar 

 figures for the years 1911-1914, inclusive. Mr, Teague gives as his authority a letter from 

 Mr. A. J. Tyrer, Acting Commissioner of Navigation, Washington, D. C. 



The Bureau of Navigation, according to section 10, law of June 20, 1874, receives re- 

 ports of every accident on all of the vessels of the United States. 



These reports include not only every vessel duly licensed by the Steamboat-Inspection 

 Service, but also all sailing vessels, barges, and other boats that do not come under the laws 

 governing the inspection of steam vessels. 



The Steamboat-Inspection Service is the Bureau of the Department of Commerce that 

 by law covers all apparatus for the protection of life on vessels carrying passengers for 

 hire, and the records of this Service are the only ones that should be quoted as arguments in 

 papers like Mr. Teague's. 



To show the difference between the figures in the table given by Mr. Teague and the 

 figures compiled from the annual reports of the Supervising Inspector-General of the Steam- 

 boat-Inspection Service it is not necessary to go farther back than 1912. The records in 

 either case for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1912, 1913, and 1914 are fair examples of 

 all of the years quoted by Mr. Teague, who gives for these particular years 211 vessels 

 totally destroyed by fire with a loss of 55 lives, while his same authority, Mr. Tyrer, Acting 

 Commissioner of Navigation, reports, in reply to my inquiry, a total of only 14 vessels 

 burned resuhing in the loss of life, with a record of 59 lives lost, but this record includes 

 four vessels really destroyed by explosions which caused a loss of 30 lives and Mr. Teague 

 cannot claim that any suggestion of his would have made any difference in these cases. 

 Some of the vessels noted did not come under the Inspection Service. 



