INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA. 285 



While the two cutters are thus employed specifically for the purposes of derelict de- 

 struction, ice patrol, and ice observation, they will at the same time, of course, be in a 

 position often to render assistance to vessels in distress in those portions of the north At- 

 lantic where the weather is most severe and the risks of navigation greater than on the 

 usually pleasant and less disturbed southern routes from the Mediterranean to ports of the 

 United States. The members of the conference, it may be added, were united in approving 

 the work which the United States has already done along the lines just indicated, and 

 there was no dissent from the general wish for its continuation and a general desire to con- 

 tribute to the expense. 



NOTICES OF PERIL. 



The conference in Articles 8 and 9 imposes on the masters of merchant vessels the 

 obligation, by all means of communication in their power, to give notice to other vessels 

 of the existence of any imminent and serious danger to navigation. A new wireless call 



is provided by Article II, named safety call ( ), which must be sent broadcast by 



the master of a vessel aware of the existence of imminent and serious danger. This call 

 "T T T" has precedence over all wireless calls except the "S O S" of distress. Following 

 the call is the message indicating the nature of the peril. Such messages are to be repeated 

 by selected coast stations for the guidance of mariners. Messages relating to ice and dere- 

 licts must be transmitted free of cost to the vessels concerned, and if the wireless compa- 

 nies charge for them the expense must be borne by the governments concerned, just as 

 other aids to navigation are maintained at public expense. The convention carries in Ar- 

 ticle I a complete code for the transmission and dissemination of information relating to 

 ice, derelicts, and weather, and the Naval Hydrographic Office at Washington (the work of 

 which met with the cordial approval of all nations represented) was selected as the general 

 center for the dissemination of such information. 



MORSE SIGNALING LAMPS. 



Steamers carrying 12 passengers or over are required by Article 11 to carry a Morse 

 signaling lamp. Practically all war ships and the best equipped of the large ocean passen- 

 ger steamers now carry this helpful means of communication between ships at sea. The 

 code for its use is set forth in Article III (steps have already been taken for the insertion 

 of a signal for Cuba, which was accidentally omitted from the list of nationality signals). 



DISTRESS SIGNALS. 



The convention prohibits, in the future, the use of the international distress signals for 

 any other purpose than as distress signals. This rule will prevent any vessel hesitating to 

 respond to what is apparently an international distress signal on the supposition that it was 

 intended for another purpose, as was the case with the master of the Calif ornian at the 

 time of the loss of the Titanic. (Art. 12.) 



NORTH ATLANTIC ROUTES. 



The conference concluded (Art. 13) that the selection of steamship routes across the 

 North Atlantic should be left, as at present, with the steamship companies. The designation 



