310 SOCIETY NAVAL ARCHITECTS AND MARINE ENGINEERS. 



The conference assembled at noon on November 12, 1913, and adjourned sine die at 

 6 p.m. on January 20, 1914, a period of 70 days. Work, however, was partially suspended 

 during the Christmas holidays from December 20 to January 4, inclusive, although during 

 this period the first draft of the convention was prepared, the Committee on Construction con- 

 tinued its labors, and some members of the American delegation were engaged on work con- 

 nected with the conference. 



The conference held four plenary sessions, the opening session on November 12 and 

 a session on November 13 for the organization of committees. It did not meet again in 

 plenary session until January 19, when the convention in its completed form was unani- 

 mously adopted and on January 20 signed by all delegates vested with full powers by their 

 respective governments. 



Six committees were appointed on November 13, and work was begun on the following 

 day. These six committees held 123 sessions, as follows: 



Committee on safety of navigation, 9; committee on construction, 51 (divided into sub- 

 committees as follows : Full committee, 15; general principles, 3; subdivision of hulls, 11; 

 strength of bulkheads, etc., 12; survey of passenger steamers, 10) ; committee on certificates, 

 12; committee on radiotelegraphy, 15; committee on life-saving appliances, 18; committee 

 on revision, 10. In addition to these regular committees Lord Mersey, as president of the 

 conference, organized informally a committee to prepare general articles for the convention, 

 not within the jurisdiction of any regular committee, and to arrange for the coordination 

 of committee work. This informal committee held 8 meetings. 



The original purpose was to organize comparatively small committees to make early 

 reports to the full conference, but it developed at the outset that each of the 1 7 States pres- 

 ent desired representation on each committee as far as the number of its delegates would 

 permit, and the committees thus from the beginning became small conferendes at which 

 each nation was represented by those of its delegates best able to speak with authority on 

 the subjects before that committee. On the committee on certificates (Dr. von Koerner, 

 Germany, chairman) 17 States were represented by 30 delegates and 3 secretaries, the Ameri- 

 can members being Judge Alexander and Mr. Chamberlain ; on the committee on construc- 

 tion (Rear-Adtniral Capps, United States Navy, United States, chairman), 14 States were 

 represented by 30 delegates and 3 secretaries, the other American members being Messrs. 

 Fers-uson and Smith and Mr. McBride, technical adviser; on the committee on life-saving 

 appliances (Sir John Harvard Biles, Great Britain, chairman) 15 States were represented by 

 34 delegates and 2 secretaries, the American members being Gen. Uhler and Capt. Bullard 

 (Note: Mr. Furuseth was on this committee until he left London); on the committee on 

 radiotelegraphy (Mr. Moggridge, Great Britain, chairman) 14 States by 25 delegates and 2 

 secretaries, the American members being Captain Bullard and Mr. Chamberlain ; and on the 

 committee on safety of navigation (Sir Norman Hill, Great Britain, chairman) 14 States 

 by 29 delegates and 2 secretaries, the American members being Captain Cooper and Captain 

 Commandant Bertholf. The committee on revision (Monsieur Guernier, France, chairman) 

 originally consisted of 7 members from; 6 nations, Judge Alexander representing the 

 United States, but as its work was extended to prepare a complete revision of the entire con- 

 vention for submission to the full conference its membership was increased to give each na- 

 tion a representative on the committee. Lord Mersey's informal committee comprised the 

 chairmen of the 6 committees and Dr. Seeliger of Germany, Judge Alexander and Mr. 

 Chamberlain of the United States. 



