Public Law 76–644

That section 4471 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 46, sec. 464), is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Sec. 4471.

Every steamer permitted by her certificate of inspection to carry as many as fifty passengers, or upward, and every steamer carrying passengers, which also carries cotton, hay, or hemp, shall be provided with a good double-acting steam fire pump, or other equivalent apparatus for throwing water. Such pump or other apparatus for throwing water shall be kept at all times and at all seasons of the year in good order and ready for immediate use, having at least two pipes of suitable dimensions, one on each side of the vessel, to convey the water to the upper decks, to which pipes there shall be attached, by means of stopcocks or valves, both between decks and on the upper deck, good and suitable hose of sufficient strength to stand a pressure of not less than one hundred pounds to the square inch, long enough to reach to all parts of the vessel and properly provided with nozzles, and kept in good order and ready for immediate service. Each fire pump thus prescribed shall be supplied with water by means of a suitable pipe connected therewith, and passing through the side of the vessel so low as to be at all times under water when she is afloat.

Pump to test boilers.

Every steamer shall also be provided with a pump which shall be of sufficient strength and suitably arranged to test the boilers thereof.

Automatic sprinkler system.

“On and after October 1, 1937, every passenger vessel with berthed or stateroom accommodation for fifty or more passengers shall be equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, which shall be in addition to any other device or devices for fire protection, of a type prescribed by the Board of Supervising Inspectors and approved by the Secretary of Commerce. All enclosed portions of such vessels accessible to passengers or crew (except cargo holds, machinery spaces, and, when of fire-resisting construction, toilets, bathrooms, and spaces of similar construction) shall be protected by an automatic sprinkler

Proviso.

Exception.

system: Provided, That if after investigation the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation finds in the case of a particular vessel the application of this paragraph is unnecessary properly to protect life

Tests and inspections.

on such vessel, an exception may be made. The Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation shall cause to be made suitable tests and inspections as will insure the proper working of such systems. In carrying out the provisions of this paragraph the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation is hereby authorized and directed to prescribe the particular approved type, character, and manner of installation of systems to be fitted. The term ‘type’ as used in this paragraph

“Type” defined.

shall be considered to mean any system which will give a prescribed or required efficiency and shall not mean some peculiar shape or design and shall not be confined to some certain brand or make.”

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