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human life, and such of the medals herein authorized as they may be entitled to under the provisions hereinafter made: Provided, That no payment shall be made to any person who shall not have actually participated in the efforts to save the life or lives rescued.

SEC. 7. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to cause to be prepared medals of honor, with suitable devices, to be distinguished as life-saving medals of the first and second class, which shall be bestowed upon any persons who shall hereafter endanger their own lives in saving, or endeavouring to save lives from perils of the sea, within the United States, or upon any American vessel: Provided, That the medal of the first class shall be confined to cases of extreme and heroic daring; and that the medal of the second class shall be given in cases not sufficiently distinguished to deserve the medal of the first class: Provided, also, That no award of either medal shall be made to any person until sufficient evidence of his deserving shall have been filed with the Secretary of the Treasury and entered upon the records of the Department.

SEC. 8. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to make all necessary regulations for the government of the life-saving service not inconsistent with law.

SEC. 9. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to dispose of, to the best advantage, after due condemnation by board of survey, such articles or materials belonging to the life-saving service as may, from long continued use or other cause, become unserviceable and the proceeds of such sale shall be covered into the Treasury.

SEC. 10. That from and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, whenever any vessel of the United States has sustained or caused any accident involving the loss of life, the material loss of property, or any serious injury to any person, or has received any material damage affecting ber seaworthiness or her efficiency, the managing owner, agent, or master of such vessel shall within five days after the happening of such accident or damage, or as soon thereafter as possible, send, by letter to the collector of customs of the district wherein such vessel belongs or of that within which such accident or damage occurred, a report thereof, signed by such owner, agent, or master, stating the name and official number (if any) of the vessel, the port to which she belongs, the place where she was, the nature and probable occasion of the casualty, the number and names of those lost, and the estimated amount of loss or damage to the vessel or cargo; and shall furnish, upon the request of either of such collectors of customs, such other information concerning the vessel, her cargo, and the casualty as may be called for; and if he neglect or refuse to comply with the foregoing requirements after a reasonable time, he shall incur a penalty of one hundred dollars.

SEC. 11. That whenever the managing owner or agent of any vessel of the United States has reason, owing to the non-appearance of such vessel, or to any other circumstance, to apprehend that such vessel has been lost, he shall, as soon as conveniently may be, send notice, in writ ing, to the collector of customs of the port to which said vessel belonged, of such loss, and the probable occasion thereof stating the name and the official number (if any) of the vessel, and the names of all persons on board, so far as the same can be ascertained, and shall furnish, upon request of the collector of such port, such additional information as he may be able; and if he neglect to comply with the above requirements within a reasonable time, he shall incur a penalty of one hundred dollars.

SEC. 12. That it shall be the duty of the collectors of customs to immediately transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury such reports and information as they may receive under the provisions of the two preceding sections, and they shall also report to the Secretary of the Treas ury any neglect or refusal on the part of the managing owner, agent, or master of any vessel of the United States to comply with the requirements thereof.

SEC. 13. That the Secretary of the Treasury may, upon application therefor, remit or mitigate any penalty provided for in this act, or discontinue any prosecu tion to recover the same, upon such terms as he, in his discretion, shall think proper, and shall have authority to ascertain the facts upon all such applications in such manner and under such regulations as he may think proper; all penalties herein before provided shall be prosecuted by indictment or information before the proper district court for the use of the United States. Approved, June 20, 1874.

CHAP. 265.-An act to organize the Life-Saving-Service.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treas ury is hereby authorized to establish additional life-saving and life boat stations at or near the following-named points upon the sea and lake coasts of the United States, namely: One complete life-saving station at Cranberry Isles, Maine; one complete life-saving station at or near Scituate, Massachusetts; one complete life-saving station at or near Watch Hill, Rhode Island; one complete life-saving station on the coast of Delaware between Cape Henlopen and Indian River; two complete life-saving stations on the coast of Maryland, to be located, one between Indian River and Green Run, and one between Green Run and Chincoteague; fifteen complete life-saving stations on the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina, ten of them to be located at intermediate points between the existing stations, three between the southernmost existing station and Hatteras Inlet, one at or near Cape Lookout, and one at or near Cape Fear Point; five complete life-stations on the coast of Texas, to be located, one at or near Sabine Pass, one on Galveston Island, near west end, one at or near Pass Cavallo, one at or near Aranzas Pass, and one at Brazos Santiago, and one life boat station on Galveston Island, near east end; two complete life-saving stations on the coast of Lake Michigan, to be located, one at or near Sleeping Bear Point, and one at or near Bayley's Harbor, and four life-boat stations to be located, one at or near Manistee, one at Ludington, one at or near Muskegan, and one at Kenosha; one life-boat station on the coast of Lake Superior, at or near the mouth of Portage Lake and Lake Superior Ship Canal; two complete life-saving stations on the coast of Lake Huron, one at or near Port Austin and one on Middle Island, and a life-boat station at or near Sand Beach Harbor of Refuge; and on the coast of California, a lifeboat station at Bolinas Bay, in place of that authorized to be established at Point Reyes by the act of June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, entitled "An act to provide for the establishment of lifesaving stations and houses of refuge upon the sea and lake coasts of the United States, and to promote the efficiency of the Life Saving Service"; and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, whenever, in his opinion, it may become necessary for the proper administra

tion of the Life-Saving Service and the protection of the public property at the stations, to appoint a district superintendent for the coast of the United States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, whose compensation shall be at the rate of one thousand dollars per annum, and also a keeper for each of the stations hereby authorized to be established.

SEC. 2. That the unexpended balances of appropriations heretofore made for the establishment of life-saving and life-boat stations are hereby made available for the payment of the expenses of the establishment of the stations herein authorized.

SEC. 3. That all moneys received from the sale of old stations and equipments and other material condemned by a board of survey as unserviceable may be expended in rebuilding or improving and equipping stations.

SEC. 4. That hereafter the compensation of the keepers of life-saving and life-boat stations and houses of refuge shall be at the rate of four hundred dollars per,aunum; and they shall have the powers of inspectors of customs, but shall receive no additional compensation for duties performed as such: Provided, That said keepers shall have authority and be required to take charge of and protect all property saved from shipwreck at which they may be present, until it is claimed by parties legally authorized to receive it, or until otherwise instructed to dispose of it by the Secretary of the Treasury; and keepers of life-saving stations shall be required to reside continually at or in the immediate vicinity of their respective stations.

SEC. 5. That hereafter the life-saving stations upon the sea and gulf coasts at which crews are employed shall be manned and the stations opened for active service on the first day of September in each year, and so continue until the first day of May succeeding, and upon the lake coasts from the opening to the close of navigation, except such stations as, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, are not necessary to be manned during the full period specified; and the crews shall reside at the stations during said periods.

SEC. 6. That the President of the United States may, by and with the consent of the Senate, appoint a suitable person, who shall be familiar with the various meaus employed in the Life-Saving Service for the sav ing of life and property from shipwrecked vessels, as general superindent of the Life Saving Service, who shall, under the immediate direc tion of the Secretary of the Treasury, have general charge of the serv ice and of all administrative matters connected therewith, and whose compensation shall be at the rate of four thousand dollars per annum; and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to appoint an assistant to the general superintendent, whose compensation shall be two thousand five hundred dollars per annum.

SEC. 7. That it shall be the duty of the general superintendent to supervise the organization and government of the employees of the service; to prepare and revise regulations therefor as may be necessary; to fix the number and compensation of surfmen to be employed at the several stations within the provisions of law; to supervise the expendi ture of all appropriations made for the support and maintainance of the Life-Saving-Service; to examine the accounts of disbursements of the district superintendents, and to certify the same to the accounting-officers of the Treasury Department; to examine the property returns of the keepers of the several stations, and see that all public property thereto belonging is properly accounted for; to acquaint himself, as far as practicable, with all means employed in foreign countries which may seem to advantageously affect the interests of the service, and to cause

to be properly investigated all plans, devices, and inventions for the improvement of life-saving apparatus for use at the stations, which may appear to be meritorious and available; to exercise supervision over the selection of sites for new stations the establishment of which may be anthorized by law, or for old ones the removal of which may be made necessary by the encroachment of the sea or by other causes; to prepare and submit to the Secretary of the Treasury estimates for the support of the service; to collect and compile the statistics of marine disasters contemplated by the act of June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four; and to submit to the Secretary of the Treasury, for transmission to Congress, an annual report of the expenditures of the moneys appropriated for the maintenance of the Life Saving Service, and of the operations of said service during the year.

SEC. 8. That the Secretary of the Treasury may detail such officer or officers of the Revenue Marine Service as may be necessary, to act as inspector and assistant inspectors of stations, who shall perform such duties in connection with the conduct of the service as may be required of them by the general superintendent.

SEC. 9. That upon the occurrence of any shipwreck within the scope of the operations of the Life-Saving Service, attended with loss of life, the general superintendent shall cause an investigation of all the circumstances connected with said disaster and loss of life to be made, with a view of ascertaining the cause of the disaster, and whether any of the officers or employees of the service have been guilty of neglect or misconduct in the premises; and any officer or clerk in the employment of the Treasury Department who may be detailed to conduct such investigation, or to examine into any alleged incompetency or misconduct of any of the officers or employees of the Life-Saving Service, shall have authority to administer au oath to any witness attending to testify or depose in the course of such investigation.

SEC. 10. That section six of said act of June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, is so amended as to extend the compensation of the enrolled members of volunteer crews of life-boat stations therein named to occasions of actual and deserving service at any shipwreck, or in the relief of any vessel in distress, and that such persons as may volunteer to take the place of any absent or disabled enrolled members of a crew, and who shall be accepted by the keeper, may be paid therefor, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, a sum not to exceed eight dollars each on every such occasion: Provided, That all crews and volunteers employed under authority of this act who may be present at a wreck shall be required to use their utmost endeavors to save life and properly care for the bodies of such as may perish, and, when such efforts are no longer necessary, to save property and protect the same, under the direction of the senior keeper present or of the superintendent of the district, until the arrival of persons legally author. ized to take charge; and for the time employed in so saving and protecting property volunteers shall be entitled to compensation not to ex ceed three dollars per day each, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 11. That the enrolled members of the crews of life-boat stations may be called out for drill and exercise in the life-boat and life-saving apparatus as often as the general superintendent may determine, not to exceed twice a month, for each day's attendance at which they shall be entitled to the sum of three dollars each.

SEC. 12. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to bestow the life-saving medal of the second class upon persons making

such signal exertions in rescuing and succoring the shipwrecked, and saving persons from drowning, as, in bis opinion, shall merit such recog. nition.

Approved, June 18, 1878.

CHAP. 117.-An act to promote the efficiency of the Life-Saving Service, and to encourage the saving of life from shipwreck

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to establish additional life-saving stations and houses of refuge upon the sea and lake coasts of the United States as follows, namely:

ON THE ATLANTIC COAST.

A life saving station at or near Damariscove Island, Maine; one at or near Hunniwells Beach, Maine; one at or near the entrance to Portland Harbor, Maine; one at or near the entrance to Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire; one on Cape Ann, Massachusetts; one between Cohasset and Scituate Harbors, Massachusetts; one at or near Wood End, and one in the vicinity of Peaked Hill Bars, Cape Cod, Massachusetts; two in the neighborhood of Nantucket and adjacent islands. Massachusetts; one at or near Brenton's Point or Beaver Tail, Rhode Island; one on Brigantine Beach and one on Seven-Mile Beach, New Jersey; one at or near Lewes, Delaware; five on the coast between Cape Henlopen and Cape Charles, at such points between existing stations as the General Superintendent of the Life Saving Service may recommend; one between stations numbered seventeen and eighteen, and one between station numbered twenty-one and twenty-two, one about three miles southwest of Hatteras Inlet, on the coast of North Carolina; six houses of refuge on the eastern coast of Florida, and two life saving stations on the Atlantic coast of Florida, one near Key West and one near Jupiter Inlet, and one on the Gulf coast west of Apalachicola River, at such points as the General Superintendent of the Life-Saving Service may recommend; two life-saving stations on the coast of South Carolina, to be located by the General Superintendent at or near the ports of Georgetown and Charleston; a life-saving station at or near Quintana, Texas.

ON THE COAST OF LAKE SUPERIOR.

A life-saving station at or near Grand Marais, Michigan.

ON THE COAST OF LAKE MICHIGAN.

A life-saving station at or near Frankfort, Michigan; one at or near Pent Water, Michigan; one at or near the mouth of White River, Michigan; one at or near Holland, Michigan; one at or near South Haven, Michigan; one at or near Michigan City, Indiana; one at or near Sturgeon Bay Canal, Wisconsin.

SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to discontinue any life saving or life-boat station or house of refuge whenever in his judgment the interests of commerce and humanity no longer require its existence

SEC. 3. That the General Superintendent may transfer the apparatus,

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