DISTRESS SIGNALS.

ART. 31. When a vessel is in distress and requires assistance from other vessels or from the shore the following shall be the signals to be used or displayed by her, either together or separately, namely:

IN DAYTIME.

A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus, or firing a gun.

AT NIGHT.

First. Flames on the vessel as from a burning tar barrel, oil bar rel, and so forth.

Second. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus, or firing a gun. (June 7, 1897.)

Limits of Application of International and Inland or Local Rules.

The Secretary of Commerce is hereby authorized, empowered and directed from time to time to designate and define by suitable bearings or ranges with light houses, light vessels, buoys or coast objects, the lines dividing the high seas from rivers, harbors and inland waters. The words "inland waters" used in this Act shall not be held to include the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters as far east as Montreal: (Feb. 19, 1895, sec. 2.)

LINES ESTABLISHING HARBORS, RIVERS, AND INLAND WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN WHICH THE INLAND RULES ARE TO APPLY.

[All bearings are in degrees true and points magnetic, and are given approximately; distances in nautical miles.]

Cutler (Little River) Harbor, Me.: A line drawn from Long Point 226° (SW. by W. % W.) to Little River Head.

Little Machias Bay, Machias Bay, Englishman Bay, Chandler Bay, Moosabec Reach, Pleasant Bay, Narraguagus Bay, and Pigeon Hill Bay, Me.: A line drawn from Little River Head 232° (WSW. % W.) to the outer side of Old Man; thence 234° (WSW. 1⁄2 W.) to the outer side of Double Shot Islands; thence 244° (W. 5% S.) to Libby Islands Lighthouse; thence 2311⁄2° (WSW. 4 W.) to Moose Peak Lighthouse; thence 2321⁄2° (WSW. % W.) to Little Pond Head; from Pond Point, Great Wass Island, 239° (W. by S.) to outer side of Crumple Island; thence 249° (W. 4 S.) to Petit Manan Lighthouse.

All harbors on the coast of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts between Petit Manan Lighthouse, Me., and Cape Ann Lighthouses, Mass.: A line drawn from Petit Manan Lighthouse 2051⁄2° (SW. 4 S.), 261⁄2 miles, to Mount Desert Lighthouse; thence 250% (W. % S.), about 33 miles, to Matinicus Rock Lighthouse; thence 2672° (WNW. 4 W.), 20 miles, to Monhegan Island Lighthouse; thence 260° (W. 5% N.), 191⁄2 miles, to Seguin Lighthouse; thence 233° (WSW. % W.), 184 miles, to Portland Light Vessel; thence 2142° (SW. % W.), 291⁄2 miles, to Boon Island Lighthouse; thence 210° (SW.), 11 miles, to Anderson Ledge Spindle, off Isles of Shoals Lighthouse; thence 1764° (S. by W.), 191⁄2 miles, to Cape Ann Lighthouses, Mass.

Boston Harbor: From Eastern Point Lighthouse 215° (SW. % W.), 154 miles to The Graves Lighthouse; thence 1394° (SSE. % E.), 71⁄2 miles, to Minots Ledge Lighthouse.

All harbors in Cape Cod Bay, Mass.: A line drawn from Plymouth (Gurnet) Lighthouse 771⁄2° (E. % S.), 164 miles, to Race Point Lighthouse.

Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, Block Island Sound, and easterly entrance to Long Island Sound: A line drawn from Chatham Lighthouse, Mass., 154° (S. by E.), 61⁄2 miles, to Pollock Rip

Slue Light Vessel; thence 137° (SSE. 1⁄2 E.), 11 miles to Great Round Shoal Entrance Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS.); thence 229° (SW. by W. % W.), 141⁄2 miles, to Sankaty Head Lighthouse; from Smith Point, Nantucket Island, 261° (W. % N.), 27 miles, to No Mans Land Gas and Whistling Buoy, 2; thence 359° (N. by E. % E.), 8% miles, to Gay Head Lighthouse; thence 250° (W. % S.), 341⁄2 miles, to Block Island Southeast Lighthouse; thence 2502° (W. 5% S.), 144 miles, to Montauk Point Lighthouse, on the easterly end of Long Island, N. Y.

New York Harbor: A line drawn from Rockaway Point Coast Guard Station 1592° (S. by E.), 64 miles, to Ambrose Channel Light Vessel; thence 2381⁄2° (WSW. % W.), 84 miles, to Navesink (southerly) Lighthouse.

Philadelphia Harbor and Delaware Bay: A line drawn from Cape May Lighthouse 200° (SSW. 1⁄2 W.), 81⁄2 miles, to Overfalls Light Vessel; thence 2464 (WSW. 1⁄2 W.), 3% miles, to Cape Henlopen Lighthouse.

Baltimore Harbor and Chesapeake Bay: A line drawn from Cape Charles Lighthouse 183° (S. 4 W.), 11% miles, to Cape Henry Gas and Whistling Buzy, 2; thence 2642° (W.), 44 miles, to Cape Henry Lighthouse.

Charleston Harbor: A line drawn from Tank, on Isle of Palms, 150° (SSE. 1⁄2 E.), 71⁄2 miles, to Charleston Light Vessel; thence 2642° (W. 1⁄2 S.), through Charleston Buoy, 6 C, 84 miles, until Charleston Lighthouse bears 350° (N. % W.); thence 270° (W.), 1% miles, to the beach of Folly Island.

Savannah Harbor and Calibogue Sound: A line drawn from Braddock Point, Hilton Head Island, 150° (SSE. % E.), 94 miles, to Tybee Gas and Whistling Buoy, T (PS); thence 270° (W.), to the beach of Tybee Island. St. Simon Sound (Brunswick Harbor) and St. Andrew Sound: From hotel on beach of St. Simon Island 1 mile 60° (NE. by E. 4 E.) from St. Simon Lighthouse, 130° (SE. 1⁄2 E.), 6% miles, to St. Simon Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS); thence 194° (S. by W. % W.), 84 miles, to St. Andrew Sound Bar Buoy (PS); thence 270° (W.), 43⁄4 miles, to the shore of Little Cumberland Island.

St. Johns River, Fla.: A straight line from the outer end of the northerly jetty to the outer end of the southerly jetty.

Florida reefs and keys: A line drawn from the easterly end of the northerly jetty, at the entrance to the dredged channel to Miami, 882° (E. 4 N.), 14 miles, to Miami Gas and Whistling Buoy 2 M; thence 179° (S. % E.), 8% miles, to Biscayne Bay Sea Bell Buoy, 1; thence 182° (S. % W.), 2% miles, to Fowey Rocks Lighthouse; thence 188° (S. 5% W.), 64 miles, to Triumph Reef Beacon, O; thence 193° (S. by W.), 41⁄2 miles, to Ajax Reef Beacon, M; thence 194° (S. by W. % W.), 2 miles, to Pacific Reef Lighthouse; thence 1962° (S. by W. % W.), 5 miles, to Turtle Harbor Sea Buoy, 2; thence 210° (SSW. 1⁄2 W.), 4% miles, to Carysfort Reef Lighthouse; thence 2092° (SSW. 1⁄2 W.), 53⁄4 miles, to Elbow Reef Beacon, J; thence 219° (SW. 4 S.), 94 miles, to Molasses Reef Lighthouse; thence 232° (SW. 1⁄2 W.), 6 miles, to Conch Reef Beacon, E; thence 2342° (SW. 4 W.), through Crocker Reef Beacon, D, 10% miles, to Alligator Reef Lighthouse; thence 234° (SW. % W.), 10% miles, to Tennessee Reef Gas and Bell Buoy, 4; thence 251° (WSW. % W.), 101⁄2 miles, to Coffins Patches Beacon, C; thence 247° (SW. by W. 4 W.), 84 miles, to Sombrero Key Lighthouse; thence 2532° (WSW. % W.), 164 miles, to Looe Key Beacon, 6; thence 2572° (WSW. 4 W.), 6% miles, to American Shoal Lighthouse; thence 2532° (WSW. % W.), 2% miles, to Maryland Shoal Beacon, S; thence 259° (WSW. % W.), 54 miles, to Eastern Sambo Beacon, A; thence 253° (WSW. 4 W.), 24 miles, to Western Sambo Beacon, R; thence 257° (WSW. 5% W.), through Western Sambo Buoy, 2, 521⁄2 miles, to Key West Entrance Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS); thence 262° (W. % S.), 44 miles, to Sand Key Lighthouse; thence 261° (W. by S.), 24 miles, to Western Dry Rocks Beacon, 2; thence 268° (W. % S.), 31⁄2 miles, through Satan Shoal Buoy (HS) to Vestal Shoal Buoy, 1; thence 2742° (W. % N.), 54 miles, to Coal Bin Rock Buoy, CB (HS); thence 3241⁄2° (NW. 5% N.), 74 miles, to Marquesas Keys left tangent; from northwesterly point Marquesas Keys 59° (NE. by E.), 4% miles, to Bar Buoy, 1, Boca Grande Channel; thence 83° (E. % N.), 94 miles, to Northwest Channel Entrance Gas and Bell Buoy, 1, Northwest Channel into Key West; thence 68° (NE. by E. % E.), 231⁄2 miles, to northerly side of Content Keys; thence 49° (NE. 4 E.), 29 miles, to East Cape, Cape Sable.

Charlotte Harbor and Punta Gorda, Fla.: Eastward of Charlotte Harbor Entrance Gas and Bell Buoy (PS), off Boca Grande, and in Charlotte Harbor,

in Pine Island Sound and Matlacha Pass. Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in Peace and Miakka Rivers north of a 250° and 70° (WSW. and ENE.) line through Mangrove Point Light; and in Caloosahatchee River northward of the steamboat wharf at Punta Rasa.

Tampa Bay and Tributaries, Fla.: From the southerly end of Long Key 245° (SW. by W. 5% W.), 9 miles, to Tampa Bay Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS); thence 1302° (SE. 5% E.), 54 miles, to Southwest Channel Gas and Bell Buoy (PS), at the entrance to Southwest Channel; thence 107° (ESE. 4 E.), 31⁄2 miles, to the house on the north end of Anna Maria Key. Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in Manatee River inside Manatee River Entrance Buoy, 2; in Hillsboro Bay and River inside Hillsboro Bay Light, 2.

St. George Sound, Apalachicola Bay, Carrabelle and Apalachicola Rivers, and St. Vincent Sound, Fla.: North of a line from Lighthouse Point 245° (SW. by W. % W.), 154 miles, to southerly side of Dog Island; thence 217° (SW. by S.), 3 miles, to East Pass Bell Buoy, 1; thence 267° (W. 1⁄2 S.), 3 miles to St. Georges Island; the entrance to East Pass, and inside West Pass Bell Buoy (PS) at the seaward entrance to West Pass. Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in Carabelle River inside the entrance to the dredged channel; in Apalachicola River northward of Apalachicola Dredged Channel Entrance Buoy, 2.

Pensacola Harbor: From Caucus Cut Entrance Gas and Whistling Buoy, 1A, 3° (N. % W.), tangent to easterly side of Fort Pickens, to the shore of Santa Rosa Island, and from the buoy northward in the buoyed channel through Caucus Shoal.

Mobile Harbor and Bay: From Mobile Entrance Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS) 40° (NE. % N.), to shore of Mobile Point, and from the Buoy 326° (NW. % N.) to the shore of Dauphin Island. Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in Mobile River above Choctaw Point.

Sounds, lakes, and harbors on the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, between Mobile Bay entrance and the Delta of the Mississippi River: From Sand Island Lighthouse 259° (WSW. % W.), 431⁄2 miles, to Chandeleur Lighthouse; westward of Chandeleur and Errol Islands, and west of a line drawn from the southwesterly point of Errol Island 182° (S. 4 E.), 23 miles, to Pass a Loutre Lighthouse. Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in Pascagoula River, and in the dredged cut at the entrance to the river, above Pascagoula River Entrance Light, A, marking the entrance to the dredged cut.

New Orleans Harbor and the Delta of the Mississippi River: Inshore of a line drawn from the outermost mud lump showing above low water at the entrance to Pass a Loutre to a similar lump off the entrance to Northeast Pass; thence to a similar lump off the entrance to Southeast Pass; thence to the outermost aid to navigation off the entrance to South Pass; thence to the outermost aid to navigation off the entrance to Southwest Pass; thence northerly, about 191⁄2 miles, to the westerly point of the entrance to Bay Jaque.

Sabine Pass, Tex.: Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply to Sabine Pass northward of Sabine Pass Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS), and in Sabine Lake and its tributaries. Outside of this buoy the International Rules apply.

Galveston Harbor: A line drawn from Galveston North Jetty Light 129° (SE. by E. 4 E.), 2 miles, to Galveston Bar Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS); thence 276° (W. % S.), 24 miles, to Galveston (S.) Jetty Lighthouse.

Brazos River, Tex.: Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in the entrance and river inside of Brazos River Entrance Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS). International Rules apply outside the buoy.

San Diego Harbor: A line drawn from southerly tower of Coronado Hotel 2121⁄2° (SSW. by 5% W.), 4% miles, to San Diego Bay Entrance Gas and Whistling Buoy 1A; thence 32° (N. by W.), 21⁄2 miles, to Point Loma Lighthouse.

San Francisco Harbor: A line drawn through Mile Rocks Lighthouse 326° (NW. 5% W.) to Bonita Point Lighthouse.

Columbia River Entrance: A line drawn from knuckle of Columbia River south jetty 351° (NNW. % W.) to Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.

Juan de Fuca Strait, Washington and Puget Sounds: A line drawn from New Dungeness Lighthouse 132° (N. by W.), 10% miles, to Hein Bank Gas and Bell Buoy (HS); thence 3372° (NW. 4 W.), 114 miles, to Lime Kiln Light, on west side of San Juan Island; from Bellevue Point, San Juan Island, 3362° (NW. 1⁄4 W.) to Kellett Bluff Light, Henry Island; thence 346° (NW. 2 N.) to Turn Point Light; thence 711⁄2° (NE. % E.), 84 miles,

to westerly point of Skipjack Island; thence 381⁄2° (N. by E. 4 E.), 4% miles, to Patos Islands Light; thence 338° (NW. % W.), 12 miles, to Point Roberts Light.

General rule.-At all buoyed entrances from seaward to bays, sounds, rivers, or other estuaries, for which specific lines have not been described, inland rules shall apply inshore of a line, approximately parallel with the general trend of the shore, drawn through the outermost buoy or other aid to navigation of any system of aids.

Rules for the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River as Far East as Montreal. (Act of Feb. 8, 1895.)

The following rules for preventing collisions shall be followed in the navigation of all public and private vessels of the United States upon the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters as far east as Montreal.

STEAM AND SAIL VESSELS.

RULE 1. Every steam vessel which is under sail and not under steam, shall be considered a sail vessel; and every steam vessel which is under steam, whether under sail or not, shall be considered a steam vessel. The word "steam-vessel" shall include any vessel propelled by machinery. A vessel is " under way" within the meaning of these rules when she is not at anchor or made fast to the shore or aground.

LIGHTS.

RULE 2. The lights mentioned in the following rules and no others shall be carried in all weathers from sunset to sunrise. The word "visible" in these rules when applied to lights shall mean visible on a dark night with a clear atmosphere.

RULE 3. Except in the cases hereinafter expressly provided for, a steam vessel when under way shall carry:

(a) On or in front of the foremast, or if a vessel without a foremast, then in the forepart of the vessel, at a height above the hull of not less than twenty feet, and if the beam of the vessel exceeds twenty feet, then at a height above the hull not less than such beam, so, however, that such height need not exceed forty feet, a bright white light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of twenty points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light ten points on each side of the vessel, namely, from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on either side, and of such character as to be visible at a distance of at least five miles.

(b) On the starboard side, a green light, so constructed as to throw an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of ten points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on the starboard side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least two miles.

(c) On the port side, a red light, so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of ten points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on the port side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least two miles.

(d) The said green and red lights shall be fitted with inboard screens projecting at least three feet forward from the light, so as to prevent these lights from being seen across the bow.

(e) A steamer of over one hundred and fifty feet register length shall also carry when under way an additional bright light similar in construction to that mentioned in subdivision (a), so fixed as to throw the light all around the horizon and of such character as to be visible at a distance of at least three miles. Such additional light shall be placed in line with the keel at least fifteen feet higher than the deck and more than seventy-five feet abaft the light mentioned in subdivision (a).

VESSELS TOWING.

RULE 4. A steam vessel having a tow other than a raft shall in addition to the forward bright light mentioned in subdivision (a) of rule three carry in a vertical line not less than six feet above or below that light a second bright light of the same construction and character and fixed and carried in the same manner as the forward bright light mentioned in said subdivision (a) of rule three. Such steamer shall also carry a small bright light abaft the funnel or aftermast for the tow to steer by, but such light shall not be visible forward of the beam.

RULE 5. A steam vessel having a raft in tow shall, instead of the forward lights mentioned in rule four, carry on or in front of the foremast, or if a vessel without a foremast then in the fore part of the vessel, at a height above the hull of not less than twenty feet, and if the beam of the vessel exceeds twenty feet, then at a height above the hull not less than such beam, so however that such height need not exceed forty feet, two bright lights in a horizontal line athwartships and not less than eight feet apart, each so fixed as to throw the light all around the horizon and of such character as to be visible at a distance of at least five miles. Such steamer shall also carry the small bright steering light aft, of the character and fixed as required in rule four.

RULE 6. A sailing vessel under way and any vessel being towed shall carry the side lights mentioned in rule three.

A vessel in tow shall also carry a small bright light aft, but such light shall not be visible forward of the beam.

RULE 7. The lights for tugs under thirty tons register whose principal business is harbor towing, and for boats navigating only on the River Saint Lawrence, also ferryboats, rafts, and canal boats, shall be regulated by rules which have been or may hereafter be prescribed by the Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam Vessels.

RULE 8. Whenever, as in the case of small vessels under way during bad weather, the green and red side lights can not be fixed, these lights shall be kept at hand lighted and ready for use, and shall, on the approach of or to other vessels, be exhibited on their respective sides in sufficient time to prevent collision, in such manner as to make them most visible, and so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side, nor the red light on the starboard side, nor, if practicable, more than two points abaft the beam on their respective sides. To make the use of these portable lights more certain and easy, they shall each be painted outside with the color of the light they respectively contain, and shall be provided with suitable screens.

RULE 9. A vessel under one hundred and fifty feet register length, when at anchor, shall carry forward, where it can best be seen, but at