DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

INTERNATIONAL MARINE CONFERENCE,

Hon. JAMES G. BLAINE,

Washington, December 31, 1889.

Secretary of State, Department of State.

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that the Conference, at a ses. sion held on December 30, 1889, upon motion of the first delegate for France, passed the following resolution :

Resolved, That a final act be printed showing for each division of the programme, and in the order of the divisions, the resolutions adopted by the Conference.

This act to be signed in the name of the Conference by the Presi dent and the Secretary.

In compliance with this resolution I have the honor to transmit said Final Act.

FINAL ACT.

The President of the United States of America, in pursuance of a special provision of Congress, having extended to the Governments of all maritime nations in diplomatic relations with his own, an invitation to send delegates to a Maritime Conference to meet in the city of Washington on the 16th of October, 1889, to discuss, revise, and amend the rules, regulations, and practice concerning vessels at sea and navigation generally, this International Marine Conference assembled at the time and place designated, and, after careful and patient discussion and consideration of the entire programme, passed the following resolutious upon the subjects contained under the various General Divisions:

GENERAL DIVISION 1.

Marine signals or other means of plainly indicating the direction in which vessels are moving in fog, mist, falling snow, and thick weather, and at night.

RULES FOR THE PREVENTION OF COLLISIONS AND RULES OF THE ROAD.

1. Visibility, number, and position of lights to be carried by vessels.

(a) Steamers under way.

(b) Steamers towing.

(c) Vessels under way, but not under command, including steamers laying cable.

(d) Sailing vessels under way.

(e) Sailing vessels towing.

(f) Vessels at anchor.

(g) Pilot vessels.

(h) Fishing vessels.

2. Sound signals; their character, number, range, and position of in

struments.

(a) For use in fog, mist, falling snow, and thick weather, as po

sition signals.

For steamers under way.

For steamers towing.

For sailing vessels under way.

For sailing vessels towing.

(These signals to show the approximate course steered if possible.)

For vessels at anchor.

For vessels under way, but not under command, including steamers laying cable.

(b) For use in all weather as helm signals only.

For steamers meeting or crossing.

For steamers overtaking.

For steamers backing.

(c) Whether helm signals shall be made compulsory or remain optional.

3. Steering and sailing rules.

(a) Sailing vessels meeting, crossing, overtaking, or being overtaken by each other.

(b) Steamers meeting, crossing, overtaking, or being overtaken by each other.

(c) Sailing-vessels meeting, crossing, overtaking, or being overtaken by steamers.

(d) Steamers meeting, crossing, overtaking, or being overtaken by sailing-vessels.

(e) Special rules for channels and tide-ways, where no local rules exist.

(f) Conflict of international and local rules.

(g) Uniform system of commands to the helm.

(h) Speed of vessels in thick weather.

Resolved, That in the opinion of the Conference it is inexpedient to adopt course-indicating sound-signals in foggy or thick weather; inasmuch as among the other strong reasons presented by the SoundSignal Committee, if such signals were used in crowded waters, danger would result from the uncertainty and confusion produced by a multiplicity of signals, and from the false security that would be created in the minds of mariners, and if vessels were navigated in dependence

on such signals, when neither could see the other, there would be danger that the officer in charge might read the signal incorrectly, or, if he read it correctly, would interpret it wrongly.

REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA.

PRELIMINARY.

These Rules shall be followed by all vessels upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith, navigable by sea-going vessels.

In the following Rules every steam-vessel which is under sail and not under steam is to be considered a sailing vessel, and every vessel under steam, whether under sail or not, is to 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.

RULES CONCERNING LIGHTS, ETC.

The word "visible" in these Rules, when applied to lights, shall mean visible on a dark night with a clear atmosphere.

ARTICLE 1. The Rules concerning lights shall be complied with in all weathers from sunset to sunrise, and during such time no other lights which may be mistaken for the prescribed lights shall be exhibited.

ART. 2. 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 fore part of the vessel, at a height above the hull of not less than 20 feet, and if the breadth of the vessel exceeds 20 feet, then at a height above the hull not less than such breadth, so however, that the light need not be carried at a greater height above the hull than 40 feet, a bright white light, so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 20 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light 10 points on each side of the vessel, viz., from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on either side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 5 miles.

(b) On the starboard side a green light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 10 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on the starboard side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles.

(c) On the port side a red light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 10 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on the port side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles.

(d) The said green and red side-lights shall be fitted with inboard screens projecting at least 3 feet forward from the light, so as to prevent these lights from being seen across the bow.

(e) A steam-vessel when under way may carry an additional white light similar in construction to the light mentioned in subdivision a. These two lights shall be so placed in line with the keel that one shall be at least 15 feet higher than the other, and in such a position with reference to each other that the lower light shall be forward of the upper one. The vertical distance between these lights shall be less than the horizontal distance.

ART. 3. A steam-vessel when towing another vessel shall, in addition to her side-lights, carry two bright white lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, and when towing more than one vessel shall carry an additional bright white light 6 feet above or below such lights, if the length of the tow, measuring from the stern of the towing vessel to the stern of the last vessel towed, exceeds 600 feet. Each of these lights shall be of the same construction and character, and shall be carried in the same position as the white light mentioned in Article 2 (a), except the additional light, which may be carried at a height of not less than 14 feet above the hull.

Such steam-vessel may carry a small white light abaft the funnel or after-mast for the vessel towed to steer by, but such light shall not be visible forward of the beam.

ART. 4. (a) A vessel which from any accident is not under command shall carry at the same height as the white light mentioned in Article 2 (a), where they can best be seen, and if a steam-vessel in lieu of that light, two red lights, in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, and of such a character as to be visible all round the horizon at a distance of at least 2 miles; and shall by day carry in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, where they can best be seen, two black balls or shapes, each 2 feet in diameter.

(b) A vessel employed in laying or in picking up a telegraph cable shall carry in the same position as the white light mentioned in Article 2 (a), and if a steam-vessel in lieu of that light, three lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart. The highest and lowest of these lights shall be red, and the middle light shall be white, and they shall be of such a character as to be visible all round the horizon, at a distance of at least 2 miles. By day she shall carry in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, where they can best be seen, three shapes not less than 2 feet in diameter, of which the highest and lowest shall be globular in shape and red in color, and the middle one diamond in shape and white.

(c) The vessels referred to in this Article, when not making way through the water, shall not carry the side-lights, but when making way shall carry them.

(d) The lights and shapes required to be shown by this Article are to

be taken by other vessels as signals that the vessel showing them is not under command and can not therefore get out of the way.

These signals are not signals of vessels in distress and requiring assistance. Such signals are contained in Article 31.

ART. 5. A sailing vessel under way, and any vessel being towed shall carry the same lights as are prescribed by Article 2 for a steamvessel under way, with the exception of the white lights mentioned therein, which they shall never carry.

ART. 6. 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 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides.

To make the use of these portable lights more certain and easy, the lanterns containing them shall each be painted outside with the color of the light they respectively contain, and shall be provided with proper screens.

ART. 7. Steam-vessels of less than 40, and vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons, gross tonnage, respectively, when under way, shall not be obliged to carry the lights mentioned in Article 2 (a) (b) and (c), but if they do not carry them they shall be provided with the following lights:

1. Steam-vessels of less than 40 tons shall carry:

(a) In the fore part of the vessel, or on or in front of the funnel, where it can best be seen, and at a height above the gunwale of not less than 9 feet, a bright white light constructed and fixed as prescribed in Article 2 (a), and of such a character as to be visible at a dis tance of at least 2 miles.

(b) Green and red side-lights constructed and fixed as prescribed in Article 2 (b) and (c), and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 1 mile, or a combined lantern showing a green light and a red light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides. Such lantern shall be carried not less than 3 feet below the white light.

2. Small steam-boats, such as are carried by sea-going vessels, may carry the white light at a less height than 9 feet above the gunwale, but it shall be carried above the combined lantern, mentioned in subdivision 1 (b).

3. Vessels under oars or sails, of less than 20 tons, shall have ready at hand a lantern with a green glass on one side and a red glass on the other, which, on the approach of or to other vessels, shall be exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision, so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side.