Washington. These charges are imposed on foreign and American vessels alike and do not represent a discriminatory tax against our merchant marine. NAVIGATION APPROPRIATIONS The appropriations for the bureau for the past fiscal year, compared with those for the years ended June 30, 1924 and 1917, were as follows: It will be noted that the receipts of collections is about five times the cost of operating the bureau through its direct appropriations. PUBLICATIONS Publications of the bureau, comprising the Navigation Laws (quadrennial with an annual pamphlet supplement), List of Mer chant Vessels of the United States, Code List of Merchant Vessels, and List of Radio Stations (all annual), and American Documented Seagoing Merchant Vessels of 500 Gross Tons and Over and Radio Service Bulletin (both monthly) are no longer distributed gratui tously, but are for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. The appendixes and statistical tables which have heretofore fol lowed will be published in Merchant Marine Statistics. Very truly yours, D. B. CARSON, Commissioner of Navigation. STEAMBOAT INSPECTION SERVICE Hon. HERBERT HOOVER, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Secretary of Commerce. DEAR MR. SECRETARY: In response to your request I furnish the following condensed report upon the work of the bureau during the past year: This service exists primarily for the purpose of securing safety on inspected vessels of the American merchant marine, and it is a pleasure to be able to say that during the past fiscal year there has been no great accident or disaster. Though we have done during the past year more business than in the preceding one, we have expended actually $13,000 less. The effort that has been made this year to economize is not a new one because it will be recalled that on April 18, 1924, the local inspection districts of Apalachicola, Fla., and Burlington, Vt., were abolished, and previous to that time they were allowed to remain vacant pending congressional action. The supervising inspectorship of the seventh district with headquarters at Pittsburgh, Pa., was also discontinued in 1921, and while this position has not yet been abolished by Congress, it is to be pointed out that legislation looking to this end is still pending. This has resulted in an annual saving of $13,450. The work of standardizing examination questions has not yet been completed because of the pressure of other work. It is the intention of the bureau to complete this work as soon as possible. INCLINING TESTS The work of inclining vessels is done by the traveling inspectors of this service. This work has increased to such an extent that at times the bureau has, in a sense, been put upon the defensive in getting this work done on time. There is no more important activity to-day in the Steamboat Inspection Service than the inclining of vessels, and that being the fact, there has been no instance where there has been any delay in the certification of a ship because of a stability test. In any instance where an operator has felt that a different conclusion should have been reached by the bureau, a fair and impartial hearing has been given, and in some instances the bureau has changed its original findings based upon additional information that was furnished, all of which is in the interest of good business. The traveling inspectors have also been of great assistance to the bureau in keeping in touch with every activity of the entire service, and by having them stationed at Washington, the Supervising Inspector General has been able to use them in conducting investiga tions of complaints that have come to the central office, thus enabling the bureau to have important and complete information at first hand. LEGISLATION Reference has been made in previous annual reports to the neces sity for having sections 4433 and 4418, Revised Statutes, in regard to the working and hydrostatic pressures of boilers amended so as to enable this service to make modern the rules and regulations covering these matters. This legislation is still desirable, and it is hoped that Congress will take action upon the matter in the near future. Section 4404, Revised Statutes, should be amended so as to include the supervising inspectors under the classified civil service. RECLASSIFICATION Up to the present time reclassification has only been made effec tive in the District of Columbia. There has been what has been termed a readjustment of the salaries of the field service, and while that has given temporary relief in a sense, it has not given the full and permanent relief desired. The payment of a proper salary is just as economical a thing as having the proper number of personnel, because there is absolutely no economy in the employment of cheap men. It would be better to employ high-priced men and fewer of them. By this it is not meant to say that the field employees of this service are inferior, but this service does desire to attract to its ranks men of the very highest caliber and best experience, which it will increasingly be unable to do unless proper salaries are paid. In this service at the present time are very able men, and while the question may be asked why, if these men are so able and can obtain better salaries outside of the Government. they do not take advantage of their opportunities, the answer can readily be given that they accept positions in this service at lower salaries in order to be at home with their families, which is something that will not appeal to a man when he is younger and who will look to the sea for employment, until in later years when he wil also come to the Government for employment. It is the desire of this service to attract to its employment young active men with good experience and this can only be done by the payment of sal aries that are commensurate with training and ability of desirabi men. PERSONNEL The following positions were embraced in the Steamboat Inspe tion Service at the close of business on June 30, 1925: At Washington, D. C.: Supervising Inspector General_ Deputy Supervising Inspector General (who is Acting Supervisor Traveling inspectors_. Clerks - Messenger-- In the service at large: Supervising inspectors_. Local inspectors of hulls__ Local inspectors of boilers--- In the service at large-Continued. Assistant inspectors of hulls. Assistant inspector of boilers.. Clerks to boards of local inspectors. 1.1 On October 1, 1924, the headquarters of the traveling ingeste at San Francisco, Calif., and the traveling inspectie at Carelad Ohio, were changed to Washington. STATISTICS The force inspected and certificated 1.411 vessels, with a toll re tonnage of 14,544,153, of which 7.078 were docestie Tessus, vil total gross tonnage of 11.256.634, and 600 were fore no passenger steam vessels, with a total gross tonnage of 3257T218. Of the inceste vessels there were 5,620 steam vessels, 925 motor vessels. 10 passenger barges, and 514 seagoing barges. There was a decrease of 147 The total number of vessels inspected. and a decrease of all in the total gross tonnage of vessels inspected as compared with the prerious fiscal year. There were si cargo vessels examined to any persons in addition to crew under the act of Congress approved Mode 3. 1920. Letters of approval of designs of bollers, engines, and other operating machinery were granted to 22 steam Tesses with a gross tonnage of 579. There were inspected for the Unitel Government 58 hulls of vessels and 2.97 bollers. There were 227 There were reinspections of steam vessels, motor vessels, ani berzes Licenses were isued to 23.670 officers of all gries examined for visual defects 7276 applicants for Moense, of whom 19 were found color blind or with other visual defects and rejecte Certificates of service were issued to 9.590 able seamen, an i550 were rejected. Certificates of efficiency were issued to 9.461 feboat men, and 5,367 were rejected. Steel plates for the construction of marine bollers to the number of 2,560 were inspected at the mills, and a large amount of other boiler material was inspected. There were examined and tested 131,832 new life preservers, of which 1.704 were rejected. There were inspected 9.966 new ring life buoys, of which 125 were rejected. There were inspected at factories 200 new lifeboats, of which 1 was rejected. There were inspected at factories 92 new life rafts, all of which passed. The total number of accidents resulting in loss of life was 173. The total number of lives lost was 310. of which 59 were passengers. Of the lives lost, 152 were from suicide, accidental drowning, and other similar causes, leaving a loss of 158 as fairly chargeable to accidents, collisions, founderings, etc. There was an increase of 13 in the number of lives lost as compared with the previous fiscal year. Passengers to the number of 344.092.530 were carried on vessels required by law to make report of the number of passengers carried. Dividing this number by 59, the total number of passengers lost, shows that 5,832,076 passengers were carried for each passenger lost. The number of lives directly saved by means of the life-saving appliances required by law was 788. Very truly yours, 5. UHLER, Supervisin for General. PATENT OFFICE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, PATENT OFFICE, Washington, July 1, 1925. Hon. HERBERT HOOVER, Secretary of Commerce. DEAR MR. SECRETARY: The Patent Office was, by Executive order, transferred to the Department of Commerce on April 1, 1925, after having been in the Department of Interior for 76 years. The Patent Office has been a beehive of industry during the year just closed. Except for the " Except for the "peak" years 1921 and 1922, more applications were received than in any year in the history of the office and more money received as fees than in either of the two peak years just referred to. Patent applications increased from 79,689 in 1924 to 82,213 in 1925. Applications of all kinds increased from 99,724 to 103,705. The largest amount of fees ever received in any previous year totaled $3,042,272.22. During the year just closed the receipts rose to $3,271,259.89. The "output" increased from a total issue of 59,853 patents, designs, trade-marks, etc., in 1924 to 64,704 in 1925. Notwithstanding the tremendous increase in work, the number of applications awaiting action has been reduced as follows: While during the year there was an apparent decrease of applications awaiting action of 15,778, the relative decrease was much greater, since the office received 4,000 more new applications than during the preceding year and also received about 30,000 more amendments to old applications than in the preceding year. The average time in which an application is held awaiting official action has been reduced from 5 months to 3 months in new cases and from 3.4 months to 2.3 months in amended cases. This gain is also shown by the following table: |