R. S. 2711-Act 99, 1880 [Bonds of Pilots.] SEC. 3. That every branch pilot, in order to entitle him to act as such, shall give bond to the State, with two sufficient sureties, residents in New Orleans, in the sum of two thousand dollars ($2000), subject to the approval of the master and wardens of the port of New Orleans. [Carrying Pilot to Sea-Penalty.] SEC. 4. That if any outgoing vessel shall carry off to sea, throughr the fault of the master or owner of such vessel, any pilot, when a boat, is attending to receive him, the masters and owners of such vessel shall pay, besides the pilotage, to the pilot, the same monthly wages, during the passage of such vessel as the chief mate is receiving, and said master or owner shall likewise pay said pilot's passage home, on the first vessel clearing for this port or for the nearest port convenient to it. [Leave of Absence.] SEC. 5. That no branch pilot shall be allowed to leave his station for more than seven (7) consecutive days, unless he shall have obtained leave of absence from the Governor of the State, upon the written recommendation of the Board of Examiners, under penalty of fifty dollars ($50), recoverable before any court of competent jurisdiction. [Board of Examiners-Appointment.] SEC. 6. That the Governor shall appoint a board of three examiners who shall be men of practical experience, who shall hold office for four years or until their successors are appointed and qualified. Said examiners shall perform their duties without compensation. They shall recommend to the Governor for appointment by him, one or more persons whom they may deem competent to fulfill the duties of pilots for Calcasieu Bar, Pass and River. Said Board of Examiners shall make such rules for the regulation of pilots and masters and owners of vessels, plying in the waters of the Calcasieu Bar, Pass and River as they may deem necessary, and fix the rate of pilotage over the Bar, and in the Pass and River, but no pilotage shall be compulsory. When rates are established by said Board of Examiners, and published for thirty days in any newspaper in the Parish of Calcasieu or Cameron, they shall be in full force and effect, and binding on all pilots and masters and owners of vessels plying in said waters. All of the provisions of this act and the rules of the Board of Examiners shall be enforced by any court of competent jurisdiction in the parishes of Calcasieu and Cameron as the case may be (as amended by Act 109, 1894, p. 143). R. S. 2712-2715 RELATIVE TO PILOTS FOR THE ATCHAFALAYA BAY AND RIVER. [Appointment of Branch Pilots.] 2712. It shall be the duty of the Governor of the State of Louisiana to appoint for the Atchafalaya bay and river such number of branch pilots as the interests of commerce may demand, and from time to time to increase the same, should an increase be deemed important by him; provided, that no person shall be appointed until he shall have been examined by the Board of Examiners of said pilots, and shall exhibit to the Governor a certificate of competency signed by a majority of said Board (Act 99, 1858, 69). [Acting as Pilots Without Appointment.] 2713. Any person or persons not appointed as a branch pilot under the provisions of this act, who shall pilot any ship or vessel, when a branch pilot offers his services, shall pay to said branch pilot a fine of thirty dollars for each and every offense, and in default of such payment, such person or persons shall be imprisoned in the parish prison of the parish of St. Mary not less than ten days, nor more than thirty days, and the fine of thirty dollars hereby inflicted shall be and remain as a judgment against the person or persons so offending, until full and final payment, recoverable before any court of competent jurisdiction in the parish of St. Mary. [Pilot for Inward, Entitled to Outward Voyage.] 2714. Any pilot piloting any vessel safe from sea, shall have the exclusive right to pilot such vessel outward; provided, he shall be in readiness, and offer his services before said vessel gets below Deer Island, on the Atchafalaya river, and the captain or owner of any such vessel refusing to employ such pilot as aforesaid, shall pay to the said pilot the same rate of pilotage as though said pilot had piloted said vessel outward. [Removal or Suspension of Pilots.] 2715. The Governor may, in his discretion, suspend or remove any branch pilot of said station. R. S. 2716-2719 [What Court Has Jurisdiction.] 2716. All the provisions of this act shall be enforced before any court within the parish of St. Mary, having competent jurisdiction of the subject matter. [Pilot Must be Owner or Part Owner of Boat.] 2717. Every branch pilot for the Atchafalaya bay and river shall be the owner or part owner of at least one decked pilot boat, of not less than thirty tons' burden, and shall keep her exclusively employed as a pilot boat. The violation of this section shall subject the offender to a penalty of fifty dollars for each offense (Act 56, 1867, 162). [Rates of Pilotage.] 2718. It shall be the duty of the pilots to pilot, when required, all inward bound vessels from outside of what is commonly called "the Point of the Main Reef" to the mouth of the Atchafalaya river, and all outward bound vessels from the mouth of said river to the outside of said reef; and the pilots shall be entitled to demand and receive four dollars and fifty cents per foot that any vessel may draw under ten feet of water. All vessels refusing a pilot, other than those within the State of Louisiana, shall pay half pilotage both inward and outward bound; provided, they shall be spoken by a branch pilot, when inward bound, outside of the reef, and all outward bound vessels between Berwick's bay and the mouth of the Atchafalaya river. TO PREVENT OBSTRUCTIONS TO THE NAVIGATION OF THE ATCHAFALAYA BAY AND RIVER. [Manner of Discharging Ballast.] 2719. Each and every vessel arriving in the Atchafalaya bay in less than five fathoms of water, having ballast on board, the master or commander of such vessel shall not discharge any portion of said ballast into said bay, nor into water near said bay having a depth of less than five fathoms, and said master or commander shall be compelled to discharge the ballast of such vessel at such place or places as shall be designated to them, by the persons who shall hereinafter be appointed to superintend the discharging of the ballast from on board all vessels that may come into the waters of said bay; and any R. S. 2720-2722 master, captain or owner of any vessel who shall violate the foregoing provisions as to the manner of discharging ballast, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars and not less than two hundred dollars (Act 166, 1856, p. 168.) [Branch Pilots as Ballast Masters, etc.] 2720. Each of the branch pilots.of the Atchafalaya bay and river, and his successor in office shall be ex-officio a ballast master, whose duty it shall be to carry into effect the provisions of this act, in relation to the discharging of ballast in the waters of said bay and river; and should either of said pilots refuse or neglect to perform the services imposed on him by the provisions of this act, he may be prosecuted every time he may so offend, as for a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two hundred and not less than one hundred dollars. [Loading Cargo and Discharging Ballast.] 2721. All of the branch pilots, or a majority of them, shall determine upon a suitable place or places, where all vessels which may hereafter receive their cargoes or a part of them in said bay, shall be required to discharge their ballast, and said pilots shall mark out by stakes the place or places which they may select for such purpose. [Duties of Pilots.] 2722. Hereafter every sailing vessel coming in from sea to said bay, for the purpose of receiving her cargo or part of it, in said bay, shall take one of said pilots on board when he offers his services outside of the reefs; it shall be the duty of said pilot to examine whether said vessel has any ballast on board of her, and when ballast shall be found in said vessel, she shall be conducted by said pilot to the place selected for the discharging of ballast, where the captain or master of said vessel must discharge his ballast, but if such vessel has no ballast on board she shall be conducted by said pilot to the usual anchorage, and for the performance of said services of piloting and a ballast master, said pilot shall be paid by the captain, a compensation of two dollars per foot, for every foot such vessel may draw at the time when she was boarded by said pilot. R. S. 2723-2725 [Discharge of Ballast, Place.] 2723. All vessels which may hereafter come into said bay, with the intention and do actually go into the Atchafalaya river, shall not be required to discharge their ballast in said bay, but must discharge their ballast on the banks of said river, or on the banks of some of the bayous connected with said river; but should any of the captains or masters of such vessels, in contravention of the provisions of this act, discharge the ballast of such vessels in the bed of said river or in the waters of said bay, having a depth of not less than five fathoms, such captain or master shall be fined in a sum not more than five hundred, nor less than two hundred dollars. [Legal Proceedings for Violations.] 2724. Whenever any person shall make complaint under oath to any justice of the peace, that the captain, master or owner of any vessel, or that some one of said pilots has violated any of the provisions of this act, relative to pilots, which are declared to be punishable by fine, it shall be the duty of said justice of the peace to cause the person thus complained of to be brought before him by legal process, and should the officer be satisfied, from the evidence, that there is a probable cause of said complaint, said justice of the peace shall take a bond, with good security from said accused person, in the sum of six hundred dollars, for his appearance at the next regular term of the district court of the parish where the offense may be committed, and should said accused party refuse or neglect, or fail from any cause whatsoever to give such a bond, then it shall be the duty of said justice of the peace to commit said accused to the parish prison to be detained therein until discharged by due course of law. [Fines, etc., How Disposed of.] 2725. All fines and forfeitures arising from the administration of the penal clauses of this act, so far as it relates to pilots, after deducting the fees of district attorney, be paid into the treasury of the parish where the offense may be committed, for the use and benefit of said parish. |