It shall not be lawful to transport, carry, or convey, ship, deliver on board, or cause to be delivered on board, the substance or article known or designated as nitro-glycerine, or glynoin oil, nitroleum or blasting oil, or nitrated oil, or powder mixed with any such oil, or fiber saturated with any such article, or substance, upon or in any vessel or vehicle used or employed in transporting passengers by land or water between a place in any foreign country and a place within the limits of any State, Territory, or district of the United States, or between a place in one State, Territory, or district of the United States, and a place in any other State, Territory, or district thereof. (R. S., 4278.) It shall not be lawful to ship, send, or forward any quantity of the substances or articles named in the preceding section, or to transport, convey, or carry the same by a vessel or vehicle of any description, upon land or water, between a place in a foreign country and a place within the United States, or between a place in one State, Territory, or district of the United States, and a place in any other State Territory, or district thereof, unless the same shall be securely enclosed, deposited, or packed in a metallic vessel surrounded by plaster of Paris, or other material that will be non-explosive when saturated with such oil or substance, and separate from all other substances, and the outside of the package containing the same be marked, printed, or labeled in a conspicuous manner with the words "Nitro-glycerine, dangerous." (R. S., 4279.) The two preceding sections shall not be so construed as to prevent any State, Territory, district, city, or town within the United States from regulating or from prohibiting the traffic in or transportation of those substances, between persons or places lying or being within their respective territorial limits, or from prohibiting the introduction thereof into such limits, for sale, use, or consumption therein. (R. S., 4280.) CHAPTER VII THE CHIEF MATE The Chief Officer of an ocean steamer is officially styled the Chief Mate. Also, he is often referred to simply as the Mate. In passenger liners, transports, and the like, the term Chief Officer, finds favor. But among men of the sea, the fine old sailor title "Chief Mate" prevails. The Chief Mate has the most difficult, and in many ways, the most important position on a vessel. An energetic Chief Mate, who is also competent, makes his vessel a successful organization. He should possess the necessary knowledge and skill in his profession, combined with initiative, tact, and executive ability of a high order. The position of Chief Mate is the test job of the sea. An indifferent junior officer can survive for years, but when he is appointed Chief Mate, he must either make good, and achieve promotion, or his faults and shortcomings overtake him and ruin his career. This is the hard screen through which the master mariners are sifted.