The last on the list is “collisions, &c.”  By the “&c.,” I suppose, is mount vessels which, having run on the river till they wore only fit for firewood, still continued “just one more trip;” and then, of course, the slightest concussion, either on a bank or a floating log, would break them up like a chip basket.  The examination on this point is conducted like that of the boilers, and the same remedy might readily be applied.  I think, however, that the greater number of losses from collisions, &c., may be chiefly ascribed to the collisions.  The cause of these collisions is easily understood, when you are informed that vessels meeting indicate the side they intend to take by sounding a bell.  They have no fixed rule, like vessels meeting at sea.  The sound of the toll of the second bell may easily be blended with the first, if it be struck hurriedly, which in cases of danger is more than probable; or, the sound of a single toll may find an echo and be mistaken for two tolls.  The collision we met with was caused by this very misunderstanding; at least, so the captains mutually explained it.  The reason given me for this unsettled system was, that, owing to banks and currents, vessels could not always take the same side.  Supposing this to be so, still, a more correct indication of the side intended to be taken might be obtained by lights kept burning for that purpose in a box with a sliding front, removeable at pleasure by a line leading to the wheel-house, in the same way as the lanyard of the bell is at present fitted; and a further palpable advantage would be obtained by obliging vessels meeting in the night to stop the engines and pass at “slow speed.”  In addition to these precautions, a stout cork fender, extending round the bows some ten feet on each side, and fixed every night at dark, would materially lessen the chances of destruction, even if collision did take place.

There is, however, another cause of accident which the Louisville paper does not allude to, and that is overloading.  We started about two and a half feet out of the water when leaving St. Louis, and, long before we met with our accident, we had taken in cargo till we were scarce five inches above the river.  Not only do they cram the lower or freight deck, but the gallery outside the saloons and cabins is filled till all the use and comfort thereof is destroyed, and scarce a passage along them to be obtained.  Seeing the accidents such reckless freighting must necessarily give rise to, what more simple than obliging every vessel to have a float or loading line painted from stem to stern at a certain elevation, making the captain and owners liable to a heavy penalty if the said line be brought below the water by the freight.  There is one other point which I may as well notice here, and that is the manner in which these boats are allowed to carry deck-passengers.  There is no clear portion of deck for them, and they are driven by necessity among the bales and boxes of freight,