No loose hay, loose cotton, or loose hemp, camphene, nitro-glycerine, naphtha, benzine, benzole, coal oil, crude or refined petroleum, or other like explosive burning fluids, or like dangerous articles, shall be carried as freight or used as stores on any steamer carrying passengers; nor shall baled cotton or hemp be carried on such steamers unless the bales are compactly pressed and thoroughly covered and secured in such manner as shall be prescribed by the regulations established by the board of supervising inspectors with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce; nor shall gunpowder be carried on any such vessel except under special license; nor shall oil of vitrol, nitric or other chemical acids be carried on such steamers except on the decks or guards thereof or in such other safe part of the vessel as shall be prescribed by the inspectors. Refined petroleum, which will not ignite at a temperature less than one hundred and ten degrees of Fahrenheit thermometer, may be carried on board such steamers upon routes where there is no other practicable mode of transporting it, and under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce; and oil or spirits of turpentine may be carried on such steamers when put up in good metallic vessels or casks or barrels well and securely bound with iron and stowed in a secure part of the vessel; and friction matches may be carried on such steamers when securely packed in strong, tight chests or boxes, the covers of which shall be well secured by locks, screws, or other reliable fastenings, and stowed in a safe part of the vessel at a secure distance from any fire or heat. All such other provisions shall be made on every steamer carrying passengers or freight, to guard against and extinguish fire, as shall be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors and approved by the Secretary of Commerce. Nothing in the foregoing or following sections of this Act shall prohibit the transportation by steam vessels of gasoline or any of the products of petroleum when carried by motor vehicles (commonly known as automobiles) using the same as a source of motive power: _Provided, however_, That all fire, if any, in such vehicles or automobiles be extinguished immediately after entering the said vessel, and that the same be not relighted until immediately before said vehicle shall leave the vessel: _Provided further_, That any owner, master, agent, or other person having charge of passenger steam vessels shall have the right to refuse to transport automobile vehicles the tanks of which contain gasoline, naphtha, or other dangerous burning fluids. (Mar. 3, 1905; sec. 8.)