Introduction—The X on the Draft Bill

A sloppy X (see Figure 1) removed lines 7 to 12 in the seven-page S.l. draft bill considered by the Senate in January 1838. To be exact, the X occurred in the seventh section of the first bill considered in that second session of Congress, a bill tentatively entitled

To provide for the better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam.

Figure 1 The X in Lines 7 to 12 in Section 7 from draft Bill S.1 25th Congress, Second Session, January 9th 1838. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315224633/610b66b7-61a5-4713-a9bd-0236d88d19da/content/fig1.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>