The Ohio Division of Watercraft threatened to fine owners of the St. Helena III, a recreational barge that travels on the Ohio & Erie Canal, $75 a day because it was not equipped with life preservers. The horse-drawn barge holds as many as 60 people, travels at about three miles per hour along a 1.25-mile stretch of canal, in water that is only three feet deep. Since the tourist boat is defined as a commercial vessel, it must carry Type I preservers—the most expensive available, the same kind used in freighters. Ed Shuman, president of the Canal Fulton Heritage Society, hopes the local community will contribute the $3,600 necessary to outfit the boat.

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