§ MR. A. GUESTasked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether his attention has been drawn to the Statement in the Public Journals, that the "Thalia" storeship has been selected to convey a large number of Supernumeraries to China, although her scuttles do not admit of being opened when at sea, and that the War Department on a recent occasion refused to recognize her as a vessel fit for the transport of troops, and if there is any foundation for this statement?
§ MR. GOSCHEN, in reply, said, in the first place, the Thalia was not a storeship, but a corvette of six guns, specially constructed to carry a certain number of supernumeraries, she having been designed, like her sister ship the Juno, to take the place of some of the old paddle steamers. The Thalia was a perfectly new ship, and had as yet scarcely done any service. She had not been selected to carry a number of supernumeraries, but to replace her sister ship, the Juno; and there had been no correspondence with the War Office on the subject of conveying supernumeraries. The lower deck of the Thalia was constructed precisely on the same principles as that of an ordinary frigate; her scuttles could be opened in the same weather, and the persons below would have the same amount of comfort or discomfort as the crew of an ordinary frigate.