MR. M. A. BASSasked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether he has made an inquiry into the circumstances of the death of James Harris, an engine cleaner at the Paddington Station of the Great Western Railway, who was burnt to death in the "firebox" of an empty engine on Saturday the 8th instant, it being reported that Harris had been at work thirty-six hours without relief; that, exhausted with fatigue, he crept into the empty fire-box of the engine he had been cleaning, and fell asleep; soon after the stoker came to light the engine fire, and, not suspecting that the boy was there, threw a shovelful of blazing coal over him and burnt him to death?
MR. PEEL,in reply, said, the Board of Trade had not instituted an official inquiry; but there had been an inquiry before the coroner, resulting in a verdict of "accidental death." There was no doubt as to the truth of the statement contained in the hon. Gentleman's Question. In the course of the inquest it came out that the foreman of his department had failed in his duty in allowing James Harris to continue working dur- 723 ing Friday night. He commenced work at 6 a.m., and continued till 4 p.m. on the following day, with an interval of only six hours' rest. It was but fair to the foreman to say that James Harris made a formal request to be permitted to continue working, to which the foreman thoughtlessly acceded. He was authorized by the directors of the Great Western Railway to express, in the strongest terms, their regret at that unfortunate occurrence, and to state that they had visited the conduct of the foreman with the severest condemnation, and that they trusted the steps they had taken would prevent the recurrence of any similar accident.
§ MR. DILLWYN,as one of the directors of the Great Western Railway, endorsed on behalf of the directors all that the hon. Gentleman (Mr. Peel) had said. They extremely regretted that unfortunate occurrence. The conduct of the foreman was in express and direct contravention of the orders of the company. The Board of Directors had met that day, and had ascertained that the circumstances were somewhat worse than had been stated, inasmuch as James Harris was a boy, and was under the ago at which he ought to have been employed, under the provisions of the Factory Act. The directors had summoned the foreman before them; but, before proceeding to deal with the matter, they received a notice from the Inspector of Factories that it was the intention of the Home Office to prosecute the company for a contravention of that Act. The directors thought the Inspector of Factories had done quite right; but pending the prosecution they could not proceed to deal with the case. He had nothing more to say but to express, on behalf of the directors, their unavailing regret that such a sad misfortune should have occurred.