LORD LINDSAYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If his attention has been called to the unfortunate fire which occurred in a cotton mill in Ayr, by which a large number of lives have been lost; and, if he is rendering such assistance as is necessary to enable the inspector and the jury to ascertain the reason why these workpeople were unable to make their escape?
MR. ASSHETON CROSS, in reply, said, that immediately after the occurrence of the fire the Procurator Fiscal made a searching inquiry into the origin of the fire, and of the causes which led to so great a loss of life. On account of the great difficulty of approaching the ruins, and of recovering the bodies, the inquiry had not yet been completed. Every assistance was being given by the town authorities, and if it should appear that there had been any neglect of the provisions of the Factory Act by the proprietors of the mill, the Inspector would be at once communicated with; but, so far as the inquiry had gone, there did not appear to be any ground for such a suspicion. The Lord Advocate had put himself in communication with the Procurator Fiscal on the subject, and it would receive the utmost attention.