MR. BUETasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If, with reference to the case of Thomas Corlett, who lost his life on the 3rd instant by the premature explosion of a "shot" in the Henry Pit, Whitehaven, he has reason to be satisfied that the provision of the Mines Regulation Act which prohibits the use of iron or steel prickers was complied with; and, whether, seeing there is reason to believe that a great number of prickers similar 641 to that which is alleged to have produced the explosion referred to are in use at the same collieries, he will direct the inspector for the district to call the attention of the owners to the subject?
MR. ASSHETON CROSS,in reply, said, he had made inquiries into the case in question, and he had reason to believe that the provision in the Mines Regulation Act had been complied with, and that the pricker used on the occasion was not made of iron or steel, but of some soft pliable metal, probably copper, which, although the safest, was not absolutely free from danger. The Mines Inspector for the district had issued a circular on the subject, and he hoped that the attention which had been called to the occurrence would insure that a proper pricker was used, not only in the district, but throughout the whole of the mining districts in the country.