MR. MACARTNEYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is the case that, previous to the departure from Omagh of Mr. Mason, late Governor of the Tyrone County Gaol, about two months ago, and, in consequence of several cases of illness and more than one death having occurred in his family, it was ordered by the Prisons' Board that an examination should be made into the state of the sewerage in that part of the prison occupied by him; whether it was discovered that, owing to the defective state of the communication with the main drain, sewage matter had been allowed to escape and to flow beneath the flags in the kitchen of his residence; whether, during this investigation, Captain Disney, who had been appointed to succeed Mr. Mason, occupied rooms on the debtors' side of the prison, formerly occupied by the deputy governor; whether, on the late arrival at Omagh of the chief warder in charge of suspects transferred from other prisons to that of Omagh, Captain Disney was obliged to take up his quarters in the pest house so recently vacated by his predecessor, although he had applied for and been refused permission to reside temporarily with his wife and child in lodgings in the town; whether the melancholy death on the 6th instant of Captain Disney, who succumbed to a sudden and violent attack of typhoid fever after a few days illness, may be attributed to the lamentable remissness of the prison authorities in Ireland; and, whether he will order a strict investigation to be made into the matter?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. W. M. JOHNSON) (for Mr. W. E. FORSTER)A thorough examination of the Omagh Prison by an eminent medical gentleman has been ordered, and is now either about to be made or actually in process of being made. It was not discovered, as suggested by the Question, that sewage matter escaped under the flags in the kitchen of the Governor's residence, which is a separate building from the prison. During alterations in the drainage of the Governor's residence Captain Disney was cautioned not to remain there, and accordingly removed to the debtors' side of the prison. He was not obliged, on the arrival of the chief warder, to resume his quarters in the Governor's house, nor was he refused permission to reside in lodgings. On the contrary, his death, which is so much to be lamented, occurred, so far as can be ascertained, from his sleeping over an open sewer in direct opposition to the advice of the architect. If he had applied for permission to sleep out of the prison it would have been at once accorded to him; and even in the prison perfectly suitable and undoubtedly healthy rooms were available for his occupation, as he must have been aware.