§ MR. MUNDELLA (Sheffield, Brightside)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in the trials of speed of Her Majesty's ships of war, over the measured mile, care is taken to use a uniform quality of fuel so as to secure an accurate comparison in results; what was the description of coal used in the recent trial of the Trafalgar; for how long has it been used by the Admiralty for such purposes; and, what is the ascertained evaporative power of such coal?
§ LORD G. HAMILTONFuel of a uniform quality is always used in carrying out the speed trials of Her Majesty's ships. The coal used on the occasion of the Trafalgar's trials was Harris's deep navigation (Welsh) coal. This fuel has been used by the Admiralty since 1883 for this purpose. Its evaporative power is about 10¼1b. of water per 1 1b. of coal.