§ SIR EDWARD WATKIN (Hythe)I beg to ask the Postmaster General if it is true that the poles for the postal telegraph land lines, to connect with the lines and cable now being laid between the lighthouse on Tory Island, on the north-west coast of Ireland, and the main land of Ireland, by Lloyd's, are to be conveyed from England to Ireland by sea, notwithstanding that plentiful supplies of timber exist on the spot; and whether he will give such instructions as will lead to the completion of the Post Office work by the time the work carried out by Lloyd's is ready for public use?
§ *THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. RAIKES,) Cambridge UniversityIn reply to the hon. Member I have to state that the poles on which the wire will be erected to connect the cable from Tory Island with the postal telegraph system are now being conveyed by sea from the depot at Belfast. There is no suitable timber on the spot. The terms of the Department were accepted by Lloyd's in a letter dated the 25th ultimo, and I hold in my hand a later letter from the secretary of that Institution thanking the Post Office for the steps it has promised to take to expedite the erection of the land line.