§ MR. M'CARTANI desire to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the five men who are in charge of the lighthouse on Mew Island, off Donaghadee, County Down, are obliged to remain there for a fortnight at a time, and are not allowed to have the use of a boat; and whether, considering that they are the only inhabitants of the island, which is three miles distant from the mainland, he will advise a boat to be left at the island, in order that they may be able to communicate with Donaghadee in case of the illness of any of the men?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Sir M. HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.It is, for obvious reasons, contrary to the Regulations of the Commissioners of Irish Lights to allow lightkeepers to keep boats. Should assistance be required there is at Mew Island a system of signalling both for day and night, which would cause the regular attending boat to come off from Donaghadee.