§ SIR HENRY HAVELOCK-ALLAN (Durham, S. E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to a statement that a certain portion of the South Hetton Coal Mine, namely, the furnace drifts and flues, being considered by the workmen to be in a dangerous condition, owing to the intense heat when men are compelled to go in and clean them, the Inspector of Mines for the district has been requested in writing by the workmen to inspect this portion of the mine, or to cause it to be inspected, and has refused to do so; whether it is competent to the Inspector of Mines, on his own authority, to refuse to inspect a portion of a mine under such circumstances, when requested to do so by the workmen; and assuming the facts to be as stated in this question, what action he proposes to take in the matter?
§ MR. MATTHEWSThe Inspector, who is now in London on duty, informs me that he has not the actual correspondence before him, but that he received a letter complaining of the heat during the cleaning out of the furnace drift. He at once saw the manager on the subject, who stated that in future the fire should be put out during such cleaning, and, as a matter of fact, the fire was put out on the following day. I do not understand that the Inspector refused to inspect that portion of the mine. It is the duty of Inspectors to visit and inspect a mine either on invitation or complaint, even if it be an anonymous complaint.