§ COLONEL WARING (Down, N.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the lifeboat authorities at Groomsport, as well as the coxswain and crew of the lifeboat, are of opinion that the wreck of the iron ss. Emily, wrecked in 1889 off Groomsport, would be a source of great danger to the lifeboat, especially at night, were the services of the crew required to assist a vessel on Brigg's Reef; and whether, as the conical buoy placed by the Commissioners of Irish Lights to mark this wreck is useless as a warning at night, and the cost of clearing away the wreck would be small, he will give directions for its removal forthwith?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Sir M. HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.I must refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave last week on the 16th instant to the hon. Baronet the Member for East Norfolk (Sir E. Birkbeck). I have no power to give any direction with respect to the wreck of the Emily, except upon a recommendation 1884 from the Commissioners of Irish Lights, and no such recommendation has been made to me.
§ COLONEL WARINGArising out of the right hon. Gentleman's answer, I beg to ask whether he is aware that his officer who made the inspection, or who ever supplied him with the information, ever went near the place; and also whether it is a fact that another steamer has since been wrecked upon the same spot?
§ SIR M. HICKS BEACHThe officer who made the inspection is not my officer, but the officer of the Commissioners of Irish Lights, and I know nothing about the later wreck to which the hon. Gentleman refers. I would really advise the hon. Gentleman to communicate with the Commissioners of Irish Lights on the subject.
§ COLONEL WARINGWill the right hon. Gentleman with his experience of Ireland explain how it is possible to overcome the vis inertiœ of these officers?