§ MR. LUTTRELL (Devon, Tavistock)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether, at the loss of the Italian ship Iona, at Boscastle, on 20th December, the crew, while in a perilous position, were unable to interpret the directions on the label attached to the rocket life-saving apparatus; whether, in consequence, Messrs. Hughes, Brown, Glanville, and Hamley incurred very great risk in nobly rescuing the I crew; and whether, in order to mitigate the dangers of the shipwrecked and the rescuers, he will take steps to render the explanations more general by causing the 1153 directions to be printed in Italian, German, and Spanish, as well as in French and English?
§ MR. MUNDELLAThe facts with regard to the loss of the Iona are as stated in the question, and I have taken steps to suitably recognise the services of the rescuing party. As I informed my hon. Friend, in reply to a question he put to me in this House on the 5th May last, the directions on the rocket apparatus are only in English and French. If they were to be painted on the tally-board in other languages, the board would have to be larger than it is, and this, I am advised, would in hauling it through the sea more than counterbalance any advantage obtained. I shall be happy to show the hon. Member the tally-board.