§ MR. DANE (Fermanagh, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that a firm of weighbridge makers exhibited at the Royal Dublin Society's show, at Ball's Bridge, last week, a cattle weighbridge, fitted with a dial and automatic indicator, with a view to its adoption by Fair and Market Authorities throughout Ireland; is he aware that the smallest division represents 141bs., and that the machine, therefore, is unsuited for the weighing of pigs and sheep; also that there is no balance ball attached to the dial apparatus having a screw with revolving ball, enabling the weigh-table to be readily and easily cleansed and balanced, so that the droppings of animals weighed may not be weighed in with the succeeding animal; is he aware that the Inspectors of Weights and Measures cannot apply the test for sensitiveness to these dials—namely, No. 55 of the Model Regulations, 1890, and that the water in the cistern that regulates the back weight within the cistern varies in weight through change of temperature, and that no sworn weigher will certify the weight from a dial machine; and whether he will cause inquiry to be made into the matter?
MR. J. MORLEYMy attention had not previously been drawn to the exhibition of the weighbridge referred to. I have directed the attention of the Land Commission to the matter.