§ MR. W. JOHNSTONOn behalf of the hon. Member for East Belfast (Mr. Wolff): I beg to ask the Civil Lord of the Admiralty, how many Belleville boilers are fitted in the Sharpshooter; can he state how long ago they were fitted, and how often they have been worked; and, what is the greatest number of consecutive hours they have worked at a time?
§ MR. E. ROBERTSONThe Sharpshooter was fitted with eight Belleville boilers twelve months ago, and these were first tried on board under steam, in February, 1894. Seventeen steam trials were made at various powers and durations up to 30 hours. The ship was commissioned in September 1894, and whilst on service with the Channel Squadron, has made two special twelve-hour trials, and the usual quarterly 24-hour trial, and the result, as regards the Belleville boilers, has in each case been most satisfactory.