§ MR. SAMUEL SMITH (Flintshire)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is aware that the fencing which has been done by the Department of Woods and Forests on the Halkyn. Mountain, in Flintshire, is reported to have been done in an unsatisfactory manner, so as to be almost useless; whether he is aware that the quarries that have been abandoned have not been touched, and are in as bad a state as ever, that new quarries have been opened in some instances across footpaths and no attempt made to secure them, and that they are therefore highly dangerous at night to anyone not well acquainted with the mountain; whether he is further aware that the Parish Council of Halkyn have repeatedly reported the matter to the different authorities, who invariably shift the responsibility from one to the other; and whether he will now, therefore, take the necessary steps to remove what is there a great source of danger?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY,) Lancashire, BlackpoolI have made inquiry into this matter and find that in the case of the quarries now working fences have been put up by the lessees, which though not so strong as could be wished, are by no means useless. The Mines Inspector for the district will do his best to secure their completion. In one case only a trench connected with a quarry crosses a footpath, but the depth is only six feet, and the sides have been cut away so as to make it safe where the path crosses. As regards abandoned quarries, the Office of Works inform me that it has employed a special surveyor to go over the mountain, and now has estimates under its consideration. I am assured that the necessary work will be carried out without delay.