§ MR. HORACE C. PLUNKETT (Dublin Co., S.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the action of the Trinity House in adopting oil and not electricity as the illuminant for the two new lighthouses at the important station of Lundy Island is to be taken to mean that they do not now hold the opinion expressed in their Report to the South Foreland experiments as to the superiority of the electric light as a lighthouse illuminant; and whether, in future, gas and oil are to be adopted as illuminants in lighthouses?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADEI am informed by the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House that they adhere to the opinion expressed by their Committee as the result of the experiments made by them at the South Foreland, but they did not consider that the great additional expenditure necessary for installing and maintaining two separate electric light stations would be justified in the case of Lundy Island. The question whether electricity, gas, or oil are to be adopted as illuminants in the future must depend, to a great extent, on the circumstances of the particular lighthouses.