§ CAPTAIN NORTON (Newington, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether his attention has been drawn to the arrangements for lighting at Deptford Victualling Yard, where men have been working overtime during the past eighteen months loading and unloading ships and barges by candle lamps and gaslight, as a result of which several slight accidents have occurred, and one man recently broke his leg; and whether seeing that on either side of the yard, both at the Foreign Cattle Market and Brighton Railway Company Dock, electric light is used, he will take steps for the introduction of that light into the yard.
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERDuring the last eighteen months only nine accidents—one of them severe—have occurred in connection with the loading or unloading of vessels at Deptford, and none of them are attributable to defective lighting. They are only the ordinary cases of spraining and slight contusions inseparable from wharf duty. The case referred to, where a man broke his leg, occurred through his slipping from a frozen plank in the frosty weather. The wharves are lighted by Siemens' patent gas lamps, and in order to facilitate the work of loading or unloading, candle lamps are placed on board the craft. Fewer accidents have occurred by night than by day.
§ CAPTAIN NORTONDoes the hon. Gentleman deny that the gas lighting in this yard is defective?
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERI think it is adequate for all purposes.