§ MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydfil)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the nature of the evidence given at the coroner's inquest into the death of eight men who were killed by the explosion of an accumulation of gas in Fochriw Pit on the 4th instant; whether he is aware that the pit was worked at one time by safety lamps and at another time by naked lights, and that at the time of the accident there was no overman in charge of the pit; and, in view of the fact that the Chief Inspector of Mines for the district stated, that the men should have been withdrawn as soon as the fall in the main drift was found, and condemned the type of lock on the lamps, whether he will institute further inquiry into the cause of the accident.
§ MR. RITCHIEI have received from the inspector a brief provisional report on this accident from which it appears that the facts are as stated in the question. An overman was in the pit at the time of the accident though not in charge of the district where the explosion occurred. There seems to be no need for further inquiry as to the cause 702 of the accident; but I will call for a full report from the inspector as to what steps should be taken in view of the dangerous practices alluded to.