§ MR. PLUMMERTo ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state how often during the period 1899 to 1903, the lightships placed by the Trinity House at the request of the Admiralty to mark Dover pier works have been run into, and sunk, or seriously damaged; what has been the amount of the loss which has thereby accrued to the Lighthouse Fund; and whether the Board of Trade proposes to make any application to the Admiralty to contribute towards such loss.
(Answered by Mr. Gerald Balfour.) During the period in question the lightship marking Dover pier works has been twice run into and sunk, and on three other occasions has been the subject of collision. In the latter cases the whole cost of the necessary repairs was recovered from the owners of the vessels causing the damage. In the case of the two vessels sunk a sum of £14,800 was recovered from the owners of the vessels which ran them down. The cost of the new vessels to replace those lost was £20,400, and a total expenditure of £5,600 has accordingly fallen on the general Lighthouse Fund, but, in view of the fact that the Trinity House were obtaining new vessels of the latest type in place of two that were respectively 54 and 40 years
| Stationed at | Directing Officers. | Examiners. | Staff. Clerks. | Second Division Clerks. | Boy Clerks, etc. | Total at each Station. |
| Headquarters (London). | 29 | 20 | 7 | 116 | 15 | 187 |
| Chatham Dockyard | 1 | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Devonport do. | — | 1 | — | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| Portsmouth do. | — | 2 | — | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| Woolwich Arsenal | 1 | — | 1 | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| Pretoria. | 1 | — | 1 | 3 | — | 5 |
| Outside of Headquarters | 3 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 5 | 34 |
§ old, it was held that the Admiralty could not reasonably be called upon to contribute to their cost.