§ MR. JOSEPH DEVLIN (Kilkenny, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that recently there has been a serious outbreak of smallpox in the City of Belfast; whether he can furnish any particulars as to the cause and extent of the outbreak; whether his attention has been called to the neglect of the Belfast City Council to ensure an efficient exercise of its powers under the Public Health Acts, and the custom sanctioned by the council of permitting all kinds of refuse to be dumped on ground intended for building purposes; whether he is aware that a number of cottages abutting on the workhouse cemetery in Donegal Road, Belfast, where upwards of ten thousand have been interred, are overcrowded and without any system of drainage; and whether, under the circumstances, he will bring pressure to bear upon the city council in order to secure an immediate remedy for this state of affairs.
§ MR. WYNDHAMThe total number of cases admitted to the smallpox hospital is ninety-three. Two have died; fifty-five have been discharged; and thirty-six remain under treatment. The disease is supposed to have been introduced from Scotland. The Belfast Corporation, in the opinion of the Local Government Board, efficiently discharges the duties devolving upon it as the sanitary authority. Every effort is being made to prevent the further spread of the disease. No complaints have been made to the Board in respect to the alleged dumping of refuse or the overcrowding of cottages.