§ MR. T. F. RICHARDS (Wolverhampton, W.)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the proceedings at the inquest upon the bodies of the three workmen who were killed by an explosion at the colliery of the Fife Coal Company, Scotland, and to the evidence given at the inquest by the fireman in charge of the district in which the explosion occurred, to the effect that he was only nineteen years of age, and had been employed at the colliery for three months; that it was part of his duty to start the electric motor, but that he had no knowledge of electricity; that he had no previous experience of a colliery in which locked safety lamps were used, and had not received any instructions upon the use of a safety lamp; and that he had not seen the Coal Mines Regulation Act, or the special rules in force at the colliery, and had no knowledge of them; and whether, having regard to these admissions, he will say what steps he proposes to take to protect the miners of this country from the dangers they are exposed to by the appointment of incompetent firemen?
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Gladstone.) Yes, Sir. My attention has been called to this accident, and I have received reports from the mines inspector with regard to it. I am informed that McGinn, the man referred to in the Question, was not the regular fireman in charge of the district, but was asked in an emergency to make the inspection. McGinn was of the ago stated, but was in training for the duties of a fireman, and according to the information given me had experience of gas and safety lamps. No electrical knowledge was required for starting the motor, which was done by moving a switch handle. It does not appear that the employment of McGinn was the cause of the accident; 893 but the whole question of the competence of firemen is under the consideration of the Royal Commission on Mines who, I am informed, have taken a considerable body of evidence on the subject.