§ MR. HALL (Yorkshire, W. R., Normanton)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the suicide of a fireman named Mowtas Ali, at sea, on ss. "Indrani," of Liverpool, 18th August, 1908; whether any inquiry was held; whether the seaman was medically examined before joining the ship, and whether he had had previous sea service; whether the Board of Trade surveyors have satisfactorily reported upon the ventilation of the stokehold; if he can 2141 state the amount of coal the firemen and trimmers were required to work in each twenty-four hours; and whether any previous cases of suicide or supposed suicide amongst the stokehold hands have occurred on this vessel.
§ MR. CHURCHILLYes, Sir. Inquiry was held in the case of the "Indrani" by the British Consul at Amoy. The man was shipped at Singapore, and had not been medically examined, but had had previous service as fireman. He had been on board only one day and had done only one hour's duty. I have no reason to believe that the ventilation is defective, but as the vessel has been trading abroad the Board of Trade surveyors have not had an opportunity of reporting on it since the occurrence in question. The Consul states that the consumption of coal was twenty-three cwt. per hour, and the number of firemen and trimmers, sixteen. No previous case of suicide or supposed suicide on board this vessel has been reported.