Mr. CHIOZZA-MONEYasked the President of the Board of Trade if his attention has been directed to the case of murderous outrage in a Midland Railway carriage on Wednesday, 24th February, in which the assaulted person vainly endea- 1579 voured to communicate with the guard; if he is aware that it is the common practice of railway companies to place communication cords so high in carriages that they are difficult to reach; and if he will make such regulations as shall ensure the provision of practicable means of communication in all trains?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI may remind my hon. Friend that the first effect of pulling the communication chain is to apply the automatic brake to the train, and in this case the railway company inform me that the driver of the train in question noticed that the communication chain had been pulled, and ran the train to the next station, which was less than a mile away. As regards the position of the chain in the carriage, I am advised that it cannot well be improved, as the chain could not run across the door of the compartment.