§ 18. Mr. SHORTasked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that, owing to the inadequacy and frequent breakdowns of the pumping arrangements in the coal mines of the Tipton, Old Hill, and Kingswinford areas of Staffordshire, over 100,000,000 tons of coal, in addition to great quantities of ironstone, are now submerged with water, and that the water is daily rising and threatens to overflow to other and deeper mines; and whether he will immediately take steps not only to present level of the water, in order to present level of the water, in order to allow of the recovery of the minerals and secure the mines from greater damage if not permanent closure?
§ Sir A. GEDDESI am aware that there has been failure owing to breakdown of the pumping arrangements to deal successfully with the water flowing into the mines in the Tipton area of South Staffordshire, and that that area is, on the advice of the mining experts recently employed by me, being abandoned; but emergency measures are being taken with a view to safeguarding the Old Hill, Kingswinford, and Oldbury areas against inundation. The amount of coal and ironstone lost through the flooding of the Tipton area is probably about 20,000,000 tons; the annual output from which is about 400,000 tons.