§ Mr. BROOKE(by Private Notice) asked the Home Secretary whether he has any statement to make on the explosion which occurred at the Alexandra Mills of Messrs. G. H. Hirst and Company, Batley, yesterday.
§ Sir J. SIMONI have received a preliminary report, and I much regret to state that seven persons were injured in this explosion, three of them seriously, and one (a girl) has died as a result of her injuries. The House will, I am sure, share in the deep sympathy which I feel with her relatives. It appears that the explosion was due to the explosion of a boiler economiser. The cause of the explosion is at present not known, but investigations are being made by the factory inspectors in co-operation with the Board of Trade surveyors.