§ Major ARCHER-SHEEasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in those cases where British ships sail from home ports or ports abroad with deck loads, any official notifications as to the nature, extent, and weight of these deck loads are, in the first place, sent to the Board of Trade or their representative officers; and whether, in those cases where deck loads are carried from ports in the United Kingdom, they are invariably inspected in the first place by Board of Trade nautical surveyors possessed of experience in the carriage of deck loads and knowledge of the necessary precautions required, in order that, as far as possible, it may be ascertained by the Board of Trade that these deck loads are of such a 683W character and have been so secured as to ensure the greatest possible safety in cases of heavy weather being met with?
Mr. BUXTONThere is no general obligation on masters of ships to notify the Board of Trade when deck loads are carried. Deck loads carried from the United Kingdom are not inspected by the Officers of the Board of Trade in all cases as a matter of course, but only when there is some special reason for an inspection.