[Image]  Bridgewater Foundry Patricroft.
         From a painting by Alexander Nasmyth.

The village of Worsley, the headquarters of the Bridgewater Canal,
supplied us with a valuable set of workmen.  They were, in the first
place, labourers; but, like all Lancashire men, they were naturally
possessed of a quick aptitude for mechanical occupations connected with
machinery.  Our chief employment of these so-called labourers was in
transporting heavy castings and parts of machinery from one place to
another.  To do this properly required great care and judgment,
in order that the parts might not be disturbed, and that the mechanics
might proceed towards their completion without any unnecessary delay.
None but those who have had practical acquaintance with the importance
of having skilful labourers to perform these apparently humble,
but in reality very important functions, can form an adequate idea of
the value of such services.

All the requisite qualities we required were found in the Worsley
labourers.  They had been accustomed to the heaviest class of work in
connection with the Bridgewater Canal.  They had been thoroughly
trained in the handling of all manner of ponderous objects.
They performed their work with energy and willingness.  It was quite a
treat to me to look on and observe their rapid and skilful operations
in lifting and transporting ponderous portions of machinery, in which a
vast amount of costly work had been embodied.  After the machines or
engines had been finished, it was the business of the same workmen to
remove them from the workshops to the railway-siding alongside the
foundry, or to the boats at the canal wharf.  In all these matters the
Worsley men could be thoroughly depended upon.

Where they showed the possession, in any special degree, of a true
mechanical faculty, I was enabled to select from the working labourers
the most effective men to take charge of the largest and most powerful
machine tools--such as planing machines, lathes, and boring machines.
The ease and rapidity with which they caught up all the technical arts
and manipulations connected with the effective working of these
machines was extraordinary.  The results were entirely satisfactory to
myself, as well as to the men themselves, by the substantial rise in
their wages which followed their advancement to higher grades of
labour.  Thus I had no difficulty in manning my machine tools by
drawing my recruits from this zealous and energetic class of Worsley
labourers.   It is by this "selection of the fittest" that the true
source of the prosperity of every large manufacturing establishment
depends.  I believe that Free Trade in Ability has a much closer
relation to national prosperity than even Free Trade in Commodities.

But here I came into collision with another class of workmen--those
who are of opinion that employers should select for promotion, not
those who are the fittest and most skilful, but those who have served a
seven years' apprenticeship and are members of a Trades' Union.
It seemed to me that this interference with the free selection and
promotion of the fittest was at variance with free choice of the best
men, and that it was calculated, if carried out, to strike at the root
of the chief source of our prosperity.  If every workman of the same
class went in the same rut, and were paid the same uniform rate of
wages, irrespective of his natural or acquired ability, such a system
would destroy the emulative spirit which forms the chief basis of
manipulative efficiency and practical skill, and on which, in my
opinion, the prosperity of our manufacturing establishments mainly
depends.  But before I proceed to refer to the strike of Unionists,
which for a time threatened to destroy, or at all events to impede the
spirit of enterprise and the free choice of skilful workmen, in which I
desired to conduct the Bridgewater Foundry, I desire to say a few words
about those excellent helpers, the foremen engineers, who zealously
helped me in my undertaking from beginning to end.

I must place my most worthy, zealous, and faithful Archy Torry at the
top of the list.  He rose from being my only workman when I first
started in Manchester, to be my chief general foreman.  The energy and
devotion which he brought to bear upon my interests set a high example
to all in my employment.  Although he was in some respects deficient in
his knowledge of the higher principles of engineering and mechanical
construction, I was always ready to supply that defect.  His hearty
zeal and cheerful temper, and his energetic movement when among the
men, had a sympathetic influence upon all about him.  His voice had the
same sort of influence upon them as the drum and fife on a soldier's
march:  it quickened their movements.  We were often called in by our
neighbour manufacturers to repair a breakdown of their engines.
That was always a sad disaster, as all hands were idle until the repair
was effected.  Archy was in his glory on such occasions.  By his ready
zeal and energy he soon got over the difficulty, repaired the engines,
and set the people to work again. He became quite famous in these cases
of extreme urgency.  He never spared himself, and his example had an
excellent effect upon every workman under him.

Another of my favourite workshop lieutenants was James Hutton.
He had been leading foreman to my worthy friend George Douglass,
of Old Broughton, Edinburgh.  He was fully ten years my senior,
and when working at Douglass's I looked up to him as a man of
authority.  I had obtained from him many a valuable wrinkle in
mechanical and technical construction.  After I left Edinburgh he had
emigrated to the United States for the purpose of bettering his
condition.  But he promised me that if disappointed in his hopes of
settling there, he should be glad to come into my service if I was ever
in a position to give him employment.  Shortly after my removal to
Patricroft, and when everything had been got into full working order,
I received a letter from him in which he said that he was anxious to
return to England, and asking if there was any vacancy in our
establishment that he might be employed to fill up.  It so happened
that the foremanship of turners was then vacant.  I informed Hutton of
the post; and on his return to England he was duly enrolled in our
staff.

The situation was a very important one, and Hutton filled it admirably.
He was a sound practical man, and thoroughly knew every department of
engineering mechanism.  As I had provided small separate rooms or
offices for every department of the establishment for the use of the
foremen, where they kept their memoranda and special tools, I had often
the pleasure of conferring with Hutton as to some point of interest, or
when I wished to pass my ideas and designs through the ordeal of his
judgment, in order that I might find out any lurking defect in some
proposed mechanical arrangement.  Before he gave an opinion, Hutton
always took a pinch of snuff to stimulate his intellect, or rather to
give him a little time for consideration.  He would turn the subject
over in his mind.  But I knew that I could trust his keenness of
insight.  He would give his verdict carefully, shrewdly, and truthfully.
Hutton remained a faithful and valued servant in the concern for nearly
thirty years, and died at a ripe old age.  Notwithstanding his
mechanical intelligence, Hutton was of too cautious a temperament to
have acted as a general foreman or manager, otherwise he would have
been elevated to that position.  A man may be admirable in details,
but be wanting in width, breadth, and largeness of temperament and
intellect.  The man who possesses the latter gifts becomes great in
organisation; he soon ceases to be a "hand," and becomes a "head,"
and such men generally rise from the employed to be the employer.

Another of my excellent assistants was John Clerk.  He had been for a
long time in the service of Fairbairn and Lillie; but having had a
serious difference with one of the foremen, he left their service with
excellent recommendations.  I soon after engaged him as foreman of the
pattern-making department.  He was a most able man in some of the more
important branches of mechanical engineering.  He had, besides,
an excellent knowledge of building operations.  I found him of great
use in superintending the erection of the additional workshops which
were required in proportion as our business extended. He made out
full-sized chalk-line drawings from my original pencil sketches,
on the large floor of the pattern store, and from these were formed the
working drawings for the new buildings.  He had a wonderful power of
rapidity and clearness in apprehending new subjects, and the way in
which he depicted them in large drawings was quite masterly.
John Clerk and I spent many an hour on our knees together on the
pattern store floor, and the result of our deliberations usually was
some substantial addition to the workshops of the foundry, or some
extra large and powerful machine tool.  This worthy man left our
service to become a partner in an engineering concern in Ireland;
and though he richly deserved his promotion, he left us to our very
great regret.

The last of our foremen to whom I shall refer was worthy Thomas
Crewdson.  He entered our service as a smith, in which pursuit he
displayed great skill.  We soon noted the high order of his natural
ability; promoted him from the ranks, and made him foreman of the
smith's and forge-work department.  In this he displayed every quality
of excellence, not only in seeing to the turning out of the forge work
in the highest state of perfection, but in managing the men under his
charge with such kind discretion as to maintain the most perfect
harmony in the workshops.  This is always a matter of great importance
--that the foreman should inspire the workmen with his own spirit,
and keep up their harmony and activity to the most productive point.
Crewdson was so systematic in his use of time that we found that he was
able also to undertake the foremanship of the boiler-making department,
in addition to that of the smith work; and to this he was afterwards
appointed, with highly satisfactory results to all concerned.

So strongly and clearly impressed is my mind with the recollection of
the valuable assistance which I received during my engineering life
from those vicegerents of practical management at Patricroft,
that I feel that I cannot proceed further in my narrative without thus
placing the merits of these worthy men upon record.  It was a source of
great good fortune to me to be associated with them, and I consider
them to have been among the most important elements in the prosperity
of the Bridgewater Foundry.  There were many others, in comparatively
humble positions, whom I have also reason to remember with gratitude.
In all well-conducted concerns the law of "selection of the fittest"
sooner or later comes into happy action, when a loyal and attached set
of men work together harmoniously for their own advantage as well as
for that of their employers.

It was not, however, without some difficulty that we were allowed to
carry out our views as to Free Trade in Ability.  As the buildings were
increased, more men were taken on--from Manchester, Bolton, Liverpool,
as well as from more distant places.  We were soon made to feel that
our idea of promoting workmen according to their merits, and advancing
them to improved positions and higher wages in proportion to their
skill, ability, industry, and natural intelligence, was quite contrary
to the views of many of our new employees.  They took advantage of a
large access of orders for machinery, which they knew had come into the
foundry, to wait upon us suddenly, and to lay down their Trade Union
law for our observance.

The men who waited upon us were deputed by the Engineer Mechanics'
Trades' Union to inform us that there were men in our employment who
were not, as they termed it, "legally entitled to the trade;" that is,
they had never served a regular seven years' apprenticeship.
"These men," said the delegates, "are filling up the places,
and keeping out of work, the legal hands."  We were accordingly
requested to discharge the workmen whom we had promoted, in order to
make room for members of the Trades' Union.

To have complied with this request would have altered the whole
principles and practice on which we desired to conduct our business.
I wished, and my partner agreed with me, to stimulate men to steadfast
and skilful work by the hope of promotion.  It was thus that I had
taken several of the Worsley men from the rank of labourers, and raised
them to the class mechanics with correspondingly higher wages.
We were perfectly satisfied with the conduct of these workmen, and with
the productive results of their labour.  We thought it fair to them as
well as to ourselves to resist the order to discharge them, and we
consequently firmly refused to submit to the dictation of the
Unionists.

The delegates left us with a distinct intimation that if we continued
to retain the illegal men in our employment they would call out the
Union men, and strike until "the grievance " was redressed.
The Unionists, no doubt, fixed upon the right time to place their case
before us.  We wanted more workmen to execute the advantageous orders
which had come in; and they thought that the strike would put an entire
stop to our operations.  On engaging the workmen we had never up to
this time concerned ourselves with the question of whether they
belonged to the Trades' Union or not.  The only proof we required of a
man was Ability.  If, after a week's experience, he proved himself an
efficient workman, we engaged him.

The strike took place.  All the Union men were "called out," and left
the works.  Many of them expressed their great regret at leaving us,
as they were perfectly satisfied with their employment as well as with
their remuneration.  But they were nevertheless compelled to obey the
mandate of the Council.  The result was that more than half of our men
left us.  Those who remained were very zealous.  Nothing could exceed
their activity and workfulness.  We appealed to our employers.
They were most considerate in not pressing us for the speedy execution
of the work we had in hand.  We made applications in the neighbourhood
for other mechanics in lieu of those who had left us. But the men on
strike, under orders from the Union, established pickets round the
works, who were only too efficient in preventing those desirous of
obtaining employment from getting access to the foundry.

Our position for a time seemed to be hopeless.  We could not find
workmen enough to fill our shops or to execute our orders.
What were we to do under the circumstances?  We could not find mechanics
in the neighbourhood; but might they not, be found elsewhere?
Why not bring them from a distance?  We determined to try.
Advertisements were inserted in the Scotch newspapers, announcing our
want of mechanics, smiths, and foundrymen.  We appointed an agent in
Edinburgh, to whom applications were to be made.  We were soon in
receipt of the welcome intelligence that numbers of the best class of
mechanics had applied, and that our agent's principal difficulty
consisted in making the proper selection from amongst them.

A selection was, however, made of over sixty men, who appeared in every
respect likely to suit us.  With true Scotch caution they deputed two
of their number to visit our works and satisfy themselves as to the
real state of the case.  We had great pleasure in receiving these two
clear-headed cautious pioneers.  We showed them over the workshops,
and pointed out the habitations in the neighbourhood with their
attractive surroundings.  The men returned to their constituents,
and gave such a glowing account of their mission that we had no
difficulty in obtaining the men we required.  Indeed, we might easily
have obtained three times the number of efficient mechanics.
Sixty-four of the most likely men were eventually selected, men in the
zenith of their physical powers.  We made arrangements for their
conveyance to Glasgow, from whence they started for Liverpool by
steamer.  They landed in a body at the latter port, many of them
accompanied by their wives and children, and eight-day clocks!
A special train was engaged for the conveyance of the whole--men,
women, and children, bag and baggage--from Liverpool to Patricroft,
where suitable accommodation had been provided for them.

The arrival of so powerful a body of men made a great sensation in the
neighbourhood.  The men were strong, respectable looking, and well
dressed.  The pickets were "dumfoundered."  They were brushed to one
side by the fresh arrivals.  They felt that their game was up, and they
suddenly departed.  The men were taken over the workshops, with which
they appeared quite delighted.  They were told to be ready to start
next morning at six, after which they departed to their lodgings.
The morning arrived and the gallant sixty-four were all present.
After allotting to each his special work, they gave three hearty
cheers, and dispersed throughout the workshops.

We had no reason to regret the results which were effected through the
strike ordered by the Trades' Union.  The new men worked with a will.
They were energetic, zealous, and skilful.  They soon gave evidence of
their general handiness and efficiency in all the departments of work
in which they were engaged.  We were thus enabled to carry out our
practice of Free Trade in Ability in our own way, and we were no longer
interfered with in our promotion of workmen who served us best.
In short, we had scotched the strike; we conquered the Union in their
wily attempt to get us under their withering control; and the
Bridgewater Foundry resumed its wonted activity in every department.

It was afterwards a great source of happiness to me to walk through the
various workshops and observe the cheerful and intelligent countenances
of the new men, and to note the energetic skill with which they used
their tools in the advancement of their work.  General handiness is one
of the many valuable results that issues from the practice of handling
the variety of materials which are more or less employed in mechanical
structures.  At the time that I refer to, the skilful workmen employed
in the engineering establishments of Scotland (which were then
comparatively small in size) were accustomed to use all manner of
mechanical tools.  They could handle with equally good effect the saw,
the plane, the file, and the chisel; and, as occasion required, they
could exhibit their skill at the smith's forge with the hammer and the
anvil.  This was the kind of workmen with which I had reinforced the
foundry.  The men had been bred to various branches of mechanics.
Some had been blacksmiths, others carpenters, stone masons, brass or
iron founders; but all of them were handy men.  They merely adopted the
occupation of machine and steam-engine makers because it offered a
wider field for the exercise of their skill and energy.

I may here be allowed to remark that we owe the greatest advances in
mechanical invention to Free Trade in Ability.  If we look carefully
into the narratives of the lives of the most remarkable engineers,
we shall find that they owed very little to the seven years' rut in
which they were trained.  They owed everything to innate industry,
energy, skill, and opportunity.  Thus, Brindley advanced from the
position of a millwright to that of a canal engineer; Smeaton and Watt,
from being mathematical instrument makers, advanced to higher
positions,--the one to be the inventor of the modern lighthouse,
the other to be the inventor of the condensing steam-engine.
Some of the most celebrated mechanical and civil engineers--such as
Rennie, Cubitt, and Fairbairn--were originally millwrights.
All these men were many-handed.  They had many sides to their intellect.
They were resourceful men.  They afford the best illustrations of the
result of Free Trade in Ability.

The persistent aim at an indolent equality which Union men aim at,
is one of the greatest hindrances to industrial progress.
When the Union Delegates called upon me to insist that none but men who
had served seven years' apprenticeship should be employed in the works,
I told them that I preferred employing a man who had acquired the
requisite mechanical skill in two years rather than another who was so
stupid as to require seven years' teaching.  The delegates regarded
this statement as preposterous and heretical.  In fact, it was utter
high treason.  But in the long run we carried our point.

It is true, we had some indenture-bound apprentices.  These were pupils
who paid premiums.  In certain cases we could not very well refuse to
take them.  Some of them caused a great deal of annoyance and
disturbance.  They were irregular in their attendance, consequently
they could not be depended upon for the regular operations of the
foundry.  They were careless in their work, and set a bad example to
the others.  We endeavoured to check this disturbing element by
stipulating that the premium should be payable in six months' portions,
and that each party should be free to terminate the connection at the
end of each succeeding six months.  By this system we secured more care
and regularity on the part of the pupil apprentices; as, while it
checked inattention and irregularity, it offered a direct and
substantial encouragement to zeal and industry.

But the arrangement which we greatly preferred was to employ
intelligent well-conducted young lads, the sons of labourers or
mechanics, and advance them by degrees according to their merits.
They took charge of the smaller machine tools, by which the minor
details of the machines in progress were brought into exact form
without having recourse to the untrustworthy and costly process of
chipping and filing.  A spirit of emulation was excited amongst the
lads.  They vied with each other in executing their work with
precision.  Those who excelled were paid an extra weekly wage.
In course of time they took pride, not only in the quantity but in the
quality of their work; and in the long run they became skilful
mechanics.  We were always most prompt to recognise their progress in a
substantial manner.  There was the most perfect freedom between
employer and employed.  Every one of these lads was at liberty to leave
at the end of each day's work.  This arrangement acted as an
ever-present check upon master and apprentice.  The only bond of union
between us was mutual interest.  The best of the lads remained in our
service because they knew our work and were pleased with the
surroundings; while we on our part were always desirous of retaining
the men we had trained, because we knew we could depend upon them.
Nothing could have been more satisfactory than the manner in which this
system worked.

In May 1835 I had the great happiness of receiving a visit from my dear
father.  I was then in Dale Street, Manchester, where my floor was
overloaded with the work in progress.  My father continued to take a
great interest in mechanical undertakings, and he was pleased with the
prosperity which had followed my settlement in this great manufacturing
centre.  He could still see his own lathe, driven by steam power,
in full operation for the benefit of his son.  His fame as an artist
was well known in Manchester, for many of his works were possessed by
the best men of the town.  I had the pleasure of introducing him to the
Brothers Grant, John Kennedy, Edward Lloyd, George Murray, James Frazer,
William Fairbairn, and Hugh and Joseph Birley, all of whom gave him a
most cordial welcome, and invited him to enjoy their hospitality.

[Image]  Alexander Nasmyth.  After a cameo by Samuel Joseph

In 1838 he visited me again.  I had removed to Patricroft, and
the Bridgewater Foundry was in full operation.  My father was then in
his eightieth year.  He was still full of life and intellect.
He was vastly delighted in witnessing the rapid progress which I had
made since his first visit.  He took his daily walk through the
workshops, where many processes were going on which greatly interested
him.  He was sufficiently acquainted with the technical details of
mechanical work to enjoy the sight, especially when self-acting tools
were employed.  It was a great source of pleasure to him to have
"a crack" with the most intelligent foremen and mechanics.  These,
on their part, treated him with the most kind and respectful attention.
The Scotch workmen regarded him with special veneration.  They knew
that he had been an intimate friend of Robert Burns, their own
best-beloved poet, whose verses shed a charm upon their homes, and were
recited by the fireside, in the fields, or at the workman's bench.

They also knew that he had painted the only authentic portrait of their
national bard.  This fact invested my father with additional interest
in their eyes.  Their respect for him culminated in a rather
extraordinary demonstration.  On the last day of his visit the leading
Scotch workmen procured "on the sly" an arm-chair, which they fastened
to two strong bearing poles.  When my father left the works at the
bell-ringing at mid-day, he was approached by the workmen,
and respectfully requested to "take the chair."  He refused; but it was
of no use.  He was led to the chair, and took it.  He was then raised
and carried in triumph to my house.  He was carefully set down at the
little garden-gate, where the men affectionately took leave of him,
and ended their cordial good wishes for his safe return home with three
hearty cheers.  I need scarcely say that my father was greatly affected
by this kind demonstration on the part of the workmen.

His life was fast drawing to a close.  He had borne the heat and burden
of the day; and was about to be taken home like a shock of corn in full
season.  After a long and happy life, blessed and cheered by a most
affectionate wife, he laid down his brushes and went to rest.
In his later years he rejoiced in the prosperity of his children,
which was all the more agreeable as it was the result of the example of
industry and perseverance which he had ever set before them.
My father untiringly continued his professional occupations until 1840,
when he had attained the age of eighty-two.  His later works may be
found wanting in that degree of minute finish which characterised his
earlier productions; but in regard to their quality there was no
falling off, even to the last picture which he painted. The delicate
finish was amply compensated by the increase in general breadth and
effectiveness, so that his later works were even more esteemed by his
brother-artists.   The last picture he painted was finished eight days
before his death.  It was a small work.  The subject was a landscape
with an autumnal evening effect.  There was a picturesque cottage in
the middle distance, a rustic bridge over a brook in the foreground,
and an old labouring man, followed by his dog, wearily passing over it
on his way towards his home.  From the chimney of his cottage a thin
streak of blue smoke passed upward through the tranquil evening air.
All these incidents suggested the idea, which no doubt he desired to
convey, of the tranquil conclusion of his own long and active life,
which was then, too evidently, drawing to a close.
The shades of evening had come on when he could no longer see to work,
and he was obliged to lay down his pencil.  My mother was at work with
her needle close by him; and when he had finished he asked her what he
should call the picture.  Not being ready with an answer, he leant back
in his chair, feeling rather faint, and said, "Well, I think I had
better call it Going Home."  And so it was called.

Next morning his strength had so failed him that he could not get up.
He remained there for eight days, and then he painlessly and tranquilly
passed away.  While on his deathbed he expressed the desire that his
remains should be placed beside those of a favourite son who had died
in early youth.  "Let me lie," he said, "beside my dear Alick."
His desire was gratified.  He was buried beside his son in St. Cuthbert's
churchyard, under the grandest portion of the great basaltic rock on
which Edinburgh Castle stands.  His grave is marked by a fine Runic Cross,
admirably sculptured by Rhind of Edinburgh.

[Image]  Monument to Alexander Nasmyth

One of the kindest letters my mother received after her great loss was
one from Sir David Wilkie.  It was dated 18th April 1840.  "I hasten,"
he said, "to assure you of my most sincere condolence on your severe
affliction, feeling that I can sympathise in the privation you suffer
from losing one who was my earliest professional friend, whose art I at
all times admired, and whose society and conversation was perhaps the
most agreeable that I ever met with.  " He was the founder of the
Landscape Painting School of Scotland, and by his taste and talent has
for many years taken a lead in the patriotic aim of enriching his
native land with the representations of her romantic scenery; and,
as the friend and contemporary of Ramsay, of Gavin Hamilton, and the
Runcimans, may be said to have been the last remaining link that unites
the present with the early dawn of the Scottish School of Art."
I may add that my mother died six years later, in 1846, at the same age
as my father, namely eighty-two.


CHAPTER 13. My Marriage--The Steam Hammer

Before I proceed to narrate the later events of my industrial life,
it is necessary to mention, incidentally, an important subject.
As it has been the source of my greatest happiness in life,
I cannot avoid referring to it.

I may first mention that my earnest and unremitting pursuit of all
subjects and occupations, such as I conceived were essential to the
acquirement of a sound practical knowledge of my profession, rendered
me averse to mixing much in general society.  I had accordingly few
opportunities of enjoying the society of young ladies.  Nevertheless,
occasions now and then occurred when bright beings passed before me
like meteors.  They left impressions on my memory, which in no small
degree increased the earnestness of my exertions to press forward in my
endeavours to establish myself in business, and thereby acquire the
means of forming a Home of my own.

Many circumstances, however, conspired to delay the ardently longed for
condition of my means, such as should induce me to solicit some dear
one to complete my existence by her sweet companionship, and enter with
me into the most sacred of all the partnerships of life. In course of
time I was rewarded with that success which, for the most part,
ensues upon all honourable and unremitting business efforts.
This cheered me on; although there were still many causes for anxiety,
which made me feel that I must not yet solicit some dear heart to
forsake the comforts of an affluent home to share with me what I knew
must for some years to come be an anxious and trying struggle for
comfort and comparative independence.  I had reached my thirtieth year
before I could venture to think that I had securely entered upon such a
course of prosperity as would justify me in taking this the most
important step in life.

It may be a trite but not the less true remark that some of the most
important events originate in apparently chance occurrences and
circumstances, which lead up to results that materially influence and
even determine the subsequent course of our lives.  I had occasion to
make a business journey to Sheffield on the 2d of March 1838, and also
to attend to some affairs of a similar character at York.  As soon as I
had completed my engagement at Sheffield, I had to wait for more than
two dreary hours in momentary expectation of the arrival of the coach
that was to take me on to York.  The coach had been delayed by a deep
fall of snow, and was consequently late.  When it arrived, I found that
there was only one outside place vacant; so I mounted to my seat.
It was a very dreary afternoon, and the snow was constantly falling.

As we approached Barnsley I observed, in the remaining murky light of
the evening, the blaze of some ironwork furnaces near at hand.
On inquiring whose works they were, I was informed that they belonged
to Earl Fitzwilliam, and that they were under the management of a
Mr. Hartop.  The mention of this name, coupled with the sight of the
ironworks, brought to my recollection a kind invitation which
Mr. Hartop had given me while visiting my workshop in Manchester to
order some machine tools, that it I ever happened to be in his
neighbourhood, he would be most happy to show me anything that was
interesting about the ironworks and colliery machinery under his
management.

I at once decided to terminate my dreary ride on the top of the coach.
I descended, and with my small valise in hand I trudged over some
trackless snow-covered fields, and made my way by the shortest cut
towards the blazing iron furnaces.  On reaching them I was informed
that Mr. Hartop had just gone to his house, which was about a mile
distant.  I accordingly made my way thither the best that I could
through the deep snow.  I met with a cordial welcome, and with the
hospitable request that I should take up my quarters there for the
night, and have a round of the ironworks and the machinery on the
following day.  I cheerfully acceded to the kind invitation.
I was then introduced to his wife and daughter in a cosy room, where I
spent a most pleasant evening.  As Mr. Hartop was an enthusiast in all
matters relating to mechanism and mechanical engineering subjects
generally, we found plenty to converse about; while his wife and daughter,
at their needlework, listened to our discussions with earnest and
intelligent attention.

On the following day I was taken a round of the ironworks,
and inspected their machinery, as well as that of the collieries,
in the details of which Mr. Hartop had introduced many common-sense and
most effective improvements.  All of these interested me, and gave me
much pleasure.  In the evening we resumed our "cracks" on many subjects
of mutual interest.  The daughter joined in our conversation with the
most intelligent remarks; for, although only in her twenty-first year,
she had evidently made good use of her time, aided by her clear natural
faculties of shrewd observation.  Mr. Hartop having met with some
serious reverse of fortune, owing to the very unsatisfactory conduct of
a partner, had in a manner to begin business life again on his own
account; and although he had to reduce his domestic establishment
considerably in consequence, there was in all its arrangements a degree
of neatness and perfect systematic order, combined with many evidences
of elegant taste and good sense which pervaded the whole, that enhanced
in no small degree the attractiveness of the household.  The chief of
these, however, was to me their daughter Anne!  I soon perceived in her,
most happily and attractively combined, all the conditions that I could
hope for and desire to meet with in the dear partner of my existence.

As I had soon to proceed on my journey, I took the opportunity of
telling her what I felt and thought, and so ardently desired in regard
to our future intercourse.  What little I did say was to this great
purpose; and, so far as I could judge, all that I said was received in
the best spirit that I could desire.  I then communicated my hopes and
wishes to the parents.  I explained to them my circumstances, which
happily were then beginning to assume an encouraging prospect,
and realising, in a substantial form, a return for the earnest
exertions that I had made towards establishing a home of my own.
They expressed their concurrence in the kindest manner; and it was
arranged that if business continued to progress as favourably as I
hoped, our union should take place in about two years from that time.

Everything went on hopefully and prosperously.  The two years that
intervened looked very long in some respects, and very short in others;
for I was always fully occupied, and labour shortens time.  At length
the two years came to an end.  My betrothed and myself continued of the
same mind.  The happy "chance" event of our meeting on the evening of
the 2d of March 1838 culminated in our marriage at the village church
of Wentworth on the 16th of June 1840--a day of happy memory!
From that day to this the course of our united hearts and lives has
continued to run on with steady uninterrupted harmony and mutual
happiness.  Forty-two years of our married life finds us the same
affectionate and devoted "cronies" that we were at the beginning;
and there is every prospect that, under God's blessing, we shall
continue to be so to the end.

I was present at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
on the 15th of September 1830.  Every one knows the success of the
undertaking.  Railways became the rage.  They were projected in every
possible direction.  They were first made between all the large towns,
after which branches were constructed to place the whole country in
connection with the main lines.  Coaches were driven off the road,
and everything appeared to be thrown into a state of confusion.
People wondered greatly at the new conditions of travelling;
and they flocked from all quarters to see the railway at work.

When the line was opened from Edinburgh to Glasgow, a shepherd and his
wife came from beyond the Pentlands to see the train pass.
On it came, and flashed out of sight in a minute.
"How wonderful are the works o' man!" exclaimed the shepherd.
"But what's a' the hurry for?", rejoined his wife.
Still more marvellous, however, was the first adventure by train of an
old woman from Newtyle to Dundee.  In those days the train was let down
part of the railway by a rope.  The woman was on her way down hill,
with a basket of eggs by her side.  Suddenly the rope broke, and the
train dashed into the Dundee Station, scattering the carriages,
and throwing out the old woman and her basket of broken eggs.
A porter ran to her help, when, gathering herself together,
she exclaimed, "Odd sake, sirs, d'ye aye whummil*
 [footnote...
Whummil, to turn upside down.--Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary.
 ...]
us oot this way?"  She thought it was only the ordinary way of
delivering railway passengers.

Ropes, however, were merely exceptional methods of working railway
trains.  Eventually locomotives were invariably adopted.  When railways
were extended in so many directions, more and more locomotives were
required to work them.

When George Stephenson was engaged in building his first locomotive at
Killingworth, he was greatly hampered, not only by the want of handy
mechanics, but by the want of efficient tools.  But he did the best
that he could.  His genius overcame difficulties.  It was immensely to
his credit that he should have so successfully completed his engines
for the Stockton and Darlington, and afterwards for the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway.

Only a few years had passed, and self-acting tools were now enabled to
complete, with precision and uniformity, machines that before had been
deemed almost impracticable.

In proportion to the rapid extension of railways the demand for
locomotives became very great.  As our machine tools were peculiarly
adapted for turning out a large amount of first-class work, we directed
our attention to this class of business.  In the course of about ten
years after the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
we executed considerable orders for locomotives for the London and
Southampton, the Manchester and Leeds, and the Gloucester railway
companies.

The Great Western Railway Company invited us to tender for twenty of
their very ponderous engines.  They proposed a very tempting condition
of the contract.  It was, that if, after a month's trial of the
locomotives, their working proved satisfactory, a premium of #100 was
to be added to the price of each engine and tender.  The locomotives
were made and delivered; they ran the stipulated number of test miles
between London and Bristol in a perfectly satisfactory manner;
and we not only received the premium, but, what was much more
encouraging, we received a special letter from the Board of Directors,
stating their entire satisfaction with the performance of our engines,
and desiring us to refer other contractors to them with respect to the
excellence of our workmanship.  This testimonial was altogether
spontaneous, and proved extremely valuable in other quarters.

I may mention that, in order to effect the prompt and perfect execution
of this order, I contrived several special machine tools, which
assisted us most materially.  These tools for the most part rendered us
more independent of mere manual strength and dexterity, while at the
same time they increased the accuracy and perfection of the work.
They afterwards assisted us in the means of perfecting the production
of other classes of work.  At the same time they had the important
effect of diminishing the cost of production, as was made sufficiently
apparent by the balance-sheet prepared at the end of each year.
My connection with the Great Western Company shortly led to a most
important event in connection with my own personal history. It appears
that their famous steam-ship the Great Western  had been very
successful in her voyages between Bristol and New York; so much so,
indeed, that the directors of the Company ordered the construction of
another vessel of much greater magnitude--the Great Britain.
Mr. Francis Humphries, their engineer, came to Patricroft to consult
with me as to the machine tools, of unusual size and power, which were
required for the construction of the immense engines of the proposed
ship, which were to be made on the vertical trunk principle.
Very complete works were erected at Bristol for the accommodation of
the requisite machinery.  The tools were made according to Mr. Humphries'
order; they were delivered and fitted to his entire approval, and the
construction of the gigantic engines was soon in full progress.

An unexpected difficulty, however, was encountered with respect to the
enormous wrought-iron intermediate paddleshaft.  It was required to be
of a size and diameter the like of which had never been forged.
Mr. Humphries applied to the largest forges throughout the country for
tenders of the price at which they would execute this important part of
the work, but to his surprise and dismay he found that not one of them
could undertake so large a forging.  In this dilemma he wrote a letter
to me, which I received on the 24th of November 1839, informing me of
the unlooked-for difficulty.  "I find," he said, "that there is not a
forge hammer in England or Scotland powerful enough to forge the
intermediate paddle-shaft of the engines for the Great Britain!
What am I to do?  Do you think I might dare to use cast-iron?

This letter immediately set me a-thinking.  How was it that the
existing hammers were incapable of forging a wrought-iron shaft of
thirty inches diameter?  Simply because of their want of compass, of
range and fall, as well as of their want of power of blow.
A few moment's rapid thought satisfied me that it was by our rigidly
adhering to the old traditional form of a smith's hand hammer--
of which the forge and tilt hammer, although driven by water or steam
power, were merely enlarged modifications--that the difficulty had
arisen; as, whenever the largest forge hammer was tilted up to its full
height, its range was so small that when a piece of work of considerable
size was placed on the anvil, the hammer became "gagged;" so that,
when the forging required the most powerful blow, it received next to
no blow at all, as the clear space for the fall of the hammer was
almost entirely occupied by the work on the anvil.

The obvious remedy was to contrive some method by which a ponderous
block of iron should be lifted to a sufficient height above the object
on which it was desired to strike a blow, and then to let the block
full down upon the forging, guiding it in its descent by such simple
means as should give the required precision in the percussive action of
the falling mass following up this idea, I got out my "Scheme Book,"
on the pages of which I generally thought out, with the aid of pen and
pencil, such mechanical adaptations as I had conceived in my mind,
and was thereby enabled to render them visible. I then rapidly sketched
out my Steam Hammer, having it all clearly before me in my mind's eye.
In little more than half an hour after receiving Mr. Humphries' letter
narrating his unlooked-for difficulty, I had the whole contrivance in
all its executant details, before me in a page of my Scheme Book,
a reduced photographed copy of which I append to this description.
The date of this first drawing was the 24th November, 1839.

[Image]  First drawing of steam hammer, 24th Nov.  1839

My Steam Hammer as thus first sketched, consisted of, first, a massive
anvil on which to rest the work; second, a block of iron constituting
the hammer or blow-giving portion; and, third, an inverted steam
cylinder to whose piston-rod the hammer-block was attached.
All that was then required to produce a most effective hammer was
simply to admit steam of sufficient pressure into the cylinder,
so as to act on the under-side of the piston, and thus to raise the
hammer-block attached to the end of the piston rod.  By a very simple
arrangement of a slide valve, under the control of all attendant,
the steam was allowed to escape and thus permit the massive block of
iron rapidly to descend by its own gravity upon the work then upon the
anvil.

Thus, by the more or less rapid manner in which the attendant allowed
the steam to enter or escape from the cylinder, any required number or
any intensity of blows could be delivered.  Their succession might be
modified in an instant.  The hammer might be arrested and suspended
according to the requirements of the work.  The workman might thus,
as it were, think in blows.  He might deal them out on to the ponderous
glowing mass, and mould or knead it into the desired form as if it were
a lump of clay; or pat it with gentle taps according to his will,
or at the desire of the forgeman.

Rude and rapidly sketched out as it was, this, my first delineation of
the steam hammer, will be found to comprise all the essential elements
of the invention.  Every detail of the drawing retains to this day the
form and arrangement which I gave to it forty-three years ago.
I believed that the steam hammer would prove practically successful;
and I looked forward to its general employment in the forging of heavy
masses of iron.  It is no small gratification to me now, when I look
over my rude and hasty first sketch, to find that I hit the mark so
exactly, not only in the general structure but in the details;
and that the invention as I then conceived it and put it into shape,
still retains its form and arrangements intact in the thousands of
steam hammers that are now doing good service in the mechanical arts
throughout the civilised world.

But to return to my correspondence with the Great Western Steamship
Company.  I wrote at once to Mr. Humphries, and sent him a sketch of my
proposed steam hammer.  I told him that I felt assured he would now be
able to overcome his difficulty, and that the paddle-shaft of the Great
Britain might now be forged.  Mr. Humphries was delighted with my
design.  He submitted it to Mr. Brunel, engineer-in-chief of the
steamship:  to Mr. Guppy, the managing director; and to other persons
interested in the undertaking,--by all of whom it was heartily
approved.  I accordingly gave the Company permission to communicate my
design to such forge proprietors as might feel disposed to erect the
steam hammer, the only condition that I made being, that in the event
of its being adopted I was to be allowed to supply it in accordance
with my design.

But the paddle-shaft of the Great Britain was never forged.  About that
time the substitution of the Screw for the paddle-wheel as a means of
propulsion was attracting much attention.  The performances of the
Archimedes, as arranged by Mr. Francis P. Smith, were so satisfactory
that Mr. Brunel, after he had made an excursion in that vessel,
recommended the directors to adopt the new propelling power. After much
discussion, they yielded to his strongly-urged advice.  The consequence
was, that the great engines which Mr. Humphries had so elaborately
designed, and which were far advanced in construction, were given up,
to his inexpressible regret and mortification, as he had pinned his
highest hopes as a practical engineer on the results of their
performance.  And, to crown his distress, he was ordered to produce
fresh designs of engines specially suited for screw propulsion.
Mr. Humphries was a man of the most sensitive and sanguine constitution
of mind.  The labour and the anxiety which he had already undergone,
and perhaps the disappointment of his hopes, proved too much for him;
and a brain fever carried him off after a few days' illness.
There was thus, for a time, an end of the steam hammer required for
forging the paddle-shaft of the Great Britain.

Very bad times for the iron-trade, and for all mechanical undertakings,
set in about this time.  A wide-spread depression affected all
conditions of industry Although I wrote to the heads of all the great
firms, urging the importance of my invention, and forwarding designs of
my steam hammer, I was unable to obtain a single order.  It is true,
they cordially approved of my plan, and were greatly struck by its
simplicity, unity, and apparent power.*
 [footnote...
Among the heads of firms who sent me cordial congratulations on my
design, were Benjamin Hick, of the Soho Ironworks, Bolton, a man,
whose judgment in all matters connected with engineering and mechanical
construction was held in the very highest regard;
Messrs. Rushton and Eckersley, Bolton Ironworks;
Messrs. Howard and Ravenhill, Rotherhithe Ironworks, London;
Messrs. Hawkes, Crashaw, and Company, Newcastle-upon-Tyne;
George Thorneycroft, Wolverhampton; and others.
 ...]