Northumberland Yesterday And To Day - Jean F. Terry (i want to read a book TXT) 📗

Concern,

And Mr. George Rendel And Captain Noble--Now Sir Andrew Noble, And One

Of The Greatest Living Authorities On Explosives--Were Placed In Charge

Of The Former.

 

Released From The Agreement To Make No Guns Except For The British

Government, Elswick Was Open To Receive Other Orders, Which Now Began To

Roll In From All The World. Elswick Prospered Greatly, Until Suddenly

There Came A Check, In The Shape Of A Strike For A Nine Hours Day, In

1871. After The Strike Had Lasted For Four And A Half Months, Work Was

Resumed; But The Old Genial Relationship Between Masters And Men Had

Received A Rude Strain, And Was Never The Same As Before.

 

Shipbuilding Had Been Taken Up A Year Or Two Before This, But The

Earliest Vessels Were Built To Their Order In Mr. Mitchell's Yard At

Walker. The First One Was A Small Gunboat, The "Staunch," Built For The

Admiralty. In Later Years The Walker Ship-Yard Was United To The Elswick

Enterprises, And A Ship-Yard At The Latter Place Was Also Opened.

 

Meantime, Captain Noble Had Been Experimenting Further In Artillery, And

In 1877 Another And Better Type Of Gun Was Produced. It Was Adopted By

The Government, And All Guns Since Then Have Been Modifications, More Or

Less, Of This Type. In 1876 The Famous Hundred-Ton Gun For Italy Was

Made, And Was Taken On Board The "Europa" To Be Carried To Her

Destination; This Vessel Being The First To Pass The Newly-Finished

Swing Bridge, Another Outcome Of The Inventive Genius Of The Head Of The

Elswick Firm. The Gun, Which Was The Largest In The World At That Time,

Was Lowered Into The "Europa" By The Largest Pair Of "Sheer-Legs" In

Existence, And Was Lifted Out Again At Spezzia By The Largest Hydraulic

Crane Of That Day, And All These Were The Work Of The Elswick Firm.

 

Soon After This The Firm Became Sir W.G. Armstrong, Mitchell, And Co.;

And In Consequence Of The Continued Increase Of Business, It Became

Necessary To Open Steel Works Also. This Is One Of The Most Notable

Features Of The Elswick Works; The Wonders Of Ancient Magicians Pale

Into Insignificance Before The Marvels Of This Department, And No

Eastern Genius Could Accomplish Such Seemingly Impossible Feats With

Greater Ease Than Do The Workmen Of Elswick.

 

The Works Continued To Grow Still Further, And Soon Elswick Was Building

Cruisers For China, For Italy (Where Works At Pozzuoli--The Ancient

Puteoli--Were Opened), For Russia, Chili, And Japan. Tynesiders Took A

Special Interest In The Progress Of The Japanese Wars, For So Many Of

That Country's Battleships Had Their Birth On The Banks Of The River At

Elswick, And Japanese Sailors Became A Familiar Sight In Newcastle

Streets. Groups Of Strange Faces From Alien Lands Are Periodically Seen

In Our Midst, And Met With Again And Again For Some Time; Then One Day

There Is A Launch At Elswick, And Shortly Afterwards All The Strange

Faces Disappear. They Have Gathered Together From Their Various Quarters

In The Town, And Manning Their New Cruiser, Have Sailed Away To Their

Own Land, And Newcastle Streets Know Them No More; But, Later,

Tynesiders Read In Their Newspapers Of The Deeds Done On The Vessels

Which They Have Sent Forth To The World.

 

The Ice-Breaker "Ermack" Is One Of The Firm's Most Notable Achievements,

The Vessel Having Been Built And Designed In Their Walker Yard, To The

Order Of The Czar Of Russia, In 1898, For The Purpose Of Breaking Up

Ice-Floes In The Northern Seas, And More Especially For Keeping Open A

Route Across The Great Lakes Of Siberia.

 

The Elswick Firm Became Armstrong, Whitworth And Co., Ltd., In 1897,

Which Was Also The Year Of Another Great Strike; And Two Years Later, A

Disastrous Fire Burned Down Three Of Their Shops, Throwing Two Thousand

Men Temporarily Out Of Employment. Still The Works Continued To Grow,

And Business To Increase, Until, Instead Of The Five And A Half Acres

Originally Purchased, The Company's Works, In 1900, Covered Two Hundred

And Thirty Acres, And The Number Of Men On The Pay-Roll Was Over

25,000--That Is, Sufficient With Their Families To People A Town Three

Times The Size Of Hexham. And The Scope And Extent Of These Works Are

Extending, And Yet Extending; And Now Elswick And Scotswood Form An

Uninterrupted Line Of Closely-Packed Dwellings, Which Stretch Without A

Break From Newcastle, And Make A Background For The Immense Works On The

River Shore; And One Would Look In Vain For Any Signs Of The Pretty

Country Lanes And Village Of Sixty Years Ago.

 

The Founder Of This Great Enterprise, In The Early Days Of The Company,

Built For His Workpeople Schools, Library, And Reading Rooms, As Well As

Dwellings, And Met Them Personally At Their Social Gatherings And

Entertainments--Generally Provided By Himself; But The Increasing Size

Of The Concern, The Excellence And Capability, Amounting To Genius, Of

The Various Heads Of Departments Chosen By Him, And His Own Increasing

Years And Failing Health, Led To His Gradual Withdrawal From Personal

Attendance At Elswick. The Last Time He Appeared There Officially Was

When The King Of Siam Visited The Works In 1897.

 

One Who Knew Him Well Has Written Of Him, "His Mind Was At The Same Time

Original And Strictly Practical; He Noticed With A Penetrating

Observation, And Drew Conclusions With Intuitive Genius. Abstract

Speculation Had No Charm For Him; He Never Cherished Wild Dreams Or

Extravagant Ideas. But If His Conception Was Thus Wisely Restricted, His

Execution Of An Idea Was Unrivalled In Its Thoroughness. Whether He Was

Founding An Industrial Establishment, Or Building A House, Or Making A

Road, The Hand Of The Man Is Quite Unmistakable. There Is The Same Solid

Basis, The Same Enduring Superstructure. Every Stone That Is Laid At

Cragside Or Bamburgh Seems To Be Stamped As It Were With The Impression

Of His Great Personality, And The Thoroughness Of His Work." All His

Life Long, The Thoroughness With Which He Was Able To Concentrate His

Mind On The One Subject Which Occupied It At The Time, Was A Marked

Feature Of Lord Armstrong's Character.

 

In The Early Period Of His Career, While He Was Still In A Solicitor's

Office, And When The Study Of Hydraulics Was Absorbing All His Leisure

Hours, He Was Quizzically Said To Have "Water On The Brain." Electrical

Problems Also Engaged His Attention, And In 1844 He Lectured At The Lit.

And Phil. Rooms On His Hydro-Electric Machine, On Which Occasion The

Lecture Room Was So Tightly Packed That He Had To Get In Through The

Window. In The Following Year He Explained To The Same Society His

Hydraulic Experiments And Achievements; In 1846 He Was Elected A Fellow

Of The Royal Society; And The Next Summer, 1847, Saw The Elswick Works

Begun.

 

It Is Difficult To Realize The Fact, Brought Home To Us On Looking At

Dates Like These, That Lord Armstrong And Robert Stephenson Were

Contemporaries, And That Both Great Engineers Were Engaged At The Same

Time On The Works Which Were To Bring Them Lasting Fame. The Life And

Work Of Robert Stephenson Seem So Remote, So Much A Part Of Bygone

History, That It Strikes The Mind With An Unexpected Shock To Realise

That Here Is A Life Which Began About The Same Time, Yet Has Lasted

Until Quite Recent Years; For Lord Armstrong's Long And Successful

Career Only Closed With The Closing Days Of The Nineteenth Century.

 

In The Later Years Of His Life He Was Greatly Interested In Repairing

And Partly Re-Building The Historic Castle Of Bamburgh, Which Mr.

Freeman Calls "The Cradle Of Our Race," And Which Lord Armstrong

Purchased From Lord Crewe's Trustees. Of His Personal Character, The

Writer Above Quoted Says, "Apart From His Intellectual Gifts, Lord

Armstrong's Character Was That Of A Great Man. His Unaffected Modesty

Was As Attractive As His Broad-Minded Charity. In Business Transactions,

He Was The Soul Of Integrity And Honour, While In Private Life His Mind

Was Far Too Large To Regard Accumulated Wealth With Any Excessive

Affection. He Both Spent His Money Freely And Gave It Away Freely. His

Benefactions To Newcastle Were Princely, And His Public Munificence Was

Fit To Rank With That Of Any Philanthropist Of His Time."

 

Princely, Indeed, Were His Gifts To His Native Town, As The List Of Them

Will Show; They Embraced Either Large Contributions To, Or The Entire

Gift Of, Jesmond Dene, The Armstrong Park, The Lecture Theatre Of The

Literary And Philosophical Society, St. Cuthbert's Church, The

Cathedral, St. Stephen's Church, The Infirmary, The Deaf And Dumb

Institution, The Children's Hospital, The Elswick Schools, Elswick

Mechanics' Institute, The Convalescent Home At Whitley Bay, The Hancock

Museum--To Which He And Lady Armstrong Contributed A Valuable Collection

Of Shells, And £11,500 In Money--The Armstrong Bridge, The Armstrong

College, And The Bishopric Endowment Fund.

 

Chapter 6 (The Cheviots)

From The Crowded, Bustling Scenes Of Tyneside To The Solitude Of The

Cheviot Hills Is A "Far Cry," Even Farther Mentally Than In Actual Tale

Of Miles. Yet The Two Are Linked By The Same Stream, Which Begins Life

As A Brawling Cheviot Burn, Having For Its Fellows The Head Waters Of

The Rede, The Coquet, And The Till, With The Scores Of Little Dancing

Rills That Feed Them.

 

Nowhere In This Land Of Swelling Hills And Grassy Fields Can One Get Out

Of Either Sight Or Sound Of Running Water. Every Little Dip In The Hills

Has Its Watercourse, Every Vale Its Broader Stream, And The Pleasant

Sound Of Their Murmurings And Sweet Babbling Fills In The Background Of

Every Remembrance Of Days Spent Upon The Green Slopes Of The Cheviots.

You May Hear In Their Tones, If You Listen, The Shrill Chatter And

Laughter Of Children, Soft Cooing Voices, And The Deeper Notes Of

Manhood, And Might Fancy, Did Not Your Sight Contradict The Fact, That

You Were Close To A Goodly Company, Whose Words Met Your Ear, But Whose

Magic Language You Could Not Understand.

 

One Little Burn Of My Acquaintance, Which Runs Through Field And Dell To

Join The Till, I Have Hearkened To Again And Again For Hours, Unable To

Break Away From The Spell Of Its Ever-Varying, Yet Constant Music--A

Sort Of Wilder, Sweeter Version Of Mendelssohn's Duetto, With The Voices

Of Knight And Lady Alternating And Intermingling Amidst A Rippling

Current Of Clear Bell-Like Undertones.

 

Down From Cheviot Itself, The Lovely Little Colledge Water Splashes Its

Way, Issuing From The Wild Ravine Called The Henhole, Where The Cliffs

On Each Side Of The Rocky Gorge Rise In Some Places To A Height Of More

Than Two Hundred Feet. Concerning This Ravine, There Is A Legend That A

Party Of Hunters, Long Ages Ago, Were Deer-Stalking In Cheviot Forest,

When On Reaching The Henhole Their Ears Were Greeted By The Most

Ravishing Music They Had Ever Heard. Allured By The Enchanting Sounds,

They Followed The Music Into The Ravine, Where They Disappeared, And

Were Never Again Seen.

 

The Range Of The Cheviot Hills Stretches For About Twenty-Two Miles

Along The North-West Border Of Northumberland; And As The Width Of The

Range Is, Roughly Speaking, Twenty-One Miles, We Have A Tract Of Over

Three Hundred Square Miles Of Rolling, Grassy, And Heath-Clad Hills, Of

Which About One-Third Is Over The Scottish Border In Roxburghshire. The

Giants Of The Range, The Cheviot (2,676 Feet High), Cairn Hill (2,545

Feet), And The Striking Cone Of Hedgehope (2,348 Feet), Are All Near To

Each Other On Northumbrian Soil, A Few Miles South-West Of Wooler, Which

Is A Most Convenient Starting Place For A Visit To Any Part Of The

Cheviots, As The Alnwick And Cornhill Railway Brings Within Easy Reach

The Heights Which Lie Still Farther North.

 

The Quiet Little Market Town Lies Pleasantly Among Green Meadows Almost

At The Foot Of The Cheviots; Its Low Substantial Stone Houses, With Few

Gardens In Front, Give The Place A Somewhat Monotonous Appearance, But

The Newer Streets Try To Make Amends By Blossoming Out Into Brilliant

Flower-Plots In Summer-Time. Still, One Would Not Quarrel With The Older

Buildings; Solid And Unpretentious, They Must Look Much The Same As In

The Days Of Border Turmoil, When The First Requisite In House Or Town

Was Strength, Not Beauty.

 

Near To Wooler Are Many Interesting Places; Within The