were indicated; 18 and, without entering into long details, a brief account of the introduction and the actual working of the first steam vessels is full of interest. The first steamboat that actually worked successfully in this country began to ply, in January, 1812, between Glasgow and Helensburgh. She was called the Comet, and continued to run on the Clyde till October, 1820, when she was wrecked rounding the Point of Craignish. The projector and owner of this boat was Henry Bell, a house carpenter or builder, and from his design she was built by Messrs. John Wood & Co., Port-Glasgow; and John Robertson, of Glasgow, constructed and fitted up her engine, which was of three horse-power. Her length of keel was 40 feet, breadth of beam 10 feet 6 inches, drew 4 feet of water, and was about 25 tons burthen. Another steamboat was built the same year, and in 1818 there were eighteen of these boats on the Clyde. The early built steam vessels were all of small dimensions, but improvements were soon introduced, and the building of steamers and the construction of suitable and powerful engines were rapidly developed.

The tonnage of the steamers gradually increased, and lines of traffic were established between Glasgow, Greenock, and Liverpool, and between the Clyde and Belfast. The lines of traffic were soon extended to every quarter of the globe, the speed of the steamers was increased, and the regularity with which they performed their voyages was remarkable. The screw-propeller was invented about 1836, and many improvements were made in marine engines by the Clyde shipbuilding and engineering firms. In 1810, Mr. Robert Napier built four steamers for the newly-formed Cunard Company, and these vessels ranged from 1135 to 1175 tons burthen, and they had engines of 440 horse-power each. They were designed for the Transatlantic navigation, and were named the Britannia, the Acadia, the Caledonia, and the Columbia. On the 19th of June, 1840, the Britannia steamed off from Liverpool, and arrived in the harbour of Boston on the 4th of July, amidst the cheers of the citizens. Although she was not the first steam vessel that had crossed the Atlantic, nevertheless her passage and arrival at Boston opened a

18 By an oversight I neglected to refer to the efforts of Lord Stanhope, who, in 1790, took out his patent for the propulsion of ships by steam. "He adopted paddles, placed under the quarters of the vessel, which were made to open and shut like the feet of a duck." He got a flat-bottomed boat specially constructed for the purpose, and a trial was made in Greenland Dock, but the boat only attained a speed of three miles an hour, and his plan was abandoned.

new era in the history of commerce.

The Cunard Line of steamers

soon became well known throughout the civilised world.

Among the enterprising shipbuilders of the Clyde at this period may be mentioned Mr. Robert Napier; Messrs. Steel & Co., Greennock; Messrs. Wood, of Port Glasgow; and Mr. William Denny, of Dumbarton; but at the same time a number of engineering firms on the Clyde were directing special attention to marine engines.

In Scotland iron shipbuilding was begun in 1818, when the "Vulcan," a passenger boat for the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, was built by Mr. Robert Wilson, at Faskine, near Airdrie. Before this, some one or two small iron boats had been built in England. The "Vulcan" was designed by the late Sir John Robinson, of Edinburgh, and she was so compactly constructed that she plied on the canal for upwards of half a century. Between the years 1853 and 1865 "inventors have come forward and patented what they fancied were improvements in the construction of iron ships, but when the way to prosperity seemed clear before them, an examination of the old Vulcan' has shown that they had been forestalled, and consequently the patents became null; two patents relating to the keels of iron vessels were cancelled when the keel of the canal boat was examined." 19 In 1827, the " Cyclops," an iron boat for The same year Mr. David Napier built the Aglaia," an iron boat, which plied on Loch Eck; and in 1831, Mr. Neilson, of Oakbank, built the "Fairy Queen," which plied as a passenger steamer on the Largs route. Messrs. Wingate & Co. built their first iron vessel in 1832. Shortly after, the firm of Messrs. Tod & Macgregor was formed, and directed special attention to the building of iron steam vessels; before the year 1840, they had attained a reputation in this department. The more notable of their iron steamers built before this date were the Royal George, the Royal Sovereign, and the Princess Royal; the latter was a steamer of 800 tons burthen, and was specially remarkable for her swift sailing; but great strides were afterwards made in this branch of shipbuilding.

canal service, was built.

The vessels built continued to increase in size, and the reputation of the Clyde shipbuilders rose higher. The result was that the great shipping and steam navigation companies sent many of their orders for new ships to the builders on the Clyde. The marine engineers of Glasgow and all along the Clyde exerted themselves to the utmost

19 Industries of Scotland, by Bremner, p. 65.

to improve the engines and boilers, and to utilise and economise the power of steam; while persistent and supreme efforts were made to improve the condition of the river, to deepen and widen it, so that the largest ships might have sufficient depth of water to float upon it. In no quarter of the world has there ever been a greater application and development of mechanical science than that which has taken place on the banks of the Clyde in the present century.

In 1852, Mr. John Elder joined Mr. Charles Randolph, who then carried on a large engineering establishment, and they signalised themselves by improvements in marine engines. They successfully applied the compound high and low pressure cylinder engines to marine purposes; and they afterwards commenced shipbuilding, and founded the Fairfield yard, one of the largest in Scotland. In the years 1861 to 1865 this firm built 43 vessels, with a total tonnage of 43,500; and in the years 1866 to 1875 they built 134 vessels, with a total tonnage of 222,523. In 1870, they launched the Italy, iron screw steamer of 4200 tons burthen, 600 horse-pover, and 400 feet in length; in 1870 and 1871 they built two steamers for the coast trade between Aberdeen and London-the Ban Righ and the City of London-which were notable for their speed and economy of fuel.

an

Since the middle of the century a considerable number of warships have been built on the Clyde; while the machinery of many others, built elsewhere, has also been supplied from the Clyde. In 1871, there were six war-vessels built on the Clyde; in 1874, there were four; and in 1875, three. At the middle of the century the total annual tonnage of the ships launched on the Clyde was about 23,000; in 1859, the total tonnage of the vessels built was 35,709; and in 1865, the tonnage of the vessels was 153,932. The following table shows the number of vessels built and their tonnage in five successive years :

In 1880, the total tonnage of vessels built and launched on the Clyde was 248,656, which shows an increase of over 20,000 tons in five years.

In 1871, there were upwards of 16,000 persons engaged in shipbuilding in Scotland, and of this number about 4000 were employed in iron shipbuilding; the latter number has since largely increased, owing to the general introduction of iron shipbuilding. Of the total number upwards of 10,000 were employed on the Clyde, including Dumbarton. In 1891 there were 23,253 hands (exclusive of labourers), of these over 17,000 were employed on the Clyde.

But the shipbuilding trade often fluctuates. The following table shows the total tonnage of vessels built and launched on the Clyde in ten successive years :

Within the last fifteen years steel has almost superseded iron in shipbuilding. Important improvements also have been made in the structure of ships for increasing speed, and securing comfort and safety. Improved water tight compartments have been adopted in all passenger ships; and water-ballast tanks when full cargoes outward and homeward cannot be obtained.

SECTION V.

Glass and Earthenware Manufactures.

THE manufacture of glass was introduced into Scotland early in the seventeenth century, as noticed in the third volume.20 But this useful and indispensable industry was for long hampered by the imposition of a duty on the manufactured glass, which was not finally repealed until 1845. There are various kinds of glass: (1) The common bottle glass; (2) the cheap, broad or spread window glass; (3) crown glass or window glass, formed in discs or large circular plates, and this variety is peculiar to Britain; (4) flint glass, crystal glass, or glass of lead; (5) plate or fine mirror glass. But only two of these kinds are made to any extent in Scotland-flint glass and bottle glass.

20 Mackintosh's History of Civilisation in Scotland, Vol. III., pp. 315-16.

The principal flint glass manufacture is in Edinburgh, in the Canongate, and has been long known as the Holyrood Glass Works, which were commenced by Mr. Ford about the opening of this century. There are two furnaces in the works, which contain 22 pots; and the furnaces consist of large cones of brickwork, which are pierced with a series of openings corresponding to the number of pots in each. In the centre of each cone a great fire is kindled, and the flames and heat from it are drawn through flues and brought into contact with the pots, which are arranged round the interior of the wall. The pots are made of a particular kind of clay, which can withstand intense heat without cracking or giving off any matter that would be injurious to the glass. The pots do not last long, and require to be frequently renewed. The removing of a broken pot and the insertion of a new one is an extremely difficult and trying operation; besides the waste of the pots, the furnace itself requires to be entirely reconstructed at the end of nine or ten years.

The pots for making bottle glass are open, and the flames and smoke come into contact with the "metal;" in the case of flint glass this arrangement would not suit, as the smoke would spoil the parity of the glass, and the flint glass pots are made so as to prevent clirect contact between the "metal" and the fire. "The pots are charged every Saturday morning. Each contains about 18 cwt. of glass, the ingredients for which are put in gradually as the fusion proceeds, from twelve to fifteen hours being required to complete the charging. Though the ingredients become melted in that time, the metal' is not in a fit state for working owing to the presence of air bubbles, which can be got rid of only by urging the furnaces to its utmost intensity, and maintaining it there at from thirty to forty hours, the mouths of the pots being sealed during that time. The glass is ready for working by an early hour on Monday morning. There are two sets of workmen, who relieve each other every six hours, and the work goes on constantly from Monday until Friday. The weekly consumption of coal is about twenty tons to each furnace.

"Under the intense heat to which it is subjected, in order to get rid of the gaseous bubbles, the glass becomes nearly as fluid as water, and in that state could not be worked. Before the blowers begin operations the temperature of the pots is lowered until the metal' assumes the consistency of treacle. The tools used by the workmen. are exceedingly simple. Owing to the peculiar nature of the material the formation of articles in glass depends more upon the

.