were much more limited than they are at the present day. The industries
of the West of Scotland were then few and comparatively uninviting. The
iron trade was in its infancy, and those engaged in it lacked the
resources for the acquisition of wealth that were evolved from the
discovery of blackband mineral deposits by Mushet, the application of
the hot blast by Neilson, and the introduction of other more economical
modes of working. Mr. James Baird did more than any other ironmaster in
Scotland to carry out to its full and perfect development the principle
of hot blast, and he greatly aided the success of Mr. Neilson's
invention by designing appliances which enabled the air to be heated to
a high temperature without destroying the apparatus. Many other
important improvements, which rendered iron-making much more easy and
simple, were soon afterwards carried out under Mr. Baird's auspices,
including the adoption of the modern shape of the blast furnace, which
is very much less in bulk and first cost than the furnaces used in the
early history of the trade. We believe that Mr. Baird was the very first
to introduce the modern shape of the blast furnace. It was a
distinguishing feature in Mr. Baird's character that he excelled in
suggesting and applying different modes of saving labour in every
department, and so thoroughly skilled was he in all the various
processes of manufacture, that every workman with whom he came in
contact regarded him as a master of his handicraft. More than any other
member of his family, Mr. Baird exercised practical authority over all
structural and mechanical arrangements as well as over the mineral
workings leased by or belonging to the firm. So late as the year 1830,
the total number of blast furnaces in Scotland was only seven, and their
capacity of production did not exceed 10,000 tons per annum. Last year,
the total production of the 154 furnaces in Scotland was 1,164,000 tons,
representing an aggregate value of not less than L3,000,000! A single
glance at these figures will convey an adequate idea of the progress
made in the interval; they require neither note nor comment. The Messrs
Baird had little prospect before them other than that afforded by the
pursuit of agriculture, in which their forefathers had engaged. But
William, with characteristic enterprise, resolved that he would not be
tied to the soil. Commencing on a very humble scale, with only a day
level and a gin pit, at Rochsolloch, he was favoured by fortune in his
development of the little colliery. His brothers joined the venture, and
in a short time they were able to extend their operations to Maryston
and Gartsherrie. On the 4th May, 1830, they put in blast the first
furnace in the latter place, thus laying, perhaps with fear and
trembling, the foundations of an establishment which is now one of the
largest of its kind in the world. This was the tide in their affairs
which, taken at its flood, led on to fortune. Although they have
experienced, in common with all others similarly situated, the
occasional vicissitudes of bad times, they were not only able from
henceforth to keep their heads above water, but they continued to go
forth "prospering and to prosper." In 1846 they started the Eglinton
Ironworks, at which there are now eight blast furnaces. Six years later
they acquired the Blair Ironworks, with five blast furnaces. In 1856,
the Lugar and the Muirkirk Ironworks came into the market, and the
Messrs. Baird became the purchasers. The latter works embrace a small
manufactory of malleable iron, and the two together have seven blast
furnaces. In 1864, the firm still further extended their now enormous
business by the acquisition of the Portland Ironworks, with five blast
furnaces, to which one has since been added. At the present time they
own, inclusive of Gartsherrie, at which there are 16 blast furnaces, a
grand total of 42 blast furnaces, 30 of which are now (March, 1872) in
operation. The total produce of iron from the whole of these works will
average 750 tons per day.
Of the Gartsherrie Ironworks--the largest establishment of its kind in
Scotland--it may be interesting to state that it gives employment to
3200 men and boys, and turns out 100,000 tons of pig iron per annum. The
consumpt of coal at Gartsherrie is upwards of 1000 tons per day. Ever
since 1826 Messrs. Baird have been working coal in Gartsherrie estate, so
that a considerable part of the coal consumed has been found adjoining
the works. Pits are still being worked to some extent there, but it is
now found necessary to look elsewhere for coal. We understand the future
supply is to be derived mainly from the district of Bothwell, where
there is a very large virgin field of coal--indeed, evidently the most
important in Scotland--from which the public must ere long begin to draw
their principal supplies. The ironstone for the Gartsherrie works is now
brought from a considerable distance; formerly it was found within from
one to five miles from the furnaces. It is a distinctive peculiarity of
the huge establishment that it is divided by the Monkland Canal, the
blast furnaces standing in two parallel rows on each side of that
highway. Taking the whole of their works together, the Messrs. Baird
employ fully 9000 men and boys, and if we multiply this number by three,
which is a moderate figure, we get 27,000 souls as the number dependent
on the works of the firm. It is quite within the record to declare that
the Messrs. Baird, who turn out annually one-fourth of the entire
production of Scotland, are the largest pig iron makers in the world.
As landed proprietors, the Messrs. Baird have attained a pre-eminent
position in the West of Scotland. Besides his estate of Cambusdoon in
Ayrshire, which he purchased in 1853 for the sum of L22,000, Mr. James
Baird owns the estate of Knoydart, in Inverness-shire, for which in 1857
he paid L90,000. In 1863 he purchased the estate of Muirkirk, at the
price of L135,000, and he owns other properties in Ayrshire of
considerable value. On the death of his brother Robert, who died in
1856, he acquired the estate of Auchmedden, Aberdeenshire, which three
years previously had been purchased for the sum of L60,000. The other
members of the family have found an equally conspicuous place in
"Burke's Landed Gentry." William, who died in March, 1864, was
proprietor of the estates of Rosemount, in Ayrshire, and Elie, in
Fifeshire, the former purchased in 1853 for L47,000, and the latter in
the same year for L155,000. John was proprietor of the estates of
Lochwood, in Lanarkshire, and Ury, in Kincardineshire, the latter being
a gift from his brothers, by arrangement with William, who inherited it
from his father, by whom it was purchased in 1826; while Ury was
bequeathed by his brother Alexander, who purchased it in 1854 for the
sum of L120,000. Douglas, the sixth son, acquired the estate of
Closeburn, in Dumfriesshire, for the sum of L225,000. George, a still
younger member of the family, was proprietor of the estate of Strichen,
in Aberdeenshire, and Stichell, in Roxburghshire--the former purchased
in 1865 for the sum of L145,000, and the latter inherited from his
brother David, who purchased it in 1853 for the sum of L150,000. The
family thus own estates representing in round numbers nearly two
millions of capital, in addition to what they hold as a company in the
shape of mineral fields.
Although it is probably in the annals of commerce that the Messrs. Baird
will find their most lasting monument, they have not been unknown in the
arena of politics. William sat in Parliament for the Falkirk District of
Burghs from 1841 till 1846, when he accepted the Chiltern Hundreds, and
Lord Lincoln reigned in his stead. In 1851, however, the seat again
became vacant, consequent upon Lincoln succeeding to the title and
estates of the Duke of Newcastle. James Baird then took the field in
opposition to Mr. Loch, factor to the Duke of Sutherland, and was
returned by a majority of 55 votes. In the course of the following year
a general election took place, and James again came forward as a
candidate. This time he was opposed by Mr. Anderson, of London. The
result of the election was a majority of 50 in favour of Mr. Baird. At
the general election of 1857, he retired from the representation of
Falkirk, and was succeeded by Mr. Hamilton, of Dalzeill, and afterwards
by Mr. Merry, who has since continued to retain the seat. The politics
of the family have always tended towards Conservatism, and for the
support of the "good old cause" Mr. James Baird has exercised all his
influence, both moral and material.
The educational interests of the West of Scotland owe a deep debt of
gratitude to the Baird family, who have made provision in various ways
for the instruction of upwards of 4000 children. In addition to having
established schools in almost every locality where their workmen are
employed, they have built and supported schools other than those
connected with their works. One of the latter is now in progress of
erection at Townhead, Glasgow, a poor and populous locality, with but a
limited access to the means of education. Another school is just in
course of being erected at the east end of Coatbridge, the expenses of
which will be entirely defrayed by Mr. James Baird, who has all along
taken on active interest in the progress of education. On the 20th
December, 1871, he presided at the meeting held in the City Hall,
Glasgow, with the view of recommending the continuance of religious
instruction in day schools. On that occasion he pleaded eloquently and
ably for a programme which contained three leading propositions--(1)
the maintenance of the religious instruction that had hitherto been the
use and wont of the country; (2) the management of the parochial and
other schools of Scotland by the people themselves, instead of by a
Board in London, which could know but little respecting the educational
wants of the country; and (3) that a proper training in secular and
religious knowledge be provided for the teachers, along with a due
remuneration for their labours. Mr. Baird then proceeded to show that
there was a danger of allowing the education of the country to become
secularised, and that the word religion, which only appeared twice in
the Education Bill, was inserted in the sense of forbidding it to be
taught at all. With reference to the support of education, Mr. Baird
expressed a clearly defined opinion, of which we quote the _ipsissima
verba_. "I have," he said, "a strong and conscientious objection that
any of my money, whether exacted from me by rates and taxes, should be
expended in teaching secular knowledge unless it is permeated by
religion, and I believe I shall be joined by an overwhelming majority of
the people of Scotland in that objection." ... "Religious and Scriptural
education is what we are contending for, and religious education we must
have, even should the State withdraw its support, which is a thing not
likely to be done." These are the words of one who has evidently "read,
marked, learned, and inwardly digested" the whole subject of education,
and is prepared, at whatever sacrifice or cost, to stand up for a system
of instruction that shall embrace preparation not only for the duties
and exigencies of this life but also for that which is to come. And the
views of such a man have all the more weight that they accompany and
flow from a sincere desire and a tangible readiness to afford practical
support to the cause of education.
But if education owes much to the generosity and practical sympathy of
the Messrs. Baird, the Church has still more reason to register their
names in its roll of attached friends. With reference to Mr. James
Baird, it may be fitly said that he is "a pillar in Israel." He is
conservative to the extent of maintaining unimpaired all the
institutions of the Church; but patronage, and other plague-spots in her
bright and noble constitution, he would utterly abolish. Progress has
long been his watchword, but it is in the direction of building up and
not of pulling down. He is not an iconoclast for the mere sake of
change. But he would remove out of the pathway of the Church all that
would hinder from the efficient discharge of her mission. Above all, he
is averse to a policy of _laissez faire_. Believing that the Church has
failed to meet the increasing wants of the people, he is an eager
advocate and a liberal and intelligent supporter of missionary schemes.
At an ordination dinner held in Glasgow in 1868, Mr. Baird delivered an
address, in the course of which he pointed out that the missions of the
Church were in a languid state, and dragged along a dreary and miserable
existence. Although there were from 12,000 to 15,000 young men and women
arriving in Glasgow every year at an age when they should become members
of some church, the Establishment was getting barely sufficient from
that multitude to maintain its old numbers. He was afraid, he added,
that a great many had not the chance of joining any church, as none of
the churches were increasing in proportion to the population of the
city; and that, therefore, they would go on to swell the ranks of
heathenism and materialism. The results of the investigations recently
carried out in this city, amply vindicate Mr. Baird's almost prophetic
remarks. Mr. Johnston's pamphlets on the religious wants of Glasgow;
pamphlets issued on the same subject by Mr. Alexander Whitelaw, Mr.
Baird's hearty coadjutor in every good word and work; and the inquiries
made under the auspices of the association established for the purpose
of inquiring into the religious destitution of Glasgow, all tend to
prove that there are from 100,000 to 160,000 souls living without the
means of grace, and in a state of practical heathenism, in a city that
can boast of a Knox, a Chalmers, and other apostles of Christianity.
Thus, although Mr. Baird's figures appeared startling, and although his
forebodings may have seemed unnecessary, they have turned out to be
rather under than beyond the mark. But the zeal of Mr. Baird did not
stop at merely pointing out the evil. He exerted himself most
assiduously to provide a remedy. We believe he was one of the promoters
of a society formed for the purpose of extending the church
accommodation of Glasgow, and especially for the building of new
churches in neglected and necessitous localities. That society has
already done the Church some service. It aims at removing from the
Establishment the stigma that she has failed to keep pace with the
requirements of the population; and, despite the difficult and arduous
character of the work which it has assigned itself, the association is
likely to succeed in making "rough places plain and crooked paths
straight."
We may add that Mr. Baird has been twice married. His first marriage was
in 1852, to Charlotte Lockhart of Cambusnethan, who died at Nice, in
Italy, in 1857. In 1859 he espoused Isabella Agnew Hay, daughter of the
late Admiral Hay. Although he is still the principal of the firm, Mr.
Baird takes no very active part in the conduct of the business, the
management devolving upon the other partners.
SIR WILLIAM THOMSON.
The world-wide reputation, as a mathematician and physicist, which Sir
William Thomson has acquired, is a sufficient plea for giving him the
foremost place in our sketches of University professors. Born in Belfast
in June, 1824, Sir William has entered upon the forty-eighth year of his
age. His father, Dr. James Thomson, was the author of several
mathematical text-books, and occupied for some time the position of
lecturer on mathematics at the Royal Academical Institute in Belfast,
from whence he was transferred to the mathematical professorship of
Glasgow University. The subject of our present sketch commenced his
University life at the early age of eleven years. Both in the chemistry
classes of Dr. Thomas Thomson, and in the astronomical lectures of Dr.
Nichol, he showed himself an exceedingly apt student, and gained
numerous prizes. In 1845, he graduated as second wrangler and first
Smith's prizeman at Cambridge University. On Sir William's career as a
Cambridge student we find the following interesting paragraph in an
article recently supplied to one of the leading magazines:--"When quite
a boy at Cambridge, still in his teens, he was a contributor to
mathematical journals both in France and England. It might have been
supposed that he was a lonely student, dwelling in a tower, like Erasmus
or Roger Bacon, quite cut off from the unsympathetic mob of his brother
collegians. On the contrary, Thomson was one of the best oarsmen of his
day, and an immense favourite with his brother under-graduates. This
taste for the water has always accompanied him. He had made many
valuable excursions in his beautiful yacht _Lalla Rookh_; and his
knowledge of the theory and practice of sailing is said to be
extraordinary. The occasion of his taking his degree proved an ovation
still recollected, and recorded in the annals of Cambridge. There was
not the least doubt in the University but that the youthful Peterhouse
man was the mathematical genius of the day. 'Eclipse was first and the
rest nowhere.' But the rumour arose that there was a 'dark man' at St.
John's, who possessed a wonderful power of throwing off paper-work at
examinations with the regularity of a machine. One of the examiners
subsequently described himself as petrified at the papers thrown off, as
if by the velocity of a steam-engine, on the part of the Johnian. At the
Cambridge Senate House examinations speed is everything; and when two
men are pretty evenly balanced the muscular power of the wrist settles
the day. Thomson was Second Wrangler, and a little more time for writing
would have made him Senior Wrangler. For the Smith's Prize he of course
distanced the Senior Wrangler and all other competitors. The worthy
Johnian, who supplanted him for the blue ribbon of the University, was,
irrationally enough, very unpopular, and has subsequently been lost
sight of in scientific history. Before Sir William Thomson there was a
great career. At twenty-one he was a fellow of his college. At
twenty-two he was a Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of
Glasgow. When little more than out of his teens, Sir William Thomson
became editor of the _Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal_,
through which a great impetus was given to the study of pure and applied
mechanics; and before the era of the Atlantic Cable he contributed many
papers on telegraphy to the Royal Society, in connection with which he
made the acquaintance and enjoyed the esteem of such men as Faraday and
Brewster. The Natural Philosophy Chair in Glasgow University he has
raised to a high rank--perhaps the highest of its kind in the world, and
students come from far and near to sit at the feet of this Gamaliel
among the physicists of his day and generation."
The Bakerian lecture, entitled "The Electro-Dynamic Properties of
Metal," was delivered by Sir William Thomson in 1855, and by that and
kindred contributions to scientific literature he was rapidly laying
the foundation of his great reputation. In 1854 he published a series of
investigations, by which he shows that the capacity of the conducting
wire for the electric charge depends on the ratio of its diameter to
that of the gutta percha covering; and in the face of much opposition he
established what is now known as the "law of squares," which asserts
that the rate of transmission is inversely as the square of the length
of the cable. These results were of much utility in their bearing on the
working of submarine cables, and it is not too much to affirm that it
was to Sir William Thomson's counsel that the success of the Atlantic
Cable is in great part due. His mirror galvanometer was the first
instrument that could be applied with anything like satisfactory results
to submarine telegraphy. More recently, however, he has invented and
patented another instrument, called the "syphon recorder," which was
exhibited publicly for the first time at the opening of the British
India Submarine Telegraph. The special feature of the "syphon recorder"
is a minute capillary syphon, which, while it continually discharges ink
against a moving paper, is by means of a delicate electro-magnetic
arrangement caused to move from side to side _according to the electric
pulses passed through the cable_, and from the record thus obtained of
these motions the message is deciphered. From trials lately made on the
Falmouth, Gibraltar, and Malta lines, it has been ascertained that 25
words per minute can be registered through a cable 800 miles long. It is
also a recommendation to the "syphon recorder" that it can be worked by
very low battery power, and therefore tends to the preservation of the
cable. Among Sir William's other inventions we may specially mention an
electrometer, which has now assumed a very complete form. His
divided-ring electrometer admitted of accurate measurements, in skilled
hands, of fractions of a Daniell's cell; his portable electrometer
admits of readings from 10 or 20 cells upwards; but his new reflecting
electrometer gives as much as 100 divisions on the scale for one single
cell of the battery. In Mr. Varley's patent of 1860, he describes a
method which he employed to make the one plate charge itself, and on
this principle he constructed a large electrical machine, which he
exhibited at a soiree of the Royal Society of 1869-70. This machine has
been adopted by Sir William Thomson for maintaining the charge in his
electrometer. The new electrometer is really a combination of three
inventions--of Sir William Thomson's portable electrometer to indicate
whether or no the instrument is sufficiently charged; of the replenisher
by Mr. Varley for charging or discharging; and of the quadrant
electrometer for reading off the minute tensions measured. The
instrument is in its present form so practically useful that it has been
largely used in connection with telegraphic cables, and Mr. Varley has
calculated tables to enable any electrician at a glance to infer from
two readings by this electrometer the insulating power of any
telegraphic cable.
Sir William Thomson is no specialist. Many people are accustomed to
associate his name with the Atlantic Cable, and with that alone. This,
however, is a great mistake, for he has made many important additions to
the science of magnetism, respecting which he published a number of
valuable papers between the years 1847 and 1851. He has also displayed
extraordinary acumen and intelligence in the investigation of the nature
of heat. Neither should it be forgotten that Sir William has speculated
a great deal on the ultimate constitution of matter--an inquiry which
has occupied the attention of all great physicists in modern times. Last
year he published in _Nature_ an article which, running from four
different lines of argument, seeks to establish proof of the absolute
magnitude of the atoms of matter. Of this argument Tyndall
says:--"William Thomson tries to place the ultimate particles of matter
between his compass points, and to apply to them a scale of
millimetres."
In the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, Sir William has published an article
describing the instruments--chiefly invented by himself--which were used
in laying the Atlantic Cable. In the same contribution he describes the
expeditions undertaken in 1857 and 1858 for the purpose of laying the
Atlantic Cable, and the difficulties that had to be encountered in that
great enterprise. This he was eminently qualified to do from his
experience as acting electrician on board the _Agamemnon_ during the
progress of the work which resulted in the completion, in August, 1858,
of the Atlantic Cable, and the astonishment of the world at finding the
two opposite shores of the great ocean placed in instantaneous
communication with each other. For some time after the cable was laid he
remained at Valentia, endeavouring to bring his galvanometer to still
greater perfection. From the subsequent failure of the Atlantic Cable,
and until it was finally established as a successful "institution," Sir
William was busily employed in seeking to make more perfect and easy the
difficult science of submarine telegraphy; and in the expeditions of
1865 and 1866, which he accompanied, his counsel and assistance proved
of inestimable value.