The times., 1899-06-25
MEN WHO HAVE MADE TOWNS.
English Industrial Centres Result
ing From individual Initiative.


Although it falls to the lot of few men
to be, like Cecil Rhodes, empire build
ers. there are many men living today
who have either founded large and flour
ishing towns or have nursed them from
small beginnings into great things.
Jarrow-on Tyne, with its population of
over $4,000, is the child of Sir Charles
Mark Palmer, still hale old man OF sew
enty-six. In the forties young Mr.. Pal
mer'' was a clerk in his fathers office. and
Jarrow was tiny village with never a
dream of the growth which was awaiting
it.
It was in 1852 that Mr.. Palmer. who had
already blossOmed into a coke manufac-
turer and colliery owner, built the small
screw steamer John Bowles, which was
the cradle of the fortunes of Jarrow, and
largely OF Newcastle itself.
Its success was so full of promise that
Mr.. Palmer. in partnership with his broth
er George, commenced shipbuilding on
small scale. with the result that today
their works cover 100 acres, 1000 men
find employment in building ships as
many more are supported by the Palmers'
mines of coal and iron, and Jarrow has
developed to undreamed-of proportions.
Just as Sir Charles Palmer made Jarrow,
Lord Armstrong is the father OF Elswick,
with its busy thousands of workers. When
Sir Charles Palmer was acting as his
fathers clerk the future founder of Els
wick was n Newcastle solicitor, without
any suspicion of the fame and fortune
which were awaiting him in quite another
field of labor.
He had already invented the hydraulic
crane and the hydro electric machine, and
his brain was teeming with other impor-
tant inventions. In 1S47 he abandoned the
law and started the Elswiek Iron Works
to develop his inventions, but it was the
discovery of the famous Armstrong gun
that brought fortune to him and to Els
wick
Today Mr.. Armstrong; works on the
| Tyneside spread over seventy acres and
give employment to more than $1,000
hands thus supporting population of
something like 10000 people.
Burton on Trent, with a population of
nearly 50, 900. owes its existence and pros
perity to old William Bass the carrier, of
the last century, and his capable descen
dants. 1t was in 1777 that William Bass,
while acting as carrier for small brew
er called Printon, saw the fortune that
lurked in Burton beer. He opened a small
brewery on his own account. and thought
his fortune made when his yearly output
amounted to 5000 barrels. Today, through
the skill and enterprise of his descendants,
the 6000 barrels have grown TO nearly
100000 while nearly 2500c0,O00 bottling
labels are used every year. The minimum
stock-in-trade is 900, coo casks. $4,000
acres are required to produce the supply
of barley and hops, and an army of over
$3.50 men are employed in the brewery and
its offices.
Manningham. with its population of over
So. 900, was n scattered village when Lord
Masham. then plain Sam" Lister.
breathed on it and made it live and grow.
Young Mr.. Lister in spite Of all legends
to the contrary. began his business life
with a considerable endowment of wealth.
He was industrious and inventive, and
chose TO lead a laborious business life. His
wool-combing machine, which cost him in
experiments more than 100000, was the
basis OF his fortune; but it was his dis
covery of the method of converting silk
waste into rich velvets. plushes. and silks
that made a millionaire of him and
prosperous town of Manningham, where
he built his colossal mills.
Even Birmingham scarcely realizes the
debt it owes to the present Colonial Sec
retary. Quite apart from the impetus
which Mr.. Chamberlain's prosperous busi-
ness gave TO its growth, he has infused
new life into all its veins. When Mr..
Chamberlain first came on the municipal
scene Birmingham was faithfully de-
scribed as "a miserable, insanitary, over
I grown village" Today, thanks principally
to its most gifted citizen, it is a city of
fine streets, stately buildings, and excel
lent sanitation.