The Slaithwaite Guardian and Colne Valley News. — 1905-09-22 (Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire, England)

READY CARR MEN.  These were toppers in their day tl:e aristocrats of labour, and the leading men in the Colne Valley—first in (veld-ling, and when they went to the mills to fix or repair machinery, commanded the respect of both men and masters at each place they went to. Many of them were of a very intelligent class—very clever botanists and masters of mathematics, etc., and a few who were also clever workmen would have their ale, then more common even at their kind of work than wou:d be allowed at the present day. Their masters were the leading men in their trade as engine and water wheel makers and general mechanics, as sell as leaders in politics and social life. Mr. James Hirst was a prominent supporter (ahmg with Mr. J. B. Robinson and others) of the Mechanics' Institute, and at one time a prominent figure at their popular and annual soirees, which once were a great feature in the life of Marsden. Mr. Robert Taylor, one of the partners, was another distinguished member of this then notable company. A good Churchman, a free speaker, and a rampant Radical, one of those even admired by ht; Tory friends, and of these he had more than a few. Ile dearly liked a game of cards, and it was at his home engaged in its friendly vursuit that I first saw him, when Mr. George Haigh and I went to give hint the crder f ir the new engine at Brook Mills. IVe had a cheerful night, in which the old man diphyei his greatest skill and told his best stories, not forgetting the terrible time of the I.ud lites, when no millowner was safe who had the courage to introduce the new finishing machinery. How the feud raged ab nit Longroyd Bridge, Dungeon Milk, and up the str 'am to Marsch n : of the barricadiag of Ottiwells, the loopholes of the guns remaining until the owner, Mr. J. E. Crowther, removed them for the present pretty waterfalls. Mr. Taylor further recited the murder of Mr. Horsfall, a Marsden manufacturer, who was shot at the four-lane ends on Crosland Moor, when returning home horn Huddersfield on a market day. Mr. J B. Robinson and Mr. D. F. E. Sykes have written much interesting matter on this terrible subject, of its ultimate ending, and the death of many of its unfortunate victims after due trial at York. These stirring times have been described by the clever Wontes in a way and manner that only such a facile pen could do, and I mu.t refer the reader to their clever books on the subject, and come back to my story of the Ready Carr. Here young E. 0. Taylor, the son of Robert, was a most strenuous member, as ready for a game of cricket as for a bout in politics, and with a determination which would not be denied. On this particular night described above, when the good order for the engine from Mr. Haigh had been sealed and ratified, all settled down to whist, the favourite gime of the old man's, and cominuing until the wee hours of the morning, when George and I walked home, full of the fu!ure and its great possibilities.  Scene No. 2—a night of revelry at Brook Mills, the new engine started with success, the proverbial bottle of wine broken, and the rest (not a few) emptied to the speech,•s, songs, and dances of the evening. It was a never-to-be-folgotten time, but alas : the leightest spirit there Mr. Liversedge, of Marsden—was soon laid low, for when the writer saw him again he was gasping for his last breath in a cottage at Crimhle, where the poor fellow had been taken after the accident in getting in the machinery into the top room, and with him at the same time was killed Benjamin Senior, of Hohufirth.  The story of this mill has been previously told, but of Marsden engineers nothing before has been written. They indeed were a wonderful firm in their day, and made most of the steam engines and water wheels of the district ; did much work for India and elsewhere, together with boilers for all. Bit times will change, others come forth, and the old man died, and amid many changes alterations have had to be made, the old foundry has been given up and fitted into cottages, and at the same time the younger men have built up splendid boiler works, equal to any, and are turning out quite a large number of what may be fairly called boilers of the first quality of the age. J.S.