The Forth Bridge/Mr. William Arrol
Mr. William Arrol.
Mr. William Arrol, like many other famous contractors, is essentially a self-made man, who has risen from the humblest position occupied by a worker in iron, to that of one of the principal contractors in the United Kingdom. Mr. Arrol, who was born at Paisley, was apprenticed to a local blacksmith at the age of thirteen; he learned his trade for four years, and it need not be said that he learned it well. By the time he became a journey-man, a financial crisis paralysed Scotland, and work being difficult to obtain, he went to England, where, for a considerable time, he followed his trade, and acquired a varied stock of knowledge that was to serve him well at a later period. Always learning, and always saving money, to aid him in commencing the independent career of which he had already laid down the main outlines, Mr. Arrol—when times grew better—returned to Scotland, and found employment in various capacities, for all of which he was thoroughly fitted, by virtue of his energy, industry, and versatile talent. Whether working as a blacksmith, a fitter, or a boilermaker, his work was well done, and was always characterised by the touch of originality which distinguishes the man born to command from one made only to obey. To do everything he undertook well, to forsake the grooves prescribed by established handicraft, for new and bolder ways, and never to avoid a menial task that might accompany the undertaking in hand, was characteristic of Mr. Arrol. Speaking recently to some of his friends who presented him with a mark of their esteem, he said: "Whatever I went to I put my whole mind to. Sometimes I was sent to clean flues instead of repairing the boilers, but I never shirked the duty." It is in this that lies one of the chief causes of his success, "that he never shirked his duty." It was inevitable that Mr. Arrol should rise and rise quickly; before long he changed from the man-of-all-work to the foreman of the bridge and boiler departments, in the works of Messrs. Laidlaw and Sons, of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Here he remained for some years, gaining the experience which was necessary for his coming advancement. Twenty years ago the time arrived when he considered himself justified in making his first and independent venture, and he boldly launched himself as a contractor and repairing engineer, with the munificent capital of 85l—the savings of his life. Success was certain, though Mr. Arrol did not know it, because he had the good fortune to possess the elements that, when combined, command success. It is interesting to know that twenty years ago he purchased his first engine for 18l., his first boiler for 25l., and the few tools he could afford, and which we may be sure he knew how to select to the best advantage, and how to turn to the best account. How many times during the last few years must Mr. Arrol have recalled this, his first poor but all-important venture, as he walked through the enormous shops and works he laid down to carry out the Forth Bridge contract. For two years after he started in business for himself, Mr. Arrol's life was that which has been led by thousands of other men under similar circumstances, a period of hope and disappointment, of waiting made tolerable only by patience and determination to succeed. In his case, however, success came early, and within three years he had advanced so far in means and reputation, that he was intrusted with the contract for iron bridges on the Glasgow, Hamilton, and Bothwell Railway, one of them being a very large structure spanning the Clyde. Then followed the erection of another important bridge over the Clyde adjoining the Glasgow Central Station of the Caledonian Railway, and it was for this work that Mr. Arrol devised a number of special machines for drilling and rivetting up work, which, with necessary modifications, were so largely used on the Forth Bridge. The Forth Bridge Company in 1873 entered into a contract with Messrs. W. Arrol and Co. for carrying out Sir Thomas Bouch's design, and when the scheme was abandoned, after the failure of the Tay Bridge, the reconstruction of this work came into Mr. Arrol's hands, and was carried out by him between the years 1882 and 1887. In the mean time Sir John Fowler and Mr. Baker had decided that they could safely place the most important part of the work of the Forth Bridge contract in Mr. Arrol's hands, and it is needless to say that Mr. Arrol has justified the confidence which the engineers placed in him.
From a photograph by John Feryut, Largs.
MR. WILLIAM ARROL.