INDUSTRIES Twyford, Messrs. H. Hewett & Co. ; at Mortimer, Messrs. Mosdell & Pagze; at Donnington, Mr. E. E. Palmer ; at Buck- land, Messrs. Phillips & Sons, Limited. It is not intended in this section to record the names of all the Berkshire brewers, but enough has been said to prove that the industry is widely extended throughout the county, and shows no sign of decay. One important firm states that it has quadrupled its output during the last thirty years. Whatever may be the effect of the new Licensing Act it appears unlikely that the industry will suffer any real diminution, or that the reputation of the Berkshire ales, especially those of Windsor and Reading, will be seriously affected. BISCUIT MAKING Reading has for several years been recog- nized as the chief home of the manufacture of biscuits, and the works of Messrs. Huntley & Palmers, Limited, have attained a world- wide reputation. This industry is entirely of modern growth and has increased with extraordinary rapidity during recent years. The history of the rise and development of the industry is not devoid of interest. In 1830 Messrs. Joseph Huntley & Son were established as biscuit bakers in London Street. At that time the only kind of biscuits which were known were what are called ' captain's biscuits.' The late Mr. George Palmer in 1841 joined Mr. Thomas Huntley in partner- ship, and by sound judgment and good sense contributed largely to the laying of the foundations of the trade. Some new varieties of biscuits were invented, but little progress was made in the expansion of the business until the abolition of the Corn Laws, and the introduction of free trade in wheat during the year 1846 improved the conditions of the industry and made it possible to sell biscuits at a small price. The demand rapidly in- creased, and it was soon found to be impossible to make by hand a sufficient number of biscuits in order to satisfy the wants of the public. It was then determined by the firm to try and invent some machine in order to help the manufacture. Mr. George Palmer designed and planned the first biscuit-making machine, by which the biscuits could be cut out and stamped with far greater speed than by mere hand labour. The machine was the forerunner of still more ingenious mechanical contrivances, which are now in use in the Reading factory. At the time of the great exhibition of 1851 the firm only employed 200 workpeople. Eleven years later the number of persons engaged at the works had been doubled. In 1867 it was nearly 1,000. At the time of the Paris Exhibition of 1878 nearly 3,000 persons were employed, while at the present time the total is between 5,000 and 6,000 hands. The buildings have also increased in the same proportion from the modest factory in use half a century ago to the present large pile of buildings situate in the King's Road, and extending a long distance towards the lines of the South-Eastern Railway. The river Kennet flows between the two sections of the property owned by the firm and is spanned by many bridges. In 1857 Mr. Huntley died, but Mr. George Palmer was assisted in the continued develop- ment of his business by his two brothers, Mr. Samuel and Mr. William Isaac Palmer, who had previously joined the firm. The success of the industry and its extraordinary growth were mainly due to the inventive genius, energy and application of these three gentle- men. The firm was converted into a private limited company in 1898, and the directors are Messrs. George William Palmer, Alfred Palmer, S. Ernest Palmer, Sir Walter Palmer, M.P. for Salisbury, Charles H. Palmer, W. Howard Palmer, Albert J. Palmer, and William Bullivant Williams. The firm have their own railway within the works, which is connected with the lines of the three railway companies having stations in Reading. It is beyond the scope of this history to describe minutely the operations of manu- facturing companies, or to give accounts of their machines and factories. But as the works of Messrs. Huntley & Palmer differ greatly from ordinary enterprises it may be well to furnish a short sketch of the work done in this Reading biscuit factory, where more than four hundred varieties of biscuits are manufactured, besides a large assortment of cakes. The principal feature of the first room in the factory is the revolving pans in which the material for the different kinds of biscuits are mixed into dough. The dough is placed in one of the huge rolling presses and cutting machines, and after passing through it emerges in the required shape of biscuits ; these are transferred to the ovens on trays, and by means of revolving bands are passed through the heated chambers, and emerge duly baked. The speed of the passage through the ovens can be carefully regulated, 411
