rise of wages; but still went on enjoying my
twenty shillings a week. I was, however, gaining information and
experience, and knew that better pay would follow in due course of
time. And without solicitation I was eventually offered an engagement
for a term of years, at an increased and increasing salary, with three
months' notice on either side.

I had only enjoyed the advance for a short time, when Mr. Thomas
Toward, a shipbuilder on the Tyne, being in want of a manager, made
application to the Messrs. Stephenson for such a person. They mentioned
my name, and Mr. Toward came over to the Clyde to see me. The result
was, that I became engaged, and it was arranged that I should enter on
my enlarged duties on the Tyne in the autumn of 1853. It was with no
small reluctance that I left the Messrs. Thomson. They were
first-class practical men, and had throughout shown me every kindness
and consideration. But a managership was not to be had every day; and
being the next step to the position of a master, I could not neglect
the opportunity for advancement which now offered itself.

Before leaving Glasgow, however, I found that it would be necessary to
have a new angle and plate furnace provided for the works on the Tyne.
Now, the best man in Glasgow for building these important requisites
for shipbuilding work was scarcely ever sober; but by watching and
coaxing him, and by a liberal supply of Glenlivat afterwards, I
contrived to lay down on paper, from his directions, what he considered
to be the best class of furnace; and by the aid of this I was
afterwards enabled to construct what proved to be the best furnace on
the Tyne.

To return to my education in shipbuilding. My early efforts in
ship-draughting at Stephensons' were further developed and matured at
Thomsons' on the Clyde. Models and drawings were more carefully worked
out on the 1/4-in. scale than heretofore. The stern frames were laid
off and put up at once correctly, which before had been first shaped by
full-sized wooden moulds. I also contrived a mode of quickly and
correctly laying off the frame-lines on a model, by laying it on a
plane surface, and then, with a rectangular block traversing it--a
pencil in a suitable holder being readily applied over the curved
surface. This method is now in general use.

Even at that time, competition as regards speed in the Clyde steamers
was very keen. Foremost among the competitors was the late Mr. David
Hutc