h
Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction. He went to
Andrews as the man most likely to give him reliable information
and sound opinions upon certain industrial questions of
interest to the Department. A peculiar value attaches to the
high regard in which Thomas Andrews was held by this
distinguished political and economic thinker.

A captain of industry: the phrase is happy, and convincing too is the
passage wherein Mr. Erskine Childers gives his impression of Andrews as,
towards the close of 1911, he saw him one day working in the Island
Yard.

"It was bracing to be near him," writes Mr. Childers, and then goes on:
"His mind seemed to revel in its mastery, both of the details and of
the _ensemble_, both of the technical and the human side of a great
science, while restlessly seeking to enlarge its outlook, conquer new
problems, and achieve an ever fresh perfection. Whether it was about the
pitch of a propeller or the higher problems of design, speed, and
mercantile competition, one felt the same grip and enthusiasm and, above
all perhaps, the same delight in frank self-revelation."

V.

We come back, then, to Andrews as Mr. Childers saw him on that day in
the Yard--big, strong, inspiriting, full of enthusiasm and mastery--a
genuine captain of industry there on the scene of his triumphs, yet
revealing himself as modestly, we know, as any of the great army of
workers under his direction.

Before attempting to give some further and completer account of the
relations which existed between him and the Islanders, it may be well to
give a letter written by Andrews in 1905 to a young relative then
beginning work as an engineer:--

"I am sorry I did not get a shake of your fist, old chap,
before leaving, just to wish you good luck at your business and
a good time at ----

"Please accept from me the enclosed small gift to go towards a
little pocket-money.

"You are such a sensible boy I know that you require no advice
from me, but as an old hand who has come through the mill
myself I would just like to say how important it is for you to
endeavour to give your employers full confidence in you from
the start. This can best be gained:

"(1) By punctuality and close attention to your work at all
times--but don't allow your health to suffer through overwork.

"(2) Always carry out instructions given by those above you,