Year. No. ofTonnage. Year. No. ofTonnage.
Vessels.Vessels.
18453 3651865 6 4,543
18463 2521866 810,867
184761,0071867 4 9,154
18483 6181868 8 9,855
184962,17318691213,227
185051,5771870 4 8,852
185151,4601871 714,922
185256,6221872 614,056
185375,1631873 718,415
185454,3801874 918,475
185565,4431875 917,191
185677,4361876 5 4,394
185752,82218771010,533
185835,29318781822,054
185955,90318791316,138
186021,89718801218,114
186148,4631881 817,455
186254,27118821322,010
186399,74518831022,240
186413 11,239

The firm, it may be stated, is now engaged in the construction of their 300th vessel. Notwithstanding the work of re-arrangement and enlargement which has been under progress for two years or more, the work turned out during that period has been in no way behind as compared with other periods—a fact which eloquently testifies to the administrative ability of those in authority, and to the skill and energy of Mr John Ward, the general manager of Messrs Denny’s large works.

In August, 1880, the firm issued a notice to their workmen stating that, having observed during the previous two years many improvements in methods of work and appliances introduced by them into the yard, they very readily recognised the advantage accruing to their business from these efforts of their workmen’s skill, and were desirous that they should not pass unrewarded. The notice further stated that to carry out this desire an Awards Committee had been appointed, which would consider any claims made by the workmen, and grant an award in proportion to the worth of the improvement made, the amount in no case to be more than £10, or less than £2. The committee then appointed, and which still holds office, was composed of well-known local gentlemen, in every way competent to adjudicate. Fully a year later the firm announced that in the case of an invention thought worthy of a greater award than £10, they had empowered the Committee to grant such an award, or were willing, in addition to giving an award of £10, to take out at their own expense provisional protection at the Patent Office on behalf of the inventor, so that he might either dispose of his invention or complete the patent, provided always they had free use of the thing patented in their own establishment. From the reports which have yearly been issued by the committee, it is apparent that considerable success has attended the scheme. The number of claims made since its institution has been as follows:—In 1880, 12; in 1881, 32; in 1882, 27; in 1883, 20; in 1884 (till July only), 91; total, 182. Awards have been granted as follows:—In 1880, 5; in 1881, 22; in 1882, 21; in 1883, 18; in 1884 (till July only), 27; total, 93. It is worthy of note that about one-half of the awards have been gained by workmen in the joiner’s department. Some of their machines have been modified or altered so as to do twice the quantity of work previously possible, some to do a new class of work, and others to do the same work with greater ease and safety. Four inventions have gained the maximum award of £10, viz., (1) an improvement made on ships’ water-closet and urinal; (2) the invention of a machine to cut mouldings imitative of wicker work; (3) an improved arrangement for disengaging steam and hand-steering gear on board ship; (4) an improved method of laying the Decauville railway across the main line. In connection with this latter invention, the patentee of the Decauville railway system, supplemented the committee’s grant to the extent of £10. In a note to last year’s report, the firm state that they have decided to increase the maximum grant from £10 to £12, and the minimum from £2 to £3; and that in the case of two men being engaged at the same invention, should it be found worthy of an award, each will receive at least the minimum award of £3. A still more recent announcement states that “whenever any workman has received as many as five awards from the committee, reckoning from the time the scheme came in force, he shall be paid a premium of £20, when he has received as many as ten awards he shall be paid a further premium of £25—the premiums always increasing by £5 for every additional five awards received.” Already, it may be stated, four separate workmen have received five awards, and become the recipients of the £20 premium.

With regard to the employment of females in Messrs Denny’s yard, it may be interesting to state further that the total number generally employed throughout the works amounts to between 80 and 100. In addition to the numbers employed in the decorative and upholstery departments, already noticed, a large contingent are engaged in the polishing rooms, and a further number in the drawing offices as tracers. The employment of females as tracers in shipyard drawing offices, it may be stated, is of recent date. The system had previously been in operation at the locomotive works of Messrs Dübs & Co., and Messrs Neilson & Co., of Glasgow. Having proved a success there, it has been gradually adopted by shipbuilding and engineering firms on the Clyde, and more recently on the Tyne. The staff in Leven Shipyard consists of 20 members, four of whom are employed in the experimental tank department. All the girls are selected by written competitive examination, the subjects of examination being arithmetic, writing to dictation, and block-letter printing. At first it was intended the girls should simply be trained as tracers, but they displayed such aptitude that to tracing was added the inking-in of finished drawings and the reduction of plans from a greater to a less scale. This they do with a very fair degree of accuracy and neatness. The experienced members of the staff are now employed making displacement calculations, including plotting the results to scale, centre of buoyancy, and metacentre calculations; calculations of ships’ surface, working up and plotting of speed trial results, stability calculations. Most of these calculations are made out on prepared printed schedules, and the whole of the work is superintended by a member of the male staff. In the work of calculation the girls, it may be stated, make large use of such instruments as the slide rule, Amsler’s planimeter and integrator. To secure clearness and uniformity in the work of writing titles, data, scantling, &c., on the various drawings and tracings, it was found advisable to train the females in the art of lettering these features in a uniform style of lettering in place of writing them. In this work they display considerable proficiency and expertness, the results being uniformly legible and well arranged.

Before passing from the subject of female employment in Messrs Denny’s establishment, attention should be drawn to one fact, of which assurances have been given by those well informed in the matter. In no instance has the employment of females led to the displacement of men as yard operatives. Those departments into which females have recently been introduced are now numerically as large as before the innovation. In some cases, indeed, the numbers are greater than before; new avenues of labour, and greater elaboration of the old, being the grounds of need for the accessions.

The other establishment selected for notice from the Clyde district is:—

MESSRS J. & G. THOMSON’S
SHIPBUILDING AND ENGINEERING WORKS,
CLYDEBANK.

The business of this firm was founded in 1846, by Messrs James & George Thomson, father and uncle respectively of the present members of the firm. Originally the firm were engineers, but in 1851, shipbuilding operations were commenced, the yard being then situated in the upper reaches of the Clyde. Twenty years later the increase of the firm’s business and the demand for better accommodation for shipping made it necessary for the firm to take new ground. The present site at Clydebank was therefore chosen for their shipyard, and since its formation many wonderful transformations have been effected. It is fully twelve years since ground was first broken. At that time there was neither house nor railway accommodation, and the difficulties were not easily surmountable, and it must have been determined courage and energy that in such a short time not only formed such a large establishment, but created a town, and introduced a railway. From Clydebank yard, it may be needless to state, many of the most famous vessels of the Cunard, Peninsular, and Oriental and Union Lines have been launched. From its stocks have emanated such well-known vessels as the Bothnia, Gallia, Thames, Moor, Hammonia, and the great Cunard liner, Servia, while within a very recent period another vessel—the America—seemingly destined to eclipse the fame of all these other notable craft, has been built and sent to sea.

Until about two years ago, the engineering section of Messrs Thomson’s business was conducted at Clydebank Foundry, Finnieston, Glasgow. It was then resolved, however, to centralise the works, and thus save the great expense of fitting out vessels away from the yard, as well as secure the increased facilities offered in the management and controlling of large bodies of workmen. This important undertaking has now been accomplished, and the establishment, as now arranged, is equal in extent and working capability to any other private shipbuilding concern. The entire premises occupy about thirty-five acres of land, and comprise building yard, tidal basin, yard workshops, and engine and boiler works. When in full operation the establishment gives employment to over 4,000 workmen. The yard possesses eight building slips, laid out for the largest class of vessels, and owing to their situation—facing the river Cart, which here joins the Clyde—excellent facilities for the launching of vessels are afforded.

Proceeding to describe the works more in detail, as in the case of a personal visit, the first feature that may be noticed is a handsome block of buildings which stands some distance from the main entrance to the shipyard. These buildings comprise the clerical, managerial, and naval architects’ offices; also a spacious apartment in which are located splendidly-executed models, and sections of the hulls, of the vessels which have been built by the firm. Passing through the yard large quantities of the raw material of the modern shipbuilder are observed on railway waggons, and in sheds—including iron and steel plates, bar, T, H, Z, angle, flat, channel, tubular, and other forms of wrought-iron. This material is brought into the yard by railway, which forms a siding of the North British system about a quarter of a mile distant.