Mr. Holt claims a prominent niche in our gallery. He was essentially an inventor and a pioneer. In the early sixties he owned a line of small steamers trading to the West Indies, and afterwards he entered the China trade in association with the Swires, and was the founder of the prosperous Holt Line. Mr. Holt was for long years the advocate of the single engine, which he claimed to be the most economical, and also of models having fine lines and a big rise of floor—claiming that it was most economical in practice to have an easily-driven vessel. Experience has, however, demonstrated that ships with full bodies can be more cheaply propelled at moderate speeds.
Mr. Holt was the Chairman of the Dock Board, and was the inventor of the “plateway”; a scheme suggested to be adopted on our highways in order to facilitate the conveyance of heavy goods in competition with the railways, a scheme of which we shall hear more.
Sir Alfred Jones
The late Sir Alfred Jones was a remarkable personality. He climbed up to the prominent position he eventually occupied by the sheer force of his will and character, backed by marvellous industry. I once asked him why he did not take a partner. His answer was, “I will do so as soon as I can find a man as ‘intense’ as myself.” On my inquiry how he got through his work he replied, “System. My day is mapped out—a certain hour for my steamers, another for my banana trade, another for coal, another for my properties, another for my theatres in the Canaries.” With all this he spent several days each week in London, taking his correspondence clerks with him on the train and shedding them on the way as he completed his letters. For sheer force of character and power for work, Sir Alfred was the most remarkable man Liverpool has produced in my day.
Sir Thomas Brocklebank
W. Miles Moss
