viii. PREFACE 



as those whose careers I have endeavoured to 

 sketch. 



The small manufacturer and tradesman are in 

 danger of becoming an extinct species, and a more 

 general uniformity is suppressing individuality 

 and originality. 



Doubtless the great revolution was inevitable, 

 with the equalising of the facilities of communi- 

 cation, the rapid growth of knowledge and the 

 education of the people, the force of union and 

 associations, keen international competition these 

 and other factors compelled industry to face the 

 financial as well as the social problems of the age, 

 and the extinction of the individual was saved by 

 combination. 



This is not the occasion to discuss the advantages 

 and disadvantages that have accompanied the vast 

 change that has taken place since 1890, but one 

 misses the influence of such men as Muspratt, 

 Gossage, Deacon and others, whose personal 

 presence was felt every day in their business and 

 in the community. 



In some respects the towns of St. Helens and 

 Widnes have vastly improved during the last 

 fifteen years. There is a great and uniform 

 improvement in the construction of works; the 



