42 JOSIAS CHRISTOPHER GAMBLE 



Matthew Arnold once designated such towns 

 as "perfect hell-holes." 



Colonel Gamble built his residence close to 

 the town, and within an easy walk of his 

 works ; the scene of his labours has been 

 constantly before him, and he has been keenly 

 alive to the needs of the district ; he has 

 associated himself with every local movement, 

 has spent his wealth amongst those who, to 

 some extent, have contributed to its acquisi- 

 tion, and he has made a local residence at 

 least bearable, if not attractive. It is not to 

 be wondered at that his fellow-townsmen 

 have been anxious to record their grateful 

 appreciation of his services, or that they 

 rejoiced in the public honours which have 

 been awarded him. The local influence 

 and the social position of the Gamble family 

 to-day has not been reached by any royal 

 road, it is the result of sixty years of patient 

 plodding industry, and of great care and 

 thrift. The extensive works of Gerard's Bridge 

 and Hardshaw Brook are the results of slow 

 and cautious development, not that there has 

 been any lack of enterprise or disregard of 

 the progress of invention ; on the contrary, it 

 was at Gerard's Bridge that the Weldon in- 

 vention was wrought out, and every discovery 



