82 JAMES MUSPRATT 



lead chambers for his sulphuric acid, and the 

 other requisites of a complete soda works. 



When he commenced the production 

 of soda ash, he found the consumers 

 of alkali so prejudiced in favour of potash, 

 that it was no easy matter to sell his 

 products. The soap-boilers had actually to 

 have the soda given to them before they 

 would use it, and even then he was compelled 

 personally to watch and superintend the 

 making of the soap. But when once the 

 consumers got over their stupidity and 

 ignorance, the demand for the new article far 

 exceeded his powers for production: he 

 rapidly enlarged his Liverpool works until 

 the ground he had leased was wholly taken 

 up, and there was no room for further 

 extension. He therefore joined another 

 countryman of his, an Irishman like himself, 

 with whom he had become acquainted in 

 Dublin, Mr. Josias Christopher Gamble, and 

 they selected a piece of land at St. Helens, 

 near Gerard's Bridge, where they erected a 

 new works. This was in the year 1828. 



A site on the canal side, adjacent to a 

 colliery, and in the town in which the manu- 

 facture of glass had become established, with 

 probably cheap land, good drainage, and a 



