Trade aud Coiiniicrce. 



43 



workmanship and design second to none, and whose rapid 

 development is ahnost unprecedented. 



It is now over 50 years since the foundation of Harland 

 AND Wolff's Works was laid, the nucleus being the Belfast 

 Ironworks, which intended to begin the manufacture of iron 

 in Belfast. Their purpose was defeated by the expense of 

 importing coal ; but the second part of the enterprise — the 

 ship-yard — prospered, in spite of the handicap of importing 

 both iron and coal. Hickson & Co. were the proprietors 

 till 1858, when the late Sir Edward Harland, Bart., isi.p., 

 took over their business and that of the Belfast Shipbuilding 



THE LAUNCH. 



Company. Since then the firm has been steadily pro- 

 gressing, and it now stands at the head of the shipbuilding 

 trade of the world. From 1890 to 1894 it turned out the 

 greatest tonnage of any concern in the Kingdom, and was 

 only prevented from doing so in 1895 t)y the engineers' 

 strike, which delayed the launching of several vessels. Last 

 year the output exceeded their own previous world's record 

 by about 10,000 tons, and created a new one. 



Indeed, the growth of the "Queen's Island" during the 

 last five years has been even more marked than its earlier 

 achievements ; and besides heading the tonnage list, they 



