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Page 7
Last, not least, see what steam has enabled us to do in regard to the
food for the mind, both in printing it and afterwards in its
distribution. Look, for instance, to Printing House Square--to the
"Times" newspaper. In the short space of one hour 20,000 copies are
thrown off the printing-machine, and, thanks to the express train, the
same day the paper can be read in Glasgow. Still further in this
direction, the value of steam is also shown by its having enabled us to
produce cheap literature, so strikingly instanced in the world-famed
works of Sir Walter Scott, which we are now enabled to purchase at the
small sum of sixpence for each volume--a result which well shows the
application of science to art.
Let us now observe what a varied number of mechanical and agricultural
appliances are required to furnish us with this cheap literature. There
is agriculture, in the growth of the fibre that produces the material of
which the printing paper is made; then the flax-mill is brought into
play to produce the yarn to be woven; then weaving to produce the
cloth; after this, dyeing. Then the fine material is used for various
purposes too numerous to mention; and after it has performed its own
proper work, and is cast away as rags, no more to be thought of by its
owner, it is gathered up as a most precious substance by the papermaker,
who shows us the true value of the cast-off rags. Subjected to the
beautiful and costly machinery of the paper-mill, the rags turn out an
article of so much value that without it the world would almost come to
a stand-still. Yet further, we have next the miner, who by his labour
brings to the surface of the earth the metal required to produce the
type for printing; after this the printing-press; and next the chemist,
who by certain chemical combinations gives us the ink that is to spread
knowledge to the world, by making clear to the eye the thoughts of
authors who have applied their minds for the instruction and amusement
of their fellow-men. But we do not end here; consider also that each and
all, the farmer, the spinner, the weaver, the chemist, the miner, the
printer, and the author, must respectively have a profit out of their
various branches of industry, and does it not strike one forcibly what
a boon to the world is this all-important application of science to
art--putting within the reach of the poor man and the working man the
means of cultivating his mind, and so, by giving him matters of deep
interest to think over, keeping him from idleness and perhaps sin (for
idleness is the root of most evil), and making him a happy family-man
instead of a public-house frequenter.
Many were strongly opposed to the introduction of steam, and would
rather have seen it put down, and the old coach and printing-press,
loom, spinning-wheel, and flail kept in use, fearing that machinery
would limit employment; and a hard fight it has been to carry forward
all that has hitherto been done. But what has proved to be the result?
Thousands are now employed where formerly a few people sufficed, and we
are all benefited in having better and cheaper goods, books, provisions,
and all things needful. There is therefore the satisfaction of knowing
that, by the thousand and one applications of steam, the physical,
mental, and even moral condition of the people has been greatly
ameliorated; in this way again proving a triumph for the application of
science to art.
Glasgow is not only famous for its multifarious applications of water
in its finely divided gaseous form of steam, but it has made admirable
use of that element in its more familiar and fluid form, as shown in the
gigantic undertaking of bringing a water-supply into this thriving and
populous city. The peaceful waters of a Highland lake are suddenly
turned from their quiet resting-place, where they have remained in peace
for generations, the admiration of all beholders, and made to take an
active part in contributing to the health, wealth, and comfort of
Glasgow. The beautiful Loch Katrine has been brought into the city,
furnishing a stream of pure water to minister to the wants of all
classes of the people--an undertaking which a few years ago would have
been pronounced impossible; but here again science and art have
prevailed, and brought about this all-important object and greatly
desired and inestimable boon. The great capital of England itself cannot
boast of such an advantage, and must still be content to drink water
contaminated with impurities. Does not this speak volumes for the wealth
and energy of Glasgow? What so conducive to health and cleanliness (and
cleanliness is akin to godliness) as a pure and perfect supply of water
such as you now possess; and you have great reason to be grateful for
this beneficent application of science and art. With a worldwide
celebrity for your waterworks, you have cause also to be proud of your
chemical works, and that famous chimney of St. Rollox, one of the
loftiest structures in the world. There are few cities more highly
favoured than this. Would not Captain Shaw be glad if, in London, he had
the head or command of water such as you have from Loch Katrine to save
the great metropolis from the destruction by fire that they are in daily
dread of? In Glasgow we hardly want this--our grand Loch Katrine does it
all.
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