Slitting mill: Difference between revisions

<blockquote>"It was early in the seventeenth century when the neighbourhood of Stourbridge was the centre of the nail-making industry of England that Sweden became a discomforting competitor to those engaged in this industry ; as nails made there were sold in England at prices with which Stourbridge makers could not compete. This caused young Foley of Stourbridge to resolve to find out, if possible, how their underselling was accomplished. He accordingly started for Sweden, but with so little money that it was exhausted on his arrival there, and he was left (not unlike [[Oliver Goldsmith]] in his travels in Holland) with the solitary but somewhat lively resource of a fiddle. He was, however, an excellent musician, as well as a pleasant fellow, and he successfully begged and fiddled his way to the celebrated [[Dannemora Mines]], near [[Uppsala]]. He readily ingratiated himself with the iron-workers; and, having for some time carefully observed their machinery, he believed he had found out their methods. He therefore returned to Stourbridge, full of hope that he had acquired the secret of the construction of a slitting-mill, by means of which plates of wrought iron could be slit into nail-rods. So strongly persuaded was he of success that a gentleman was induced to advance the requisite money; but, alas! to the great disappointment of all concerned, the machinery failed to slit the iron. Foley therefore set out for Sweden a second time, receiving on his arrival a joyful welcome from the Swedish workmen. So gladly indeed did they receive the returned fiddler, that, with a disastrous confidence, to make sure of him they lodged him in the very citadel of the business, the slitting-mill itself, looking on him, in their simple-minded, uncommercial good-fellowship, as a mere fiddler, and nothing more. He remained long enough to ascertain where his mistakes lay, and then again disappeared. On his return to Stourbridge he succeeded in having machinery constructed that perfectly performed the work required. Thereafter he not only supplied the nail-makers with the nail-rods they wanted, but also made a fortune in doing it. It is pleasant and gratifying to record that while amassing wealth himself, he was not unmindful of the needs of others; for he invariably and generously aided all the plans of benevolence set on foot in his neighbourhood".</blockquote>

* {{cite journal |last=Cooksley |first=M. V. |title=Hyde Mill |journal=West Midlands Studies |volume=14 |date=1981 |pages=44-4944–49}}