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Men Worth Knowing.

10th January 1907
Page 19
Page 19, 10th January 1907 — Men Worth Knowing.
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The drawing office and shops of Galloways, Limited, of Manchester, have turned out numerous good designers and engineers, of whom Mr. W. Norris, Assoc.M.Inst.C.E.. M.I.Mech.E., had no mean record to show for his first eight years' training, which was spent with that company. A year as draughtsman in the engineer's office, at Bolckow-Vaughan's, Middlesbrough, prefaced a spell of residence at Pagny-sur-Meuse (France), where he had an important share, under Mr. John Hadfield Street, in the erection of a large basic-steel works,

after the completion of which he re turned to a much-improved position at Bolckow-Vaughan's. We next trace him to the berth of confidential draughtsman in the private drawing office at Tangye's, in Birmingham, under Mr. Street, with which company he remained for 44 years; he was, ultimately, offered the post of chief draughtsman. After this mature experience, he joined the staff of Robey's, at Lincoln, into whose manufacture he introduced gas and oil engines, and whose steam-pumping machinery soon bore evidence of his skill.

Attracted by the special ability of Mr. Norris as a designer, Mr. E. T. Pennington, in 1893, persuaded him to become chief engineer to the Pennington Motor Foreign Syndicate, and also to the Aerial Torpedo Syndicate, but, for reasons into which we will not enter, he soon joined more businesslike and substantial people, for he became chief engineer to, and a director of, T. Coulthard and Company, Limited. His interests were, in 1902, transferred to a neighbouring works, some five miles from Preston, to wit, the new Leyland factory of the Lancashire Steam Motor Company, Limited, where, as a director and chief engineer, his main work, until he took another five-mile step further into Lancashire, was in connection with the Leyland petrol vehicles. Fifteen months ago he was invited to join the board of Peter Pilkington, Limited, at Bamber Bridge, between Preston and Blackburn, and to accept, into the bargain, a highly-lucrative engagement as that company's chief engineer. A fine motor-vehicle department is the first result. Mr. Norris is 45 years old. Well do we remember Mr. Mann's cheery voice, during that pressure of work which is inseparable from an open competition, as he, with kindly heart, looked after the material comfort of his two drivers, in the market place at Bolton in June, 1901. We should say that his chief characteristic is pluck., which is, happily, found in combination with an unusual share of shrewd judgment and hard, practical experience in all that pertains to road locomotion Any Irian who learnt his engineering in the shops of John Fowler and Company, and of J. and H. MacLaren, both of Leeds, as did Mr. J. H. Mann, may, without fear of effective challenge, lay claim to as good a schooling as can be furnished. At the second of these world-famous works, whence, in common with the first-named, road engines have been sent to all corners ot the globe, habitable and uninhabitable, he progressed from department to department, until he eventually occupied the controlling positions of chief draughtsman and works manager. Gainsborough, another home of engineering in the special branches of road locomotion and portable engines. laid tribute, too, upon Mr. Mann's knowledge, for, between the dates of his leaving MacLaren's and starting business on his own account, he had charge of the traction-engine department of Marshall, Sons and Company.

Some 12 years ago Mr. Mann began for himself, as Mann and Charles. worth, at the Canning Works, Hunslet, and, after the passing of the 1890 Light Locomotives Act, he gradually turned his whole attention to the lighter forms of mechanical transport. For that purpose the business was converted into a larger joint-stock corn. pany, under the present name of Mann's Patent Steam Cart and Wagon Company, Limited, and large new works were built, in Pepper Road, Hunslet. These works now give emp!oyment to upwards of 300 hands, exclusively on the manufacture of the Mann carts and wagons, of which nearly 300 have been sold. As might be expected, in view of the fact that Mr. Mann, who, though he is only 46 years oil, has had no less than 31 years of engineering experience, the whole of which has been spent on road-engines.

No man in England has been a more fearless pioneer, in heavy motor traffic, than Mr. D. H. Simpson, the eldest son of Mr. William Simpson, of One Oak, Cheadle HuIme. His tales of blood-chilling escape from fire, water, and superheated steam, are enough to raise one's hair, whilst his ability as a raconteur is unequalled : we must hope for success in our efforts to persuade him to lay pen to paper, anent these incidents, hereafter. A long term of close study in Manchester laid the foundation for a strenuous technical career, which was begun, in real earnest, by a full apprenticeship to Duncan, Stewart and Company, Limited, at Glasgow. This portion of his training over, he found himself, towards the close of 1895, equipped to choose a -congenial branch of engineering, and, as befitted a lover of anything that went on wheels, he selected motorcars. It was not long, however, before his commercial instincts directed him towards the field of the utility vehicle, and, before the 1896 Act came into force, he was driving his embryo steam lorry on the roads in the neighbourhood of Didsbury. A most valuable and informative paper was contributed by Mr. Simpson during the 18971&J8 session of the Self-propelled Traffic Association, at the Liverpool Royal Institution, when his many hearers were much edified by a detailed account of his boiler, transmission, and other experiments. A workmanlike 6-ton steam wagon, the joint production of Mr. Simpson and Mr. John Bibby (now with Kynoch's), took part in the third L.S.-P.T.A. trials, which were held in 190/, but, owing to overloading on the one hand, and to Mr. Simpson's unfortunate prostration by sudden illness on the other, the vehicle had to be withdrawn on the third day. A mass of accumulated experience in steam-wagon construction was, shortly

afterwards, merged with the business of Alley and Maclellan, Limited, of Sentinel Works, Glasgow, and the main features of this company's wagons are the outcome of Mr. Simpson's mature judgment and inventive genius. Mr. Simpson, who is in his thirty-third year, has, largely from domestic considerations, returned to his native city, and has inaugurated a new scheme of motor haulage there.


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