T here w as a g a th e r in g of some 200 m em bers an d g u ests a t th e A n n u a l C o n vention D in n e r, which w as h eld a t th e O rie n ta l H o te l, L e ic e ste r, on W ednesday, J u n e 13. T he P re s id e n t w as in th e c h a ir ; an d th e g u ests in clu d ed th e M ay o r of L eicester (A ld erm an J . T hom as), th e M ay o r of L ou g h b o ro u g h ; M r. E . J . F o x , M r. C h arles B enion, J . P . , M r. H . W in te rto n (P r e s id e n t of th e F o u n d ry E q u ip m e n t a n d S u p p lies A ssociation), M r. J . G. P e a rc e (d ire c to r of th e B r itis h C ast- Ir o n R esearch A ssociation), a n d C a p t. C rew dson
(d ep u ty ch a irm a n , Fo u n d r y Tr a d e Jo u r n a l) . Trade and Com m erce of the City of Leicester.
The L oyal T o ast h a v in g been duly h o n o u re d , Mr. W e s l e y L a m b e r t (S en io r V ic e -P re sid e n t) in p ro posing th e to a s t of “ T he T ra d e a n d Comm erce of th e C ity of L e ic e s te r,” said i t w as an h o n o u r which he fu lly a p p re c ia te d to be e n tr u s te d w ith t h a t to a s t, w hich he w as su re th e y w ould all h e a rtily receive. H e w as c e rta in he w as voicing th e i r feelin g s w hen he said th e y w ere d elig h ted an d h o n o u red in h a v in g th e M ayor a n d M ayoress of L eicester w ith th e m . T hey w ould s u p p o rt him also in th e w ish t h a t on some f u tu r e occasion, w hen t h a t to a s t was b ein g proposed an d th e M ayor h a d to resp o n d , th e m ode of ad d ress of th a t g e n tle m a n w ould be ‘ 1 T he R ig h t H o n o u rab le The L o rd M ayor of L e ic e s te r.” (A pplause.) T he f a c t t h a t th e M ayor h a d to resp o n d to th e to a s t h a d som ew hat aw ed him . I t re m in d ed him of an in c id e n t w hich o ccu rred w hen th e la te S ir W illiam H a rc o u rt an d M r. G ladstone w ere a t a public m e e tin g to g e th e r, a n d speeches w ere d em anded from th e m . T he fo rm e r g e n tle m a n excused h im self by say in g t h a t to m ix w in e w ith w a te r w as
33
te rm s w as t h a t th e m an who w as in tr a d e was th e m an who tra n s fo rm e d an d w orked th e raw m a te ria l in to th e finished a rtic le . T he com m ercial p a r t of i t w as th e p a r t of th e salesm an an d m an who o rg an ised th e sale a n d disposal of th e finished a rtic le . T he in d u s trie s in L eicester w ere such t h a t th e y w ere in a p o sitio n to clothe th e whole of th e civilised w orld fro m h ead to foot. T h e ir m a in in d u s trie s w ere boots a n d h osiery, a n d , am o n g st o th e r th in g s, as h a d been h in te d a t, th e y produced silk stockings. H e alw ays said if a g irl p a id 1 0s. fo r a paFr of silk sto ck in g s a n d could only show 9s. w o rth o f th em , she w as d is
ap p o in ted . (L a u g h te r.) A n o th e r th in g th e y co<uld be p ro u d of was th e f a c t t h a t in such tim e s of tr a d e depression as th e y w ere g oing th ro u g h , th e y nev er fe lt th e p in ch in L eicester lik e i t h a d been fe lt in o th e r in d u s tria l tow ns, ow ing to th e la rg e n um ber of th e ir in d u s trie s . T h a t was how i t was th a t th e w o rk in g classes in L eicester d id n o t feel th e pinch. They h a d less u n em p lo y m en t in L eicester th a n in any o th e r c ity of its size in th e K ingdom . H e w ould g u a r a n te e t h a t th e r e was no m an an d woman p re s e n t a t t h a t g a th e r in g who h a d seen a m an , wom an o r ch ild b ad ly dressed in L eicester. T h ere w ere o rg a n is a tio n s in L eicester w hich su p p lied th e d em an d s in cases of necessity o r w a n t or d istress in an y circu m stan ces. L eicester, as to its civic an d b en ev o len t in s titu tio n s , m ig h t r ig h tly be described as th e U n iv e rs ity of E n g la n d . They h a d q u ite a n u m b er of iro n -fo u n d e rs an d la rg e e n g in e e rin g w orks, w hilst th e la r g e s t hosiery fa c to ry in th e w orld, an d th e la r g e s t shoe m ac h in e ry w orks in th e K ingdom were to be found in th e ir city.
The Institute of British Foundrymen.
T his to a s t was listed u n d e r th e nam e of S ir H e n ry F ow ler, K .B .E ., L L .D ., b u t u n fo rtu n a te lv S ir H e n ry was u n ab le to a tte n d a t th e la s t m om ent, ow ing to a n u r g e n t e n g a g e m e n t a risin g w ith th e M in istry of T ra n s p o rt. I n th e circu m stan ces M r. E . J . F o x (P re sid e n t-e le c t o f th e N a tio n a l F e d e ra tio n o f Iro n and Steel M a n u fa c tu r e r s ) step p ed in to th e breach.
M b. E . J . Po x, in p roposing th e to a s t, rem ark ed t h a t he was in a position of
consider-35
to th e developm ents in th e iro n a n d ste e l tr a d e
37
of f a c t was a c tu a lly th e case in p ra c tic e . I f one
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to seek fo r su b s titu te s for some of these m etals.
I n a d d itio n to th e problem s p e c u lia r to each sec
tio n of th e in d u s try , th e re were m any problem s w hich w ere comm on to all of them , w hich couhl c e rta in ly be solved a t m eetin g s of th e B ran ch es or of th e C onvention. The I n s tit u te could claim t h a t m uch of th e success t h a t h ad a lre a d y been achieved in im p ro v in g th e q u a lity an d q u a n tity pro d u ctio n of castin g s of all g rad es was d u e to th e w ork i t h a d a lread y done.
H e was very pleased t h a t n e x t y e a r h e w as to be followed bv a P re s id e n t so well know n in th e n o n -ferro u s w orld. (A pplause.) T h e ir m em ber
ship p red o m in ated in g rey -iro n fo u n d ers, an d th e re was a risk of th e ir g e ttin g too m u ch of th e v arious irons, in clu d in g m alleable iro n , in th e i r program m es, so te n d in g to overlook th e im p o rta n t n o n-ferrous section. W ith a P re s id e n t com ing along who was alm ost e n tire ly devoted to th e non- ferro u s section, he th o u g h t t h a t side w ould receive m ore a tte n tio n in th e fu tu re .
A National Exam ination.
In his p re s id e n tia l address, he h a d re f e rre d to th e developm ent w ith w hich th e I n s tit u te was faced. The first of th ese w as th e re fra m in g of th e m em bership classification in such a w ay th a t th e re c ip ie n t of an aw ard w ould be recognised as a fully-qualified fo u n d ry m a n capable of ta k in g his place in any executive position in a fo u n d ry . The second jio in t was th e o rg a n isa tio n of n a tio n a l e x am in atio n s. C onsiderable p ro g ress h a d been m ade ( r a th e r m ore th a n some m em bers realised), in o rg a n isin g fo u n d ry classes up an d down th e c o u n try , b u t as th ese schools of technology couhl only o rg an ise th e ir own local e x a m in a tio n s, p re p a re th e i r own p ap ers, and issue th e ir own aw ards an d certificates, n a tu r a lly those certificates had very little value o utside th e ir own areas.
The Council, in its wisdom , h a d decided t h a t i t was te th e benefit of th e I n s titu te to tr y and organise a n a tio n a l e x a m in a tio n u n d e r some c e n tra l body.
One question which h a d come much to th e fore in connection w ith p a p e rs a t th e I n s tit u te was th e q u estio n of costing. I n discussing fo u n d ry cost
ing, he was fully aw are t h a t th e y w ere on th e
b o rd er line of th e ir c o n s titu tio n , b u t one could n o t have a h e a lth y in d u s try unless th e ir members knew w h a t th e i r p ro d u c ts cost to produce. (H ear, h e a r.) H e h ad been su rp rised , in discussing th a t m a tte r w ith m em bers up an d down th e country, a t th e in fin ite v a rie ty of costing m ethods. The s u rp ris in g th in g was, t h a t no m a tte r w h a t m ethod was used one only reach ed th e same resu lt. Well m ig h t th e fo u n d ry m a n of th e old school s a y :
‘ 1 L e t me h av e a look a t th e p a tte r n , an d I will te ll you w h a t th e selling p rice is .” U n fo rtu n a te ly , m an y of them w ere n o t so g ifte d , w ith disastrous re s u lts to th e tra d e . H e hoped t h a t 't h a t question, a f t e r being th o ro u g h ly v e n tila te d in th e In s titu te , would be ta k e n up by th e em ployers’ associations (w hich w ere th e a p p ro p ria te body to h an d le it), a n d would be followed r ig h t th ro u g h to a success
ful issue.
Inquests.
F re q u e n tly , th e y w ere advised t h a t one of th e m ost p rofitable w ays in w hich a foundrym an could e d u c a te him self was to hold a n in q u est upon his scrap castin g s. H e was very much stru ck w ith one in s ta n c e of p e cu liar v erd icts given by a c o ro n er in his rem iniscences. A body had been fo u n d in a n open field, an d th ere was considerable d o u b t w h e th e r th e d e a th could be ascribed to hom icide or lig h tn in g . The ju r y re tu rn e d a v e rd ic t of “ d e a th due to a v isita tio n of God u n d e r suspicious circum stances ’’— (la u g h te r)—
w hich w as r a th e r an a p t v erd ict for m any of the in q u ests th ey h ad to hold. Some of these inquests w ere held ow ing to th e f a c t t h a t th e moulder em ployed on a p a rtic u la r job h ad suffered from syn co p ated h e a r t. H e had been told by specialists t h a t “ syncopated h e a r t ” was caused by e rr a tic m ovem ents fro m “ b a r to b a r .” (L au g h te r.)
H e fe lt t h a t w h atev er honour he h ad received in b ein g ap p o in te d as P re s id e n t was due m ore to h is B ra n c h th a n to him self, an d he was very proud of h is B ran ch . T hey w ere so keen on t h a t Con
feren ce t h a t th e v h ad g o t th e ir program m e ready before th e Sheffield C onference h a d begun, and i t m ig h t in te r e s t th e m to know T h a t th e ir pro
g ram m e of fifteen m o n th s’ ago was being rigidly ad h e re d to w ith th e omission of one d e ta il only.
Organising Officials Thanked.
A rea, w ith th e ir P re s id e n t an d S e cretary living
existence one of th e old s u p e rstitio n s of p o u rin g
4 5
tu n i ty of re p ly in g to th e to a s t. H e was n o t a
D u rin g th e ev en in g th e lady m em bers and visi
to rs w ere each p re se n te d by th e C onvention Com
m itte e w ith a p a ir of L eicester-m ade silk stock
ings as a so u v en ir of th e occasion.
T h e proceedings concluded w ith a dance, which la ste d u n til th e sm all hours of th e m orning.