Page:Cassier's Magazine Volume XV.djvu/31

Rh machine and fitting shops, and it was so efficient and economical in upkeep that several others have been erected for the same firm, as well as numbers for other firms throughout Great Britain, for engineering works, boiler works, foundries, tanneries, stables, etc.

After the completion of the Forth Bridge the services of Sir William Arrol came into much request in connection with scientific, political and philanthropic work, so that he was compelled to relinquish the active management of his business. By the reconstruction of his firm he secured greater leisure for the growing public calls upon his time.

Sir William was asked to contest the constituency of South Ayrshire, and, in 1895, was elected to Parliament as the representative of one of the largest constituencies in the whole country. This he still represents.

It is not easy for the writer, who was Sir William Arrol's engineer and manager during the construction of the Forth Bridge, and who has been his partner since its completion, to write in any other than an enthusiastic strain of him. To know him in private is to learn to admire his many good qualities. While he is human, and, therefore, fallible, his better side is so genuinely real that it dominates his character. Sir William is, and has always been, a man of the people. He is shrewd, and gifted with sound judgment and good common-sense, and his life work has proved him to be a man of great energy and perseverance. In nature he is most sympathetic and generous, and in him these qualities take a very practical and real form, to the comfort and advantage of many. Perhaps, however, the quality which has most impressed those who know him best is that of tolerance. Many a time has he departed from the strict rules of business to "let off" an unfortunate contractor who was losing on his estimates, and has in some instances even gone the length of making good his loss.

Like all pure-minded men, Sir William is a lover of the beautiful, and gratifies his tastes in this way to a considerable extent. In his house at Seafield, near Ayr, he has gathered a choice collection of pictures and works of art. Although not an ardent politician, Sir William is faithful in attendance to his Parliamentary duties, while at the same time not neglecting the many other calls upon him in connection with his directorship in such companies as J. & P. Coats, Limited; A. & J. Stewart & Menzies, Limited, and others. Not only does he fulfil all these public duties faithfully, but he also finds time to devote to his own business, in which he is always ready to assist with his services and counsel.

With such a range of duties one would think he could not be other than fully occupied; but in addition he takes an active interest in work connected with infirmaries, the Chamber of Commerce, and other public institutions. In Sir William Arrol we find another illustration of the truth of the old adage that "it is the busy man who finds leisure to do the most work." Rest for him and men of his type is best and most efficiently secured by change of occupation. Rich in health and energy, Sir William has the prospect of many years of usefulness still before him, and his friends prescribe no limit to the good he may yet accomplish.