While
Ireland produces no wrought iron, though it contains plenty of
iron-stone,--and Belfast has to import all the iron which it
consumes,--yet one engineering firm alone, that of Combe,
Barbour, and Combe, employs 1500 highly-paid mechanics, and ships
off its iron machinery to all parts of the world. The printing
establishment of Marcus Ward and Co. employs over 1000 highly
skilled and ingenious persons, and extends the influence of
learning and literature into all civilised countries. We might
add the various manufactures of roofing felt (of which there are
five), of ropes, of stoves, of stable fittings, of nails, of
starch, of machinery; all of which have earned a world-wide
reputation.
We prefer, however, to give an account of the last new industry
of Belfast--that of shipping and shipbuilding. Although, as we
have said, Belfast imports from Scotland and England all its iron
and all its coal,[21] it nevertheless, by the skill and strength
of its men, sends out some of the finest and largest steamships
which navigate the Atlantic and Pacific. It all comes from the
power of individuality, and furnishes a splendid example for
Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Limerick, each of which is provided
by nature with magnificent harbours, with fewer of those
difficulties of access which Belfast has triumphed over; and each
of which might be the centre of some great industrial enterprise,
provided only there were patriotic men willing to embark their
capital, perfect protection for the property invested, and men
willing to work rather than to strike.
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