|
In the year 1838, Mahmoud, Sultan of Turkey,
sent some intelligent and trustworthy officers to England for the purpose of
making enquiries with a view to certain technical reforms which he desired
to carry out. He wished to place several of the government works and
manufactories, especially the arsenal and the dockyard, on a better footing,
and to introduce such mechanical improvements into them as would enable them
to meet the requirements of the service with greater promptitude and
despatch. The commissioners reported the high state of perfection in which
they found the mechanical and useful arts in England, and the benefits which
would be likely to follow if some of those arts were introduced into Turkey.
It appears that the commissioners visited Mr.
Fairbairn's works, both in Manchester and in London, and he may tell the
result in his own words :—
A few months after the commission had given in
their report, I received through the Ottoman ambassador then in London the
commands of the Sultan that I should repair to Constantinople for the
purpose of surveying and reporting upon the different establishments then in
operation.
With the numerous engagements I had in hand in
London and Manchester, and the mercantile difficulties which were pressing
upon me, I found it next to impossible to absent myself for so long a time
as the work would require; and I was about to give up the journey at once,
when I was again summoned to London with fresh offers from the ambassador,
and a renewed request that I would comply with the wish of the Sultan. This
new application, and an understanding which I came to with Mr. Smith at
Manchester, and Mr. Murray in London, that they would, to the best of their
ability, manage the business at both places, induced me to undertake the
journey; and I set out [in 1839] with the necessary credentials, taking with
me my eldest son, for Marseilles, where we embarked in a French steamer for
Constantinople.
On our arrival at the Turkish capital, we found
an Armenian officer, Ohanes Dadian, and a dragoman, waiting our arrival,
with an intimation that the Sultan would give us an audience at the palace
on the following Wednesday. Unfortunately, that audience never took place,
as his majesty died the very morning of the appointment. In consequence, my
inspections and surveys of the public works were suspended for some days,
and during that time I had an opportunity of delivering my introductory
letters to the British ambassador, Lord Ponsonbv, at his residence up the
Bosphorus at Therapia. His lordship received me with great courtesy, and
invited my son and myself to remain with him till after the funeral.
During the interval I made several excursions
into the country which surrounds the Ottoman capital; and as there were no
roads excepting tracks for camels and horses, we had to perform our journey
on horseback. What struck me very forcibly in these excursions was the
immense area of good land lying waste in almost every direction in which we
travelled. Some spots were under cultivation, and I noticed that the land
was excellent. I remarked, however, that it was covered with what I at first
thought were ladders, all of the same dimensions, but which, on inspection,
I found to be tortoises engaged in devouring grubs and worms which infest
the soil.
On our return to Stamboul— the Turkish quarter
of Constantinople—I received orders from the Grand Vizier to proceed with my
surveys and reports. In the performance of these duties, I found the
Imperial dockyards, small-arms manufactory, cannon foundries, powder mills,
and roperies, in a very primitive state. Some additions and new machinery
had been introduced a year or two before my arrival, but they were far from
perfect, and the native workmen appeared to me to he at a loss how to work
and manage machinery of such a complicated character.
The object of my visit was, however, to report
on the different works as I found them, and to advise the authorities what
was necessary to be done, in order to place them in a more perfect and
efficient state.
In the course of five or six weeks I had
inspected and reported on all the government works, and recommended what I
considered essential to their efficiency and improvement. Much was required
in this way in the dockyards and roperies. In the former I found that a
powerful steam-engine and a new set of pumps were required to empty the
docks when repairs were wanted, instead of having to wait three or four days
for the slow action of mules and horses, the only motive power then in use
for driving the imperfect machinery. In the roperies the spinning,
stranding, and laying of cables were entirely done by hand. Since that time
good and improved machinery have teen introduced in both establishments,
greatly to the benefit of the government.
At the powder-mills, under the superintendence
of Boghos Dadian, I found things in a more forward state, with new machinery
for grinding charcoal, saltpetre, &c., imported from England. The sheds for
the grinding and dangerous processes were placed at distances of about 100
yards from each other, and the machinery was driven by compressed air
conveyed through pipes to the different sites. This was an expensive plan,
and I recommended the same system that has since been introduced into the
powder-works of our own government at Valtham Abbey.
In the small-arms manufactory I found much new
machinery from Messrs. Kennie, and Maudslay and Field, which had been
introduced only some fifteen or eighteen months before. But with all this
new plant, little or nothing was doing in the shape of manufacture, through
the apathy of the Turks and their aversion to new things.
My attention was next directed to the cannon
foundries; and here I found the works in the same state as when they were
erected two centuries ago. They consisted of large circular buildings of
great strength ; brick domes lighted from the top, and massive wood cranes
and sheaves, and ropes almost as thick as small cables. These cranes were
for raising and lowering the moulds in the casting-pit, and I was informed
that it required many weeks to prepare the moulds ready for casting. As an
example of the dilatory manaer in which the works were conducted, a day was
appointed when a large gun, which had heen in the mould for a considerable
number of weeks, had to be cast, and I was advised by the Seraskier to be
present at the casting, and to see the superintendent, in order that there
might be no mistake. In our visit to this dignitary, along with the
dragoman, we found him seated on an ottoman with his attendants, in the full
enjoyment of his coffee and pipe. Having intimated our desire to be present
at the casting—as directed by the Seraskier Hallil Pasha--on the Monday, he
took out a Turkish aimanack, and unfolded it from a ^mall bobbin, which he
carefully consulted. After pondering for some time, he at last said that it
could not be done, as the appointed day was unlucky, and the casting could
not take place. Although all was then ready, it had to wait till some more
fortunate day in the following week, before which I had sailed for Malta.
During my short residence in Constantinople, I
bad opportunities of witnessing more of the Turkish habits and customs than
most other visitors. Being engaged on the part of the government, I had
access to the different government departments, and the officials by whom
they were conducted. Among the most active was the Seraskier Hallil Pasha,
who was at the head of the war department. With this functionary I had the
honour of dining; and every person at the table, which was very low, had two
servants in attendance; one with a glass goblet of clear water, and the
other with a napkin. These were requisition after every course; and the
repast, after a tureen or goblet of sherbet, wound up with pipes and coffee.
There was a party of twelve at dinner, composed
of officers and effendis, connected with the war and ordnance departments.
There were also present my Armenian friend, Ohanes Dauian. and the dragoman,
whose presence was necessary in order to interpret the conversation which
ensued at dinner and during the time pipes and coffee were introduced. This
conversation was chiefly made up of queries as to the improved state of
practical science in England, and the introduction of railways, which
appeared to them inexplicable, if not entirely beyond their comprehension.
They could not realise the idea of travelling at the rate of forty miles au
hour, and doubted the correctness of the descriptions that had reached them.
I could not object to this reserve, as railways had not extended beyond
England and Belgium, and the results came so unexpectedly upon the public as
to astonish those who had never seen a railway train.
My frequent intercourse with the ministers and
officers of the different departments gave me opportunities of studying the
habits and customs of the Turks in their daily intercourse, and the way in
which they conducted their business. Constantinople proper, or Stamboul, is,
like all other Oriental cities, divided into sections, where the different
trades are carried on. The wares are exhibited in shops under brick arches
lighted from the top, and well protected from the summer's sun and the
winter's rain and snow.
These covered markets are laid out in
departmental order. In one quarter will be found gold and silversmiths; in
another, linen and woollen drapers; in a third, bookbinders, stationers, and
workers in toys and other light ornamental articles. But what struck me as
the greatest novelty was the way in which the work of manufacture was done.
For example, in the trade of joiners, cabinet makers, turners, &c., a great
part of the work appears to be done on benches in front of the shops, on
which the operator or workman sits, with his tools and work before him. In
turning—whether for furniture or tobacco pipes, which appears to be the most
extensive trade in the capital—the lathe consists of two head-stocks,
between which the article to be turned is placed, and by a line of catgut
attached to a wood spring above and a treddle below, a reciprocating motion
is produced, which being acted upon by the foot of a powerful operator, the
shavings fly in all directions at every alternate stroke. It was surprising
to me to witness the process, and in most cases I noticed the work was done
sitting, and the tool was held and guided by the large toe and the hand. In
fact, I was so much interested with this mode of working that I got
permission from one of the workmen to try my own hand at it; but in taking
off my stocking, I gathered such a crowd about me from the contiguous
benches, as caused me to desist after a fruitless attempt to imitate the
operation.
The visit to Constantinople was an important
event for me, as it eventually led to large orders which I executed for the
government after my return. Immense quantities of iron ore deposits were
found at Samakoff, on the shores of the Black Sea, and furnaces, forges, and
rolling-mills were sent out for the purpose of smelting, forging, and
rolling it into bar and plate iron: but I never could learn with what
success. I apprehend the enterprise was ultimately abandoned for want of
fuel, as they chiefly depended on some beds of lignite for the reduction of
the ore. I also sent out a large woollen mill and machinery for the
manufacture of clothing for the army, and driven by a large and powerful
water-wheel on the principle of suspension. There were also silk and cotton
model mills, a corn mill, an iron house for the Seraskier Hallil Pasha, and
a large workshop and tools.
In 1843 the Turkish Government sent a second
mission to England, in furtherance of the designs of the Sultan for
introducing useful arts and manufactures. The Turkish officer already
mentioned—Mr. Ohanes Dadian—was the head of this mission, and he was aided
in his object by his Excellency Ali Effendi, the Ambassador to the Court of
England, and the Consul-General, Mr. Edward Zohrab. Mr. Dadian spent some
months in England, during which time he was in frequent communication with
Mr. Eairbairn on the subject of the Turkish works : and Mr. Fairbairn seems
to have formed a high opinion of his ability and character.
Among other objects of his mission was one
already alluded to iu Mr. Fairbairn's notes, namely, to investigate the best
means of utilising certain iron ores which existed in the Turkish dominions
in large quantities, and of a very pure quality.
Many scientific and practical men expert in the
iron manufacture were consulted on the subject—Mr. Fairbairn among the
number—and many experiments and trials were made at Mr. Dadian's suggestion.
Mr. Fairbairn was led to combine with this enquiry others upon certain
English ores of similar kinds, and the results are given in a paper that was
laid before the Institution of Civil Engineers on April 30, 1844, and is
printed in the volume of their Minutes for that year. It is entitled
'Experimental Researches into the properties of
the Iron Ores of Samakoff in Turkey, and of the Haematite Ores of
Cumberland, with a view to determine the best means for reducing them into
the cast and malleable states. And on the relative Strength and other
Properties of Cast-iron from the Turkish and other Hematite Ores.' By
William Fairbairn, Mem. Inst. C.E.
In this paper the author, after stating that the
art of reducing the richer class of iron ores had not kept pace with the
advancement made in regard to the commoner and poorer varieties, gives an
account of the experiments and enquiries undertaken by himself in
conjunction with Mr. Clay, a metallurgical chemist, and others, upon the
class of iron in question, and describes the processes which it was
considered most advisable to follow in the manufacture. He also adds a
classified table of the comparative strengths and other qualities of
fifty-two different kinds of iron, including those mentioned in the paper.
This communication was rewarded by the
Institution with a silver Telford medal.
Mr. Fairbairn gave some further account of his
Turkish work at a meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers, March 21,
1843.1 The following are extracts from the published Proceedings :—
Almost all the houses and many of the public
buildings in Turkey, being constructed of timber, destructive fires were
frequent. In many parts of the country the common building materials were
expensive, iron had therefore been resorted to for construction, and Mr.
Fairbairn had already sent over an iron house for a corn mill, fifty feet
long, twenty-five feet wide, of three storeys in height, and with an iron
roof. It was finished iu 1840, and erected at Constantinople in the
following year.
The success of this attempt led to a second
order, which was for an extensive woollen factory, to be composed entirely
of cast-iron plates, the interior being framed throughout of brick arches,
upon cast-iron columns and bearers, with an iron roof. The machinery was to
be driven by a fall of water twenty-five feet in height, of the computed
average power of 180 horses.
Several ingenious devices were introduced for
preventing any objectionable effects from the high conducting power of the
metal. The piers between the windows were hollow, so as to admit a current
of air through during the hot season, and the iron roofs were so arranged as
to have beneath them a coating of plaster, to serve as a non-conducting
substance.
The two principal rooms were, one 272 feet long,
40 feet wide, and 20 feet high; and the other 280 feet long, 20 feet wide,
and 20 feet high; with a great number of other rooms for the several
processes in the manufacture of coarse woollen cloths, for the
counting-houses, apartments, &c. &c. The area of the enclosed surface,
including the courtyard and buildings, was nearly three acres; the floor
surface in the whole of the rooms was 71,100 square feet.
This building was erected near the town of Izmet
in Turkey.
The following interesting letter, written a few
years later by the Turkish officer who had been instrumental in employing
Mr. Fairbairn, will show the estimation in which he was held by the Turkish
authorities. It is given just as written by the author, in English :—
Malta, March 14, 1817.
William Fairbairn, Esq.
Dear Sir,—I have had the pleasure of writing you
some time ago that I should have the honour of seeing you in England soon,
and have an honourable conversation with you, which I intend to do in a few
months, if God pleases, after having travelled over Italy, France, and some
other countries in Europe.
Before I see you, allow me to inform you, and at
the same time explain to you what I meant by an honourable conversation,
that His Imperial Highness, Sultan Abdul-Megid has been good enough to give
you a decoration set in diamonds along with a Ferman, in which he is kind
enough to write you to be the chief fabricator of the machineries required
to be cast and fitted up in England for the use of His Imperial Majesty's
Factories, and that it is given to you as a reward for your old services to
him in making a great number of machineries for the Government; so the
Ferman is the document belonging to the grand decoration, indicating the
right of you deserving such a mark of honour to be presented to you by His
Majesty, which I shall take with me to London, and then write you the day
you are to come there and meet at the Turkish Embassy, so as the Turkish
Ambassador may present you the decoration with the valuable document, from
the part of His Imperial Highness the Sultan, in my presence, and explain
you the good and kind heart of His Imperial Majesty, which is sure to induce
him to reward all the faithful persons who serve so well to His Government
as you, my dear friend.
I hope you will not forget me to be your
intimate friend, and you will think me always as one who has the interest of
your welfare at heart, consequently I expect, hope, and I am also sure, that
as you have had the same good feeling towards me, so you will also have it
hereafter, and pay the greatest attention to my interest and honour, by
executing carefully the small number of orders I shall have soon to give
you, respecting some more machineries and other articles.
Please to remember me to Mrs. Fairbairn, and
tell her that I hope I shall see her in perfect good health, when I come to
England, and I shall also see your children and embrace them, as I long to
have the pleasure of seeing them all.
I write with pleasure to inform you also that,
though we have had a dispute with Mr. - some time past, consequently he was
out of our service, yet as I was coming away from home to Europe, I did not
wish to leave him in sorrow behind me, out of employment in a foreign
country, therefore I have sent for him, and forgiving him his trespasses, as
the Christianity demands from us to do so to one another, got him into the
new Iron Works at Zetia Bourni, where is going to be a school built by the
Government for the instruction of the young men of our country in different
branches of mathematics and chymistry, &c. so Mr.----will be the professor
of the mathematics in this new school at the Iron Works.
I remain your most faithful friend,
Ohanes Dadian. |
