The Industry & Railways of the South West Black Country STOURBRIDGE INDUSTRY JONES & ATTWOOD, Heating and Ventilating Engineers, Titan Works. The engineer who would reach the highest position in his profession should possess other qualities of brain and mind besides the actual technical knowledge and experience of the branch to which he specially devotes himself. He must not only be a man of skill and resource, but he must have a knowledge of organisation, of administration, and of finance. It is the position of these qualities in an exceedingly high degree that has enabled Mr. Walter Jones, the proprietor of Titan Works, to build up a sound and important business, and to erect the substantial and hansom pile of buildings at Amblecote, in which to transact it. In writing of concerns like that of Messrs. Jones and Attwood, we discover that a plethora of facts maybe as embarrassing as a scarcity of them. Our difficulty is not what to insert in this notice, but what to leave out. For of truth there is no single incident in connection with the development of Messrs. Jones and Attwood's business that does not contain something of interest and value for Stourbridge people in particular, and businessmen in general. The business, which was established in 1836 by Mr. John Jones (the father of the present proprietor) had a very modest proportions. After his death in 1866, Mr. W. Jones, then twenty years of age, took charge of the business. Since that time the progress has maintained a steadiness and constancy which are strikingly indicative of the intense practicability and irresistible perseverance of Mr. Walter Jones. This success has resulted from a combination of qualities - pluck, foresight, mental strenuousness, determination, and an infinite capacity for taking pains. That the industrial empire of Britain will have to be built up brick by brick (or rather pipe by pipe) seems to be Mr. Earnest Jones's ideal. Every step taken by this captain of industry has been carefully measured and calculated with full confidence of ultimate success. The motto of the firm - "Heat is life" - is constant with the language with the language and methods of the head of the firm; it is terse and full of meaning. The Titan Works are excellently situated, close to the border of Stourbridge and Amblecote, having a frontage of 88 yards to the main road, near the Great Western Railway Station Goods Station, and 121 yards frontage to the canal wharf. The transport facilities enjoyed by the firm are second to none in the district. The block of office buildings has an imposing exterior, the interior is light, bright, commodious and convenient. The works (about two acres in extent) comprise fitting shop and smith's shop, each 100 feet by 30, a warehouse 100 feet by 90, manager's offices, pattern shops, store rooms, band room, and a well-equipped modern foundry 150 feet by 150 feet. The office staff, eighteen in number, is one of the most perfectly organised clerical staffs we have seen. there is a capable staff of works managers and foreman, who organise and superintend the labour of over two hundred workmen, mostly skilled. The machines in use at the Titan Works include many of modern design and construction; and in almost every work room there are mechanical appliances of Mr. Jones' own invention. In this short notice it is impossible to enumerate all the firm's patents, some of which have effected nothing less than a revolution in the heating and ventilation industry. In 1874 Mr. Jones invented an improved expansion joint, for which he was awarded the Midland Horticultural Societies medal in 1875. Since then his joint has been slavishly copied by ironfounders in all parts of Great Britain. In 1876 Mr. Jones placed upon the market improved coils and radiators, for which he received a silver medal of the Worcestershire Agricultural Society. Then came patents for drying by hot water, bricks, porcelain and terra-cotta goods; for a combined throttle-valve and expansion joint, and for improvements in the heating and ventilating public buildings. Mr. Jones' patent pipe cutter, a very important labour-saving appliance, has proved of great value to gas companies, water companies, engineers, ironmongers, plumbers, and all those who have occasion to fix iron pipes, cast or wrought for any purpose. These inventions are being used now in enormous quantities, and the demand shows a steady annual increase. Mr. Jones has also introduced the "Desideratum" "Very," and "Pyro" Stoves for heating greenhouses; and large orders in these lines are continually being supplied by the firm. The advantages consist in their being tenant's fixtures, independent, easily erected, reliable and economic. We can but barely mention the numerous specialities supplied by this firm. They include boilers, radiators, coils, joints, valves, calorifiers, drying stoves, floor plates, ornamental work, systems, circulating cylinders etc. All these products have some feature specially recommending them to the trade. Illustrated catalogues with all their information about the prices, sizes, patterns, etc., are supplied free of charge. Mr. Jones has recently given particular attention to the foundry section of the business, which has rapidly developed during the past few years. For some time the fertile brain of this enterprising engineer has been at work upon the invention and manufacture of a machine for forming cores. By dint of many and expensive experiments, and with the able co-operation of his foundry manager, Mr. Wright, success has again attended his efforts. Jones' Patent Core Forming Machine is now au fait accompli. Patents have been applied for in no less than eleven different countries, including Germany, France, America, Belgium, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland as well as, of course, Great Britain. With this machine the sand is fixed upon the core barrel as it revolves by means of a reciprocating bar which runs 250 to 300 stokes per minute by means of eccentric or main shaft. The core barrel and the reciprocating bar can be adjusted very quickly to suit cores of any diameter. The advantages of this machine are admirably set forth in the illustrated circular issued by the firm, and all those who are interested in the pipe-making industry should acquaint themselves with the particulars of this invention. Even the unpracticed eye of a pressman can see the immense utility and economy of the machine. The business of Messrs. Jones and Attwood is now firmly established as one of the most important and successful in the district. Mr. Jones is one of those sturdy, honest British "entrepreneurs" who had rather not do a thing at all than not do it well; and it is to this fact that the secret of his success is mainly due. The exigencies and restraint of modern business conditions, and the stress of competition, tend to produce either machine-like natures or a species of cynical Philistine, rather than sound healthy specimens of the race. Mr. Jones is one whose nature has not become warped or soured by business. We hope he will forgive us the personal remarks, but we could not help observing how the keen, penetrating, and full glance of the eyes is tempered by no small measure of kindness and humanity, and the lines on the strong and forceful face betoken humour as well as thought, sincerity and shrewdness; and how the possession of heart as well as well as intellect is manifest. "The English," said Emerson "have a wonderful bent in the pursuit of a public aim." Of Mr. Walter Jones that phrase is surprisingly true. He has laboured hard to build up a sound business; the difficulties he has had to surmount would appal most people, yet he has found time to render great service to his fellow-citizens in the capacity of public representative, in addition to the numerous voluntary undertakings with which for the past twenty years he has been associated. He is a member of the Mechanical Engineers, he has been President of Heating and Ventilating Engineers, and is at present an active and valued member. For eighteen years Mr. Jones served his fellow townsmen on the Council, on the Main Drainage Board, and for four years was Chairman of the Urban District Council. Many of the local improvements owe their origin and development to Mr. Jones. He took the initiative in the gas works purchase, public baths, etc., and it was largely owing to his energy and strong determination that these undertakings were successfully carried out. His practical interest in all questions effecting the working classes is abundantly shown. He was elected President of the recently-formed Working Man's Club in Stourbridge, and has been for the last three years President of the Midland Counties' Mutual Benefit Society. He was the first in the district to adopt the eight-hour day for his workpeople, and firmly believes that much more ought to be done to improve the conditions of labour. He is contemplating the introduction of several improvements to the Titan Works in the near future. With perfect consistency Mr. Jones adopted the same policy when serving as a public representative as in his own business. He is always progressive, looking ahead, preparing for contingencies, and every case the reforms he has initiated have, in spite of strenuous opposition, been eventually appreciated by the public. For some years Mr. Jones has been recognised as an authority on heating and ventilating; several articles and pamphlets have issued from his pen. He is the author of "Heating by Hot Water," which is an accepted standard text book. The articles originally appeared in the "Ironmonger." Three additions were published (one of which was issued in America), and a fourth and enlarged edition is now in the press. In the highest and best sense of the words Mr. Jones is a self-made man. He has had no artificial aids to his success; but he as accomplished a splendid record of work by sincerity and honesty of purpose, aided by more than the ordinary man's share of natural talent. Jones & Attwood remain a highly successful company © Tom Cockeram 2000