William Dixon (Limited)

WILLIAM DIXON (Limited), Coal and Iron Master, Calder and Govan Ironworks and 1, Dixon Street, Glasgow.

    The magnitude of the operations which Scottish industrial enterprise has brought to bear in the sphere of coal and iron working finds many exemplifications throughout the country, and one of the two supreme undertakings of the kind is that indicated under the above-mentioned title. The trading and manufacturing operations of the firm of William Dixon (Limited) have endowed many a Scottish port and burgh with an international celebrity in the commercial world, and it would, manifestly, be impossible in such a historical and industrial review of Glasgow and its busy environs as the present to overlook the immense and predominant activity which, coupled with its almost infinite resource, is the main characteristic of the firm in question.

    The business dates back over a period of fully a century, and across the intervening generations may be traced abundant illustrations of the splendid results accruing from capable administration and well-directed efforts in the upbuilding of a gigantic and world-affecting enterprise. It would, doubtless, be both profitable and instructive to outline the history of this great concern and to track out its modest beginnings, its continuously registered achievements, and its subsequent development. But space necessarily compels condensation in our reviews, and we must regretfully confine tour attention to the concern in question as it presents itself to the industrial world to-day. And here it may be desirable to make a few comments upon the Govan Iron Works — the magnificent hive of busy industrial activity which may be described as the crowning feature of Crown Street, wherein the Works are situated.

    It is hardly necessary to remark that the equipment here is of the completest description. There are at the Govan Iron Works six furnaces, all of which are, at the present moment, in blast. Formerly these furnaces and the Works generally consumed only the coal brought from the Company’s extensive sources of supply in the neighbourhood, but within the past few years the use of gas has been adopted with great success, and a short time ago the Company, at an enormous expense, completed the erection of a perfect equipment for the production of ammonia out of what had previously been deemed waste material. The iron produced at these Works has a marketable value second to none manufactured. The Company’s trade-mark has a distinctly pre-eminent standing and at all times commands the highest price among buyers. The Calder Works at Coatbridge are also extensive centres of business. Here may be found eight furnaces and all the plant, machinery, and appliances essential to the efficient and economical working of the concern.

    As coalowners the Company own collieries at Calder, Blantyre, Carfin, Motherwell, Coatbridge, Fauldhouse, etc., etc., and at each and all of their pits the coal procured is of a quality that readily commends itself to consumers both for business purposes and private use. An immense staff of employees is engaged in the various departments of the Company’s enterprise, and it is gratifying to record the prevalence of those cordial relationships between employers and employed which emphatically declare the liberality and consideration extended by great capitalists to a vast body of arduous toilers.

    The offices of the Company in Dixon Street are both extensive, commodious, and in every way admirably adapted to the requirements of the central department. A large staff of clerks is located in elegantly appointed offices. The telegraphic address of the Company is “Calder, Glasgow” ; the telephonic number, 3288. The still rapid growth and increasing progression of the Company’s trade is a marked feature in Scotland. The connections of the concern are of universal range and influence, and the name of William Dixon (Limited), as representative of all its interests, receives general acceptance as a guarantee of the thoroughly genuine character and excellence of both the coal and iron which emanate from the Company’s vast and widespread industrial centres.

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