Steedman & McAlister
STEEDMAN & McALISTER, Manufacturers of Solid Cork Life Buoys, Belts, and Cork Fenders, Cathcart Street ; and 35, Ardgowan Street, Glasgow.
It would be impossible to over-estimate the national importance which attaches to the manufacture of the various appliances and inventions calculated to minimise the loss of life at sea, and among the British firms that have most extensively contributed to improvements in this department of industry a pre-eminent rank must be accorded to the firm of Steedman & McAlister, a house founded in 1854 and now recognized as the oldest established in the trade.
The premises occupied by the firm are of very considerable magnitude and comprise extensive yard and brick-built stores and works, admirably arranged and thoroughly equipped with machinery and appliances of the most approved construction. The stocks of cork-wood are simply enormous in magnitude and uniformly of a quality in perfect harmony with the splendid reputation which the firm's specialities have obtained in all parts of the world. In the preparation of the cork special machinery is used, much of it the invention of the head of the concern. The first process in the preparation of the cork is the splitting up into strips of varying widths. Uniformity in the operation is obtained by means of fixed gauges attached to circular saws. The burning process succeeds, by which means the hard portions of the cork are carefully removed. The subsequent processes of pinning together and finishing off it is not necessary to dwell upon here ; suffice it to say that the cork life buoys of Messrs. Steedman & McAlisters manufacture are admittedly unequalled by those of any house in the trade.
The firms life belts are also of surpassing excellence, are constructed of oblong pieces of cork of various sizes, and are so formed as to fit high up the chest and back of the wearer, while at the same time leaving perfect freedom of action for the arms. So effective are these life belts that they readily sustain a weight of 15 lbs. of iron after 24 hours immersion in fresh water. Messrs. Steedman & McAlister also extensively manufacture granulated cork-stuffed mattresses, pillows, and cushions intended for the furnishing of ship and steamer cabins, berths, and saloons. These goods combine perfect utility with extreme neatness, and though only the same price as ordinary articles of the kind, the novel material used in their construction gives them invaluable advantages which are possessed by no other description of this class of goods. They are, in the first place, capable of being at a moments notice used as life-preservers in the case of accidents. Then they can readily be dried and cleaned ; they are perfectly free from all dust and in no way liable to destruction by insects. The cork fenders too of Messrs. Steedman & McAlister are of superior quality. They are constructed of cork shavings closely pressed by strong machinery into the inner case of canvas, and afterwards covered or hitched with strong hemp rope and also coir rope. The firm has long manufactured for the Lords of the Admiralty, and there are few European Governments whose navies are not indebted to the house for the life-saving apparatus they carry.
The personnel of this great firm consists at the present time of Mr. George Steedman and his two sons, Messrs. John and James Steedman. Upon Mr. John Steedman falls a large share of the onus of administration, and we have seldom experienced an instance where a vast enterprise has received more capable direction. An efficient staff is employed, and nothing could surpass the completeness of the supervision exercised over them in the execution of their responsible tasks.
The appreciation of those best qualified to judge the comparative merits of the firms manufacture finds its fullest expression in the following list of highest awards obtained at the great exhibitions of the world : gold medal, Edinburgh, 1890 ; diploma of honour, Paris, 1887 ; gold medal, Liverpool, 1886 ; gold medal, London, 1883 ; silver medal, London, 1883 ; gold medal, New Zealand, 1882 ; silver medal, Art and Industrial Exhibition, Bradford, 1882 ; two silver medals, North-East Coast Exhibition, Tynemouth, 1882 ; two silver medals, International Fisheries Exhibition ; Edinburgh, 1882, first order of merit ; silver medal, Melbourne, 1881 ; National Fisheries silver medal, Norwich, 1881 ; honourable mention, Paris, 1878 ; bronze medal, South Africa, 1877 ; and bronze medal, Brussels Congress, 1870.
A more formidable and convincing testimony gathered from all the quarters of the earth it would be difficult to meet with, and we heartily congratulate Messrs. Steedman & McAlister upon achievements so great in the sphere of industrial competition. The vast enterprise displayed, the exceptional inventive genius brought to bear in the creation of the present magnificent success of the firm are, however, not more pronounced and emphatic than are the hearty expressions of gratitude by many an old salt, the preservation of whose life on the roaring billow he directly attributes to the invaluable apparatus manufactured under Messrs. Steedman & McAlisters auspices.
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