DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27739#0020
L(/e o/ A'.
whom were the late Mr. Merwanji Framji
Panday, the late Sir Dinshaw Manekji Petit,
his brother, the late Mr. Nusserwanji Petit,
and last but not the least, Mr. Jamsetji
N. Tata. One cannot help admiring the great
pioneer, Mr. Davar especially when it is borne
in mind the formidable difficulties amidst
which he started his factory. Our Railways
were in their infancy, so were the telegraphs.
Steam navigation was still a potentiality of
the future. Ships laden with foreign goods
and machinery took at least a hundred and
twenty days to reach Bombay from Liverpool,
in fair weather. Sea cables were unknown.
Transportation and haulage were of a most
primitive character. Skilled indigenous arti-
sanship was rare. It was difficult to find
even a fairly trained common fitter. Labour
was of course, cheap and abundant but it
had to be labourously trained amidst many
troubles. Organisation was quite unknown.
Contrast that condition of matters with that
which prevailed in 1885 as it will give one a
vivid idea of the difficulties under which the
Parsee pioneer engineered his enterprise which
was so prolific of good to the generation after
him. Railways, telegraphs, and cables were
6
whom were the late Mr. Merwanji Framji
Panday, the late Sir Dinshaw Manekji Petit,
his brother, the late Mr. Nusserwanji Petit,
and last but not the least, Mr. Jamsetji
N. Tata. One cannot help admiring the great
pioneer, Mr. Davar especially when it is borne
in mind the formidable difficulties amidst
which he started his factory. Our Railways
were in their infancy, so were the telegraphs.
Steam navigation was still a potentiality of
the future. Ships laden with foreign goods
and machinery took at least a hundred and
twenty days to reach Bombay from Liverpool,
in fair weather. Sea cables were unknown.
Transportation and haulage were of a most
primitive character. Skilled indigenous arti-
sanship was rare. It was difficult to find
even a fairly trained common fitter. Labour
was of course, cheap and abundant but it
had to be labourously trained amidst many
troubles. Organisation was quite unknown.
Contrast that condition of matters with that
which prevailed in 1885 as it will give one a
vivid idea of the difficulties under which the
Parsee pioneer engineered his enterprise which
was so prolific of good to the generation after
him. Railways, telegraphs, and cables were
6