When he asked that portion of the house if he would accept eightpence per pound for the entire contents of the three hundred and odd frowsy dirty bags of nondescript wool, the authority interrogated felt so confounded that he could not have told if he were the head or the tail of the firm. At first he fancied our friend had come for the express purpose of quizzing him, and then that he was an escaped lunatic, and thought seriously of calling for the police; but eventually it ended in his making it over in consideration of the price offered. It was quite an event in the little dark office of C. W. and F. Foozle and Co., which had its supply of light (of a very injurious quality) from the old grim churchyard. All the establishment stole a peep at the buyer of the ‘South American Stuff.’ The chief clerk had the curiosity to speak to him and hear the reply. The cashier touched his coat tails. The bookkeeper, a thin man in spectacles, examined his hat and gloves. The porter openly grinned at him. When the quiet purchaser had departed, C. W. and F. Foozle and Co. shut themselves up, and gave all their clerks a holiday.” Thus Mr. Salt (afterwards Sir Titus) became the introducer and adapter of alpaca wool; and in a few years his wealth was enormous. Seventeen years afterwards Mr. Salt left Bradford, the scene of his great success. He saw with sadness that the great Yorkshire town was becoming over-crowded, dirty, and smoky to a degree, and he made up his mind that the condition of _his_ factory workers, at any rate, should be improved. Hence he purchased a tract of land on the banks of the river Aire above Shipley, and founded Saltaire—a true palace of industry. “For in making his thousands he never forgot The thousands who helped him to make them.” The new works were opened in 1853, when a grand banquet took place, at which members of parliament, mayors, and magistrates were present, besides between 2,000 and 3,000 of Mr. Salt’s workpeople, who had marched in procession from smoky Bradford to the fair country he had chosen for their future labours. Sir Titus was made a baronet in 1869, and some years previously he held the position of president of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce. He has also been chief constable, magistrate, and parliamentary member for the Bradford borough, the inhabitants of which have shown their appreciation of his services and generosity by erecting a handsome statue to him. CHAPTER VIII. ECCENTRIC MONEY-MAKERS.