ONE of the most famous of the swift palace steamers which summer after summer carry tourist crowds to the far recesses of the Firth of Clyde is the Lord of the Isles. It is owned by the Glasgow and Inveraray Steamboat Company, Limited, of which Mr. M. T. Clark is the founder and managing director. Born at Strachur on Lochfyneside, Mr. Clark came to Glasgow as a youth, and began a business career in Dixon Street. He soon distinguished himself by his business ability and organising powers, and filled several successive positions of responsibility on Clyde steamboat companies. He founded the company which he now directs in 1877, and the magnificent steamer which he placed on the river was one of the fastest and soon became one of the most famous in the world. Many developments of railway and steamboat competition have been made since then, but the Lord of the Isles still retains its place, and daily throughout the summer sweeps through the Kyles and up Lochfyne to the old capital of Argyll. The present vessel is the second of the name, built in 1891, and the other steamers owned by the company are the Fairy Queen, the Fairy, and the Edinburgh Castle. To Mr. Clark belongs the credit of originating the combined railway, coach, and steamer service, which has now been adopted by nearly all passenger companies, and which helps so much to vary and smooth the way of the modern tourist. Thus the traveller by the Lord of the Isles, through the Kyles of Bute and Lochfyne to Inveraray, has the option of returning by four different routes, through some of the most beautiful glen, loch, and mountain scenery in Scotland. And perhaps there is no finer or more famous day's tour in the country than that by Loch Eck, Loch Fyne, and the Kyles, with its changes from steamer to coach and from inland loch to arm of the sea.
Mr. Clark resides at Langbank on the Clyde, and is an active member of the U.F. Church there.

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