Question

In this excerpt from The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell, what does the author mean by the sentence “The West Riding men are sleuth-hounds in pursuit of money”?
The West Riding men are sleuth-hounds in pursuit of money. Miss Brontë related to my husband a curious instance illustrative of this eager desire for riches. A man that she knew, who was a small manufacturer, had engaged in many local speculations, which had always turned out well, and thereby rendered him a person of some wealth.

Answer 1

The author mean by the sentence “The West Riding men are sleuth-hounds in pursuit of money” is A man that she knew, who was a small manufacturer, had engaged in many local speculations, which had always turned out well, and thereby rendered him a person of some wealth.

Answer 2

The author uses a metaphor to compare the West Riding men in their quest for money with hounds that pursue prey.