chin was still a very young man at this time - not yet out of his teenage years - and his small frame and high voice , made him appear even younger than he actually was : william wills was approaching retirement age , and the drive and ideas which had been the mainstay of his company during the duration of his successful career were beginning to falter , increasingly he found his thoughts meandering over times past , rather than focussing on future projects ; sentimentality was irrevocably replacing originality .