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diff --git a/17299.txt b/17299.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..adb5c5a --- /dev/null +++ b/17299.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8523 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, +Scotland and Ireland, by Joseph Tatlow + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland + + +Author: Joseph Tatlow + + + +Release Date: December 13, 2005 [eBook #17299] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIFTY YEARS OF RAILWAY LIFE IN +ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND*** + + + + + + +This eBook was prepared by Les Bowler. + + + + + +FIFTY YEARS OF RAILWAY LIFE IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND + + +by Joseph Tatlow + +Director Midland Great Western Railway or Ireland and Dublin and +Kingstown Railway; a Member of Dominions Royal Commission, 1912-1917; +late Manager Midland Great Western Railway, etc. + +Published in 1920 by The Railway Gazette, Queens Anne's Chambers, +Westminster, London, S.W.1. + +[The Author: tatlow.jpg] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +I. Introductory +II. Boyhood +III. The Midland Railway and "King Hudson" +IV. Fashions and Manners, Victorian Days +V. Early Office Life +VI. Friendship +VII. Railway Progress +VIII. Scotland, Glasgow Life, and the Caledonian Line +IX. General Railway Acts of Parliament +X. A General Manager and his Office +XI. The Railway Jubilee, and Glasgow and South-Western Officers and + Clerks +XII. TOM +XIII. Men I met and Friends I made +XIV. Terminals, Rates and Fares, and other Matters +XV. Further Railway Legislation +XVI. Belfast and the County Down Railway +XVII. Belfast and the County Down (continued) +XVIII. Railway Rates and Charges, the Block, the Brake, and Light + Railways +XIX. Golf, the Diamond King, and a Steam-boat Service +XX. The Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland +XXI. Ballinasloe Fair, Galway, and Sir George Findlay +XXII. A Railway Contest, the Parcel Post, and the Board of Trade +XXIII. "The Railway News," the International Railway Congress, and a + Trip to Spain and Portugal +XXIV. Tom Robertson, more about Light Railways, and the Inland Transit + of Cattle +XXV. Railway Amalgamation and Constantinople +XXVI. A Congress at Paris, the Progress of Irish Lines, Egypt and the + Nile +XXVII. King Edward, a Change of Chairmen, and more Railway Legislation +XXVIII. Vice-Regal Commission on Irish Railways, 1906-1910, and the + Future of Railways +XXIX. The General Managers' Conference, Gooday's Dinner, and Divers + Matters +XXX. From Manager to Director +XXXI. The Dominions' Royal Commission, the Railways of the Dominions, + and Empire Development +XXXII. Conclusion + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +The Author +George Hudson, the "Railway King" +Sir James Allport +W. J. Wainwright +Edward John Cotton +Walter Bailey +Sir Ralph Cusack, D. L. +William Dargan +The Dargan Saloon +Sir George Findlay +Sir Theodore Martin +The Gresham Salver + + + + +CHAPTER I. +INTRODUCTORY + + +North-West Donegal. A fine afternoon in September. The mountain ranges +were bathed in sunshine and the scarred and seamy face of stern old +Errigal seemed almost to smile. A gentle breeze stirred the air and the +surface of the lakes lay shimmering in the soft autumnal light. The blue +sky, flecked with white cloudlets, the purple of the heather, the dark +hues of the bogs, the varied greens of bracken, ferns and grass, the gold +of ripening grain, and the grey of the mountain boulders, together formed +a harmony of colour which charmed the eye and soothed the mind. + +I had been travelling most of the day by railway through this delightful +country, not by an express that rushed you through the scenery with +breathless haste, but by an easy-going mixed train which called at every +station. Sometimes its speed reached twenty-five miles an hour, but +never more, and because of numerous curves and gradients--for it was a +narrow gauge and more or less a surface line--the rate of progress was +much less during the greater part of the journey. + +The work of the day was over. My companion and I had dined at the +Gweedore Hotel, where we were staying for the night. With the setting +sun the breeze had died away. Perfect stillness and a silence deep, +profound and all-pervading reigned. I had been talking, as an old +pensioner will talk, of byegone times, of my experiences in a long +railway career, and my companion, himself a rising railway man, seemed +greatly interested. As we sauntered along, the conversation now and +again lapsing into a companionable silence, he suddenly said: "Why don't +you write your reminiscences? They would be very interesting, not only +to us younger railway men, but to men of your own time too." Until that +moment I had never seriously thought of putting my reminiscences on +record, but my friend's words fell on favourable ground, and now, less +than a month since that night in Donegal, I am sitting at my desk penning +these opening lines. + +That my undertaking will not be an easy one I know. My memory is well +stored, but unfortunately I have never kept a diary or commonplace book +of any kind. On the contrary a love of order and neatness, carried to +absurd excess, has always led me to destroy accumulated letters or +documents, and much that would be useful now has in the past, from time +to time, been destroyed and "cast as rubbish to the void." + +Most autobiographies, I suppose, are undertaken to please the writers. +That this is the case with me I frankly confess; but I hope that what I +find much pleasure in writing my readers may, at least, find some +satisfaction in reading. Vanity, perhaps, plays some part in this hope, +for, "He that is pleased with himself easily imagines that he shall +please others." + +Carlyle says, "A true delineation of the smallest man, and his scene of +pilgrimage through life, is capable of interesting the greatest man; that +all men are to an unspeakable degree brothers, each man's life a strange +emblem of every man's; and that human portraits, faithfully drawn, are of +all pictures the welcomest on human walls." + +I am not sure that portraits of the artist by himself, though there are +notable and noble instances to the contrary, are often successful. We +rarely "see oursels as ithers see us," and are inclined to regard our +virtues and our vices with equal equanimity, and to paint ourselves in +too alluring colours; but I will do my best to tell my tale with strict +veracity, and with all the modesty I can muster. + +An autobiographer, too, exposes himself to the charge of egotism, but I +must run the risk of that, endeavouring to avoid the scathing criticism +of him who wrote:-- + + "The egotist . . . . . . . + Whose I's and Me's are scattered in his talk, + Thick as the pebbles on a gravel walk." + +Fifty years of railway life, passed in the service of various companies, +large and small, in England, Scotland and Ireland, in divers' capacities, +from junior clerk to general manager, and ultimately to the ease and +dignity of director, if faithfully presented, may perhaps, in spite of +all drawbacks, be not entirely devoid of interest. + + + + +CHAPTER II. +BOYHOOD + + +I was born at Sheffield, on Good Friday, in the year 1851, and my only +sister was born on a Christmas Day. + +My father was in the service of the Midland Railway, as also were two of +his brothers, one of whom was the father of the present General Manager +of the Midland. When I was but ten months old my father was promoted to +the position of accountants' inspector at headquarters and removed from +Sheffield to Derby. Afterwards, whilst I was still very young, he became +Goods Agent at Birmingham, and lived there for a few years. He then +returned to Derby, where he became head of the Mineral Office. He +remained with the Midland until 1897, when he retired on superannuation +at the age of seventy-six. Except, therefore, for an interval of about +three years my childhood and youth were spent at Derby. + +My earliest recollection in connection with railways is my first railway +journey, which took place when I was four years of age. I recollect it +well. It was from Derby to Birmingham. How the wonder of it all +impressed me! The huge engine, the wonderful carriages, the imposing +guard, the busy porters and the bustling station. The engine, no doubt, +was a pigmy, compared with the giants of to-day; the carriages were +small, modest four-wheelers, with low roofs, and diminutive windows after +the manner of old stage coaches, but to me they were palatial. I +travelled first-class on a pass with my father, and great was my juvenile +pride. Our luggage, I remember, was carried on the roof of the carriage +in the good old-fashioned coaching style. Four-wheeled railway carriages +are, I was going to say, a thing of the past; but that is not so. Though +gradually disappearing, many are running still, mainly on branch lines--in +England nearly five thousand; in Scotland over four hundred; and in poor +backward Ireland (where, by the way, railways are undeservedly abused) +how many? Will it be believed--practically none, not more than twenty in +the whole island! All but those twenty have been scrapped long ago. Well +done Ireland! + +From the earliest time I can remember, and until well-advanced in +manhood, I was delicate in health, troubled with a constant cough, thin +and pale. In consequence I was often absent from school; and prevented +also from sharing, as I should, and as every child should, in out-door +games and exercises, to my great disadvantage then and since, for +proficiency is only gained by early training, and unfortunate is he whose +circumstances have deprived him of that advantage. How often, since +those early days, have I looked with envious eyes on pastimes in which I +could not engage, or only engage with the consciousness of inferiority. + +I have known men who, handicapped in this way, have in after life, by +strong will and great application, overcome their disabilities and become +good cricketers, great at tennis, proficient at golf, strong swimmers, +skilful shots; but they have been exceptional men with a strong natural +inclination to athletics. + +The only active physical recreations in which I have engaged with any +degree of pleasure are walking, riding, bicycling and skating. Riding I +took to readily enough as soon as I was able to afford it; and, if my +means had ever allowed indulgence in the splendid pastime of hunting, I +would have followed the hounds, not, I believe, without some spirit and +boldness. My natural disposition I know inclined me to sedentary +pursuits: reading, writing, drawing, painting, though, happily, the +tendency was corrected to some extent by a healthy love of Nature's fair +features, and a great liking for country walks. + +In drawing and painting, though I had a certain natural aptitude for +both, I never attained much proficiency in either, partly for lack of +instruction, partly from want of application, but more especially, I +believe, because another, more alluring, more mentally exciting +occupation beguiled me. It was not music, though to music close allied. +This new-found joy I long pursued in secret, afraid lest it should be +discovered and despised as a folly. It was not until I lived in +Scotland, where poetical taste and business talent thrive side by side, +and where, as Mr. Spurgeon said, "no country in the world produced so +many poets," that I became courageous, and ventured to avow my dear +delight. It was there that I sought, with some success, publication in +various papers and magazines of my attempts at versification, for +versification it was that so possessed my fancy. Of the spacious times +of great Elizabeth it has been written, "the power of action and the gift +of song did not exclude each other," but in England, in mid-Victorian +days, it was looked upon differently, or so at least I believed. + +After a time I had the distinction of being included in a new edition of +_Recent and Living Scottish Poets_, by Alexander Murdoch, published in +1883. My inclusion was explained on the ground that, "His muse first +awoke to conscious effort on Scottish soil," which, though not quite in +accordance with fact, was not so wide of the mark that I felt in the +least concerned to criticise the statement. I was too much enamoured of +the honour to question the foundation on which it rested. Perhaps it was +as well deserved as are some others of this world's distinctions! At any +rate it was neither begged nor bought, but came "Like Dian's kiss, +unasked, unsought." In the same year (1883) I also appeared in +_Edwards_' Sixth Series of _Modern Scottish Poets_; and in 1885, more +legitimately, in William Andrews' book on _Modern Yorkshire Poets_. My +claim for this latter distinction was not, however, any greater, if as +great, as my right to inclusion in the collection of _Scottish Poets_. If +I "lisped in numbers," it was not in Yorkshire, for Yorkshire I left for +ever before even the first babblings of babyhood began. However, +"kissing goes by favour," and I was happy in the favour I enjoyed. + +I may as well say it here: with my poetical productions I was never +satisfied any more than with my attempts at drawing. My verses seemed +mere farthing dips compared with the resplendent poetry of our country +which I read and loved, but my efforts employed and brightened many an +hour in my youth that otherwise would have been tedious and dreary. + +Ours was a large family, nine children in all; nothing unusual in those +days. "A quiver full" was then a matter of parental pride. Woman was +more satisfied with home life then than now. The pursuit of pleasure was +not so keen. Our parents and our grandparents were simpler in their +tastes, more easily amused, more readily impressed with the wonderful and +the strange. Things that would leave us unmoved were to them matters of +moment. Railways were new and railway travelling was, to most people, an +event. + +Our fathers talked of their last journey to London, their visit to the +Tower, to Westminster Abbey, the Monument, Madame Tussauds; how they +mistook the waxwork policeman for a real member of the force; how they +shuddered in the _Chamber of Horrors_; how they travelled on the new +Underground Railway; and saw the wonders of the Crystal Palace, +especially on fireworks night. They told us of their visit to the _Great +Eastern_, what a gigantic ship it was, what a marvel, and described its +every feature. They talked of General Tom Thumb, of Blondin, of Pepper's +Ghost, of the Christy Minstrels. Nowadays, a father will return from +London and not even mention the Tubes to his children. Why should he? +They know all about them and are surprised at nothing. The picture books +and the cinemas have familiarised them with every aspect of modern life. + +In those days our pleasures and our amusements were fewer, but impressed +us more. I remember how eagerly the coloured pictures of the Christmas +numbers of the pictorial papers were looked forward to, talked of, +criticised, admired, framed and hung up. I remember too, the excitements +of Saint Valentine's Day, Shrove Tuesday, April Fool's Day, May Day and +the Morris (Molly) dancers; and the Fifth of November, Guy Fawkes Day. I +remember also the peripatetic knife grinder and his trundling machine, +the muffin man, the pedlar and his wares, the furmity wheat vendor, who +trudged along with his welcome cry of "Frummitty!" from door to door. +Those were pleasant and innocent excitements. We have other things to +engage us now, but I sometimes think all is not _gain_ that the march of +progress brings. + +Young people then had fewer books to read, but read them thoroughly. What +excitement and discussion attended the monthly instalments of Dickens' +novels in _All the Year Round_; how eagerly they were looked for. Lucky +he or she who had heard the great _master_ read himself in public. His +books were read in our homes, often aloud to the family circle by +paterfamilias, and moved us to laughter or tears. I never now see our +young people, or their elders either, affected by an author as we were +then by the power of Dickens. He was a new force and his pages kindled +in our hearts a vivid feeling for the poor and their wrongs. + +Scott's _Waverley Novels_, too, aroused our enthusiasm. In the early +sixties a cheap edition appeared, and cheap editions were rare things +then. It was published, if I remember aright, at two shillings per +volume; an event that stirred the country. My father brought each volume +home as it came out. I remember it well; a pale, creamy-coloured paper +cover, good type, good paper. What treasures they were, and only two +shillings! I was a little child when an important movement for the +cheapening of books began. In 1852 Charles Dickens presided at a meeting +of authors and others against the coercive regulations of the +Booksellers' Association which maintained their excessive profits. +Herbert Spencer and Miss Evans (George Eliot) took a prominent part in +this meeting and drafted the resolutions which were passed. The ultimate +effect of this meeting was that the question between the authors and the +booksellers was referred to Lord Campbell as arbitrator. He gave a +decision against the booksellers; and there were consequently abolished +such of the trade regulations as had interdicted the sale of books at +lower rates of profit than those authorised by the Booksellers' +Association. + +Practically all my school days were spent at Derby. As I have said, ours +was a large family. I have referred to an only sister, but I had step- +sisters and step-brothers too. My father married twice and the second +family was numerous. His salary was never more than 300 pounds a year, +and though a prudent enough man, he was not of the frugal economical sort +who makes the most of every shilling. It may be imagined, then, that all +the income was needed for a family that, parents included, but excluding +the one servant, numbered eleven. The consequence was that the education +I received could not be described as liberal. I attended a day school at +Derby, connected with the Wesleyans; why I do not know, as we belonged to +the Anglican Church; but I believe it was because the school, while cheap +as to fees, had the reputation of giving a good, plain education suitable +for boys destined for railway work. It was a good sized school of about +a hundred boys. Not long ago I met one day in London a business man who, +it turned out, was at this school with me. We had not met for fifty +years. "Well," said he, "I think old Jessie, if he did not teach us a +great variety of things, what he did he taught well." My new-found old +schoolmate had become the financial manager of a great business house +having ramifications throughout the world. He had attained to position +and wealth and, which successful men sometimes are not, was quite +unspoiled. We revived our schooldays with mutual pleasure, and lunched +together as befitted the occasion. + +"Jessie" was the name by which our old schoolmaster was endeared to his +boys; a kindly, simple-minded, worthy man, teaching, as well as +scholastic subjects, behaviour, morals, truth, loyalty; and these as much +by example as by precept, impressing ever upon us the virtue of +thoroughness in all we did and of truth in all we said. Since those days +I have seen many youths, educated at much finer and more pretentious +schools, who have benefited by modern educational methods, and on whose +education much money has been expended, and who, when candidates for +clerkships, have, in the simple matters of reading, writing, arithmetic, +composition and spelling, shown up very poorly compared to what almost +any boy from "old Jessie's" unambitious establishment would have done. +But, plain and substantial as my schooling was, I have ever felt that I +was defrauded of the better part of education--the classics, languages, +literature and modern science, which furnish the mind and extend the +boundaries of thought. + +"Jessie" continued his interest in his boys long after they left school. +He was proud of those who made their way. I remember well the warmth of +his greeting and the kind look of his mild blue eyes when, after I had +gone out into the world, I sometimes revisited him. + +But my school life was not all happiness. In the school there was an +almost brutal element of roughness, and fights were frequent; not only in +our own, but between ours and neighbouring schools. Regular pitched +battles were fought with sticks and staves and stones. I shrunk from +fighting but could not escape it. Twice in our own playground I was +forced to fight. Every new boy had to do it, sooner or later. +Fortunately on the second occasion I came off victor, much to my +surprise. How I managed to beat my opponent I never could understand. +Anyhow the victory gave me a better standing in the school, though it did +not lessen in the least my hatred of the battles that raged periodically +with other schools. I never had to fight again except as an unwilling +participant in our foreign warfare. + + + + +CHAPTER III. +THE MIDLAND RAILWAY AND "KING HUDSON" + + +In the year 1851 the Midland Railway was 521 miles long; it is now 2,063. +Then its capital was 15,800,000, against 130,000,000 pounds to-day. Then +the gross revenue was 1,186,000 and now it has reached 15,960,000 pounds. +When I say _now_, I refer to 1913, the year prior to the war, as since +then, owing to Government control, non-division of through traffic and +curtailment of accounts, the actual receipts earned by individual +companies are not published, and, indeed, are not known. + +Eighteen hundred and fifty-one was a period of anxiety to the Midland and +to railway companies generally. Financial depression had succeeded a +time of wild excitement, and the Midland dividend had fallen from seven +to two per cent.! It was the year of the great Exhibition, which Lord +Cholmondeley considered _the_ event of modern times and many +over-sanguine people expected it to inaugurate a universal peace. On the +other hand Carlyle uttered fierce denunciations against it. It certainly +excited far more interest than has any exhibition since. Then, nothing +of the kind had ever before been seen. Railway expectations ran high; +immense traffic receipts, sorely needed, ought to have swelled the +coffers of the companies. But no! vast numbers of people certainly +travelled to London, but a mad competition, as foolish almost as the +preceding _mania_, set in, and passenger fares were again and again +reduced, till expected profits disappeared and loss and disappointment +were the only result. The policy of Parliament in encouraging the +construction of rival railway routes and in fostering competition in the +supposed interest of the public was, even in those early days, bearing +fruit--dead sea fruit, as many a luckless holder of railway stock learned +to his cost. + +Railway shareholders throughout the kingdom were growing angry. In the +case of the Midland--they appointed a committee of inquiry, and the +directors assented to the appointment. This committee was to examine and +report upon the general and financial conditions of the company, and was +invested with large powers. + +About the same time also interviews took place between the Midland and +the London and North-Western, with the object of arranging an +amalgamation of the two systems. Some progress was made, but no formal +_engagement_ resulted, and so a very desirable union, between an +aristocratic bridegroom and a democratic bride, remained unaccomplished. + +Mr. Ellis was chairman of the Midland at this time and Mr. George Carr +Glyn, afterwards the first Lord Wolverton, occupied a similar position on +the Board of the London and North-Western. Mr. Ellis had succeeded Mr. +Hudson--the "_Railway King_," so christened by Sydney Smith. Mr. Hudson +in 1844 was chairman of the first shareholders' meeting of the Midland +Railway. Prior to that date the Midland consisted of three separate +railways. In 1849 Mr. Hudson presided for the last time at a Midland +meeting, and in the following year resigned his office of chairman of the +company. + +The story of the meteoric reign of the "_Railway King_" excited much +interest when I was young, and it may not be out of place to touch upon +some of the incidents of his career. + +George Hudson was born in 1800, served his apprenticeship in the +cathedral city of York and subsequently became a linendraper there and a +man of property. + +Many years afterwards he is reported to have said that the happiest days +of his life passed while he stood behind his counter using the yardstick, +a statement which should perhaps only be accepted under reservation. He +was undoubtedly a man of a bold and adventurous spirit, possessed of an +ambition which soared far above the measuring of calicoes or the +retailing of ribbons; but perhaps the observation was tinged by the +environment of later and less happy days when his star had set, his +kingly reign come to an end, and when possibly vain regrets had +embittered his existence. It was, I should imagine, midst the fierceness +of the strife and fury of the _mania_ times, when his powerful +personality counted for so much, that he reached the zenith of his +happiness. + +[George Hudson: hudson.jpg] + +Whilst conducting in York his linendraper business, a relation died and +left him money. The railway boom had then begun. He flung his yardstick +behind him and entered the railway fray. The Liverpool and Manchester +line and its wonderful success--it paid ten per cent.--greatly impressed +the public mind, and the good people of York determined they would have a +railway to London. + +A committee was appointed to carry out the project. On this committee +Mr. Hudson was placed, and it was mainly owing to his energy and skill +that the scheme came to a successful issue. He was rewarded by being +made chairman of the company. + +This was his entrance into the railway world where, for a time, he was +monarch. He must have been a man of shrewdness and capacity. It is +recorded that he acquired the land for the York to London railway at an +average cost of 1,750 pounds per mile whilst that of the North Midland +cost over 5,000 pounds. + +On the 1st July, 1840, this linendraper of York had the proud pleasure of +seeing the first train from York to London start on its journey. + +From this achievement he advanced to others. He and his friends obtained +the lease, for thirty-one years, of a rival line, which turned out a +great financial success. His enterprise and energy were boundless. + +It is said that his bold spirit, his capacity for work and his great +influence daunted his most determined opponents. For instance, the North +Midland railway, part predecessor of _the_ Midland, was involved in +difficulty. He appeared before the shareholders, offered, if his advice +and methods were adopted, to guarantee double the then dividend. His +offer was accepted and he was made chairman, and from that position +became chairman, and for a time dictator, of the amalgamated Midland +system. Clearly his business abilities were great; his reforms were bold +and drastic, and success attended his efforts. He soon became the +greatest railway authority in England. For a time the entire railway +system in the north was under his control, and the confidence reposed in +him was unbounded. He was the lion of the day: princes, peers and +prelates, capitalists and fine ladies sought his society, paid homage to +his power, besought his advice and lavished upon him unstinted adulation. + +In 1845 the railway mania was at its height. It is said that during two +or three months of that year as much as 100,000 pounds per week were +expended in advertisements in connection with railway promotions, railway +meetings and railway matters generally. Scarcely credible this, but so +it is seriously stated. Huge sums were wasted in the promotion and +construction of British railways in early days, from which, in their +excessive capital cost, they suffer now. In the _mania_ period railways +sprang into existence so quickly that, to use the words of Robert +Stephenson, they "appeared like the realisation of fabled powers or the +magician's wand." The _Illustrated London News_ of the day said: +"Railway speculation has become the sole object of the world--cupidity is +aroused and roguery shields itself under its name, as a more safe and +rapid way of gaining its ends. Abroad, as well as at home, has it proved +the rallying point of all rascality--the honest man is carried away by +the current and becomes absorbed in the vortex; the timid, the quiet, the +moral are, after some hesitation, caught in the whirlpool and follow +those whom they have watched with pity and derision." + +Powers were granted by Parliament in the year 1845 to construct no less +than 2,883 miles of new railway at an expenditure of about 44,000,000 +pounds; and in the next year (1846) applications were made to Parliament +for authority to raise 389,000,000 pounds for the construction of further +lines. These powers were granted to the extent of 4,790 miles at a cost +of about 120,000,000 pounds. + +Soon there came a change; disaster followed success; securities fell; +dividends diminished or disappeared altogether or, as was in some cases +discovered, were paid out of capital, and disappointment and ruin +followed. King Hudson's methods came under a fierce fire of criticism; +adulation was succeeded by abuse and he was disgraced and dethroned. A +writer of the day said, "Mr. Hudson is neither better nor worse than the +morality of his time." From affluence he came to want, and in his old +age a fund was raised sufficient to purchase him an annuity of 600 pounds +a year. + +About this time, that most useful Institution the Railway Clearing House +received Parliamentary sanction. The _Railway Clearing System Act_ 1850 +gave it statutory recognition. Its functions have been defined thus: "To +settle and adjust the receipts arising from railway traffic within, or +partly within, the United Kingdom, and passing over more than one railway +within the United Kingdom, booked or invoiced at throughout rates of +fares." The system had then been in existence, in a more or less +informal way, for about eight years. Mr. Allport, on one occasion, said +that whilst he was with the Birmingham and Derby railway (before he +became general manager of the Midland) the process of settlement of +receipts for through traffic was tedious and difficult, and it occurred +to him that a system should be adopted similar to that which existed in +London and was known as the Bankers' Clearing House. It was also said +that Mr. Kenneth Morrison, Auditor of the London and Birmingham line, was +the first to see and proclaim the necessity for a Clearing House. Be +that as it may, the Railway Clearing House, as a practical entity, came +into being in 1842. In the beginning it only embraced nine companies, +and six people were enough to do its work. The companies were:-- + + London and Birmingham, Midland Counties, Birmingham and Derby, North + Midland, Leeds and Selby, York and North Midland, Hull and Selby, + Great North of England, Manchester and Leeds. + +Not one of these has preserved its original name. All have been merged +in either the London and North-Western, the North-Eastern, the Midland or +the Lancashire and Yorkshire. + +At the present day the Clearing House consists of practically the whole +of the railway companies in the United Kingdom, though some of the small +and unimportant lines are outside its sphere. Ireland has a Railway +Clearing House of its own--established in the year 1848--to which +practically all Irish railway companies, and they are numerous, belong; +and the six principal Irish railways are members of the London Clearing +House. + +The English house, situated in Seymour Street, Euston Square, is an +extensive establishment, and accommodates 2,500 clerks. As I write, the +number under its roof is, by war conditions, reduced to about 900. +Serving with His Majesty's Forces are nearly 1,200, and about 400 have +been temporarily transferred to the railway companies, to the Government +service and to munition factories. + +In 1842, when the Clearing House first began, the staff, as I have said, +numbered six, and the companies nine. Fifty-eight railway companies now +belong to the House, and the amount of money dealt with by way of +division and apportionment in the year before the war was 31,071,910 +pounds. In 1842 it was 193,246 pounds. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. +FASHIONS AND MANNERS, VICTORIAN DAYS + + +The boy who is strong and healthy, overflowing with animal spirits, +enjoys life in a way that is denied to his slighter-framed, more delicate +brother. Exercise imparts to him a physical exuberance to which the +other is a stranger. But Nature is kind. If she withholds her gifts in +one direction she bestows them in another. She grants the enjoyment of +sedentary pursuits to those to whom she has denied hardier pleasures. + +During my schooldays I spent many happy hours alone with book or pen or +pencil. My father was fond of reading, and for a man of his limited +means, possessed a good collection of books; a considerable number of the +volumes of _Bohn's Standard Library_ as well as _Boswell's Life of +Johnson, Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Butler's Hudibras, Bailey's +Festus, Gil Blas, Don Quixote, Pilgrim's Progress, the Arabian Nights, +Shakespeare_, most of the poets from _Chaucer_ down; and of novels, +_Bulwer Lytton's, Scott's, Dickens_' and _Thackeray's_. These are the +books I best remember, but there were others of classic fame, and I read +them all; but not, I fear to much advantage, for though I have read many +books it has been without much method, just as fancy led, and study, +memory and judgment have been little considered. Still, unsystematic +reading is better than no reading, and, as someone has said, "a phrase +may fructify if it falls on receptive soil." + +I never in my boyhood or youth, except on short visits to relatives, +enjoyed the advantage, by living in the country, of becoming intimate +with rural life. We resided at Derby in a terrace on the outskirt of the +town, much to my dislike, for monotonous rows of houses I have ever +hated. One's home should be one's friend and possess some special +feature of its own, even in its outward aspect, to love and remember. As +George Eliot says: "We get the fonder of our houses if they have a +physiognomy of their own, as our friends have." + +In my schooldays, country walks, pursued as far as health and strength +allowed, were my greatest pleasure, sometimes taken alone, sometimes with +a companion. The quiet valley of the Trent at Repton, Anchor Church, +Knoll Hills, the long bridge at Swarkestone, the charming little country +town of Melbourne, the wooded beauties of Duffield and Belper, the ozier +beds of Spondon; how often have I trod their fields, their woods, their +lanes, their paths; and how pleasantly the memory of it all comes back to +me now! + +In those days fashions and manners differed greatly from those of to-day. +Ladies wore the crinoline (successor to the hoop of earlier times), +chignons and other absurdities, but had not ventured upon short skirts or +cigarettes. They were much given to blushing, now a lost art; and to +swooning, a thing of the past; the "vapours" of the eighteenth century +had, happily, vanished for ever; but athletic exercises, such as girls +enjoy to-day, were then undreamed of. Why has the pretty art of blushing +gone? One now never sees a blush to mantle on the cheek of beauty. Does +the blood of feminine youth flow steadier than it did, or has the more +unrestrained intercourse of the sexes banished the sweet consciousness +that so often brought the crimson to a maiden's face? The manners of +maidens had more of reserve and formality then. The off-hand style, the +nod of the head, the casual "how d'ye do," were unknown. Woman has not +now the same desire to appear always graceful; she adopts a manly gait, +talks louder, plays hockey, rides horseback astride, and boldly enters +hotel smoking rooms and railway smoking compartments without apology. + +When walking with a lady, old or young, in those days, the gentleman +would offer his arm and she would take it. The curtsey was still +observed but gradually disappearing. When about nineteen years of age, I +remember being introduced to one of the young beauties of the town, who I +had long secretly admired. She made me a profound and graceful +curtsey--feminine homage to my budding manhood. The first curtsey I +remember receiving, except of course in the stately ceremonies of the +dance. For many a day afterwards my cheek glowed with pleasure at the +recollection of that sweet obeisance. She became my sweetheart, +temporarily; but a born butterfly, she soon fluttered away, leaving me +disconsolate--_for a time_! + +Women then wrote a sloping hand, delicate penmanship, to distinguish them +from men; crossed and re-crossed their letters, and were greatly addicted +to postscripts. + +The men? Well, they wore mutton chop whiskers, or, if Nature was +bountiful, affected the Dundreary style, which gave a man great +distinction, and, if allied to good looks, made him perfectly +irresistible. They wore "Champagne Charley" coats, fancy waistcoats, +frilled-fronted shirts, relic of the lace and ruffles of Elizabeth's +days; velvet smoking caps, embroidered slippers, elastic-side boots and +chimney pot hats. + +At eighteen years of age I had my first frock coat and tall hat. Some of +my companions, happy youths! enjoyed this distinction at sixteen or +seventeen. These adornments were of course for Sunday wear; no weekday +clothes were worn on Sundays then. My frock coat was of West of England +broadcloth, shiny and smooth. Sunday attire was incomplete without light +kid gloves, lavender or lemon being the favourite shade for a young man +with any pretension to style. + +Next in importance to my first frock coat ranked my first portmanteau; it +was a present, and supplanted the carpet bag which, up to then, to my +profound disgust, I had to use on visits to my relatives. The +portmanteau was the sign of youth and progress; old-fashioned people +stuck to the carpet bag. + +Man's attire has changed for the better; and woman's, with all its +abbreviations and shortcomings, is, on the whole, more rational; though +in the domain of Fashion her _vagaries_ will last no doubt as long +as--woman is woman; and if ever that shall cease to be, the charm of life +will be over. + +With man the jacket suit, the soft hat, the soft shirt, the turn-down +collar, mark the transition from starch and stiffness to ease and +comfort; and Time in his course has brought no greater boon than this; +except, perhaps, the change that marks our funeral customs. In those +days, hatbands, gloves and scarves were provided by the bereaved family +to the relatives and friends who attended the obsequies; and all of +kinship close or remote, were invited from far and near. Hearse and +coaches and nodding plumes and mutes added to the expense, and many a +family of moderate means suffered terrible privation from the costliness +of these burial customs, which, happily, now are fast disappearing. + +Beds, in those days, were warmed with copper warming pans, and nightcaps +adorned the slumbering heads of both sexes. Spittoons were part of +ordinary household furniture. To colour a meerschaum was the ambition of +smokers, swearing was considered neither low nor vulgar, and snuffing was +fashionable. Many most respectable men chewed tobacco, and to carry +one's liquor well was a gentlemanly accomplishment. + +Garrotters pursued their calling, deterred only by the cat-o'-nine tails, +pickpockets abounded and burglaries were common. + +The antimacassar and the family album; in what veneration they were held! +The antimacassar, as its name implies, was designed to protect chairs and +couches from the disfiguring stains of macassar oil, then liberally used +in the adornment of the hair which received much attention. A parting, +of geometrical precision, at the back of the head was often affected by +men of dressy habits, who sometimes also wore a carefully arranged curl +at the front; and manly locks, if luxuriant enough, were not infrequently +permitted to fall in careless profusion over the collar of the coat. + +Of the family album I would rather not speak. It is scarcely yet +extinct. A respectable silence shall accompany its departing days. + +Perhaps these things may to some appear mere trivialities; but to recall +them awakens many memories, brings back thoughts of bygone days--days +illumined with the sunshine of Youth and Hope on which it is pleasant to +linger. As someone has finely said: "We lose a proper sense of the +richness of life if we do not look back on the scenes of our youth with +imagination and warmth." + + + + +CHAPTER V. +EARLY OFFICE LIFE + + +In the year 1867, at the age of sixteen, I became a junior clerk in the +Midland Railway at Derby, at a salary of 15 pounds a year. + +From pre-natal days I was destined for the railway service, as an oyster +to its shell. The possibility of any other vocation for his sons never +entered the mind of my father, nor the mind of many another father in the +town of Derby. + +My railway life began on a drizzling dismal day in the early autumn. My +father took me to the office in which I was to make a start and presented +me to the chief clerk. I was a tall, thin, delicate, shy, sensitive +youth, with curly hair, worn rather long, and I am sure I did not look at +all a promising specimen for encountering the rough and tumble of railway +work. + +The chief clerk handed me over to one of his assistants, who without +ceremony seated me on a tall stool at a high desk, and put before me, to +my great dismay, a huge pile of formidable documents which he called _Way +Bills_. He gave me some instructions, but I was too confused to +understand them, and too shy to ask questions. I only know that I felt +very miserable and hopelessly at sea. Visions of being dismissed as an +incompetent rose before me; but soon, to my great relief, it was +discovered that the Way Bills were too much for me and that I must begin +at more elementary duties. + +A few weeks afterwards, when I had found my feet a little, I was promoted +from the simple tasks assigned to me in consequence of my first failure +and attached to the goods-train-delays clerk, a long-bearded elderly man +with a very kind face. He was quite fatherly to me and took a great deal +of trouble in teaching me my work. With him I soon felt at ease, and was +happy in gaining his approbation. One thing found favour in his eyes; I +wrote a good clear hand and at fair speed. In those days penmanship was +a fine art. No cramped or sprawling writing passed muster. Typewriting +was not dreamed of, and, at Derby, shorthand had not appeared on the +scene. + +One or two other juniors and myself sedulously practised imitating the +penmanship of those senior clerks who wrote fine or singular hands. At +this I was particularly successful and proud of my skill, until one day +the chief clerk detained me after closing time, gave me a good rating, +and warned me to stop such a dangerous habit which might lead, he said, +to the disgrace of forgery. He spoke so seriously and shook his head so +wisely that (to use Theodore Hook's old joke) "I thought there must be +something in it," and so, for a long while, I gave up the practice. + +Office hours in those days were nominally from nine till six, but for the +juniors especially often much longer. In 1868 or 1869, 1 do not remember +which, a welcome change took place; the hours were reduced to from nine +till five, and arrangements made for avoiding late hours for the juniors. +This early closing was the result of an "appeal unto Caesar." The +clerical staff in all the offices had combined and presented a petition +in the highest quarter. The boon was granted, and I remember the wave of +delight that swept over us, and how we enjoyed the long summer evenings. +It was in the summer time the change took place. + +Combined action amongst railway employees was not common then, not even +in the wage-earning class, but Trade Unionism, scarcely yet legalised, +was clamouring for recognition. Strikes sometimes occurred but were not +frequent. + +In 1867 Mr. James Allport was general manager of the Midland Railway, Mr. +Thomas Walklate the goods manager and Mr. William Parker head of the +department in which I began my railway life. Ned Farmer was a notable +Midland man at that time; notable for his bucolic appearance, his genial +personality, and, most of all, for the well-known songs he wrote. He was +in charge of the company's horses, bought them, fed them, cared for them. +He was a big-bodied, big-hearted, ruddy-faced, farmerlike man of fifty or +so; and the service was proud of him. He had a great sense of humour and +used to tell many an amusing story. One morning, he told us, he had been +greatly tickled by a letter which he had received from one of his +inspectors whose habit it was to conclude every letter and report with +the words "to oblige." The letter ran: "Dear Sir, I beg to inform you +that Horse No. 99 died last night to oblige Yours truly, John Smith." He +wrote the fine poem of "_Little Jim_," which everyone knew, and which +almost every boy and girl could recite. His then well-known song, "_My +old Wife's a good old cratur_," was very popular and was sung throughout +the Midlands. The publication of his poems and songs was attended with +great success. His Muse was simple, homely, humorous, pathetic and +patriotic, and made a strong appeal to the natural feelings of ordinary +folk. Often it was inspired by incidents and experiences in his daily +life. His desk was in the same office as that in which I worked, and I +was very proud of the notice he took of me, and grateful for many +kindnesses he showed to me. + +After spending twelve months or so in Mr. Parker's office, I was removed +to another department. The office to which I was assigned had about +thirty clerks, all of whom, except the chief clerk, occupied tall stools +at high desks. + +I was one of two assistants to a senior clerk. This senior was middle- +aged, and passing rich on eighty pounds a year. A quiet, steady, +respectable married man, well dressed, cheerful, contented, he had by +care and economy, out of his modest salary, built for himself a snug +little double-breasted villa, in a pleasant outskirt of the town, where +he spent his spare hours in his garden and enjoyed a comfortable and +happy life. + +Except the chief clerk, whose salary was about 160 pounds, I do not +believe there was another whose pay exceeded 100 pounds a year. The real +head of the office, or _department_ it was called, was not the chief +clerk but one who ranked higher still and was styled _Head of +Department_, and he received a salary of about 300 pounds. Moderate +salaries prevailed, but the sovereign was worth much more then than now, +while wants were fewer. Beer was threepence the pint and tobacco +threepence the ounce, and beer we drank but never whiskey or wine; and +pipes we smoked but not cigars. + +This chief clerk was an amiable rather ladylike person, with small hands +and feet and well-arranged curly hair. He was quick and clever and work +sat lightly upon him. Quiet and good natured, when necessity arose he +never failed to assert his authority. We all respected him. His young +wife was pretty and pleasant, which was in his favour too. + +The office was by no means altogether composed of steady specimens of +clerkdom, but had a large admixture of lively sparks who, though they +would never set the Thames on fire, brightened and enlivened our +surroundings. + +There was one, a literary genius, who had entered the service, I believe +by influence, for influence and patronage were in those days not unknown. +He wrote in his spare time the pantomime for a Birmingham theatre; and +there constantly fluttered from his desk and circulated through the +office, little scraps of paper containing quips and puns and jokes in +prose or verse, or acrostics from his prolific pen. One clever acrostic +upon the office boy, which has always remained in my memory, I should +like for its delicate irony (worthy of Swift himself) to reproduce; but +as that promising youth may still be in the service I feel I had better +not, as irony sometimes wounds. For some time we had in the office an +Apollo--a very Belvidere. He was a glory introduced into railway life by +I know not what influence and disappeared after a time I know not where +or why. A marvel of manly strength and grace and beauty, thirty years of +age or so, and faultlessly dressed. Said to be aristocratically +connected, he was the admiration of all and the darling of the young +ladies of Derby. He lodged in fashionable apartments, smoked expensive +cigars, attended all public amusements, was affable and charming, but +reticent about himself. Why he ever came amongst us none ever knew; it +was a mystery we never fathomed. He left as he came, a mystery still. + +There was an oldish clerk whom we nicknamed _Gumpots_. This bore some +resemblance to his surname, but there were other reasons which led to the +playful designation and which I think justified it. + +There was another scribe of quite an elegant sort: a perambulating +tailor's dummy; a young man, well under thirty. He was good-looking, as +far as regularity of features and a well-formed figure went, but mentally +not much to boast of. He lounged about the station platform and the town +displaying his faultlessly fitting fashionable clothes. They always +looked new, and as his salary was not more than 70 pounds a year, and his +parents, with whom he lived, were poor, the story that he was provided +gratis by an enterprising tailor in town with these suits, on condition +that he exhibited himself constantly in public, and told whenever he +could who was his outfitter, received general credence, and I believe was +true. He was never known to hurry, mingled little with men and less with +women, but moved along in a stiff tailor-dummy fashion with a sort of +self-conscious air which seemed to say, "Look at my figure and my +clothes, how stylish they are!" + +I remember a senior clerk in the office where I first worked to whom +there was a general aversion. He was the only clerk who was really +disliked, for all the others, old or young, serious or gay, steady or +rackety, had each some pleasant quality. This unfortunate fellow had +none. He was small, mean, cunning, a sneak and a mischief maker. He +carried tales, told lies, and tried to make trouble, for no reason but to +gratify his inclinations. He was a dark impish looking fellow, as lean +as Cassius and as crafty and envious as Iago. The chief clerk, to his +credit be it said, gave a deaf ear to his tales, and his craft and +cunning obtained him little beyond our detestation. + +In our own office about half our number were youths and single men and +about half were married. Our youngest benedict was not more than +eighteen years of age, and his salary only 45 pounds a year. On this +modest income for a time the young couple lived. It was a runaway match; +on the girl's part an elopement from school. They lived in apartments, +kept by an old lady, a widow who, being a woman, loved a bit of romance, +and was very kind to them. He was a manly young fellow, a sportsman and +renowned at cricket, and she was amiable and pretty, a little blonde +beauty. The parents were well to do, and in due time forgave the +imprudent match. At this we all rejoiced for he was a general favourite. + +Looking back now it seems to me the office staff was in some ways a +curious collection and very different to the clerks of to-day. Many of +them had not entered railway life until nearly middle-age and they had +not assimilated as an office staff does now, when all join as youths and +are brought up together. They were original, individual, not to say +eccentric. Whilst our office included certain steady married clerks, who +worked hard and lived ordinary middle-class respectable lives, and some +few bachelors of quiet habit, the rest were a lively set indeed, by no +means free from inclinations to coarse conviviality and many of them +spendthrift, reckless and devil-may-care. At pay-day, which occurred +monthly, most of these merry wights, after receiving their pay, betook +themselves to the _Midland Tap_ or other licensed house and there +indulged, for the remainder of the afternoon, in abundant beer, pouring +down glass after glass; in Charles Lamb's inimitable words: "the second +to see where the first has gone, the third to see no harm happens to the +second, a fourth to say there is another coming, and a fifth to say he is +not sure he is the last." Some of the merriest of them would not return +to the office that day but extend their carouse far into the night; to +sadly realise next day that it was "the morning after the night before." + +I do not think our ladylike chief clerk ever indulged in these orgies, +but I never knew more than the mildest remonstrance being made by him or +by anyone in authority. + +Pay-day was also the time for squaring accounts. "The human species," +Charles Lamb says, "is composed of two distinct races, the men who borrow +and the men who lend." This was true of our office, but no equal +division prevailed as the borrowers predominated and the lenders, the +prudent, were a small minority. A general settlement took place monthly, +after which a new period began--by the borrowers with joyous unconcern. +"Take no thought for the morrow" was a maxim dear to the heart of these +knights of the pen. + +Swearing, as I have said, was not considered low or vulgar or unbecoming +a gentleman. There was a senior clerk of some standing and position, a +married man of thirty-five or forty years of age, who gloried in it. His +expletives were varied, vivid and inexhaustible, and the turbid stream +was easily set flowing. Had he lived a century earlier he might have +been put in the stocks for his profanity, a punishment which magistrates +were then, by Act of Parliament, empowered to inflict. He was a strange +individual. _Long Jack_ he was called. He is not in this world now so I +may write of him with freedom. + +No one's enemy but his own, he was kindly, good-natured, generous to a +fault, but devil-may-care and reckless; and, at any one's expense, or at +any cost to himself, would have his fling and his joke. + +It was from his lankiness and length of limb that he was called "_Long +Jack_." He stood about six feet six in his boots. He must have had +means of his own, as he lived in a way far beyond the reach of even a +senior clerk of the first degree. How he came to be in a railway office, +or, being in, retained his place, was a matter of wonder. Sad to tell, +he had a little daughter, five or six years of age; his only child, a +sweet, blue-eyed golden-haired little fairy, who, never corrected, +imitated her father's profanity, and apparently to his great delight. He +treated it as a joke, as he treated everything. _Long Jack_ loved to +scandalise the town by his eccentricities. He would compound with the +butcher, to drive his fast trotting horse and trap and deliver their +joints, their steaks and kidneys to astonished customers, or arrange with +the milkman to dispense the early morning milk, donning a milkman's +smock, and carrying two milk-pails on foot. I remember one _Good Friday_ +morning when he perambulated the town with a donkey cart and sold, at an +early hour, hot cross buns at the houses of his friends, afterwards +gleefully boasting of having made a good profit on the morning's +business. In the sixties and early seventies throughout the clerical +staff of the Midland Railway were many who had not been brought up as +clerks, who, somehow or other had drifted into the service, whose early +avocations had been of various kinds, and whose appearance, habits and +manners imparted a picturesqueness to office life which does not exist to- +day, and among these. _Long Jack_ was a prominent, but despite his +joviality, it seems to me a pathetic figure. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. +FRIENDSHIP + + +Delicate health, as I have said, was my lot from childhood. After about +eighteen months of office work I had a long and serious illness and was +away from duty for nearly half a year. The latter part of the time I +spent in the Erewash Valley, at the house of an uncle who lived near Pye +Bridge. I was then under eighteen, growing fast, and when convalescing +the country life and country air did me lasting good. Though a colliery +district the valley is not devoid of rural beauty; to me it was pleasant +and attractive and I wandered about at will. + +One day I had a curious experience. In my walk I came across the +Cromford Canal where it enters a tunnel that burrows beneath coal mines. +At the entrance to the tunnel a canal barge lay. The bargees asked would +I like to go through with them? "How long is it?" said I, and "how long +will it take?" "Not long," said bargee, "come on!" "Right!" said I. The +tunnel just fitted the barge, scarcely an inch to spare; the roof was so +low that a man lying on his back on a plank placed athwart the vessel, +with his feet against the roof, propelled the boat along. This was the +only means of transit and our progress was slow and dreary. It was a +journey of Cimmerian darkness; along a stream fit for Charon's boat. +About halfway a halt was made for dinner, but I had none. Although I was +cold and hungry the bargees' hospitality did not include a share of their +bread and cheese but they gave me a drink of their beer. The tunnel is +two miles long, and was drippingly wet. Several hours passed before we +emerged, not into sunshine but into the open, under a clouded sky and +heavy rain which had succeeded a bright forenoon. I was nearly five +miles from my uncle's house, lightly clad, hungry and tired. To my +friends ever since I have not failed to recommend the passage of the +Butterley tunnel as a desirable pleasure excursion. + +When I returned to work my health was greatly improved and a small +advancement in my position in the office made the rest of my time at +Derby more agreeable, though, to tell the truth, I often jibbed at the +drudgery of the desk and the monotony of writing pencilled-out letters +which was now my daily task. Set tasks, dull routine, monotonous duty I +ever hated. + +About this time shorthand was introduced into the railway. A public +teacher of Pitman's phonography had established himself in Derby, and the +Midland engaged him to conduct classes for the junior clerks. It was not +compulsory to attend the classes, but inducements to do so were held out. +A special increase of salary was promised to those who attained a certain +proficiency, and a further reward was offered; the two clerks who earned +most marks and, in the teacher's opinion, reached the highest +proficiency, were to be appointed assistants to the teacher and paid +eight shillings weekly during future shorthand sessions, in addition to +the special increase of salary. It was a great prize and keen was the +contest. I had the good fortune to be one of the two; and the praise I +got, and the benefit of the money made me contented for a time. My +companion in this success, I am glad to know, is to-day alive and well, +and like myself, a superannuated member of society. In his day he was a +notable athlete, at one time bicycling champion of the Midland counties; +and his prowess was won on the obsolete velocipede, with its one great +wheel in front and a very small wheel behind. + +A shorthand writer, my work was now to take down letters from dictation, +a remove only for the better from the old way of writing from pencilled +drafts. + +Now it was that I made my first sincere and lasting friendship, a +friendship true and deep, but which was destined to last for only ten +short years. Tom was never robust and Death's cold hand closed all too +soon a loveable and useful life. Our friendship was close and intimate, +such as is formed in the warmth of youth and which the grave alone +dissolves. To me, during those short years, it lent brightness and +gaiety to existence; and, in the days that have followed, its memory has +been, and is now, a rich possession. + +With both Tom and me it was friendship at first sight, and nothing until +the final severance came ever disturbed its course. He came from Lincoln +and joined the office I was in. He was two years my senior and had the +advantage of several years' experience in station work which I had not. +We were much alike in our tastes and habits, yet there was enough of +difference between us to impart a relish to our friendship. Indifferent +health, for he was delicate too, was one of the bonds between us. We +were both fond of reading, of quiet walks and talks, and we hated crowds. +He was a good musician, played the piano; but the guitar was the +favourite accompaniment to his voice, a clear sweet tenor, and he sang +well. I was not so susceptible to the "concord of sweet sounds" as he +was, but could draw a little, paint a little, string rhymes together; and +so we never failed to amuse and interest each other. He was impulsive, +clever, quick of temper, ingenuous, and indignant at any want of truth or +candour in others; generous to a fault and tender hearted as a woman. I +was more patient than he, slower in wrath, yet we sometimes quarrelled +over trifles but, like lovers, were quickly reconciled; and after these +little explosions always better friends than ever. + +At Derby, for three years or so, we were inseparable. What walks we had, +what talks, "what larks, Pip!" Dickens we adored. How we talked of him +and his books! How we longed to hear him read, but his public readings +had ended, his voice for ever become mute and a nation mourned the loss +of one who had moved it to laughter and to tears. Tom had a wonderful +memory. He would recite page after page from _Pickwick, David +Copperfield, Barnaby Rudge_ or _Great Expectations_, as well as from +_Shakespeare_ and our favourite poets. He was fond of the pathetic, but +the humorous moved him most, and his lively gifts were welcome wherever +we went. + +Our favourite walk on Saturday afternoons was to the pleasant village of +Kedleston, some five miles from Derby, and to its fine old inn, which to +us was not simply the _Kedleston Inn_ and nothing more but Dickens' +_Maypole_ and nothing less. We revelled in its resemblance, or its +fancied resemblance to the famous old hostelry kept by old John Willet. +Something in the building itself, though I cannot say that, like the +_Maypole_, it had "more gable ends than a lazy man would like to count on +a sunny day," and something in its situation, and something in the +cronies who gathered in its comfortable bar, and something in the bar +itself combined to form the pleasant illusion in which we indulged. The +bar, like the _Maypole_ bar, was snug and cosy and complete. Its rustic +visitors were not so solemn and slow of speech as old John Willet and Mr. +Cobb and long Phil Parkes and Solomon Daisy, "who would pass two mortal +hours and a half without any of them speaking a single word, and who were +firmly convinced that they were very jovial companions;" but they were as +reticent and stolid and good natured as such simple country gaffers are +wont to be. + +I remember in particular one Saturday afternoon in late October. It was +almost the last walk I had with Tom in Derby. The day was perfect; as +clear and bright, as mellow and crisp, as rich in colour, as only an +October day in England can be. We reached the _Maypole_ between five and +six o'clock. No young Joe Willet or gipsy Hugh was there to welcome us, +but we were soon by our two selves in a homely little room, beside a +cheerful fire, at a table spread with tea and ham and eggs and buttered +toast and cakes--our weekly treat. + +When this delightful meal was over, a stroll as far as the church and the +stately Hall of the Curzons, back to the inn, an hour or so in the snug +bar with the village worthies, who welcomed our almost weekly visits and +the yarns we brought from Derby town; then back home by the broad +highway, under the star-lit sky--an afternoon and an evening to be ever +remembered. + +The _Kedleston Inn_, I am told, no longer exists; no longer greets the +eye of the wayfarer, no longer welcomes him to its pleasant bar. Now it +is a farmhouse. No youthful enthusiast can now be beguiled into calling +it _The Maypole_; and, indeed, in these unromantic days, though it had +remained unchanged, there would be little danger of this I think. + +Soon after this memorable day Tom left the service of the Midland for a +more lucrative situation with a mercantile firm in Glasgow, and I was +left widowed and alone. For six months or more we had been living +together in the country, some four miles from Derby, in the house of the +village blacksmith. It was a pretty house, stood a little apart from the +forge, and was called Rock Villa. I wonder if the present Engineer-in- +Chief of the Midland Railway recollects a little incident connected with +it. He (now Chief Engineer then a well grown youth of eighteen or +nineteen) was younger than I, and was preparing for the engineering +profession in which he has succeeded so well. He lived with his parents +very near to Rock Villa, and one day, for some reason or other, we said +we would each of us make a sketch of Rock Villa, afterwards compare them, +and let his sister decide which was the better, so we set to work and did +our best. In the matter of correct drawing his, I am sure, far surpassed +mine, but the young lady decided in my favour, perhaps because my +production looked more picturesque and romantic than his! + +When Tom had gone I became dissatisfied with my work, and a +disappointment which I suffered at being passed over in some office +promotions increased that dissatisfaction. I was an expert shorthand +writer and this seemed to be the only reason for keeping me back from +better work, so at least I thought, and I think so still. My sense of +injustice was touched; and I determined I would, like Tom, if the +opportunity served, seek my fortune elsewhere. The chance I longed for +came. I paid a short visit to Tom, and whilst in Glasgow, obtained the +post of private clerk to the Stores Superintendent of the Caledonian +Railway, and on the last day of the year 1872, I left the Midland +Railway, to the service of which I had been as it were born, in which my +father and uncles and cousins served, against the wish of my father, and +to the surprise of my relatives. But I had reached man's estate, and +felt a pride in going my own way, and in seeking, unassisted, my fortune, +whatever it might be. + +What had I learned in my first five years of railway work? Not very +much; the next few years were to be far more fruitful; but I had acquired +some business habits; a practical acquaintance with shorthand, which was +yet to stand me in good stead; some knowledge of rates and fares, their +nature and composition, which was also to be useful to me in after life; +some familiarity with the compilation of time-tables and the working of +trains; but of practical knowledge of work at stations I was quite +ignorant. + +Thus equipped, without the parental blessing, with little money in my +purse, with health somewhat improved but still delicate, I bade good-bye +to Derby, light-hearted enough, and hopeful enough, and journeyed north +to join my friend Tom, and to make my way as best I could in the +commercial capital of "bonnie Scotland." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. +RAILWAY PROGRESS + + +Before entering upon any description of the new life that awaited me in +Glasgow, I will briefly allude to the principal events connected with the +Midland and with railways generally which took place during the first +five years of my railway career. + +Closely associated with many of these events was Mr. James Allport, the +Midland general manager, one of the foremost and ablest of the early +railway pioneers, regarding whom it is fit and proper a few words should +be said. Strangely enough I never saw him until nearly two years after I +entered the Midland service, and this was on the occasion of a visit of +the Prince and Princess of Wales to Derby. We clerks were allowed good +positions on the station platform to witness the arrival of their Royal +Highnesses by their special train from London. Mr. Allport accompanied +them along the platform to the carriages outside the station. Probably +the chairman and directors of the company were also present, but our eyes +were not for them. Directors were to us junior clerks, remote +personalities, mythical beings dwelling on Olympian heights. + +[Sir James Allport: allport.jpg] + +It was a great thing to see the future King and Queen of England, and our +loyalty and enthusiasm knew no bounds. They were young and charming, and +beloved by the people; but, hero worshipper as I was, our great general +manager was to me even more than royalty. I little thought, as I looked +on Mr. Allport then, that, twenty years later, I should appear before him +to give evidence concerning Irish railways, when he was chairman of an +important Royal Commission. + +The great abilities which enable a man to win and hold such a position as +his fired my fancy. I look at men and men's affairs with different eyes +now; but Mr. Allport was a great personality, and youthful enthusiasm +might well be excused for placing him on a high pedestal. He was tall +and handsome, with well-shaped head, broad brow, large clear keen eyes, +firm well-formed mouth, strong nose and chin, possessed of an abundant +head of hair, not close cropped in the style of to-day, but full and +wavy, and what one never sees now, a handsome natural curl along the +centre of the head with a parting on each side. This suited him well, +and added to his distinctive individuality. When I entered the Midland +service he was fifty-six years of age and in the plenitude of his power, +for those were days when the company was forcing its way north and south +and widely extending its territory. He was the animating spirit of all +the company's enterprises. No opposition, no difficulties ever daunted +him. His nature was bold and fitted to command, and to him is due, in a +large degree, the proud position the Midland holds to-day. It was not +until late in life, 1884 I think, when he had reached the age of seventy- +two, that his great qualities were accorded public recognition. He then +received the honour of knighthood but had retired from active service and +become a director of his company. + +There was another personality that loomed large, in those years, on the +Midland--Samuel Swarbrick, the accountant. His world was finance, and in +it he was a master. So great was his skill that the Great Eastern +Railway Company, which, financially, was in a parlous condition and their +dividend _nil_, in 1866 took him from the Midland and made him their +general manager, at, in those days, a princely salary. Their confidence +was fully justified; his skill brought the company, if not to absolute +prosperity, at least to a dividend-paying condition, and laid the +foundation of the position that company now occupies. + +His reputation as a man of figures stood as I have just said very high, +but, whilst I was at Derby, and before he moved to the Great Eastern, he +was prominent also as the happy possessor of the best coloured meerschaum +pipes in the county, and this, in those days, was no small distinction. +But a man does not achieve greatness by his own unaided efforts. Others, +his subordinates, help him to climb the ladder. It was so with Mr. +Swarbrick. There was a tall policeman in the service of the company, the +possessor of a fine figure, and a splendid long sandy-coloured beard. His +primary duty was to air himself at the front entrance of the station +arrayed in a fine uniform and tall silk hat, and this duty he +conscientiously performed. Secondarily, his occupation was to start the +colouring of new meerschaums for Mr. Swarbrick. Non-meerschaum smokers +may not know what a delicate task this is, but once well begun the rest +is comparatively easy. The tall policeman was an artist at the work; but +it nearly brought him to a tragic end, as I will relate. + +Outside Derby station was a ticket platform at which all incoming trains +stopped for the collection of tickets. This platform was on a bridge +that crossed the river. One Saturday night our fine policeman was airing +himself on this platform, colouring a handsome new meerschaum for Mr. +Swarbrick. It was a windy night and a sudden gust blew his tall hat into +the river, and after it unfortunately dropped the meerschaum. Hat and +pipe both! Without a moment's hesitation in plunged the policeman to the +rescue; but the river was deep and he an indifferent swimmer. The night +was dark and he was not brought to land till life had nearly left him. He +recovered, but lost his sight and became blind for the rest of his life. +Mr. Swarbrick provided for him, I believe, by setting him up in a small +public house, where, I am told, despite his loss of sight, he ended his +days not unhappily. + +In 1867, compared with 1851, the Midland had made giant strides. It +worked a thousand miles of railway against five hundred; its capital had +doubled and reached thirty-two millions, about one-fourth of what it is +to-day; its revenue had risen from about a million to over a million and +a half; and the dividend was five and a half compared with two and five- +eighths per cent. + +The opening of the Midland route to Saint Pancras; the projection of the +Settle and Carlisle line; the introduction of Pullman cars, parlour +saloons, sleeping and dining cars; the adoption of gas and electricity +for the lighting of carriages; the running of third-class carriages by +all trains; the abolition of second-class and reduction of first-class +fares; and the establishment of superannuation funds were amongst the +most striking events in the railway world during this period. + +On the first day of October, 1868, the first passenger train ran into +Saint Pancras station, and the Midland competition for London traffic now +began in earnest, and from that time onward helped to develop those +magnificent rival passenger train services between the Metropolis and +England's busy centres and between England and Scotland and Ireland, +which, for luxury, speed and comfort, stand pre-eminent. Prior to this, +the Midland access to London had been by the exercise of running powers +over the Great Northern Railway from Hitchin to King's Cross. The Great +Northern, reluctant to lose the Midland, and fearing their rivalry, had, +a few years previously, offered them running powers in perpetuity. "No," +said Mr. Allport, "it is impossible that you can reconcile the interests +of these two great companies on the same railway; we are always only +_second-best_." Second-best certainly never suited the ambitious policy +of the Midland, and so the offer was rejected, and their line to London +made. It was at that time thought that the Midland headquarters would be +removed from Derby to London, and I remember how excited the clerical +staff and their wives and sweethearts were at the prospect. The idea was +seriously considered but, for various reasons, abandoned. + +The Settle and Carlisle line, perhaps the greatest achievement of the +Midland, was not completed until sometime after I left their service. It +was opened in the year 1875. In 1866 they obtained the Act for its +construction. For some years their eyes had been as eagerly turned +towards Scotland as the eyes of Scotchmen had ever been towards England, +and for the same reason--the hope of gain. The Midland had hitherto been +excluded from any proper share of the Scotch traffic, but now having +secured the right to extend their system to Carlisle, they hoped to join +forces with their allies, the Glasgow and South-Western, and secure a +fair share of it. But "there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip," +and in 1869 in a fit of timidity--a weakness most unusual with them--they +nearly lost this valuable right. The year 1867 was a time of great +financial anxiety; the Midland was weighted with heavy expenditure on +their London extension, the necessity for further capital became clamant, +the shareholders were seized with alarm, and a shareholders' consultative +committee was appointed, with the result that, in 1869, the company, +badgered and worried beyond endurance, actually applied to Parliament for +power to abandon the Settle and Carlisle line, and for authority to enter +into an agreement with the London and North-Western for access over that +company's railway to Carlisle. That power and authority, however, +Parliament, _in its wisdom_, refused to give. + +The financial clouds, as all clouds do, after a time dispersed; the +outlook grew brighter, the Midland made the line, and it was opened, as I +have said, throughout to Carlisle in 1875. + +In the autumn of 1872 Mr. Allport visited the United States and was +greatly impressed with the Pullman cars. On his return he introduced +them on the Midland, both the parlour car and the sleeper. About the +same time the London and North-Western also commenced the running of +sleeping cars to Scotland and to Holyhead. To which company belongs the +credit of being first in the field with this most desirable additional +accommodation for the comfort of passengers I am not prepared to say; +perhaps honors were easy. + +But the greatest innovation of the time were the running by the Midland +of third-class carriages by all trains; and the abolition of second-class +carriages and fares, accompanied by a reduction of the first-class fares. +The first event took place in 1872, but the latter not till 1875. The +first was a democratic step indeed, and aroused great excitement. +Williams, in his book _The Midland Railway_, wrote, "On the last day of +March, 1872, we remarked to a friend: 'To-morrow morning the Midland will +be the most popular railway in England.' Nor did we incur much risk by +our prediction. For on that day the Board had decided that on and after +the first of April, they would run third-class carriages by all trains; +the wires had flashed the tidings to the newspapers, the bills were in +the hands of the printers, and on the following morning the Directors +woke to find themselves famous." At a later period, Mr. Allport said, if +there was one part of his public life on which he looked back with more +satisfaction than another it was the time when this boon was conferred on +third-class passengers. + +When we contemplate present conditions of third-class travel it is hard +to realise what they were before this change took place; slow speed, +delays and discomfort; bare boards; hard seats; shunting of third-class +trains into sidings and waiting there for other trains, sometimes even +goods trains, to pass. Mr. Allport might well be proud of the part he +played. + +Another matter which concerned, not so much the public as the welfare of +the clerical staff of the railways, was the establishment of +Superannuation Funds; yet the public was interested too, for the +interests of the railway service and the general community are closely +interwoven. Up till now station masters and clerks had struggled on +without prospect of any provision for their old age. Their pay was +barely sufficient to enable them to maintain a respectable position in +life and afforded no margin for providing for the future. + +At last, the principal railway companies, with the consent of their +shareholders, and with Parliamentary sanction, established Superannuation +Funds, which ever since have brought comfort and security to their +officers and clerical staff, and have proved of benefit to the companies +themselves. A pension encourages earlier retirement from work, quickens +promotion, and vitalises the whole service. On nearly all railways +retirement is optional at sixty and compulsory at sixty-five. + +The London and North-Western was the first company to adopt the system of +superannuation, the London and South-Western second, the Great Western +came third, the Midland fourth, and other companies followed in their +wake. + +In 1873 the Railway Clearing House obtained Parliamentary power to form a +fund for its staff, with permission to railway companies not large enough +to successfully run funds of their own, and also to the Irish Railway +Clearing House, to become partners in this fund. The Irish Clearing +House took advantage of this, as also have many railway companies, and +practically the whole of the clerical service throughout the United +Kingdom can to-day look forward to the benefits of superannuation. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +SCOTLAND, GLASGOW LIFE, AND THE CALEDONIAN LINE. + + +On the last day of December, in the year 1872, between seven and eight +o'clock in the evening, I arrived at Glasgow by the Caledonian train from +Carlisle, and was met at Buchanan Street Station by my good friend Tom. + +After supper we repaired to the streets to see the crowds that congregate +on _Hogmanhay_, to make acquaintance with the mysteries of +"first-footin'," and to join in ushering in the "guid new year." It was +a stirring time, for Scotchmen encounter their _Hogmanhay_ with ardent +_spirits_. They are as keen in their pleasures as in their work. Compare +for instance their country dances with ours. As Keats, in his letters +from Scotland says, "it is about the same as leisurely stirring a cup o' +tea and beating up a batter pudding." The public houses and bars were +driving a lively trade, but "Forbes Mackenzie" was in force, and come +eleven o'clock, though it were a hundred _Hogmanhays_, they all had to +close. We met some new-made friends of Tom's and joined in their +conviviality. I was the dark complexioned man of the party, and as a +"first-footer" in great request. We did not go home till morning, and +reached there a little hilarious ourselves, but it was our first +_Hogmanhay_ and may be forgiven. + +Dear reader, did you ever lie in a _concealed bed_? It is a Scottish +device cunningly contrived to murder sleep. At least so Tom and I found +it. It was my fate to sleep, to lie I should say, in one for several +weeks. Its purpose is to economise space, and like Goldsmith's chest of +drawers, it is "contrived a double debt to pay," a sleeping room by +night, a sitting room by day. + +Whilst Glasgow is a city of _flats_ its people are resourceful and +energetic. Keen and canny, they drive a close bargain but, scrupulous +and conscientious, fulfil it faithfully. Proud of their city and its +progress, its industries and manufactures, its civic importance, they are +a little disdainful perhaps, perhaps a little jealous, of their beautiful +elder sister, Edinburgh. Glasgow is the Belfast of Scotland! + +Self-contained houses are the exception and are limited to the well-to- +do. The flat, in most cases, means a restricted number of apartments, +insufficient bedroom accommodation, and the _concealed bed_ is Glasgow's +way of solving the difficulty. + +Tom and I did not take kindly to our hole in the wall, and soon found +other lodgings where space was not so circumscribed, and where we could +sleep in an open bed in an open room. + +Our new quarters were a great success; a ground-floor flat with a fine +front door; a large well-furnished sitting room with two windows looking +out on to the street, and an equally large double-bedded room at the back +of the sitting room. Our landlady, a kind, motherly, canny Scotchwoman, +looked after us well and favoured us with many a bit of good advice: "You +must be guid laddies, and tak care o' the bawbees; you maun na eat +butchers' meat twice the week; tak plenty o' parritch and dinna be +extravagant." Economy with the good old soul was a cardinal virtue, +waste a deadly sin. I fear she was often shocked at our easy Saxon ways, +though Tom and I thought ourselves models of thrift. + +Once, it was on a Sunday, Tom and I, with a party of friends, had had a +very long walk, a regular pedestrian excursion, thirty miles, there or +thereabouts, to use a Scotticism, and poor Tom was quite knocked up and +confined to bed for several days. Our good old landlady was greatly +shocked; a strict Sabbatarian, she knew it was a punishment for "breakin' +the Sabbath; why had na ye gane to the kirk like guid laddies?" We +modestly reminded her that we always did go, excepting of course on this +particular Sunday. "Then whit business had ye to stay awa on ony +Sabbath?" We had nothing to say in answer to this. The dear old +creature was really shocked at our backsliding; but she nursed Tom very +tenderly all the same. + +When the sultry heat of summer came we found Glasgow very trying, and +though sorry to leave our good landlady, moved into the country, to +Cambuslang, a village some four miles from the city, which was then +becoming a favourite residential resort. + +At Cambuslang I made the acquaintance and became the friend of _Cynicus_, +the humorous artist whose satirical sketches have, for many years, been +well-known and well sold in England, in Scotland and in Ireland too. He +was then a youth of about twenty. Longing to see the world and without +the necessary means, he emulated Goldsmith, made a prolonged tour in +France and Italy supporting himself not by his flute nor by disputations, +but by his brush and palette. For a few weeks at a time he worked in +towns or cities, sold what he painted, and then, with purse replenished, +wandered on. He and I were living "doon the watter," at Dunoon, on the +Clyde, one summer month. A Fancy Dress Bazaar was on at the time. The +first evening we went to it, and he, unobserved, made furtive sketches of +the most prominent people and the prettiest girls. We both sat up all +that night, he working at and finishing the sketches. Next morning by +the first boat and first train, we took them to Glasgow, had six hundred +lithographic copies struck off; back post-haste to Dunoon; in the evening +to the Bazaar, and sold the copies at threepence each. It was an immense +success; we could have disposed of twice the number; every pretty girl's +admirer wanted a copy of her picture, and the portraits of the presiding +"meenister" and of the good-looking unmarried curate were eagerly +purchased by fond mammas and adoring daughters. We had our fun, and +cleared besides a profit of nearly four pounds sterling. This financial +_coup_ would not have come off so well but for the warm-hearted +co-operation of our railway printers, McCorquodale and Coy. They, good +people, entered into our exploit with a will, did their part well, and +made little if any profit, generously leaving that to _Cynicus_ and +myself. + +To his mother, like many another clever son, _Cynicus_ owed his talent. +She was a woman of great intellectual endowment, with highly cultivated +literary tastes. Her memory was remarkable and her conversational powers +very great. She read much and thought deeply. In a modest way her +parlour, which attracted many young people of literary and artistic +leanings, recalled the _Salons_ of France of a century ago. She +entertained charmingly with tea and cakes and delightful talk. Of +strong, firm, decided character, she might, perhaps, have been thought a +little deficient in womanly gentleness had not genuine kindness of heart, +motherly feeling, and a happy humour lent a softness to her features and +imparted to them a particular charm. She exercised an authority over her +household which inspired respect and contrasted strikingly with the easy- +going parental ways of to-day. There were other sons and there were +daughters also, all more or less gifted, but _Cynicus_ was the genius of +the family--its bright particular star. + +The various lodgings of my bachelor days was never quite of the +conventional sort. The Cambuslang quarters certainly were not. The +house was large and old-fashioned. Originally it had been two smallish +houses: the two front doors still remained side by side, but only one was +used. The rooms on the ground floor were small, the original building +composed of one storey only, but another had been added of quite spacious +dimensions. We had two excellent, large well-furnished rooms upstairs. +The landlady was an interesting character and so was her husband. She +was Irish, he Scotch; she about seventy years of age, he under fifty; she +ruddy, healthy, hearty, good-looking; he, pale, nervous, shy, retiring. +But on the last Thursday of each month he was quite another man. On that +day he went to Glasgow to collect the rents of some small houses he +owned; and generally came home rather "fou" and hilarious, when the old +lady would take him in hand, and put him to bed. + +They had an only child, a son, a grown up man, an uncouth ill-looking +ungainly fellow, who did no work, smoked and loafed about, but was the +idol of his mother. He resembled neither parent in the least, and, +except that such vagaries of nature are not unknown, it might have been +supposed that some cuckoo had visited the parental nest. + +A gaunt, hard-featured domestic completed this interesting family, and +she was uncommon too. By no means young, what Balzac calls "a woman of +canonical age," she resembled Pere Grandet's tall Nanon. Like Nanon, she +had been the devoted servant of the family for nearly a quarter of a +century, and like her, had no interest outside that of her master and +mistress. She was always working, rarely went out, spoke little, but +ministered to the wants of Tom and myself, and waited on us with +unremitting attention. + +Despite all drawbacks, however, they were fine lodgings. The old lady +was a wonderful cook and had all the liberality of her race. + +New Year's Day, the great Scotch holiday, Tom and I spent in Edinburgh, +and returned much impressed with its stately beauty. + +The next morning I entered upon my work at St. Rollox, where the stores +department of the Caledonian Railway is situated. The head of the +department was styled Stores Superintendent. I thought him the most +impressive looking man I had ever seen. He overpowered me; in his +presence I never felt at ease. He was a big man, and looked bigger than +he was; good-looking too; ruddy, portly, well-dressed and formal. An +embodiment of commercial energy and dignity. In his face gravity, +keenness, and good health were blended. Soon after I joined his staff he +left the Caledonian to become General Manager of Young's Paraffin Oil +Company, and subsequently its Managing Director. Success, I believe, +always attended him. No position could lose any of its importance in his +hands. When he left St. Rollox a great blank was felt; he filled so +large a space. He has lately gone to his rest full of years and honors. + +I fear he never liked me, nor had any great opinion of my abilities. This +was not to be wondered at, for I am sure I did not display any excessive +zeal for the work on which I was then employed, and which I found +monotonous and uninteresting. + +He confided to his chief clerk, who was my friend, that one day he had +seen me, in business hours, in the city, smoking a cigarette and looking +at the girls, and was sure I would never do much good. He had very +strict business notions. I confessed to the cigarette, but not to the +graver charge. It was a wholesome tonic, however, and pulled me up. I +wanted to get on in life; ambition was stirring within me; and I formed +some good resolutions which, as time went on, I kept more or less +faithfully. + +At St. Rollox one's daily lunch was a matter of some difficulty. It was +a district of factories, and the only restaurants were the Great Western +Cooking Depots, where one could get a steak and bread and cheese for +fivepence, but the rooms and tables and accessories were, to say the +least, unappetising. Hunger had to be satisfied, however, and I had to +swallow my pride and my five-pennyworth. I varied this occasionally by +bringing with me my own sandwiches and eating them seated on a tombstone +in Sighthill cemetery, which was less than a quarter of a mile distant +from the stores department. + +My work, as I have said, was monotonous enough: writing letters from +dictation, an occupation which gave but little exercise to one's +faculties. I obtained some variation by occasionally taking a turn +through the various stores and getting into touch with the practical men +in charge. They were always very civil and ready to talk of their +business, and so I learned something of the nature, quality, uses and +cost of many things necessary to the working of a railway, which I +afterwards found very useful. Occasionally also I visited the +laboratory, in which an analytical chemist was regularly engaged. + +The event which, in my short service of two years with the Caledonian, +seemed to me of the greatest moment, was that, after six months or so, I +became a taxpayer! This was an event indeed. In the offices at Derby it +was only, as a rule, middle-aged or old men who attained this proud +distinction; and here was I, not yet twenty-two, with my salary raised to +100 pounds a year, paying income tax at the rate of _threepence_ in the +pound on forty pounds, for an abatement of sixty pounds was allowed. +Until I got used to the novelty I was as proud as Lucifer. + +The office in which I now worked had no Apollos, no literary geniuses, no +Long Jacks, no boy benedicts, such as adorned our desks at Derby, but it +rejoiced in one _rara avis_, who came a few months after and left a few +months before me. He was a middle-aged, aristocratic, kind, +good-hearted, unbusinesslike man, and was brother to a baronet. He +professed a knowledge of medicine and brought a bottle, a bolus or a +plaster, whichever he deemed best, whenever any of us complained of cold +or cough, of headache or backache or any ailment whatever. When he left +we all received from him a parting gift. Mine was a handsome, expensive, +red-felt chest protector. I wore it constantly for a year or two and, +for aught I know, it may be that by its protecting influence against the +rigour of Glasgow winters, the bituminous atmosphere of St. Rollox and +the smoke-charged fogs of the city, I am alive and well to-day. Who can +tell? It is certain that I then had a bad cough nearly always; and this +I am sure was what decided the form of his parting gift to me. + +It was about this time that I attended my first public dinner and made my +first speech in public. Several days before the event I was told that, +being in the Volunteer Force, I had been placed on the toast list to +reply for the Army, Navy and Volunteers. It was a railway dinner, for +the purpose of celebrating the departure to England, on promotion, of the +chief clerk in the Midland Railway Company's Scottish Agency Office. The +dinner was largely attended. The idea of having to speak filled me with +trepidation. But to my great surprise I acquitted myself with credit. +Once on my legs I found that nervousness left me, words came freely and I +even enjoyed the novel experience. To suddenly discover oneself +proficient where failure had been feared increases self esteem and adds +to the sum of happiness. At this dinner I also made my first +acquaintance with that "Great chieftain o' the puddin' race," the +_Haggis_, which deserves the pre-eminence it enjoys. + +One night, towards the end of December, in 1874, when skating by +moonlight, not far from Cambuslang, I chanced to meet a young friend, a +clerk in the Glasgow and South-Western Railway, who, like myself, was +enjoying the pleasures of the ice. Tom was not with me, for he, poor +fellow! was not well enough to be out o' nights in winter. My young +friend gave me, with great eagerness, a rare piece of news. Mr. +Johnstone, the Glasgow and South-Western general manager, was retiring +and Mr. Wainwright was to succeed him! Well, that did not excite me, and +I wondered at his earnestness; but more was to follow. Mr. Wainwright, +as general manager, required a principal clerk and there was, it seemed, +no one in the place quite suitable. He must be good at correspondence, +and expert at shorthand. I was, my young friend said, the very man; I +must apply. Mr. Wainwright was English, so was I; I came from the +Midland, and the Midland and the Glasgow and South-Western were hand and +glove. How lucky we had met; he had not thought of me till this very +moment. It was fate. Would I write tonight? By this time I was as +eager as himself. No more skating for me that night. I hurried home, +Tom and I composed a careful and judicious letter. I posted it in Her +Majesty's pillar box hard by; went to bed, but was too excited to sleep. +An answer soon came, and an interview with Mr. Wainwright followed. I +received the appointment, at a salary of 120 pounds a year to begin with; +and in the early days of the new year, two years after my first +appearance in Scotland, entered upon my duties, not at Saint Enoch +Station, where the headquarters of the Glasgow and South-Western now are, +but at Bridge Street Station on the south side of the river, where the +office staff of the company was then accommodated. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. +GENERAL RAILWAY ACTS OF PARLIAMENT + + +Such unromantic literature as Acts of Parliament had not, it may be +supposed, up to this, formed part of my mental pabulum. I knew that an +Act was a necessary preliminary to the construction of a railway, and +this was all I knew concerning the relations between the railways and the +State. Whilst a little learning may be a dangerous thing, in my new +situation, I soon discovered that a general manager's clerk would be the +better of possessing some knowledge of the numerous Acts of Parliament +that affected railway companies. Almost daily questions arose in which +such knowledge was useful; so I determined to become acquainted with +them, and in my leisure hours made as profound a study as I could of that +compilation which, in railway offices was then in general use--_Bigg's +General Railway Acts_. I found the formidable looking volume more +readable than I had imagined and less difficult to understand than I had +expected. + +Governments have ever kept a watchful eye on railway companies. Up to +1875, the year at which we have now arrived, no less than 112 general +Acts of Parliament affecting railways had been placed on the Statute Book +of the realm. They were applicable to all railways alike, and in +addition to and independent of the special Acts which each company must +obtain for itself, first for its incorporation and construction, and +afterwards for extensions of its system, for the raising of capital, and +for various other purposes. + +Many of the general Acts have been framed upon the recommendations of +various Select Committees and Royal and Vice-Regal Commissions, which +have been appointed from time to time since railways began. From 1835 +down to the present year of 1918 some score or more of these Committees +and Commissions have gravely sat and issued their more or less wise and +weighty reports. + +What are these numerous Acts of Parliament and what are their objects, +scope, and intentions? + +Whilst neither time nor space admit of detailed exposition, not to speak +of the patience of my readers, a few observations upon some of the +principal enactments may not be inapposite or uninteresting. + +Pride of place belongs to the _Carriers' Act_ of 1830, passed in the +reign of William IV., five years after the first public railway (the +Stockton and Darlington) was opened. This Act, although in it the word +_railway_ does not appear, is an important Act to railway companies, and +possesses the singular and uncommon merit of having been framed for the +_protection_ of Common Carriers. It is intituled "_An Act for the more +effectual Protection of Mail Contractors, Stage Coach Proprietors, and +other Common Carriers for Hire, against the Loss or Injury to Parcels or +Packages delivered to them for Conveyance or Custody, the Value and +Contents of which shall not be Declared to them by the Owners thereof_." +The draughtsman of this dignified little Act it is clear was greatly +addicted to _capitals_. Probably he thought they heightened effect, much +as Charles Lamb spelt plum pudding with a _b_--"plumb pudding," because, +he said, "it reads fatter and more suetty." At the time this Act came +into being, railways in the eye of Parliament were public highways, upon +which you or I, if we paid the prescribed tolls, could convey our +traffic, our vehicles, or ourselves. In the years 1838-1840 many of the +companies obtained powers enabling them to act as public carriers; and in +1840 questions having arisen in Parliament as to the rights of the public +in this respect the subject was referred to a Select Committee of the +House of Commons. The Committee's report disposed of the view which, +until then, Parliament had held, and expressed the opinion that the right +of persons to run their own engines and carriages was a dead letter for +the good reason, amongst others, that it was necessary for railway trains +to be run and controlled by and under one complete undivided authority. + +After the _Carriers' Act_, which applied to all carriers as well as to +railways, the first general railway Act of importance was the _Railways +(Conveyance of Mails) Act_ of 1838. This Act enabled the +Postmaster-General to require railway companies to convey mails by all +trains and to provide sorting carriages when necessary, the Royal Arms to +be painted on such carriages, and in 1844, under the _Railway Regulation +Act_, it was further enacted that the Postmaster-General could require, +for the conveyance of mails, that trains should be run at any rate of +speed, _certified to be safe_, but not to exceed 27 miles an hour! + +As I have said, the Select Committee of 1840 reported against the right +of the public to run their own engines and carriages on railways. They +made recommendations which led to the passing of the _Railway Regulation +Act_ of that year, and in that Act powers were, for the first time, +conferred upon the Board of Trade in connection with railways. It was +the beginning of that authority, which since has greatly grown, but which +the Board of Trade have in the main exercised with an impartiality, which +public authorities do not always display. The Act empowered the Board, +before any new railway was opened, to require notice from the railway +company. This power was repealed by an Act of 1842, and larger powers +granted in its place, including the right to compel the inspection of +such railways before being opened for traffic. The Act of 1840 also +required the companies, under penalty, to furnish to the Board of Trade +returns of traffic, as well as of all accidents attended with personal +injury; and to submit their bye-laws for certification. + +Of the _railway mania_ period I have spoken in a previous chapter. For a +time enormous success attended some of the lines. Amongst others the +Liverpool and Manchester and the Stockton and Darlington enjoyed mouth +watering dividends; the former ten, the latter fifteen per cent.! Said +the Government to themselves, "'Tis time we saw to this," and accordingly +they passed the _Railway Regulation Act_ of 1844. This Act provided that +if at any time, after twenty-one years, the dividend of any railway +should exceed ten per cent., the Treasury might revise the rates and +fares so as to reduce the profits to not more than ten per cent. This +expectation of high dividends, I need hardly say, has not been realised, +and the Act in this respect has been a dead letter. The Act also +conferred an option on the Treasury to acquire future railways at twenty- +five years purchase of the annual profits; or, if such profits were less +than ten per cent., the price was to be left to arbitration. + +It is interesting now, when, owing to the war, the railways of the land +are under temporary Government control, and their future all uncertain, +to remember that, on the Statute Book to-day, there is an Act which +provides for State purchase of the railways of the country. Whether a +solution of the difficulty will be found in State purchase or in State +control it is hard to say, but it is clear that some solution of the +problem will become imperative when the war is ended and normal +conditions return. Justice and reason demand it. + +In the year 1845 three long Acts of Parliament came into force; the +_Companies Clauses_, the _Lands Clauses_ and the _Railway Clauses Acts_. +Between them they contained no less than 483 sections. Each Act was a +consolidating measure. The first contained provisions usually inserted +in Acts for the constitution of public companies, the second the same in +regard to the taking of land compulsorily, and the third consolidated in +one general statute provisions usually introduced into Acts of Parliament +authorising the construction of railways. + +The _Railway Clauses Act_ authorised railway companies to use locomotive +engines, carriages and wagons; to carry passengers and goods, and to make +reasonable charges not exceeding the tolls authorised by their special +Acts. Since then the whole of the trade of transit by rail has been +conducted by the companies owning the lines. + +The gauge of railways in Great Britain was not fixed upon any scientific +principle. At first it followed the width of the coal tram-roads in the +north of England, which was adopted simply on account of its practical +convenience (five feet being the usual width of the gates through which +the "way-leaves" led) and so four feet eight and a-half inches became the +ordinary gauge, but in the early days it was by no means the universal +gauge. Five feet was chosen for the Eastern Counties Railway; seven feet +for the Great Western and five feet six was used in Scotland. The Ulster +Company in Ireland made twenty-five miles of the line from Belfast to +Dublin on a gauge of six feet two, while the Drogheda Company, which set +out from Dublin to meet the Ulster line, adopted five feet two. When the +Ulster Company complained of this, the Irish Board of Works, it is said, +admitted that it was a little awkward, but added that, as it was not +likely the intervening part would ever be made, it did not much matter. +The subject was, I believe, in Ireland referred to a General Pasley, who +consulted the authorities (who were many) throughout the kingdom. He +ultimately solved the question by adding up the various gauges the +authorities favoured, and recommended the mean, which was five feet three +inches; and so, for Ireland, five feet three became the standard gauge. + +"The battle of the gauges," as it was styled at the time, was lively and +spirited. Eventually it was decided by Parliament, which in the year +1846 passed the _Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act_. This Act ordained that +in Great Britain all future railways were to be constructed on a gauge of +four feet eight and a-half inches, and in Ireland of five feet three +inches, excepting only certain extensions of the broad gauge Great +Western Railway. + +Up to this time no action at common law was maintainable against a person +who by his wrongful act, neglect or default caused the immediate death of +another person, and an Act (known as _Lord Campbell's Act_), "for +compensating the Families of Persons Killed by Accidents," became law. +This enactment was due principally to the railway accidents that +occurred. They were relatively more numerous than they are now, for the +many modern appliances for ensuring safety had not then been introduced. +The Act provided that compensation would be for the benefit of wife, +husband, parent and child of the person whose death shall have been +caused. The Act did not apply to Scotland. Perhaps it was because the +laws of the two countries differed more then than now, and the life of +the railways in Scotland was young, England being well ahead. Probably +England thought she was doing enough when she legislated for herself by +passing this Act. It must be observed, however, that the Act applies to +Ireland as well as England. + +In the year 1854 Parliament considered that _regulations_ were necessary +to further control the companies and passed an important statute, the +_Railway and Canal Traffic Act_. Known, for short, in railway parlance, +as "the Act of '54," its main provisions dealt with:-- + + Reasonable facilities for receiving and forwarding traffic + The subject of undue preference, which was forbidden + Railways forming part of continuous lines to receive and forward + through traffic without obstruction + The liability of railway companies for loss of, or damage to, goods or + animals + +and it preserved to railway companies the _protection_ of the _Carriers' +Act_, to which I have referred. + +The Select Committees of 1858 and 1863 sat on the subject of the great +length of time and the immense cost which railway promotion in those days +entailed, when Bills were fiercely contested, and protracted struggles +before Parliamentary Committees took place. Two Acts resulted from their +deliberations: the _Railway Companies' Powers Act_, 1864, and the +_Railway Construction Facilities Act_ of the same year. These Acts +empowered railway companies to enter into agreements with each other in +regard to maintenance, management, running over or use of each others +lines or property and for joint ownership of stations. They also enabled +powers to be obtained from the Board of Trade to construct a railway +without a special Act of Parliament, subject to the conditions that all +the landowners concerned agreed to part with the requisite land, and that +no objection was raised by any other railway or canal company. Little +use has ever been made of this well-intentioned enactment. Landowners +have rarely been disposed to accept terms which the companies thought +fair; and rival railways, in the days gone by, dearly loved a fight. + +By the _Companies Clauses Consolidation Act_ of 1845 railway companies +were required to keep full and true accounts of receipts and expenditure, +but it was not until the year 1868 that Parliament placed upon the +companies an obligation to keep their accounts in a prescribed form. This +form was scheduled to the _Regulation of Railways Act_, 1868. It +provides for half-yearly accounts, and is the form which has been +familiar to shareholders for many years. This Act (1868) also ordained +that smoking compartments be provided on all trains, for all classes, on +all railways, except on the railway of the Metropolitan Company. Up to +then the railway smoker had to obtain the consent of his fellow +passengers in the same compartment before he could light up, or brave +their displeasure; and many were the altercations that ensued. The Act +also imposed penalties on railways who provided trains for attending +prize fights, which was hard on companies of sporting instincts. A +clause provided for means of communication between passengers and the +servants of the company in charge of trains running twenty miles without +stopping; and another clause gave the companies power to cut down trees +adjoining their line which might be dangerous. Prior to 1868, although +railways had then existed for three and forty years, the accounts of one +company could not usefully be compared with those of another, for +scarcely any two companies made up their accounts in the same way. +Variety may be charming, but uniformity has its advantages. + +The Board of Trade, in 1871, was endowed with further powers. By the +_Regulation of Railways Act_ of that year, they were given additional +rights of inspection; authority to enquire into accidents, and further +powers in regard to the opening of additional lines of railway, stations +or junctions. And by this statute the companies were required to furnish +the Board of Trade with elaborate statistical documents, annually, in a +form prescribed in a schedule to the Act. + +The only other important Act down to the year 1875 is the _Regulation of +Railways Act_ of 1873. This Act was passed for the purpose of making +"better provision for carrying into effect the _Railway and Canal Traffic +Act_ of 1854, and for other purposes connected therewith." In 1872 a +Joint Committee of both Houses sat and, following upon their report, this +Act was passed. It established a new tribunal, to be called the _Railway +and Canal Commission_, to consist of three Commissioners, of whom--one +was to be experienced in the law, one in railway business, and it also +authorised the appointment of not more than two _assistant_ +Commissioners. As to the _third Commissioner_, no mention was made of +qualifications. This tribunal, though styled a _Commission_, conducted +its work as if it were a court; and a regularly constituted court in time +it became. By the _Railway and Canal Traffic Act_, 1888, the section in +the Act of 1873 appointing the Commission was repealed and a new +Commission established consisting of two appointed and three _ex officio_ +Commissioners, such Commission to be "a Court of Record, and have an +official seal, which shall be judicially noticed." One of the +Commissioners must be experienced in railway business; and of the three +_ex officio_ Commissioners, one was to be nominated for England, one for +Scotland and one for Ireland, and in each case such Commissioner was to +be a Judge of the High Court of the land. Under the Act of 1873, the +chief functions of the Commissioners were: To hear and decide upon +complaints from the public in regard to undue preference, or to refusal +of facilities; to hear and determine questions of through rates; and to +settle differences between two railway companies or between a railway +company and a canal company, upon the application of either party to the +difference. The Act of 1888 continued these and included some further +powers. + +In my humble opinion the Railway Commissioners have done much useful work +and done it well. For more than forty years I have read most if not all +the cases they have dealt with. On several occasions I have been engaged +in proceedings before them, and not always on the winning side. + + + + +CHAPTER X. +A GENERAL MANAGER AND HIS OFFICE + + +January, 1875, was a momentous time for me. In the second week of that +month I commenced my new duties at Glasgow and bade farewell for ever to +the tall stool and "the dry drudgery of the desk's dead wood." Before me +opened a pleasing prospect of attractive and interesting work, brightened +by the beams of youthful hope and awakened ambition. I was now chief +clerk to a general manager. Was it to be wondered at that I felt proud +and elated if also a little scared as to how I should get on. + +Mr. Wainwright assumed the office of general manager on the first day of +the year. I say _office_, but in fact a general manager's office +scarcely existed. His predecessor, Mr. Johnstone, a capable but in some +respects a singular man, performed his managerial duties without an +office staff, wrote all his own letters, and not only wrote them but +first carefully drafted them out in a hand minute almost as Jonathan +Swift's. A strenuous worker, Mr. Johnstone, like most men who have no +hobby, did not long survive his retirement from active business life. + +Mr. Wainwright, who, like myself, was born in Sheffield, was twenty-three +years my senior. His early railway life was passed in the Manchester, +Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (now the Great Central), of which the +redoubtable Mr. (afterwards Sir) Edward Watkin was then the lively +general manager. + +A different man to his predecessor was Mr. Wainwright. Unlike Mr. +Johnstone he was modern and progressive. _He_ never scorned delights or +loved, for their own sake, laborious days; pleasure to him was as welcome +as sunshine; and work he made a pleasure. + +As I have said, no general manager's _office_ existed. Of systematic +managerial supervision there was none. What was to be done? Something +certainly, and soon. Mr. Wainwright concurred in a suggestion I made +that I should visit Derby, see the general manager's office of the +Midland there, and learn how it was conducted. This I did. E. W. Wells, +a principal clerk in that office, who was married to my cousin, showed +and told me everything. I returned laden with knowledge which I embodied +in a report and my recommendations were adopted. Several clerks were +appointed and the general manager's office, of which I was chief clerk, +soon became efficient. + +Wells afterwards became Assistant General Manager of the Midland, and +Frank Tatlow, my cousin and brother of Wells' wife, is now its General +Manager, in succession to Sir Guy Granet. I am not a little proud that +the attainments of one who bears the name of Tatlow, and is so nearly +related to myself, have enabled him to reach the topmost post on a +railway such as the Midland Railway of England. He commenced as a junior +clerk in the General Manager's office and worked his way step by step to +that eminent position. No adventitious circumstances helped him on. + +I became fond of railway work, which it seems to me for interest and +variety holds a high place among all the occupations by which man, who +was born to labour, may earn his daily bread. My duties were certainly +arduous but intensely interesting. The correspondence with other railway +companies regarding agreements, joint line working, Parliamentary +matters, and many other important subjects, conducted as it required to +be, with skill, care and precision, was for me a liberal education. The +fierce rivalry which, in those days, raged in Scotland for competitive +traffic culminated often in disputes which could only be settled by the +intervention of the general managers, and these brought much exciting +work into the office. Again, the close and intimate relations between +the Midland and the Glasgow and South-Western involved interesting +communications, meetings and discussions, and the keeping of certain +special accounts which it fell to me to supervise. + +The Midland and the Glasgow and South-Western alliance was regarded by +the West Coast Companies (the London and North-Western and the +Caledonian) with much disfavour. In their eyes it was an attack upon +their hen roost, and it certainly resulted in the loss to them of a large +share of through traffic between England and Scotland which the West +Coast route had previously had all to itself. To carry on the +competition successfully necessitated a large expenditure of capital by +the Glasgow and South-Western, and the Midland, of course, had to help in +this. The original cost of Saint Enoch Station for instance was nearly +one and three-quarter millions sterling, and a considerable outlay was +also necessary for goods stations and other accommodation. There was in +those days much doing between the general managers' offices of the +Midland and Glasgow and South-Western companies, and it was all +delightfully new and novel to me. + +A Committee of Directors of the two companies, called the _Midland and +Glasgow and South-Western Joint Committee_, was established. This +committee, with the two general managers, met periodically either at +Derby, London, Carlisle or Glasgow. Mr. Wainwright acted as secretary +and I kept the minute book and papers relating to the business of the +committee. + +Pullman cars had been introduced on the Midland and were run on the +through trains between Saint Pancras and Saint Enoch. The cars were the +property of Mr. Pullman, but the Midland kept them in repair, the Glasgow +and South-Western relieving them of a proportion of the cost +corresponding to the mileage run over their line. Mr. Pullman received +as his remuneration the extra fare paid by the passengers--three +shillings each for drawing-room cars and five shillings each for sleeping +cars. Other through carriages on these trains were jointly owned by the +two companies. The interesting accounts connected with these +arrangements were supervised by me. I commenced work with Mr. Wainwright +on a Monday. The following Saturday afternoon, before leaving the +office, to my great surprise and delight, he presented me with a first- +class station to station pass over the railway. With what pride I showed +it to Tom that evening! Six months later my salary was increased, and +the pleasant fact was announced to me by my kindly chief, coupled with +the expression of a wish that he and I might long work together. + +On the Scottish railways the financial half-years ended, not in June and +December, as in other parts of the United Kingdom, but at the end of July +and January. This was for the better equalisation of receipts, taking a +month from the fat half-year to the lean, and giving, in exchange, a +month from the lean to the fat. Soon after the first-half-year was +concluded and the accounts published, which was in the month of September +(my first September with the Glasgow and South-Western), Mr. Wainwright +handed to me a large sheet of closely printed figures, giving a detailed +analysis and comparison of the accounts of five of the principal English +and the three principal Scottish railways in columnar form, with a +request that I should take out the figures and compile for printing a +similar statement for the past half-year, from the accounts of the eight +companies. I trembled inwardly for I had never yet looked at a railway +account, but I took them home, and, as in the case of the Acts of +Parliament, found them simpler than I thought; and, with less trouble +than I expected, succeeded in accomplishing the task. + +Mr. Wainwright was himself a skilful statistician and tested everything +he could by the cold logic of figures. I was soon surprised to find that +I too had a taste for statistics and acquired some skill in their +compilation. Up to this I had always imagined that I disliked everything +in the shape of arithmetic. At school I was certainly never fond of it, +and since school my acquaintance with figures had been little more than +the adding up of long columns in huge books at the half-yearly +stocktaking in the stores department at St. Rollox, a thing I detested, +and which invariably gave me a headache. Well pleased was Mr. Wainwright +to see that statistics took my fancy. As general manager he had not much +time himself to devote to them, but the office was now well manned and we +were able to establish, and keep up, tables, statistics and returns +concerning matters of railway working in a way which I have not seen +surpassed. These statistics were of much practical use when considering +questions of economy and other matters from day to day. + +My first year as general manager's clerk was, I have always thought, the +most important in my railway life. Certainly in that year I learned much +and acquired from my chief business habits which have stood me in good +stead since. Mr. Wainwright was a man of no ordinary nature, as all who +knew him will admit. He was a pattern of punctuality and promptitude, +never spared himself in doing a thing well and expected the same +thoroughness in others, though he would make allowance for want of +capacity, but not for indolence or carelessness. Straightforwardness, +honesty and rectitude marked all he did. His word was his bond. His +disposition was to trust those around him, and his generous confidence +was usually justified. High-minded and possessing a keen sense of honor +himself, he had an instinctive aversion to anything mean or low in +others. A man of great liberality and generous to a fault he often found +it hard to say no, but when obliged to adopt that attitude it was done +with a tact and courtesy which left no sting. In all business matters he +required a rigid economy though never at the expense of efficiency. + +Intellectually he stood high, as I had ample opportunity of judging, but +if asked what were his most striking qualities I should say _goodness_ +and a charm of manner which eludes description, but irresistibly +attracted all who met him. In appearance he was tall and portly, and his +bearing, carriage and presence were gentlemanly and refined. He was of +fair complexion, was possessed of a delightful smile, and had side +whiskers (turning white) continued in the old-fashioned way under the +chin, and yet he was so bright and debonair that he never looked +old-fashioned. Like myself he was a great lover of Dickens, and I think +his most prized possession was a small bookcase which had belonged to +Dickens' study and which he purchased at the sale at _Gad's Hill_. His +directors esteemed him highly, and the officers of the company were all +sincerely attached to him. In his room he held almost daily conferences. +Correspondence formed but a small part in his method of dealing with +departments. He believed in the value of _viva voce_ discussion, and +discouraged all unnecessary inter-departmental correspondence. In this +he was right I am sure. The daily conferences were cheerful and +pleasant, for he had the delightful faculty of "mixing business with +pleasure and wisdom with mirth." I consider that I was singularly +fortunate at this period of my life in finding myself placed in close and +intimate association with such a man as Mr. Wainwright, in enjoying his +confidence as I did, and in being afforded the opportunity of benefiting +by his kind precepts and fine example. + +[W. J. Wainwright: wainwright.jpg] + +In Glasgow there was a weekly paper of much humour and spirit called _The +Bailie_. With each issue it published an article on some prominent man +of the day under the title of _Men You Know_, accompanied by a portrait +of the person selected. It is the Glasgow _Punch_. It was established +in 1873,and "_Ma Conscience_!" is its motto. It still, I am glad to +hear, runs an honorable and profitable course, which its merits well +deserve. In its issue of September 13th, 1882, Mr. Wainwright was _The +Man You Know_, and, at the request of the Editor, I wrote the article +upon him. In it are some words which, penned when I was with him daily, +and his influence was strong upon me, are, perhaps, more true and +faithful than any I could at this distance of time write, and so I will +quote them here, and with them conclude this chapter. + +"He (_The Man You Know_) is one upon whom responsibility rests gracefully +and lightly, who accomplishes great things without apparent effort, and +whose personal influence smoothes the daily friction of official life. He +rules with a gentler sway than many who are accustomed to other methods +of command would believe possible. He believes in Emerson's maxim that +if you deal nobly with men they will act nobly, and his habit towards +everyone around him, and its success, lends force to the genial truth of +the American philosopher." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. +THE RAILWAY JUBILEE, AND GLASGOW AND SOUTH-WESTERN OFFICERS AND CLERKS + + +The 27th day of September, 1875, was the Jubilee of the British Railway +System. It was celebrated by a banquet given by the North-Eastern +Railway Company at Darlington, for the Stockton and Darlington section of +the North-Eastern was, as I have mentioned before, the first public +railway. A thousand guests were invited. No building in Darlington +could accommodate such a number, and a great marquee, large enough to +dine a thousand people, was obtained from London. My chief attended the +banquet and I remained at home to hear the news when he returned. Dan +Godfrey's band was there, and Dan Godfrey himself composed some music for +the occasion. The _menu_ was long, elaborate and imposing; equalled only +by the _toast list_, which contained no less than sixteen separate +toasts. It was a Gargantuan feast befitting a great occasion. Could we +men of to-day have done it justice and sat it and the toast list out, I +wonder. It took place over forty years ago, when the endurance of the +race was, perhaps, greater than now; or why do we now shorten our +banquets and shirk the bottle? + +The Stockton and Darlington Railway is 54 miles long, and its authorised +capital was 102,000 pounds--a modest sum indeed, under 2,000 pounds per +mile, less than half the outlay for land alone of the North Midland line +and not one twenty-fifth of the average cost of British railways as they +stand to-day, which is some 57,000 pounds per mile. The railway owed its +origin to George Stephenson and to Edward Pease, the wealthy Quaker and +manufacturer of Darlington, both burly men, strong in mind as body. The +first rail was laid, with much ceremony, near the town of Stockton, on +the 23rd of May, 1822, amid great opposition culminating in acts of +personal violence, for the early railways, from interests that feared +their rivalry, and often from sheer blind ignorance itself, had bitter +antagonism to contend with. + +The day brought an immense concourse of people to Darlington, all bent on +seeing the novel spectacle of a train of carriages and wagons filled with +passengers and goods, drawn along a _railway_ by a _steam_ engine. At +eight o'clock in the morning the train started with its load--22 +vehicles--hauled by Stephenson's "Locomotion," driven by Stephenson +himself. "Such was its velocity that in some parts of the journey the +speed was frequently 12 miles an hour." The number of passengers reached +450, and the goods and merchandise amounted to 90 tons--a great +accomplishment, and George Stephenson and Edward Pease were proud men +that day. + +Seven years from this present time will witness the _Centenary_ of the +railway system. How shall we celebrate _it_? Will railway proprietor, +railway director and railway manager on that occasion be animated with +the gladness, the pride and the hope that brightened the Jubilee Banquet? +Who can tell? The future of railways is all uncertain. + +A word or two regarding the railway system of Scotland may not be +inappropriate. + +Scotland has eight _working_ railway companies, England and Wales 104, +and Ireland 28. These include light railways, but are exclusive of all +railways, light or ordinary, that are worked not by themselves but by +other companies. Scotland has exhibited her usual good sense, her canny, +thrifty way, by keeping the number of _operating_ railway companies +within such moderate bounds. Ireland does not show so well, and England +relatively is almost as bad as Ireland, yet England might well have shown +the path of prudence to her poorer sister by greater adventure herself in +the sensible domain of railway amalgamation. Much undeserved censure has +been heaped upon the Irish lines; sins have been assumed from which they +are free, and their virtues have ever been ignored. John Bright once +said that "Railways have rendered more service and received less +gratitude than any institution in the land." This is certainly true of +Ireland, for nothing has ever conferred such benefit upon that country as +its railways, and nothing, except perhaps the Government, has received so +much abuse. On this I shall have more to say when I reach the period of +the Vice-Regal Commission on Irish Railways, appointed in 1906. + +The average number of miles _operated_ per working railway company in +Scotland compared with England and Wales and Ireland, are:-- + +Scotland 477 +England and Wales 156 +Ireland 121 + +and the mileage, capital, revenue, expenditure, interest and dividends +for 1912, the latest year of which the figures, owing to the war, are +published by the Board of Trade, are as follows:-- + + Average rate + of interest + and dividend. + Per cent. + Miles. Capital. Revenue. Expenditure. + Pounds Pounds Pounds +England + and Wales 16,223 1,103,310,000 110,499,000 70,499,000 3-58 +Scotland 3,815 186,304,000 13,508,000 7,882,000 3-07 +Ireland 3,403 45,349,000 4,545,000 2,842,000 3-83 + +The General Manager of the Glasgow and South-Western Railway and his +office I have described, but I have not spoken, except in a general way, +of the other principal officers, with whom, as Mr. Wainwright's +assistant, I came into close and intimate relationship. They, alas! are +no more. I have outlived them all. Each has played his part, and made, +as we all must do, his exit from the stage of life. + +Prominent amongst these officers was John Mathieson, Superintendent of +the Line, who was only twenty-nine when appointed to that responsible +post. We became good friends. He began work at the early age of +thirteen, had grown up on the railway and at nineteen was a station +master. He was skilful in out-door railway work, and an adept in +managing trains and traffic. Ambitious and a bit touchy regarding his +office, all was not always peace between his and other departments, +particularly the goods manager's. The goods manager was not aggressive, +and it was sometimes thought that Mathieson inclined to encroach upon his +territory. Often angry correspondence and sometimes angry discussion +ensued. Yet, take him for all in all, John Mathieson was a fine man with +nothing small in his composition. Soon his ambition was gratified. In +1889 he was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Railways of Queensland; +and after a few years occupation of that post was invited by the +Victorian Government to the same position in connection with the railways +of that important State. In 1900 he left Australia and became General +Manager of the Midland Railway; but his health unfortunately soon failed, +and at the comparatively early age of sixty he died at Derby in the year +1906. In his early days, on the Glasgow and South-Western, Mathieson was +a hard fighter. Those were the days when between the Scottish railway +companies the keenest rivalry and the bitterest competition existed. The +Clearing House in London, where the railway representatives met +periodically to discuss and arrange rates and fares and matters relating +to traffic generally, was the scene of many a battle. Men like James +MacLaren of the North British, Tom Robertson of the Highland, Irvine +Kempt of the Caledonian, and A. G. Reid of the Great North of Scotland +were worthy of Mathieson's steel. Usually Mathieson held his own. Irvine +Kempt I cannot imagine was as keen a fighter as the rest, for he was +rather a dignified gentleman with fine manners. To gain a few tons of +fish from a rival route, by superior service, keen canvassing, or by +other less legitimate means, was a source of fierce joy to these ardent +spirits. The disputes were sometimes concerned with through traffic +between England and Scotland, and then the English railway +representatives took part, but not with the keenness and intensity of +their northern brethren, for the Saxon blood has not the fiery quality of +the crimson stream that courses through the veins of the Celt. Now all +is changed. Combination has succeeded to competition, alliances and +agreements are the tranquil order of the day, and the Clearing House has +become a Temple of Peace. + +Between David Dickie, Goods Manager, and John Mathieson, Passenger +Superintendent, as I have said, many differences arose. I sometimes +thought that Mathieson might well have shown more consideration to one so +much his senior in years as Dickie was. Poor Dickie! Before I left +Scotland he met a tragic death. He was a kind-hearted man, a canny Scot, +and died rich. + +James Stirling was the Locomotive Superintendent. He and Mathieson did +not always agree, and the clash of arms frequently raged between them. +Mr. Wainwright's suavity often, and not infrequently his authority, were +required to adjust these domestic broils, but as all deferred to him +willingly, the storms that arose were usually short lived. + +In 1878 Mathieson and I took a short holiday together and crossed to +Ireland. It was our first visit to that unquiet but delightful country, +in which, little as I thought then, I was destined a few years later to +make my home. + +It was in January, 1879, that the headquarters of the company were +removed from the old and narrow Bridge Street Station to the new palatial +St. Enoch, and there a splendid set of offices was provided. This was +another advantage much to my taste. St. Enoch was and is certainly a +most handsome and commodious terminus. Originally it had one great roof +of a single span, second only to that of St. Pancras Station. Other +spans, not so great, have since been added, for the business of St. Enoch +rapidly grew, and enlarged accommodation soon became necessary. In 1879 +it had six long and spacious platforms, now it has twelve; then the +number of trains in and out was 43 daily, now it has reached 286; then +the mileage of the railway was 319, now it is 466; then the employees of +the company numbered 4,010 and now they are over 10,000. These figures +exemplify the material growth of industrial Scotland in the forty years +that have passed. St. Enoch Station was not disfigured by trade +advertisements, and it is with great satisfaction I learn that the same +good taste has prevailed to this day. Not long after it was opened a +great grocery and provision firm, the knightly head of which is still a +well-known name, offered to the company a large annual sum for the use of +the space under the platform clock, which could be seen from all parts of +the station, which the directors, on the representation of their general +manager, declined; and I am proud to remember that my own views on the +subject, pretty forcibly expressed, when my chief discussed the subject +with me, strengthened his convictions and helped to carry the day in the +board room. The indiscriminate and inartistic way in which throughout +the land advertisements of all sorts crowd our station walls and +platforms is an outrage on good taste. If advertisements must appear +there, some hand and eye endowed with the rudiments of art ought to +control them. In no country in the world does the same ugly display mar +the appearance of railway stations; and considering what myriad eyes +daily rest on station premises it is well worth while on aesthetic +grounds to make their appearance as pleasant and as little vulgar as +possible. The question of revenue to the companies need not be ignored +for proper and efficient control would produce order, moderation, +neatness, artistic effect--and profit. + +With the principal clerks of the office staff my relations were very +pleasant. The consideration with which I was treated by my chief, and +the footing upon which I stood with him, gave me a certain influence +which otherwise I should not have possessed. Till then there had been +absent from the company's staff any gathering together for purposes of +common interest or mutual enjoyment. The _Railway Benevolent +Institution_ provided a rallying point. I had been appointed its +representative on the Glasgow and South-Western Railway and we held +meetings and arranged concerts in its aid. Then, after a time, we +established for the principal clerks and goods agents and certain grades +of station masters, an annual day excursion into the country, with a +dinner and songs and speeches. "Tatlow is good at the speak," said +publicly one of my colleagues, in his broad Scotch way, and so far as it +was true this I daresay helped me. I was made permanent president of +these excursions and feasts, and often had to "hold forth," which I must +confess I rather enjoyed. We christened ourselves _The Railway +Ramblers_. The fact that I became the Scotch correspondent of the +_Railway Official Gazette_, a regular contributor to the _Railway News_, +and had access to the columns of several newspapers, enabled reports of +our doings to appear in print, and diffused some pleasure and pride +throughout the service. Also I became a weekly contributor of _Scotch +Notes_ to the _Montreal Herald_. In the _Railway Official Gazette_ was a +column devoted to short reviews of new books which were sent to the +editor. For a time, from some reason or other, I undertook this +reviewing. Possession of the books was the only recompense, though for +all other work payment in money was made. It was a daring thing on my +part and I am sure many a reader of the paper must have smiled at my +criticisms. I forget why I soon gave up the duty; probably from +incompetence, for I am sure I was not at all qualified for such a task; +but what will the audacity of youth not attempt? This journalistic work +occupied much of my spare time, but it supplemented my income, a +consideration of no little importance, for in October, 1876, I had +entered the married state. My wife came from the Midlands of England. My +friends became her friends, and other friends we made. Children soon +appeared on the scene; my bachelor days were over. + +Societies amongst the staff of a railway company, whether for the purpose +of physical recreation, for mutual improvement or for social enjoyment +are to be much commended. The assembling together of employees of +various ages, filling various positions, from the several departments, +from different districts, freed from business, and mixing on equal terms +for common objects, promotes good feeling and good fellowship, provides +pleasant memories for after life, gives a zest to work, and adds to the +efficiency of the service. + +Amongst all my fellow clerks I remember one only who resembled as a +borrower some of my quondam associates at Derby. But this was in +Scotland where more provident ways prevailed. He was a married man, +about 30 years of age, with a salary of 100 pounds a year. By no means +what one would call a nice fellow, he had nothing of the _bonhomie_ or +light-hearted good nature that distinguished my Derby friends. He +possessed a good figure, wore fierce moustaches, and affected a military +air. One suit of well-made, well-cut clothes by some means or other he +managed to keep in a state of freshness and smoothness nothing short of +marvellous. Borrowing was his besetting sin, and he was always head over +ears in debt. Duns pursued him to the office and he sometimes hid from +them in a huge safe which the office contained. It was a wretched life, +but he brazened it out with wonderful effrontery, and, outwardly, seemed +happy enough. From all who would lend he borrowed, and rarely I believe +repaid. Once I was his victim, but only once. I lent him 3 pounds, and, +strange to say, he returned it. Of course he approached me again, but I +had read and digested the _master's_ wisdom and determined to "neither a +borrower nor a lender be." + +Prominent amongst the principal clerks was David Cooper. When I left +Glasgow he succeeded me as assistant to the general manager. Now he is +general manager of the company himself. Recently he celebrated his 50th +year of railway service. Like me, he entered railway life in 1867; but, +unlike me, has not been a rolling stone. One company only he has served +and served it well, and for nearly a quarter of a century has filled the +highest office it has to bestow. He and I have been more fortunate than +many of our old-time colleagues. In the list of officers of the Glasgow +and South-Western to-day I see the names of two only, besides David +Cooper, who were principal clerks in those days--F. H. Gillies, now +secretary of the company, and George Russell, Telegraph Superintendent. + +In railways, as in other departments of life, ability and industry +usually have their reward; but alone they do not always command success. +Other factors there are in the equation of life and not least luck and +opportunity. In those distant days, in the pride of youth, I was too apt +to think that they who succeeded owed their success to themselves alone; +but the years have taught me that this is not always so, and I have +learned to sympathise more and more with those to whom opportunity has +never held out her hand and upon whom good luck has never smiled. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. +TOM + + +In the last few chapters I have made but little mention of Tom. The time +was drawing nearer when I was to lose him for ever. Until early in 1876 +we lived together in the closest intimacy. We pooled our resources, and +when either ran short of money, which often happened, the common purse, +if it were not empty, was always available. Similar in height and in +figure, our clothes, except our hats, boots and gloves, in each of which +I took a larger size than he, were, when occasion required, +interchangeable. We standardised our wardrobe as far as we could. We +rose together, ate together, retired together, and, except during +business hours, were rarely apart. I being, he considered, the more +prudent in money matters, kept our lodging accounts and paid the bills. +He being more musical, and a greater lover of the drama than I, arranged +our visits to the theatres and concert halls. I was the practical, he +the aesthetical controller of our joint menage. Once I remember--this +occurred before we left Derby--we both fancied ourselves in love with the +same dear enchantress, a certain dark-eyed brunette. Each punctually +paid his court, as opportunity offered, and each, when he could, most +obligingly furthered the suit of the other; and this went on till the +time arrived for Tom's departure to Glasgow, when I was left in +possession of the field. Then I discovered, to my surprise, that I was +not so deeply enamoured as I had imagined; and, curiously enough, Tom on +his part had no sooner settled in Scotland than he made a similar +discovery. + +The climate of Glasgow never suited Tom's health and in 1876, on the +advice of his doctors, he decided to return to England. For a time he +seemed to regain his health, but only for a time. Soon he relapsed, and +before another year dawned it became evident, if not to himself, to his +friends, that his years on earth were numbered. With what grief I heard +the news, which came to me from his parents, I need not say. Bravely for +a while he struggled with work, but all in vain; he had to give in, and +return to his parents' home in Lincolnshire. That home he never again +left, except once, in the summer of 1877, to visit my wife and me, when +he stayed with us for several weeks. Though greatly reduced and very +thin, and capable only of short walks he was otherwise unchanged; the +lively fancy, the bright humor and the sparkling wit, which made him so +delightful a companion, were scarcely diminished. He himself was +hopeful; talked of recovery, planned excursions which he and I should +take together when his health returned; but his greatest pleasure was in +recalling our Derby days, our _Maypole_ visits, our country rambles, our +occasional dances and flirtations, and our auld acquaintances generally. + +Tom was remarkable for the quickness of his observation, for keen +penetration of character, and for happy humorous description of +particular traits in those he met. He possessed, too, a wonderfully +retentive memory. It is largely due to his lively descriptions of our +interesting fellow clerks at Derby that I have been able, after the lapse +of half a century, to sketch them with the fidelity I have. His humorous +accounts of their peculiarities often enlivened the hours we spent +together, and impressed their personalities more forcibly on my mind than +they otherwise would have been. + +When his visit came to an end, and he returned to his home, I too +indulged in the hope that he might regain some measure of health, for he +seemed much improved. But it was a temporary improvement only, due in +part, perhaps, to change in environment, and in part to the exhilaration +arising from our reunion, heart and mind for a time dominating the body +and stimulating it to an activity which produced this fair but deceptive +semblance of health. His letters to me breathed the spirit of hope till +almost the last. We never met again. The intention I had cherished of +going to see him was never fulfilled. The illness of my wife and the +death of one of our children, and other unfortunate causes, prevented it; +and in little more than a year and a half from our farewell grasp of the +hand at the railway station in Glasgow my dear and beloved friend +breathed his last. Often and often since I have heard again the music of +his voice, have seen his face smiling upon me, and have felt + + "_His being working in mine own_, + _The footsteps of his life in mine_." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. +MEN I MET AND FRIENDS I MADE + + +Ten years I served the Glasgow and South-Western Railway Company as chief +clerk, or as Mr. Wainwright euphemistically called it, _assistant_ to the +general manager. In that position I met from time to time, not only many +prominent railway men, but also other men of mark. + +Amongst these, two stand out with great distinction because of the effect +they had upon me at a memorable interview I had with each. I never +forgot those interviews, and nothing that ever occurred in my life tended +to strengthen in me the quality of self-reliance so much as they did. +Their effect was sudden, inspiring and lasting. These well-remembered +men were Mr. John Burns (afterwards the first Lord Inverclyde), head of +the shipping firm of G. and J. Burns, and chairman of the Cunard Line, +and Mr. John Walker, General Manager of the North British Railway. The +interviews occurred, as nearly as I recollect, during the second or third +year of my Glasgow and South-Western life, and took place within a few +weeks of each other. + +John Burns was one of the largest shareholders in the Glasgow and South- +Western Railway, his steamers plied between Greenock and Belfast, and his +relations with the company were intimate and friendly. At the time I +speak of some important negotiations were proceeding between him and Mr. +Wainwright concerning the company and his firm, and whilst they were at +their height Mr. Wainwright was unexpectedly summoned to London and +detained there. Now Mr. Burns was a man who greatly disliked delay, and +I was told to see him and, if he wished, discuss the business with him, +and, if possible, further its progress. It was the way in which Mr. +Burns received me, young and inexperienced as I was, the manner in which +he discussed the subject and encouraged me, and the respect with which he +listened to my arguments, that surprised and delighted me. I left him, +feeling an elation of spirit, a glow of pride, a confidence in myself, as +new as it was unexpected. It is a fine trait in Scotchmen that, deeply +respecting themselves, they respect others. Difference of class or +position does not count much with them in comparison with merit or +sterling worth-- + + "_The rank is but the guinea's stamp_, + _The man's the gowd for a' that_." + +Mr. Burns was a striking personality; strong and vigorous, mentally and +physically. He had a good voice, and was clear, decided and emphatic in +speech. He was a doughty champion of the Glasgow and South-Western +Company, with which at this time, affairs, like the course of true love, +did not run smooth. The dividend was down and discontented shareholders +were up in arms. Bitter attacks were made on the directors and the +management. Not that anything was really wrong, for the business of the +line was skilfully and honestly conducted, but the times were bad, and +"empty stalls make biting steeds." The very same shareholders who, when +returns are satisfactory, are as gentle as cooing doves, should revenue +and expenditure alter their relations to the detriment of dividend, +become critical, carping and impossible to please, though the directors +and management may be as innocent as themselves, and as powerless to stem +the tide of adversity. At shareholders' meetings Mr. Burns was splendid. +He rose after the critics had expended their force, or if the storm grew +too violent, intervened at its height, and with facts and figures and +sound argument always succeeded in restoring order and serenity. An +excellent story of him appeared about this time in _Good Words_. He, +Anthony Trollope and Norman Macleod were once at a little inn in the +Highlands. After supper, stories were told and the laughter, which was +loud and long, lasted far into the night. In the morning an old +gentleman, who slept in a room above them, complained to the landlord of +the uproar which had broken his night's rest, and expressed his +astonishment that such men should have taken more than was good for them. +"Well," replied the landlord, "I am bound to confess there was much loud +talk and laughter, but they had nothing stronger than tea and fresh +herrings." "Bless me," rejoined the old gentleman, "if that is so, what +would they be after dinner!" + +In the entrance hall of the North British Railway Company's Waverley +station at Edinburgh stands the statue, in bronze, of Mr. John Walker. As +far as I know this is, the whole world over, the only instance in which +the memory of a railway general manager has been so honoured. It is of +heroic size and eloquently attests his worth. He was born in Fifeshire +in 1832, and died with startling suddenness from an apoplectic seizure, +at the age of fifty-nine, at Waterloo station in London. When he left +school he was apprenticed to the law, but at the age of nineteen entered +the service of the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway. This railway was +in 1862 amalgamated with the original North British, which was first +authorised in 1844, and extended from Edinburgh to Berwick. His +exceptional ability was soon recognised and his promotion was rapid. He +became treasurer of the amalgamated company, and in 1866 was appointed +its secretary. In this office he rendered great service at a trying time +in the company's affairs, and in 1874 was rewarded with the position of +general manager. + +The North British Railway has had a chequered career, has suffered great +changes of fortune, and to Mr. Walker, more than to any other, is due the +stability it now enjoys. On the occasion of his death, the directors +officially recorded that, "He served the company with such ability and +unselfish devotion as is rarely witnessed; became first secretary and +subsequently general manager, and it was during the tenure of these +offices that the remarkable development of the company's system was +mainly effected." + +His capacity for work was astounding. He never seemed to tire or to know +what fatigue meant. Ordinary men are disposed to pleasure as well as to +work, to recreation and social intercourse as well as to business, but +this was not the case with Mr. Walker. It must be confessed that he was +somewhat exacting with his staff, but his own example was a stimulus to +exertion in others and he was well served. One who knew him well, and +for many years was closely associated with him in railway work, tells me +that his most striking characteristics were reticence, combativeness, +concentration and tenacity of purpose, and that his memory and mastery of +detail were remarkable. Deficient perhaps in sentiment, though in such +silent men deep wells of feeling often unsuspectedly exist, he was, by +those who served under him, always recognised as fair and just, and no +one had ever to complain of the slightest discourtesy at his hands. Like +Lord Byron, he was lame from birth, and while this may have affected his +character and pursuits, it never, I am told, in business, which indeed +was practically his sole occupation, impeded his activity. On the +failure of the City of Glasgow Bank, in 1878, which involved in ruin +numbers of people, he lost a considerable fortune. He was a large +shareholder of the bank, and the liability of the shareholders was +unlimited. He faced his loss with stoical fortitude, as I believe he +would have confronted any disaster that life could bring. + +On a certain day Mr. Walker came to Glasgow by appointment to discuss +with Mr. Wainwright some outstanding matters which they had failed to +settle by correspondence. In the afternoon Mr. Wainwright had an +important meeting of his directors to attend. The business with Mr. +Walker was concluded in time, all but one subject, and Mr. Wainwright +asked Mr. Walker if he would let me go into this with him. Without the +least hesitation he consented; and he treated me as Mr. John Burns had +done, and discussed the matter with me as if I were on an equal footing. +This was the interview that strengthened and confirmed that self-reliance +which Mr. Burns had awakened, and which never afterwards forsook me. +Great is my debt to Scotland and to Scotchmen. + +Amongst the most prominent railway men I have met were Sir Edward Watkin, +Chairman of the South-Eastern Railway, and the following general +managers:--Mr. Allport, Midland, the exalted railway monarch of my early +railway days; Mr. (afterwards Sir) Henry Oakley, Great Northern; Mr. +Grierson, Great Western; Mr. Underdown, Manchester, Sheffield and +Lincolnshire; and Mr. (afterwards Sir Myles) Fenton, South Eastern. Of +Sir Edward Watkin a good story was told. When he was general manager of +the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (he was Mr. Watkin +then) many complaints had arisen from coal merchants on the line that +coal was being stolen from wagons in transit by engine drivers. Nothing +so disgraceful could possibly occur, always answered Mr. Watkin. Down +the line one day, with his officers at a country station, a driver was +seen in the very act of transferring from a coal wagon standing on an +outlying siding some good big lumps to his tender. This was pointed out +to Mr. Watkin, who only said--"The d---d fool, _in broad daylight_!" When +Mr. Allport learned that I came from Derby, and was the son of an old +Midland official, he treated me with marked kindness. Mr. Oakley came in +the year 1880 to Glasgow, where he sat for several days as arbitrator +between the Glasgow and South-Western and Caledonian Railway Companies, +on a matter concerning the management, working, and maintenance of +Kilmarnock Station, of which the companies were joint owners, and I +learned for the first time how an arbitration case should be conducted, +for Mr. Oakley was an expert at such work. This experience stood me in +good stead, when, not many years later, I was appointed arbitrator in a +railway dispute in the North of Ireland. + +In the front rank of the railway service I do not remember many beaux. +General managers were men too busy to spend much time upon the study of +dress. But there were exceptions, as there are to every rule, and Sir +James Thompson, General Manager, and afterwards Chairman of the +Caledonian Railway, was a notable exception. Often, after attending +Clearing House meetings or Parliamentary Committees, have I met him in +Piccadilly, Bond Street, or the Burlington Arcade, faultlessly and +fashionably attired in the best taste, airing himself, admiring and +admired. We always stopped and talked; of the topics of the day, the +weather, what a pleasant place London was, how handsome the women, how +well dressed the men. At the Clearing House we usually sat next each +other. I liked him and I think he liked me. Do not think he was a beau +and nothing more. No, he was a hard-headed Scotchman, full of ability +and work, and as a railway manager stood at the top of the ladder. Next +to him Sir Frederick Harrison, General Manager of the London and North- +Western Railway, was, I think, the best dressed railway man. Both he and +Sir James were tall, handsome fellows, and I confess to having admired +them, perhaps as much for their good looks and their taste and style, as +for their intellectual qualities; and I have often thought that men in +high positions would not do amiss to pay some attention to old Polonius' +admonition to his son that, "the apparel oft proclaims the man." + +In the friends I made I was fortunate too. They included two or three +budding lawyers, a young engineer, a banker, a doctor, two embryo hotel +managers, an auctioneer, and one or two journalists; and, as I have +mentioned before, my artist friend _Cynicus_. We were, most of us, +friends of each other, met often, and the variety of our pursuits gave +zest and interest to our intercourse. First amongst these friends ranked +G. G., one of the young lawyers, or _writers_, as they are called in +Scotland. He was my closest friend. We have not met for many years, but +the friendship remains unweakened; for there are things that Time the +destroyer is powerless to injure. Like myself, G. G. comes of the middle +class. His parents, like mine, were by no means affluent, but they were +Scotch and held education in veneration, and were ambitious, as Scottish +parents are, for their sons. They gave him a University education, and +afterwards apprenticed him to the law. He became, and is still, a +prosperous lawyer in Glasgow. + +Then came J. B., a young lawyer too, who blossomed into the pleasant and +important position of Senior Deputy Town Clerk of the City of Glasgow. +He, too, had sprung from the great middle class. Well versed in +classical lore he was a delightful companion. He had travelled much and +benefited by his travels; was a sociable being, exceedingly good-natured, +and peered through spectacles as thick as pebbles, being very +short-sighted, and without his glasses would scarcely recognise you a +yard off. Yet he could see into the heart of things as well as most men, +for he was a shrewd Scotchman, and had a pawky humour. If he possessed a +fault it was a love for a game of cards. We played _nap_ in those days, +and when a game was on it was hard to get him to bed. He has gone over +to the majority now. His sudden death a year ago came as a great blow to +his family and a large circle of friends. Next to G. G., as intimate +friends, came H. H. and F. K. They were in the company's service though +not in the railway proper, but connected with the management of the hotel +department. Of foreign birth, sons of a nation with whom we are now, +alas! at war, they were youths of fine education, disposition and +refinement, and I became greatly attached to each. H. H. preceded and F. +K. followed me to Ireland, where he (F. K.) still resides, honoured and +respected, as he deserves to be. He and I, throughout the years, have +been and are the closest of friends. Once, not very long ago, in a grave +crisis of my life, when death seemed near, he stood by me with the +devotion of a brother. My auctioneer friend (G. F.) was, perhaps, the +most interesting man of our circle; certainly he possessed more humour +than the rest of us put together. Fond of literature, with a talent for +writing, he was a regular contributor to the Glasgow Punch, _The Bailie_. +But his greatest charms were, his dear innocence, his freshness of mind, +his simple inexpensive tastes, his enjoyment of life, and his infectious +laugh. In years he was our senior, but in worldly knowledge junior to us +all. He lives still and is, I believe, as jocund as ever. Another of +these Glasgow friends I must mention--a poet, and like Burns, a son of +the soil. His name was Alexander Anderson. When first I met him he was +in the railway service, a labourer on the permanent way, what is called a +surfaceman in Scotland, a platelayer in England and a milesman in +Ireland. Self taught, he became proficient in French, German and +Italian, and was able to enjoy in their own language the literature of +those countries. A Scottish nobleman, impressed by his wonderful +poetical talent, defrayed the expenses of a tour which he made in Italy +and an extended stay in Rome, to the enrichment of his mind and to his +great enjoyment. On his return to Scotland he published a book of poems. +In an introduction to this book the Revd. George Gilfillan wrote, "The +volume he now presents to the world is distinguished by great variety of +subject and modes of treatment. It has a number of sweet Scottish +verses, plaintive or pawky. It has some strains of a higher mood, +reminding us of Keats in their imagination. But the highest effort, if +not also the most decided success, is his series of sonnets, entitled, +'In Rome.' And certainly this is a remarkable series." A remarkable man +he was indeed; simple and earnest in manner, with a fine eye, a full dark +beard and sunburnt face. Tiring, however, of a labourer's life and of +the pick and shovel, he left the railway and became assistant librarian +of Edinburgh University, and three years afterwards Secretary to the +Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh. He afterwards became Chief +Librarian to the Edinburgh University. He died in the summer of 1909. He +stayed with me in Glasgow once for a week-end, and on the Sunday +afternoon we together visited a friend of his who lived near, a literary +man, who then was engaged in writing a series of lives of the Poets for +some publishing house. An interesting part of our conversation was about +Carlyle with whom this friend was intimate, had in fact just returned +from visiting him at Chelsea. He told us many interesting stories of the +sage. I remember one. He was staying with the Carlyles, when Mrs. +Carlyle was alive. One evening at tea, a copper kettle, with hot water, +stood on the hob. Mrs. Carlyle made a movement as if to rise, with her +eye directed to the kettle; the friend, divining her wish, rose and +handed her the kettle. She thanked him, and, with a pathetic and wistful +gaze at Carlyle, added, "Ay, Tam, ye never did the like o' that!" + +My first trip abroad was in 1883, and my companion, G. G. We went to +Paris via Newhaven, Dieppe and Rouen, and at Rouen stayed a day and a +night, and spent about a fortnight in Paris. We were accompanied from +London by a friend I have not yet named, one who was well known in the +railway world, Tony Visinet, the British Engineering and Commercial Agent +of the Western Railway of France; a delightful companion always, full of +the charm and vivacity that belong to his country. He took us to see his +mother at Rouen, who lived in an old-fashioned house retired from the +road, in a pleasant court-yard; a charming old lady, with whom G. G. was +able to converse, but I was not. Tony Visinet's life was full of +movement and variety. He had lodgings in London, and a flat in Paris, +traversed the Channel continually, and I remember his proudly celebrating +his fifteen hundredth crossing. + +From childhood I had longed to see something of the world, and this +excursion to Paris was the first gratification of that wish. Paris now +is as familiar to me almost as London, but then was strange and new. +Rouen and its cathedral we first saw by moonlight, a beautiful and +impressive sight, idealised to me by the thought that we were in sunny +France. Little I imagined then how much of the world in later years I +should see; but strong desires often accomplish their own fulfilment, and +so it came to pass. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. +TERMINALS, RATES AND FARES, AND OTHER MATTERS + + +Of course it was right that Parliament, when conferring upon the railway +companies certain privileges, such as the compulsory acquisition of land +and property, should, in the public interest, impose restrictions on +their charging powers. No one could reasonably complain of this, and had +it been done from the beginning in a clear, logical way, and in language +free from doubt, all might have been well and much subsequent trouble +avoided. But this was not the case. Each company's charging powers were +contained in its own private Acts (which were usually very numerous) and +differed for different sections of the railway. It was often impossible +for the public to ascertain the rights of the companies, and well nigh +impossible for the companies themselves to know what they were. These +powers were in the form of tolls for the use of the railway; charges for +the use of carriages, wagons, and locomotive power, and total maximum +charges which were less than the sum of the several charges. In the Acts +no mention was made of terminals, though in some of them power to make a +charge for _services incidental to conveyance_ was authorised, and what +these words really meant was the subject of much legal argument and great +forensic expenditure. + +In addition to the tolls and charges, the Acts usually contained a rough +classification of goods to which they applied. These were divided into +from three to five classes, and comprised some 50 to 60 articles. The +railway companies, however, had in existence, for practical everyday use, +a general classification called The Railway Clearing House +Classification, and this contained over 2,700 articles divided into seven +classes. + +The tolls and charges in the Companies' Acts were fixed originally in the +old belief (to which I have before alluded) that railway companies, like +canal companies, would be mere owners of the route; and when they became +carriers and provided stations, sidings, warehouses, cranes, and all the +paraphernalia appertaining to the business of a carrier, the old form was +not altered, the charging powers remained as originally expressed in +subsequent Acts, and the same old model was followed. For several years +prior to 1881 complaints by merchants, traders and public bodies against +railway rates and fares had become very common. The cry was taken up by +the public generally, and railway companies had a decidedly unpleasant +time of it, which they bore with that good temper and equanimity which I +(perhaps not altogether an unprejudiced witness) venture to affirm +generally characterised them. The complaints increased in number and +intensity and Members of Parliament and newspaper writers joined in the +jeremiad. + +Parliament, as Parliaments do, yielded to clamour, and in 1881 a Select +Committee was appointed by the House of Commons to inquire into railway +charges, into the laws and conditions affecting such charges, and +specially into passenger fares. It was a big committee, consisted of 23 +members, took 858 pages of evidence, and examined 80 witnesses. At the +end of the session they reported that, although they had sat +continuously, time had failed for consideration of the evidence, and +recommended that the committee be re-appointed in the next session. This +was done, and the committee, enlarged to 27 members, took further +evidence, and submitted a report to Parliament. + +The gravest issue was the right of the companies to charge terminals, and +the committee found that the railways had made out their case, and +recommended that the right of the companies to station terminals should +be recognised by Parliament. Further, the committee, on the whole of the +evidence, acquitted the railway companies of any grave dereliction of +their duty to the public, and added: "It is remarkable that no witnesses +have appeared to complain of 'preferences' given to individuals by +railway companies as acts of private favour or partiality." As to +passenger fares, the committee reported that the complaints submitted to +them were rather local than general, and not of an important character, +but thought that it might be well for the Railway Commissioners to have +the same jurisdiction in respect to passengers as to goods traffic. + +The railway companies thus emerged from this searching inquiry with +credit, as they have done in the many investigations to which they have +been subjected, and no high-minded and aspiring young railway novice need +ever blush for the traditions of the service. + +Before the committee Mr. James Grierson, General Manager of the Great +Western, was the principal witness for the railway companies, and yeoman +service he rendered. He presented the railway case with great ability, +and his views were accepted on the important terminal question. In 1886 +he published a book on _Railway Rates_, which was warmly welcomed by the +Press and, in the words of _Herepath's Journal_, was "an exhaustive, +able, and dispassionate _resume_ of all the conflicting statements, +claims, and interests verging round the much vexed question of railway +rates." Certainly he did much towards the ultimate settlement of the +matter. Mr. Grierson was, perhaps, the ablest witness before +Parliamentary Committees the railway service ever had, which is saying +much. A leading counsel, during the luncheon interval, once said to him, +"We feel small when we are cross-examining you. You know all about the +business, and we can only touch the fringe of it." The great secret of +Mr. Grierson's success was his mastery of, and scrupulous regard for, +facts and his straightforwardness. Of his book he himself said, "My +conclusions may be disputed, but no one shall dispute the facts on which +they are based." + +The committee recommended that Parliament, when authorising new lines, or +extending the powers of existing companies, should have its attention +drawn by some public authority to the proposed, and in the case of +existing companies, to the existing rates and fares. They also +recommended that one uniform classification of merchandise be established +by law; that the Court of Railway Commissioners be made permanent; and +that the amalgamation of Irish Railways be promoted and facilitated. Thus +the great inquiry ended; but public agitation did not cease. One or two +attempts at legislation followed, but from one cause or another, fell +through; and it was not until 1888 that the subject was seriously tackled +by Parliament. In that year the _Railway and Canal Traffic Act_, of +which I shall later on have something to say, was passed. + +On the appearance of the Report in 1882, it was recognised in railway +circles that something _must_ happen regarding the eternal rates +question, and the companies began to prepare themselves as best they +could. It fell upon me to examine the many Acts of Parliament of the +Glasgow and South-Western Railway, to collate the provisions relating to +tolls, charges and maximum powers, to compare those powers with actual +rates, to work out cost of terminal service, and to draw up a revised +proposed scale of maximum conveyance rates and terminal charges. Deeply +interesting work it was, and led, not very many years afterwards, to +unexpected promotion, which I valued much, and about which I shall have +more to say. + +In the year 1880 a Scotch branch of the Railway Benevolent Institution +was established. Mr. Wainwright was made its chairman, and I was +appointed secretary. He and I had for some time urged upon the Board in +London the desirability of a local committee of management in Scotland. +The Institution had a great membership in England, and was generously +helped there in the matter of funds by the public. The subscription +payable by members was small, and the benefits it bestowed were +substantial; but railway men in Scotland looked at it askance: "the Board +in London kenned little aboot Scotland and Scotch claims wouldna get vera +much conseederation." Well, all this was changed by what we did. Soon a +numerous membership succeeded to the few who on Scottish railways had +previously joined the Institution, and we had much satisfaction in +finding that we were able to dispense substantial aid to many old and +needy railwaymen and to their widows and orphans. Mr. Wainwright +remained Chairman of the Branch till his death, and I continued Secretary +until I left Scotland. + +In 1883, after my return from Paris, I grew restless again, with a +longing for more responsibility and a larger and freer life; with, +perhaps, an admixture of something not so ennobling--the desire for a +bigger income. Never was I indifferent to the comforts that money can +bring, though never, I must confess, was I gifted with the capacity for +money making or money saving. The pleasures of life (the rational +pleasures I hope) had always an attraction for me. I could never forego +them, or forego the expense they involved, for the sake of future distant +advantages. What weighed with me, too, was the fact that I was +undoubtedly overworked and my health was suffering. It was not that my +railway duties proper were oppressive, but the duties as Secretary of the +Railway Benevolent Institution in Scotland added considerably to my +office hours, and at home I often worked far into the night writing for +the several papers to which I contributed. Too much work and too little +play was making Jack a very dull boy. I envied those officers, such as +John Mathieson, whose duties took them often out of doors, and gave them +the control and management of men. + +My chief was as kind and considerate as ever, and I confided to him the +thoughts that disturbed me. Warm-heartedly he sympathised with my +feelings. He himself had gone, he said, through the same experience some +twenty years before. The prospect of promotion at St. Enoch, he agreed, +seemed remote; the principal officers, except the engineer, were young or +middle-aged; and he himself was in the prime of life. He did not want to +lose me, but I must look out, and he would look out too. At last the +opportunity came, and it came from Ireland. The Belfast and County Down +Railway Chairman, Mr. R. W. Kelly, and a director, Lord (then Mr.) +Pirrie, were deputed to see half a dozen or so likely young applicants in +England and Scotland. I was interviewed by these gentlemen in Glasgow, +was selected for the vacant post of general manager, and in May, 1885, +removed with my family to Belfast, and entered upon my duties there. + +Lord Pirrie is a great shipbuilder of world-wide fame. I was not long at +the County Down before I discovered his wonderful energy, his marvellous +capacity for work, his thoroughness, and keen business ability. I always +thought that at our interview at Saint Enoch he was as much impressed +with the order and method which appeared in the office of which I had +charge as by anything else. I showed him everything very freely, and +remember his appreciation and also his criticism, of which latter, as I +afterwards found, he was at times by no means sparing, but if sometimes +severe, it was always just and salutary. How little one foresees events. +Not long had I left Glasgow before unexpected changes occurred. In 1886, +Mr. Wainwright took ill and died; soon after Mathieson went to +Queensland; and in less than eight short years three general managers had +succeeded Mr. Wainwright. + +They were good to me when I left Glasgow. I was presented with a +valuable testimonial at a banquet at which Mr. Wainwright presided and at +which my good friend, G. G., made a fine speech. It would be idle for me +to say that the warm congratulations of my friends, the prospects of +change, and the sense of new responsibilities, did not delight and excite +me. But a strong measure of regret was mixed with the pleasurable +draught. I was greatly attached to my chief, and keenly felt the parting +from him. He felt it too. When it came to the last handshake words +failed us both. + +The Nestor of the Glasgow and South-Western Railway was Andrew Galloway, +the chief engineer. A Nestor he looked with his fine, strong, grave +features, abundant hair, and flowing beard. He was a very able engineer, +but had many old-fashioned ways, one of which was an objection to anyone +but himself opening his letters, and when absent from his office they +would at times lie for several days untouched. If remonstrated with he +was quite unmoved. He had a theory that most letters, if left long +enough unanswered, answered themselves. In me he always showed a +fatherly interest, and sometimes chided me for talking too freely and +writing too much. His last words when he bade me farewell, and gave me +his blessing were, to remember always to think twice before I spoke once. +On the very day I was assured of my appointment as general manager for +the County Down Railway I discarded the tall silk hat and the black +morning coat, which for some time had been my usual business garb, as it +was of many serious-minded aspiring young business men in Glasgow. Mr. +Galloway asked me the reason of the change, which he was quick to +observe. "Well," said I, "I have secured my position, so it's all right +now." Never since, except in London, have I renounced the liberty I then +assumed; the bowler and the jacket suit became my regular business wear, +and the other habiliments of severe respectability were relegated to +churchgoing, weddings, christenings, and funerals and other formal +occasions. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. +FURTHER RAILWAY LEGISLATION + + +In Chapter IX., at the outset of my Glasgow and South-Western service, I +reviewed the public Acts of Parliament passed since the beginning of +railways down to the year 1875, and it may not be amiss to notice now the +further railway legislation enacted up to 1885. + +The first measure of importance was the _Railway Returns (Continuous +Brakes) Act_, 1878. The travelling public had for some years been +sensitive regarding railway accidents which, though infrequent, +nevertheless occurred much oftener then than now, and were more serious +in their results. The matter of their reduction began to receive the +serious attention of railway engineers and inventors, and among many +appliances suggested was the system of continuous brakes. In June, 1875, +a great contest of brakes, extending over three days, in which trains of +the principal companies engaged, took place on the Midland railway +between Newark and Bleasby. A large number of brakes competed--the +Westinghouse, the Vacuum, Clarke's Hydraulic, Webb's Chain, and several +others. It is recorded that at the conclusion of the trial, each +patentee left the _refreshment tent_ satisfied that his own brake was the +best; but Time is the great arbiter, and _his_ decision has been in +favour of two--the Automatic Vacuum and the Westinghouse, and these are +the brakes the companies have adopted. The Act required all railway +companies to submit to the Board of Trade, twice in every year, returns +showing the amount of rolling stock fitted with continuous brakes, the +description of brake and whether self-acting and instantaneous in action. +So far there was no compulsion upon the railways to use continuous +brakes, though most of the companies were earnestly studying the subject, +but the rival claims of inventors and the uncertainty as to which +invention would best stand the test of time tended to retard their +adoption. Meanwhile, the publicity afforded by the Board of Trade +Returns, and public discussion, helped to hasten events and the climax +was reached in 1889, when a terrible accident, due primarily to +inefficient brake power, occurred in Ireland, and was attended with great +loss of life. The Board of Trade was in that year invested with +statutory power to _compel_ railway companies, within a given time, to +provide all passenger trains with automatic continuous brakes. + +In 1878 there was also passed the _Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act_. +Foot and mouth disease had for some time been rife in Great Britain and +Ireland, and legislation became necessary. The Act applied not only to +railways but was also directed to the general control and supervision of +flocks and herds. It contained a number of clauses concerning transit by +rail, and invested the Privy Council with authority to make regulations, +the carrying out of which, as affecting the Glasgow and South-Western +Railway, devolved upon me, and for a year or two occupied much of my +time. + +An Act to extend and regulate the liability of employers, and to provide +for compensation for personal injuries suffered by workmen in their +service, came into force in 1880. It was called the _Employers' +Liability Act_, and was the first step in that class of legislation, +which has since been greatly extended, and with which both employer and +employed, are now familiar. + +That great convenience the _Parcel Post_, which for the first time +secured to the public the advantage of having parcels sent to any part of +the United Kingdom at a fixed charge, and which seems now as necessary to +modern life as the telephone or the telegraph, and as, perhaps, a few +years hence, the airship will be, was brought into existence by the _Post +Office (Parcels) Act_, 1882. Under that Act it was ordained that the +railways of the United Kingdom should carry by all trains whatever +parcels should be handed to them for transit by the Post Office, the +railway remuneration to be fifty-five per cent. of the money paid by the +public. The scheme was a great success. During the first year of its +operation the parcels carried numbered over 20 millions, and in the year +1913-14 (the last published figures) reached 137 millions. + +The _Cheap Trains Act_, 1883, was passed to amend and consolidate the law +relating to (_a_) railway passenger duty, and (_b_) the conveyance of the +Queen's Forces by railway. It did not apply to Ireland. Passenger duty +was never exacted in that happy land. In Great Britain the Act relieved +the railway companies from payment of the duty on all fares not exceeding +one penny per mile; provided for the running of workmen's trains; and +prescribed a scale of reduced fares for the conveyance of Her Majesty's +soldiers and sailors. + +After this Act, and until the year 1888, no further general railway +legislation of importance took place. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. +BELFAST AND THE COUNTY DOWN RAILWAY + + +After eighteen years of railway life, at the age of 34, I had attained +the coveted position of a general manager. Of a small railway it is +true, but the Belfast and County Down Railway, though unimposing as to +mileage, was a busy and by no means an uninteresting line. A railway +general manager in Ireland was in those days, strange to say, something +of a _rara avis_. There were then in the Green Isle no less than +eighteen separate and distinct working railways, varying from four to +nearly 500 miles in length, and amongst them all only four had a _general +manager_. The system that prevailed was curious. With the exception of +these four general managers (who were not on the larger lines) the +principal officer of an Irish railway was styled _Manager_ or _Traffic +Manager_. He was regarded as the senior official, but over the Traffic +Department only had he _absolute_ control, though other important duties +which affected more than his own department often devolved upon him. He +was, in a sense, maid of all work, and if a man of ability and character +managed, in spite of his somewhat anomalous position, to acquire many of +the attributes and much of the influence of a real general manager. But +the system was unsatisfactory, led to jealousies, weakened discipline, +and was not conducive to efficient working. Happily it no longer exists, +and for some years past each Irish Railway has had its responsible +_General Manager_. Something that happened, in the year 1889, gave the +old system the first blow. In that year a terrible accident to a Sunday +school excursion of children occurred on the Great Northern Railway near +Armagh, and was attended with great loss of life. This led the company +to appoint a General Manager, which they did in June, 1890, Thomas +Robertson, of the Highland Railway of Scotland, of whom I spoke earlier +in these pages, being the capable man they selected. + +Curious certainly was the method which up to then prevailed on the Great +Northern system. Three different _Managers_ exercised jurisdiction over +separate sections of the line, and the _Secretary_ of the Company, an +able man, stationed in Dublin, performed much more than secretarial +duties, and encroached, so I often heard the managers complain, upon +their functions. This divided authority was a survival of the time +before 1877, when the Great Northern system belonged to several +independent companies; and, in the words of the Allport Commission of +1887, "its continued existence after ten years could hardly be defended." + +Very pleasant and very interesting I found my new avocation on the County +Down, which for short the Belfast and County Down Railway was usually +called. My salary certainly was not magnificent, 500 pounds a year, but +it was about 100 pounds more than the whole of the income I earned in +Scotland, and now for the 500 pounds I had only my railway work to +perform. Now I could give up those newspaper lucubrations, which had +become almost a burden and daily enjoy some hours of leisure. The change +soon benefited my health. Instead of close confinement to the office +during the day, and drudgery indoors with pen and ink at night, my days +were varied with out-door as well as in-door work, and I had time for +reading, recreation and social enjoyment. My lean and lanky form filled +out, and I became familiar with the greeting of my friends: "Why, how +well you look!" + +The County Down railway was 68 miles long. Situated entirely in County +Down, it occupied a snug little corner to itself, bounded on the north by +Belfast Lough, on the south by the Mourne Mountains, and on the east by +Strangford Lough and the Irish Sea. To the west ran the Great Northern +railway but some distance away. The County Down line enjoyed three fine +sources of seaside traffic, Bangor, Donaghadee and Newcastle, and was +rich in pleasure resorts and in residential districts. It even possessed +the attractions of a golf course, the first in Ireland, the _Kinnegar at +Holywood_, but more of that anon. As I have said, it was a busy line, +and it was not unprosperous. The dividend in 1885 reached five and a- +half per cent., and in spite of considerable expenditure necessary for +bringing the line up to first-class condition, it never went back, but +steadily improved, and for many years has been a comfortable six and a- +half per cent. In 1885 the condition of the permanent way, the rolling +stock, and the stations was anything but good, and as the traffic showed +capacity for development, to stint expenditure would have been but folly. +I do not think, however, the outlay would have been so liberal as it was +but for Lord (then Mr.) Pirrie, who was an active and influential +director, though there were also on the Board several other business men +of energy and position. Indeed, it was a good Board, but the Chairman, +though a shrewd far-seeing man, had, like John Gilpin's spouse, "a frugal +mind," and Lord Pirrie's bold commercial spirit quite eclipsed his +cautious ways. One instance will suffice to exemplify this, and also to +illustrate the novelty of my new duties, which were delightful in their +diversity and activity to one whose life hitherto had been confined to +sedentary work. + +It was the rolling stock that demanded the most urgent attention--engines, +carriages and wagons and especially carriages. Of carriages there were +not enough for the traffic of the line, and many were in a very sorry +condition, particularly those which had been taken over with the Holywood +and Bangor Railway, acquired by the company the previous year. One +weekend, soon after I joined the service, I had all passenger carriages +brought into Belfast, except those employed in running Sunday trains, and +early on the Sunday morning (it was in the summer) with the company's +locomotive and mechanical engineer I examined each carriage thoroughly +from top to bottom, inside and out, above and below, and with his +practical help and expert knowledge, noted carefully down the defects of +each. He worked with a will, delighted that someone as enthusiastic and +even younger than himself was now in charge. He little suspected, I am +sure, how ignorant I was of practical matters, as I kept my own counsel +which was my habit when prudence so dictated. I knew the names of things +and was well versed in the theory and statistics of repairs and renewals, +but that was all. A fine worker was and is R. G. Miller. Well over 70 +now, healthy and energetic still, he occupies the position he did then. +Age has not withered nor custom staled his juvenility. I met him on +Kingstown promenade the other day walking with an elastic step and with +the brightness of youth in his eye. The ordinary age-retirement limit, +though a good rule generally, was not for him. Daylight failed and night +came on before our task was finished, several carriages remaining +unexamined. These and the Sunday running vehicles we subjected to +scrutiny during the following week. At the next meeting of the Board I +presented a report of what I had done, and urged that a number of new +carriages should be contracted for without delay, enlarging upon the +return we might confidently expect from a responsive traffic. The +Chairman and most of the Board were a little aghast at what appeared, to +a small company that had only recently emerged from straitened +circumstances, a very large order. But Lord Pirrie came to the rescue, +strongly supported my proposal and commended the thoroughness with which +I had tackled the subject. The day was won, the carriages secure, and +the order for their construction was placed with a firm in Birmingham. +This expenditure was the precursor of further large outlays, for it was +soon seen that the prospects of the company warranted a bold course. + +I may, I am sure, be pardoned if I quote here some words from the report +of Sir James Allport's Commission on Irish Public Works. It is dated 4th +January, 1888. I had then been less than three years with the County +Down, and so could claim but a modicum of the praise it contains, and my +modesty, therefore, need not be alarmed. The words are: "_The history of +the Belfast and County Down Company is sufficient to show how greatly +both shareholders and the public may benefit from the infusion into the +management of business qualities. In that case a board of business men +have in ten years raised the dividend on the ordinary stock from nil to +5.5 per cent., while giving the public an improved service and reduced +rates_." My satisfaction was the greater as I had given evidence before +the Commission, and helped to tell them the cheerful story of the +progress and development of the County Down Company. It was my first +appearance as a railway witness and before Sir James Allport, who had +commanded my unbounded admiration from my first entrance at Derby into +railway life. Need I say that to me it was an event of importance. + +In the year 1875 the Board of the County Down, after an investigation of +its affairs by a Committee of Shareholders, was reorganised, and it was +then that Mr. Richard Woods Kelly became Chairman, and Lord (then Mr.) +Pirrie a Director. The latter has more than once since told me that the +County Down shares were one of his best investments. + +Mr. Kelly merits more than a passing word. Before I joined the County +Down I was told he was a "terror," and that I ran foolish risk in leaving +a service like the Glasgow and South-Western for a position in which I +might find it impossible to please. But fears like that never disturbed +me. To wrongdoers Mr. Kelly could certainly be "a terror," and +wrongdoers there were, I believe, in the service in the early days of his +chairmanship. He was a mild-mannered man, tall, rather pale, with +refined features and a low-toned pleasant voice. But beneath this smooth +and gentle exterior resided great firmness. He would smile and smile +with wonderful imperturbability and, in the quietest tones and the +blandest way, say severe and cutting things. Economy was his strong +point and he observed it in his public and private life with meritorious +consistency. Impervious to cold, as to most other human weaknesses, in +winter or summer he never wore an overcoat. His smooth face and tall +slight figure seemed as indifferent to the angry elements as bronze or +stone. By man or Nature I never saw him ruffled or in the least degree +disturbed. But he had his human side, as all men have, and in time I +discovered it and grew to like him. He was not at heart so cold as he +seemed. Though he could not write a page without mis-spelling some of +the words, his letters were always concise and very much to the point. +But it was only in spelling he was deficient. He spoke well, was a +shrewd judge of men, had a keen sense of humour, a clear perception of +facts, and was quick to detect and discard everything irrelevant. + +Lord Pirrie and Mr. Kelly, in connection with the County Down, were hand +and glove, and it was no small part they played in its transformation +from dark and dismal poverty to smiling prosperity. + +My assistant was James Pinion, afterwards my successor, and later on +Manager of the Cheshire Lines Committee at Liverpool. Being a capable +fellow and a hard worker, it was only natural that he felt disappointed +at not being made general manager of the County Down instead of imported +me; but any sign of soreness soon disappeared. The kindness, the +consideration and the confidence I had received at Mr. Wainwright's +hands, as his assistant, were not forgotten and I felt pleasure in +endeavouring to treat my assistant in the same way. It was not long +before its effect appeared. He told me one day that it was a new +experience for him to be so frankly trusted and so freely consulted, but +it made him happier and imparted a greater zest to his work. Certainly +he served me with enthusiastic zeal and fine loyalty. Throughout a long +period of railway management I have been most fortunate in securing the +goodwill and ready help of the staff, and in many instances their strong +personal attachment. There are men no doubt whose natures are proof +against kindness and consideration, but my experience is that they are +few and far between. I have found also that if one refrains from fault- +finding, gives praise where praise is due, and overlooks small or venial +faults, when reproof becomes necessary, if it be temperately +administered, it is always effective and productive of good. But even +such reproof may be carried too far as on one occasion I found to my +dismay. Pinion, one forenoon, came into my room to tell me he had +discovered that the man in charge of the cloak room was guilty of +peculation; had been tampering with the tickets, and appropriating small +sums. I sent for him, talked to him very severely, sent him home, and +told him he should hear what would be done. An hour later, I heard he +was _dead_: that on his way to his home he had purchased a bottle of +laudanum and swallowed the contents! + +In Scotland a railway manager was rarely worried by outside interference +in the management of his men. Well intentioned people either credited +him with the possession of good sense and decent feeling, or, themselves +resentful of any inter-meddling in their own affairs, refrained from +meddling in his. But it was different I found in Ireland, even in +Belfast where Scottish traditions and Scottish ways were not unknown. +Exceeding good nature, I suppose, is largely accountable for the +readiness with which people in the sister isle espouse, often with little +consideration, the cause of any railway employee who has or fancies he +has a grievance. A rather ridiculous instance of this occurred soon +after my installation at the County Down. One of my first duties was to +examine the line and the employees at each station. At one small station +I found in charge a station master in poor health and well advanced in +years--in fact quite beyond his work. I learned that he possessed a +small property in land and was quite willing to retire if given a few +weeks in which to make his arrangements. This, of course, I gladly +granted as well as a little parting gratuity. He was well pleased, and +wrote me to that effect. But, to my astonishment, not many days passed +before a long and numerously signed Memorial to the Board arrived +beseeching the Directors to stay the hand of their General Manager in his +harsh and unfeeling treatment of a faithful old servant. He was indeed a +faithful old servant; but he was quite ignorant of any memorial on his +behalf having been sent to the Directors. Apparently the memorialists +did not consider it necessary to consult him. + +To be now my own master, subject only to the control of a reasonable and +businesslike Board of Directors, a Chairman who resided in Dublin, +visiting Belfast once a fortnight only, to have the command of men and +the working of a railway, and to be free to move about the line as I +thought fit, was a pleasure indeed and made Ireland a pleasant place. I +lived near the city, but on its outskirts, with open country and sea +views around me, occupied a neat little detached house, with a bit of +garden wherein I could dig and cultivate a few roses, where the air was +pure and clear--a refreshing change from the confinement of a flat, four +stairs up, in the crowded environs of smoky Glasgow. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. +BELFAST AND THE COUNTY DOWN--(continued) + + +During the first few years of my service on the County Down little +occurred to disturb the even tenor of my way. In a sense the duties of +my new position were simple. There were no such things as joint lines, +joint station working, running powers or joint committees, as in England +and Scotland, to distract attention or consume time which could more +usefully be devoted to the affairs of one's own railway. Gradually I +grew familiar with out-door matters, and duties that seemed strange at +first grew as easy as second nature. I learned a good deal about +signalling, became an adept in single line working, an expert in engine +running economies, and attained some success in the management of men. + +One thing especially gave me pleasure--my monthly visit to the Managers' +Conference at the Irish Railway Clearing House in Dublin. There I met my +brother managers in the Irish railway world, and learned something of the +other lines. The leading men at the Conference were Ilbery, Great +Southern and Western; Cotton, Belfast and Northern Counties; Plews and +Shaw, Great Northern; Ward, Midland Great Western; and Skipworth, Manager +in Ireland of the London and North-Western. Of all the managers who +assembled there I was the youngest, and the greatest personality was +Edward John Cotton. By common consent, he had acted as Chairman of the +Conference from the year 1864. No one had ever dreamed of assuming the +position when he was present. This continued till 1890, when Tom +Robertson came on the scene. _He_ was all for change and innovation, and +managed to get the principle of formal election to the chairmanship +established. Many of us thought it was a pity to make the change in +Cotton's time, but Edward John seemed the least concerned of us all, for +nothing ever disturbed his good humour. Robertson was a veritable +Hotspur and upset for a time the serenity of our meetings. He was +overcharged with energy, and a bachelor. + +It is my belief that had our genial Cotton chosen the stage for a +profession he would have found a place among the distinguished actors of +his time, if not in tragedy, certainly in comedy. His face, voice, +manner and style all proclaimed it. You had only to hear him read in +public, which he loved to do, see how natural his dramatic action was, +and feel the effect of a mere wave of his hand through his abundant hair, +to be convinced of this. In railway circles throughout England, Scotland +and Ireland he was widely known. He attended all railway conferences for +he loved movement and travel. Shrewd and well-informed, his knowledge +was acquired not from books or study but from close observation of +passing events and free and friendly intercourse with all whom he met. +His railway was very popular and he and it were held in high esteem. +Easily accessible to all, courteous and reasonable ever, he was in many +respects a model railway manager. His success lay not so much in the +work he performed himself as in obtaining the best results from those +around him, and the capacity to accomplish this is certainly one of the +most useful qualities a railway manager, or any man in a position of +authority, can possess. It is not too much to say that his staff loved +him; certainly they all admired him. He was the readiest man I ever met +to generously acknowledge the worth of those who served him, and whenever +possible he took occasion to do so in public. + +[Edward John Cotton: cotton.jpg] + +I have spoken previously of the _beaux_ I knew in the higher ranks of the +railway service but, strange to say, omitted to mention Edward John who, +in some respects outshone all others. His coat may not have been cut by +a west-end tailor, his hat may not have been a Lincoln Bennett, or his +necktie the latest production of Burlington Arcade, but who could wear a +tall white hat with a black band, with the least little rakish tilt, and +a light grey frock coat with a rose in the buttonhole, with such an air +and grace as he? He appreciated keenly all the good things that life can +give and loved his fellow men. _Pax vobiscum_, kind, warm-hearted Edward +John! You were an ornament to the railway world and always my friend. + +It was Cotton and his Chairman, the Right Hon. John Young, who put in my +way my first arbitration case, to which I have in a previous chapter +alluded. This, as far as I remember, occurred in 1886. A dispute had +arisen between the Northern Counties Company and a small railway company +whose line they worked, concerning, I think, the payment for and use of +some sidings. I conducted the proceedings of course with the greatest of +care, attended, perhaps, with a little trepidation, summoned every +possible witness to appear before me, and visited in state the _locus_. +Edward John was, I think, a little amused. Much older than I he had long +since passed through these youthful phases. I issued my award, with the +usual result that while each party was fairly well pleased neither was +altogether satisfied. I was proud of my _debut_ as an arbitrator, +especially as it was rewarded by, what seemed to me then, a very handsome +fee. + +In January, 1886, an incident that is worth narrating occurred. In my +office a new junior clerk was required. An advertisement in the +newspapers produced a large number of applications, and about a dozen of +the applicants were selected to be seen, one after the other, by Pinion +and myself. Before lunch one day we interviewed half a dozen or so. +Returning together from lunching in the city, as we neared the station, +Pinion drew my attention to a youth who was evidently making for the +railway premises. Said I to Pinion: "If that youth is one of the +candidates, I'll be surprised if he's not the boy for us." It was only a +back view we had of him, but he held himself so well, walked so briskly, +looked so neat, smart, and businesslike that he arrested attention. That +boy, Charles A. Moore, then fresh from school and just fifteen, is now +general manager of the railway! + +It was in 1886, too, that I first met Walter Bailey, between whom and +myself a friendship sprung up which grew in depth and sincerity as time +went on, lasted for thirty years, and was only terminated by his lamented +death in January, 1917. The friendship thus formed yielded much pleasure +and happiness to me and, I think I may safely say, also to my departed +friend. Bailey, who was about my own age, came to Ireland from the South- +Eastern Railway, soon after my settlement in Belfast, to fill the +position of Accountant to the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway. Two +young Englishmen, landed in Ireland, engaged in the same sort of +business, in the same city, would naturally gravitate towards each other +but, more than this, what made us such intimate friends were, tastes in +common, similarity of views, especially concerning railway affairs, a +mutual liking for literary matters, and--well, other less definable +things that form the foundation of all true friendships. Throughout our +long intimacy we often took counsel together on subjects of mutual +interest, but it was I who sought his advice and help much oftener than +he sought mine, for he was cleverer than I. Indeed in the whole railway +world I never met an intellect so quick, or so clear and luminous as his. + +Bailey was the most unselfish man I ever knew; the readiest to help +others. His pen, his remarkable stores of knowledge, and his spare time +too, were always at the service, not only of his friends, but often of +those who were scarcely more than mere acquaintances. The amount of work +which he cheerfully imposed upon himself in this way was astounding and +never was it done grudgingly or half-heartedly, but always promptly and +generously. It afforded him a pleasure that only one endowed as he could +feel. This part of him was often the subject of talk with those of us +who knew him well. But what charmed _me_ most, more even than his +brilliant mental gifts, were the sweetness of his disposition and his +quaintly quizzical and happy humour. Ambition was not strong in him, was +in fact all but absent, and he often rallied me on mine. He never in all +his life asked for any improvement in salary or position; but, in spite +of his inveterate modesty, rose high, became Chief Accountant of the +Midland Railway of England and, I should say, the leading railway +accountant in the United Kingdom. On railway matters he was a writer of +great skill, and all he wrote was enlivened with the happiest humour. To +the _Railway News_ he was a valued contributor, and in railway polemics a +master. + +[Walter Bailey: bailey.jpg] + +The Director on the County Down with whom I became most intimate was the +Right Honourable (then Mr.) Thomas Andrews. He was brother to Judge +Andrews; brother-in-law of Lord Pirrie; became Chairman of the Company; +was made a Privy Councillor; a Deputy Lieutenant of Down; High Sheriff of +that County and President of this and that, for he was a man of ability +and character, but simple in mind and manners as the best men mostly are. +Eloquent in speech, warm-hearted and impulsive, he found it difficult to +resist a joke, even at the expense of his friend. In April, 1890, he +wrote me: "I hope you were not at all annoyed at my pleasantries to Mr. +Pinion. I am not exactly one of those men who would rather lose a friend +than a joke, but I find it hard to resist a joke when a good opportunity +presents itself. I am bound to say that I would be sorry to annoy you, +by a jest or in any other way." His temper was lively but though quickly +roused soon subsided, and he never harboured resentment. At the +conclusion of the very first Board meeting I attended as general manager +at the County Down, he followed me into my room, complimented me on the +way I had discussed the business of the day, and added: "I'm sure you'll +be successful in Ireland for you have the _suaviter in modo_ combined +with the _fortiter in re_." It was a pretty compliment, and sincere I +knew, for no one could meet him without recognising his frank outspoken +nature. On the threshold of my new work such encouragement greatly +cheered me and increased my determination to do my best. Until his +death, not long ago, we often corresponded on railway and other matters, +and he was always my staunch friend. He had a taste, too, for poetry +which we sometimes discussed. The _Thomas Andrews_, who went down with +the _Titanic_ in the North Atlantic, on the 14th April, 1912, was his +son, the story of whose short but strenuous life, and its tragic end, is +told in a little book written by Shan F. Bullock. Sir Horace Plunkett +wrote an introduction to it, in which he says: "He was one of the noblest +Irishmen Ulster has produced in modern times, to whom came the supreme +test in circumstances demanding almost superhuman fortitude and +self-control. There was not the wild excitement of battle to sustain +him; death had to be faced calmly in order that others--to whom he must +not even bid farewell--might live." A few minutes before the end, so it +is recorded, on the boat deck of the _Titanic_, the grandest sight of him +was seen, as he stood with wonderful calm, throwing overboard deck chairs +to those who were struggling in the water below. He had no thought of +himself, but only of duty and of others. Then came the end: the +_Titanic_, with a low long slanting dive went down and with her Thomas +Andrews. He was only 39, but had attained the high position of a +Managing Director of the great firm of Harland and Wolff. I knew him as +a boy, manly, handsome, high-spirited, clever--"the father of the man." +That this terrible tragedy shortened the life of _his_ father is certain. + +In 1887, and again in 1888, Bailey and I took our holidays together, +visiting Normandy, Paris, Belgium, Holland and the Rhine, doing a great +deal of walking, which he liked as much as I. He was the prince of +travelling companions, always gay and sprightly, and spoke French with +great fluency. His happy disposition, unfailing good humour, and keen +enjoyment of everything, even of the occasional discomforts that arose, +as in travelling discomforts will arise, especially when funds are not +too plentiful, made every hour of our holiday enjoyable. He had the +happy gift of seeing always the humorous and the best side of things. He +acted as paymaster on our tours and presented with great regularity +records of our joint expenditure with the neatness and accuracy of the +perfect accountant. Never a pipe smoker, he had no special interest in +pipes, but to me the happiness of our first holiday was increased by the +colouring of a new meerschaum. In this delightful art I was a disciple +of Samuel Swarbrick, though I needed not, as he did, the services of +another in the early stages of the colouring process. Whoever has been +the votary of a meerschaum will understand the pride with which I +frequently displayed my pipe and its deepening colour to Bailey, often to +his great amusement I must admit. In a hotel in the city of Antwerp, +where we stayed for several days, we occupied adjoining bedrooms having a +communicating door. One night, towards early morn, but before daylight +had dawned, I was suddenly awakened out of a sound sleep, and to my +astonishment saw Bailey with lighted candle standing by my bedside, with +a serious look on his face. "Great Scott! what's the matter?" I +exclaimed. "_My dear boy, I can't sleep; do let me see your pipe_," he +answered. With such like pleasantries he beguiled the happy times we +spent together. + +In these years I had another pleasure: I learned to ride, taking lessons +in horsemanship at a riding school in Belfast. I soon acquired a firm +seat, and my good friend H. H. (who was a practised horseman, and then +lived in Belfast too) and I had many delightful rides in the beautiful +country around the city. For many years, so far as opportunity and means +allowed, I indulged myself in this best of all exercises. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. +RAILWAY RATES AND CHARGES, THE BLOCK, THE BRAKE, AND LIGHT RAILWAYS + + +Until the autumn of 1888 nothing occurred to disturb the even tenor of my +way, and I pursued in peace my daily work at the County Down. It was +interesting work and pleasant to become personally acquainted with the +customers of the company, many of whom lived in towns and villages some +distance from the railway, and to gain their good will. It was +interesting and also satisfactory to gradually establish an improved and +efficient train service and to watch the traffic expand. It was +exhilarating to engage in lively competition with carriers by road who, +for short distance traffic, keenly competed with the railway. It was +good to introduce economies and improvements in working, and gratifying +to do what one could to help and satisfy the staff--a thing, I need +scarcely say, much easier to accomplish then than now. + +And so the time passed until August, 1888, when the railway world was +deeply moved by the introduction of the _Railway and Canal Traffic Act_. + +This Act was the outcome of the Report of the Select Committee of 1881, +before which Mr. James Grierson gave such weighty evidence. One of the +most important measures Parliament ever passed, it imposed on railway +companies an amount of labour and anxiety, prolonged and severe, such as +I hope they may not have to face again. + +The Act, as I have stated before, altered the constitution of the Railway +Commission, and also effected minor alterations in the law relating to +railways and canals, but its main purpose was the revision of Maximum +Rates and Charges. It ordered each company to prepare a revised +classification of goods and a revised Schedule of Maximum Rates, and +submit them to the Board of Trade, who, after considering objections +lodged against them, were to agree (if they could) with the companies +upon a classification and schedule for adoption; and if they failed, to +determine a classification and schedule themselves. Public sittings at +Westminster, Edinburgh and Dublin, occupying 85 days, took place, but no +agreement was reached; and in their Report to Parliament the Board of +Trade embodied a Revised Classification and a standard Schedule of +Maximum Rates for general adoption. The Schedule included Terminals. In +accordance with the Act, it then became necessary for this Revised +Classification and Schedule to be confirmed by Parliament. Against them +petitions were lodged by both railways and traders, and the whole matter +was referred to a Joint Committee of both Houses. This Committee sat in +1891 from April till July; but it was not until January, 1893, that all +was completed and the Revised Classification and the new rates brought +into force. Little time was afforded to the companies for their part of +the work. The whole system of rates was changed. New rates had to be +calculated on the new scale; thousands of rate books had to be compiled, +and millions of rates altered and revised. It was a colossal task; +impossible of fulfilment in the time allowed. The application of the new +Schedule forcibly reduced many rates, inflicting much loss upon the +companies, and because the companies advanced other rates (within the +limits of the new maximum powers of course) to meet this loss, or to meet +it to some extent, a storm of abuse arose and swept across the land. A +trader from Berwick-on-Tweed, more frank than most, wrote the following +"characteristic" letter as it was called at the time:-- + +"What we want is to have our fish carried at _half_ present rates. We +don't care a --- whether it pays the railways or not. Railways ought to +be made to carry for the good of the country, or they should be taken +over by the Government. That is what all Traders want and mean to try to +get." + +Perhaps they would not be happy if they got it! In his clear, and most +interesting book _Railways and Their Rates_, my friend Edwin A. Pratt +says this letter was quoted in the Report which the Board of Trade made +to Parliament after their 85 days' Inquiry. The railway companies +announced that the new rates were in no sense final, that the time +allowed them was insufficient for proper revision, that they would give +an assurance that no increase would be made that would interfere with +trade or agriculture or diminish traffic and that, unless under +exceptional circumstances, no increase would in any case exceed 5 per +cent. But all was in vain, and Parliament passed an Act which provided +that any increase whatever (though within the limits of the new statutory +maximum) if complained of, should be heard and decided upon by the +Railway Commissioners, and that the onus of proving the reasonableness of +the increase should rest on the railway company. Sir Alexander (then +Mr.) Butterworth, in his book on _The Law Relating to Maximum Rates and +Charges on Railways_, published in 1897, says this remarkable result is +presented: that Parliament, "after probably the most protracted inquiry +ever held in connection with proposed legislation, decided that certain +amounts were to be the charges which railway companies should for the +future be entitled to make, and in 1894 apparently accepted the +suggestion that many of the charges, sanctioned after so much +deliberation, were unreasonable, and enacted that to entitle a company to +demand them, it should not be sufficient that the charge was within any +limit fixed by an Act of Parliament." Thus Parliament, yielding to +popular clamour, stultified itself, and in feverish haste to placate an +angry and noisy public tied the hands of the railway companies, doing, I +believe, more harm than good. This legislation naturally made the +companies very cautious in reducing a rate because of the difficulties to +be encountered should circumstances require them to raise it again, and +railway rates thus lost that element of elasticity and adaptability so +essential to the development of trade. Many a keen and enterprising +business man have I heard lament the restrictions that Parliament imposed +and declare that such interference with the freedom of trade was short- +sighted in the extreme and bad for the country. + +Immediately after the passing of the Act of 1888 the railway companies +vigorously attacked the work imposed upon them. A special meeting on the +subject was held at the Irish Railway Clearing House in Dublin for the +purpose of preparing a revised Classification and Schedule of Rates. This +was a rare opportunity for me and I eagerly availed myself of it. Before +I left Glasgow it will be remembered I had been entrusted with an +examination of the statutory charging powers of the Glasgow and South- +Western company, and with the drawing up of a suggested scale of maximum +rates. No similar work had yet been done in Ireland, and it was +altogether new to the Irish companies. I produced copies of the +statements which I had prepared in Glasgow, and they served as a basis +for what had to be done, saved much time and trouble and gained for me no +little _kudos_. But more than this resulted. As I have hinted before, +and as will hereafter appear, this bit of Glasgow work led to my +promotion to a greater charge than the busy little County Down, which +though I loved it well, I had begun to feel I was now outgrowing. Many +other meetings at the Clearing House followed in which I took part with +increasing confidence, and in which Walter Bailey also prominently +figured. He and I were hand and glove. Cotton, who soon discovered that +Bailey was an authority on the subject, as indeed he was on most railway +matters, was not slow to profit by his knowledge and ability. He brought +him to all our meetings, and valuable was the help that Bailey gave. + +In 1889 there came into operation the _Regulation of Railways Act_. It +invested the Board of Trade with power to order any company to adopt +block working, to interlock all points and signals, and to use on all +trains carrying passengers automatic continuous brakes. Before issuing +the order the Board consented to hear any representations which the +railways desired to make. The smaller companies, upon which the +expenditure involved would press very hardly, and the circumstances of +whose traffic seemed scarcely to require the same elaborate precautions +for safety in working as the bigger and more crowded systems, banded +together and waited on the Board of Trade. Upon me devolved the duty of +presenting the case for the smaller Irish companies, and upon Conacher, +of the Cambrian, for the smaller English lines. How finely Conacher +spoke I well remember. He had an excellent voice, possessed in a high +degree the gift of concise and forcible expression, and his every word +told. But our eloquence accomplished little--some small modification +regarding mixed trains, and that was all. Many of the lines in Ireland +serving districts where population is scanty, traffic meagre, and trains +consequently infrequent, could well have been spared the costly outlay +which the Act involved. Three or four trains each way per day represent +the train service on many of these small railways, and some of the +sections of the larger lines warrant little more. Take, for instance, +the case of the Midland Great-Western. On 330 out of its 538 miles not +more than six trains each way in the 24 hours are required, and they +could probably be reduced without hurting anyone. These figures relate +not to the exceptional war time in which I pen these lines, when stern +necessity has sweepingly reduced the train service, but to pre-war days +when normal conditions prevailed. Half a dozen trains each way per day! +In England there are as many, or more, in the hour! + +The Act of 1889 also dealt with the working hours of railway men whose +duty involved the safety of trains or passengers, and required each +company to make periodical returns of those employed for longer hours +than were to be named from time to time by the Board of Trade; and it +contained further a useful clause to the effect that the fares were in +future to be printed on passenger tickets. I should not be surprised if +this simple little clause has not brought more real satisfaction to the +minds and hearts of the people of the British Isles than all the laboured +legislation on railway rates and charges. + +In the year 1889 a great fillip was given to the extension of railways in +Ireland by the passing of the _Light Railways (Ireland) Act_. It was +familiarly known as "Balfour's Act." Mr. Balfour was then Chief +Secretary of Ireland, and it was due to him that it was passed. The Act +was designed "to facilitate the construction of Light Railways in +Ireland," and embodied various recommendations of the Allport Commission. +It was the first introduction of the principle of State aid by free money +grants. Such aid was conditional upon the light railway being +constructed or worked by an existing railway company, except in cases +where the Baronies guaranteed dividends upon a portion of the capital. +The amount which the Treasury was authorised to grant was 600,000 pounds. +In 1896 this was increased by a further sum of 500,000 pounds, and both +were, in addition to a capital sum, represented by 40,000 pounds per +annum which had been granted under previous legislation. Under this Act +and Acts of 1890 and 1896, over 300 miles, comprising 15 separate lines, +were constructed at a total cost, exclusive of what the railway companies +contributed, of 1,849,967 pounds, of which the Government contribution +was 1,553,967 pounds. Although the lines were promoted under Light +Railway Acts, and the Government grants were based upon light railway +estimates, Parliamentary power was obtained to construct, maintain, and +work them as other than light railways. This was taken advantage of by +some of the working companies who, in eight instances contributed +themselves a considerable amount of capital, in order that the lines +should be made sound and substantial, of the usual gauge, and such as +could be worked by the ordinary rolling stock of the company. The +Midland Great-Western, for instance, so expended no less than 352,000 +pounds of their capital on "Balfour Lines" in the west. It was a +spirited thing to do. + +Of the 309 miles of "light" railways, made under the 1889 and subsequent +Acts, 194 were constructed on the ordinary gauge of the country, 5 feet 3 +inches, and the remainder on a 3-foot gauge. + +Several Light Railway or Tramway Acts were passed in Ireland between 1860 +and 1883, under which 295 miles of light railways at a cost of 1,389,784 +pounds were constructed. With the exception of the small sum of 144,804 +pounds, the interest on the whole of this capital was guaranteed by the +Baronies, the Treasury repaying the Baronies one-half but not to exceed +two per cent. + +The lines constructed under "Balfour's Act" are situated mostly in +Connemara, Kerry, Mayo and Donegal, serving districts remote and thinly +populated, where as commercial ventures they could not have been +projected. That they have proved to be of great benefit to the country +is beyond question. They have developed fishing and agriculture, and +have brought the tourist into districts little visited before. Live +stock and farm produce are able to reach their market, and places before +isolated are in touch with the outer world. + +One of the first of the railways made under the 1889 Act was a short line +of 8 miles from the County Down line at Downpatrick to the little fishing +village of Ardglass. It stood first on the list of lines recommended for +construction in the Report of the Allport Commission. Primarily it was +intended for the development of the herring traffic which for years had +abounded on the coast, but no sooner was the line opened, than that +perverse migratory fish sought other seas, and did not return to Ardglass +for I don't know how long. + +The promotion of the Ardglass railway, and the steps necessary for +obtaining an Order in Council for its construction and working, +familiarised me with the Light Railway Legislation of Ireland, with which +in subsequent years I was often concerned. + +In the autumn of 1889, in company with Mr. Jackson (afterwards Lord +Allerton), then Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Andrews and other +directors of the County Down, I visited Ardglass. Under the new Act the +Treasury, in connection with the projected railway construction, held the +purse strings, and the Treasury, so far as we were concerned, was Mr. +Jackson. We of the County Down were keen on getting the line sanctioned, +and were very anxious concerning Mr. Jackson's visit. He was a man who +drove a hard bargain, so it was said. Certainly he was an able man, and +I greatly admired him that day. Later in life, when he was Lord +Allerton, and Chairman of the Great Northern Railway of England, I met +him again and liked him well. + +In 1889 there were no _light railways_ in Great Britain, or practically +none. Except in Ireland they are of modern growth. What really +constitutes a light railway it is not easy to say. Commonly it is +thought to be a matter of gauge, but that is not so. Mr. Acworth says: +"such a definition is in the nature of things impossible," but that, "a +light railway must be something simpler and cheaper than an ordinary +railway." Mr. Cole says that "the natural demand for a definition must +he frankly met with the disappointing reply that a hard and fast +definition, at once concise, exact, and comprehensive is not forthcoming, +and that a partial definition would be completely misleading." As such +authorities are unable to furnish a definition I shall not attempt it, +and will content myself with suggesting that the most recognisable +feature of a _light_ railway is its _light_ traffic. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. +GOLF, THE DIAMOND KING, AND A STEAM-BOAT SERVICE + + +Thought not a golfer myself, never having taken to the game in earnest, +or played on more than, perhaps, twenty occasions in my life, I may yet, +I think, in a humble way, venture to claim inclusion amongst the pioneers +of golf in Ireland, where until the year 1881 it was unknown. In the +autumn of that year the Right Honourable Thomas Sinclair, Dr. Collier, of +"British History" fame, and Mr. G. L. Baillie, a born golfer from +Scotland, all three keen on the game, set themselves in Belfast to the +task of establishing a golf club there. They succeeded well, and soon +the Belfast Golf Club, to which is now added the prefix _Royal_, was +opened. The ground selected for the links was the _Kinnegar_ at +Holywood, and on it the first match was played on St. Stephen's Day in +1881. That was the beginning of golf in Ireland. Mr. Baillie was the +Secretary of the Club till the end of 1887, when a strong desire to +extend the boundaries of the Royal game in the land of his adoption led +him to resign the position and cast around for pastures new. Portrush +attracted him, engaged his energies, and on the 12th May, 1888, a course, +which has since grown famous, was opened there. About this time I made +his acquaintance and suggested Newcastle, the beautiful terminus of the +County Down railway, as another likely place. On a well remembered day +in December, 1888, he accompanied me there, and together we explored the +ground, and finished up with one of those excellent dinners for which the +lessee of our refreshment rooms and his capable wife (Mr. and Mrs. +Lawrence) were famous, as many a golfer I am sure, recollects. Mr. +Baillie's practised eye saw at once the splendid possibilities of +Newcastle. Like myself, he was of an enthusiastic temperament, and we +both rejoiced. I remembered the shekels that flowed to the coffers of +the Glasgow and South-Western from the Prestwick and Troon Golf Courses +on their line, and visions of enrichment for my little railway rose +before me. Very soon I induced my directors to adopt the view that the +railway company must encourage and help the project. This done the +course was clear. They were not so sanguine as I, but they had not lived +in Scotland nor seen how the Royal game flourished there and how it had +brought prosperity to many a backward place. Mr. Baillie's energy, with +the company's co-operation to back it, were bound to succeed, and on the +23rd March, 1889, with all the pomp and ceremony suitable to the occasion +(including special trains, and a fine luncheon given by the Directors of +the Company) the Golf links at Newcastle, Co. Down, were formally opened +by the late Lord Annesley. From that time onward golf in Ireland +advanced by leaps and bounds. Including Newcastle, there were then in +the whole country, only six clubs and now they number one hundred and +sixty-eight! The County Down Railway Company's splendid hotel on the +links at Newcastle, with its 140 rooms, and built at a cost of 100,000 +pounds, I look upon as the crowning glory of our golfing exploration on +that winter day in 1888. To construct such a hotel, at such a cost, was +a plucky venture for a railway possessing only 80 miles of line, but the +County Down was always a plucky company, and the Right Honourable Thomas +Andrews, its Chairman, to whom its inception and completion is chiefly +due, was a bold, adventurous and successful man. + +Another experience somewhat removed from ordinary railway affairs that +helped to enliven the latter part of my time on the County Down, and +added variety to the work imposed by the Railway and Canal Traffic Act +and the revision of Rates and Charges, was a project in which I became +engaged connected with the Isle of Man. + +Joseph Mylchreest was a Manxman, a rough diamond but a man of sterling +worth. He left home when young and worked first as a ship's carpenter. +An adventurous spirit led him to seek his fortune in various parts of the +world--in the goldfields of California and Australia and in the silver +mines of Peru and Chili. Later on he went to South Africa, where in the +diamond mines he met with great success and made a large fortune. His +property there he disposed of to Cecil Rhodes, and it now, I am told, +forms part of the De Beers Consolidated Company's assets. In the late +eighties he returned to his native island, settled at Peel, and became a +magnate there. + +One afternoon early in the year 1889 two gentlemen from the Isle of Man +called upon me at my office. They were Mr. Mylchreest (the "_Diamond +King_") and a lawyer friend whose name I forget, but I remember they +informed me they were both members of the House of Keys. Mr. Mylchreest +was anxious to do something to develop the little port of Peel, his +native town, and a steamboat service between Peel and Belfast, Bangor or +Donaghadee, seemed to him and his friends a promising project. What did +the County Down think? Would either Bangor or Donaghadee be better than +Belfast? If so, would my company join in and to what extent? We had no +power to expend money in steamboat enterprise, but I assured them we +would do all we could to help in other ways, and that Bangor was the port +to select. My directors heartily approved and other interviews followed. +Once, I had hurriedly to go over to Peel to meet Mr. Mylchreest and his +lawyer, on a certain day, as some hitch had arisen, and by this time I +was desperately keen on getting the steamboat service started. The only +way of reaching Peel in time was by a collier steamer, belonging to the +East Downshire Coal Co., which plied between Dundrum on the Co. Down +coast, and Whitehaven; the manager of the company was my friend, and +would allow the steamer to drop me at Peel. It was a memorable crossing, +the weather was _bad_ and so was I. But my journey was successful, and +soon the Peel and North of Ireland Steamship Company, Limited, in which +the "_Diamond King_" was much the largest shareholder, was established, +and on the 26th June, 1889, the first voyage was made from Peel to +Bangor. It was a great event for the quiet little town of Peel. Mr. +Mylchreest had invited all his friends to the inaugural service, in +addition a good number of the public travelled, and the steamer arrived +at Bangor with nearly 300 passengers on board. On the return voyage from +Bangor to Peel the same evening the "_Diamond King_" gave a great dinner, +champagne and speeches freely flowed, and music and dancing enlivened the +proceedings. The service prospered for a time, but the traffic did not +reach expectations. Ultimately it was taken over by the Isle of Man +Steampacket Coy., and after a few years discontinued. + +Little more remains to be told of my five and a-half years' sojourn in +the north of Ireland. They were pleasant and profitable years for mind +and body. With health improved, experience gained in _practical_ railway +work, knowledge acquired by personal contact with men of all sorts and +conditions, I felt strong and confident, ready for anything, and, like +Micawber, longed for something to turn up. + +Early in October, 1890, Walter Bailey and I took our second Continental +holiday together. We re-visited Paris, but spent most of our three weeks +in a tour through Belgium, finishing up at Brussels. When we reached +London I received a letter from my friend, W. R. Gill, Secretary of +Bailey's railway, the Belfast and Northern Counties. It was to tell me +that the position of Manager of the Midland Great Western Railway of +Ireland had become vacant, and suggested that I should return home by way +of Dublin and call upon the chairman of the company, Sir Ralph Cusack, in +regard to the succession. Now something _had_ turned up, and Bailey +declared I was as good as appointed. At dinner that night we indulged in +a bottle of sparkling wine--in nothing meaner would my warm-hearted +friend drink success to the prospect that had so unexpectedly opened +before me. + +The Midland Great Western was the third largest railway in Ireland, nor, +in the matter of length of line, was there very much between the three. +The Great Southern and Western consisted of 522 miles, the Great Northern +487, and the Midland Great Western 432, nearly seven times as long as the +County Down. No wonder I felt elated. + +How it all came about was in this way. Skipworth, the London and North- +Western Manager in Ireland, was on very friendly terms with Sir Ralph +Cusack, and Sir Ralph had a high opinion of his judgment. He consulted +Skipworth about a manager and asked if he knew any railway man in +Ireland, not too old, who would do. Said Skipworth, "Tatlow of the +County Down. He has shown up remarkably well at the Clearing House over +this terrible Railway and Canal Traffic Act, and seems to know all about +it." And so I was appointed, and thus it was that the bit of work in +Glasgow, of which I have spoken more than once, brought me this +substantial promotion. My friend Gill not long before had left the +service of the Midland Great Western, where he was Assistant Secretary, +to become Secretary of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, and +when Sir Ralph wrote to him about me he valiantly backed up Skipworth's +fine recommendation. Skipworth was himself for several years manager of +the Midland Great Western. He gave up the post when he joined the London +and North-Western as their Irish Manager. It is good for a man to have +friends, and I have been fortunate throughout my life in possessing many. + +In December, 1890, I left the County Down to enter upon my duties as +manager of the Midland Great Western. The County Down Directors, at +their Board meeting on the 16th of that month, passed a minute recording +their "high appreciation of the ability with which he" (my humble self) +"has discharged his duties as general manager," adding that "his uniform +courtesy, tact and judgment, added to his strict sense of honour, secured +him the confidence of the Board." Need I say that I was proud of this +testimonial, and as pleased as proud, because it went on to wish me +success in my new duties, where I would "have a wider field for the +exercise of my talents," and begged my "acceptance of a cheque as a mark +of regard." This was better than the _walking stick_ with which a +certain railway officer, who was not too popular with his staff, was, it +is said, presented by them, when he left for a bigger post on another +line. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. +THE MIDLAND GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY OF IRELAND + + +I had now completed one half of my active railway life; reached the age +of 39; and, no longer a rolling stone, was settled in the service of a +company with which I was destined to remain for the rest of my railway +career. That my aspirations were satisfied I do not pretend, for +ambition forbade any settled feeling of rest or content. Happily, my +nature inclined to the sunny side and disappointments never spoiled my +enjoyment of life or marred the pleasure I found in my daily work. My +friend, Edward John Cotton, who, like myself, was an imported Englishman, +had, like me, indulged in dreams of going back to England to fill some +great railway post, but he had reached his sixties and his dreams were +over. Often, when we talked familiarly together, he would say: "Joseph, +if you aspire to be a general manager in England you ought never to have +come to Ireland. They don't think much on the other side of Irish +railways or Irish railway men." This, I daresay, was true, though he, +well known, liked and admired as he was, ought to have been considered an +exception, and why no British railway company, when posts were going, +ever snapped him up is hard to say. Later on, even I, once or twice +narrowly escaped obtaining a good thing on the English side of the +Channel, but it never _quite_ came off, and so I was left to make myself +as happy as I could in Ireland. + +Perhaps it was as well. Railway life in Ireland, though not highly +remunerated, had its compensations as most situations in life have. There +the pressure of work was less constant and severe than in England. A +railway manager was not confined to crowded cities, and enjoyed more +breathing space. When he travelled on his line he came in contact with +bucolic interests instead of the whirring wheels of trade. Time moved +more slowly, greater leisure prevailed, the climate was softer, the +country greener, manners easier, and more wit and humour abounded. Yes, +on the whole, I was more fortunate than had my ambitious hopes been +realised to the full. At least I think so now; and, as Hamlet says, +"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." + +One immediate advantage I gained by entering the Midland Great Western +service. Until then I had no chance of joining a superannuation fund. +The Glasgow and South-Western had none, neither had the County Down; but +the Midland Great Western was a party to the Clearing House +Superannuation Corporation, and of it I became a member. + +The Midland Great Western, as I have said, is the third largest railway +in Ireland. It stretches from the Liffey to the Atlantic, serves the +plains of Meath, the wilds of Connaught, and traverses large expanses of +bog. Galway, Sligo, Westport, Athlone and Mullingar are the principal +towns on its system. + +When I became its manager, Sir Ralph Cusack had been chairman of the +railway for nearly a quarter of a century and was in his sixty-ninth +year. He attended daily in his office, devoting much time to the +company's affairs. Although my position was not all I could have wished +in the matter of that wide authority I coveted, and which, in my humble +opinion, every railway manager should possess, it was in many respects +very satisfactory, and every lot in life has its crumpled rose leaf. Sir +Ralph regarded me as an _expert_, which, notwithstanding all his long +experience as chairman, he did not himself pretend to be, and _railway +experts_ he held in high esteem. He supported me consistently, +permitting no one but himself to interfere with anything I thought it +right to do. I did not, to be sure, always get my own way, but I +accomplished much, and, what I cared for most, was able to do good work +for the company. Enthusiasm for one's work is a splendid thing, and so +is loyalty to one's employers. I make no boast of possessing these, for +they were common property; they permeated the railway service and +inspired the youngest clerk as well as his chief. Sometimes in these +latter days I imagine such things are changed, though I would like to +think it is only an old man's fancy, as it was in the case of the dear +old Dubliner, who in his time had been a beaux and had reached his +eightieth year. One sunny forenoon when airing himself in a fashionable +street of the city, he was met by another old crony, who accosted him +with:-- + + "Well, old friend, how are you this morning?" + + "Oh, very well, thanks, quite well, only--" he responded. + + "Only what?" asked his friend. + + "Only the pavements are harder and the girls are not so pretty as they + used to be," he replied with a whimsical look of regret in his face + and a twinkle in his still bright eye. + +Sir Ralph was a man of striking appearance, tall and imposing in figure. +His head was massive and fine. His full beard was snowy white, as white +as his abundant hair which was of a beautifully soft silky texture, with +a sheen like satin. His voice was low and at times not very distinct. +This was disappointing as his conversation was always interesting, not +only for its intrinsic value, but also by reason of his charmingly varied +and copious vocabulary, and his perfectly balanced phrases. Naturally +and without the least effort the aptest words sprang to his lips in +perfect order and sequence. His letters, too, were always exceedingly +well expressed. He wrote a neat, sloping, rather flowing and somewhat +old-fashioned hand, which greatly resembled the writing of Beau Brummell, +and, like the illustrious Beau's, his numerals, which is rare nowadays, +were very clearly and very beautifully formed. The Prince of Beaux was +fastidious in his penmanship as in everything else. Sir Ralph's half- +yearly speeches to the shareholders, though delivered extempore, were +models of perspicuity. He used the scantiest notes, mere headings of +subjects, and a few scraps of paper containing figures which he usually +remembered without their aid. Of his memory he was proud. One day, at a +meeting of the Board, after recalling particulars of some old transaction +which no one else could in the least recollect, he turned to me and said: +"Well, Tatlow, you see I sometimes remember something." I rejoined: +"Well, Sir Ralph, my only complaint is that you never forget anything." +The little compliment pleased him. Never in his whole life, he said, had +he written out a speech, and hoped he never would, but he lived to do so +once. As he advanced in years his voice grew weaker, and on the last +occasion on which he presided at a meeting of shareholders, he wrote his +speech, or partly wrote it and, at his request, I read it to the meeting. +Reported verbatim his addresses read as though they had been composed and +written with the utmost care, so precise and correct was the language and +so consecutive the matter. Though few could hope to do so well as he, I +have always thought that in addressing shareholders, railway chairmen +might trust less to formally prepared speeches and more to their powers +of extemporaneous exposition. Some chairmen do this I know, but others +still read from manuscript. However able the matter, the reading, in my +judgment, is much less effective than the spontaneous expression of the +speaker. The atmosphere created by the meeting, often a valuable +adjunct, cannot be taken advantage of when the speech is read, nor can +the chance of improvising a telling point, of enforcing an argument, or +of seizing a passing mood of the audience or some fleeting incident of +the moment. + +Sir Ralph was made a Director of the Midland Great Western Company in +1864, and a year later was elected chairman, a position he occupied for +the long period of 39 years. In 1864 the railway was in a very bad +condition, wretchedly run down, and woefully mismanaged. Indeed, +according to an official report at the time, worse than mismanagement +existed. It was stated: "There were grave charges of official corruption +which necessitated the retirement of one of the leading officers from the +company's service." This was very exceptional in railway history, for +British and Irish railways possess a record that has rarely been sullied. +In my long career I only remember two other instances--one, the famous +_Redpath_ fraud (a name not inappropriate for one whose destiny it was to +tread a road that led to his ruin) on the Great Northern in 1856, which +Sir Henry (then Mr.) Oakley greatly assisted in discovering, and which, I +believe, led to his first substantial advancement; the other on the +Belfast and Northern Counties in 1886. This was in Edward John Cotton's +time, but it would be superfluous to say that _he_ was clear of blame for +he was integrity itself. That the occurrence could have happened during +his management distressed him greatly I know. + +[Sir Ralph Cusack: cusack.jpg] + +When he was elected to the office of Chairman, Sir Ralph, it is said, +accepted the position on the understanding that he should have autocratic +power. In the task he undertook this was very likely desirable, and once +acquired he was not the man to let such power slip from his grasp. His +strong hands would firmly retain whatever they wished to hold. + +In 1865 no less than 15 directors _adorned_ the Midland Great Western +Board, twice too many no doubt the chairman thought for a railway of 344 +miles. In 1867 they were reduced to 8; in 1877 to 7; since when they +have never numbered more. During the long period of Sir Ralph's +occupancy of the chair no deputy chairman existed. The chairman reigned +alone. That he was an _autocratic_ chairman, his brother directors, were +they now living, would I am sure attest. But though a strong, it was a +beneficent sway that he exercised. He could be hard at times, but his +nature was essentially kind and generous and his friendships numerous and +lasting. He prided himself on his knowledge of the railway staff, down +to the humblest member. He had strong likes and dislikes, and those who +came under his displeasure had sometimes cause to fear him; but they were +amongst the few, and the many remember him with nothing but the kindest +feelings. To me he was always a warm and sincere friend, and between us +existed, without interruption, the greatest frankness and confidence. + +How wonderfully adaptable a creature is man. I had not been a fortnight +in my new position when I felt myself quite at home, as though Dublin and +the West of Ireland had been my natural habitat. Belfast and the County +Down receded into the past; and shall I confess it? much as I had liked +the north, much as I admired the industry, manliness and energy of its +people, much as I had enjoyed my life there, and highly as I esteemed the +friends I had made, something I found in my new surroundings--easier +manners, more of gaiety, and an admixture of pleasure with work--that +added to life a charm I had hitherto missed, not only in the North of +Ireland but in Glasgow and Derby as well. + +The Secretary of the Midland Great Western Railway, George William +Greene, and Martin Atock, the locomotive engineer, were good fellows, and +warm friends of each other. I became and remained the sincere friend of +both until death took them hence. My principal assistant, called +_Assistant Manager_, was John P. Hornsby, now in his 85th year and living +in New Zealand. Robert Morrison, whom I stole for his good sense, manly +worth, and excellent railway ability, from the Belfast and Northern +Counties in October, 1891, succeeded Hornsby as my assistant. Afterwards +he became goods manager at the time Thomas Elliot was appointed +superintendent of the line, two appointments which relieved me of much +detailed work. + +"The battle of Newcomen Junction" was raging at the time I joined the +"Midland," as for shortness we dubbed the Midland Great Western and +which, for the same reason, I shall continue to dub it, as convenience +may require, during the continuance of my story. If I have occasion to +again speak of my _alma mater_, the Midland of England, it shall, for the +sake of clearness, be so designated. "The battle of Newcomen Junction." +What of it? In railway circles, not only in Ireland but in England and +Scotland too, it caused some talk at the time and no little amusement. +Like many another conflict, 'twere better it had never been fought, for +it left for long afterwards angry feelings where peace and amity should +have existed, and it gained nothing that discussion and compromise could +not have effected. The City of Dublin Junction Railway, a small line, a +little over a mile in length (worked by the Dublin and South-Eastern +Company) was formed to link up the Dublin railways and to provide through +routes in connection with the Holyhead and Kingstown Royal Mail steamers +and the steamers of the London and North-Western Company. A junction was +authorised to be made at Newcomen with the Midland Great Western system. +Parliament had sanctioned a junction, but not such a junction, the +Midland said, as it was proposed to make. It would be unsafe and +unworkable they contended, and they refused to allow it. The promoters +insisted, the Midland were obdurate; the promoters invaded the Midland +premises, knocked down a wall and entered on Midland land; the Midland +gathered their forces, drove back the attacking party, and restored the +wall; again the attack was made and repulsed and again the wall was +demolished and re-built, and so the warfare continued, until at length an +armistice was declared and the _casus belli_ referred for settlement to +the Railway Commissioners. Soon I had to prepare the Midland case for +the Commissioners' Court and give evidence before them. They decided +against us and I am sure they were right, though of course I swore, as I +was bound to do, that our opposition to the junction was natural and +proper and our opponents were an unreasonable set of people. The Railway +Commissioners sat in Dublin to hear the case; it was my first appearance +before them, and I was sorry that appearance was not in a better cause. + +My first few years in Dublin were as busy as could be. Much was astir in +the Irish railway world and particularly on the Midland, which had their +share (a larger share than the other companies) of the "Balfour" +extension lines in hand. The proceedings under the _Railway and Canal +Traffic Act_ were also in full swing, involving frequent meetings at the +Irish Clearing House, and many journeys to London. Hard upon all this +came the work of preparing for a Parliamentary fight. This I thought a +joyful thing, and I was eager for the fray. I had helped to prepare my +old chief, Mr. Wainwright, for such contests but had never been in one +myself, had never even been inside a committee room. In 1891 the Midland +gave public notice of their intention to acquire by Act of Parliament the +Athenry and Ennis Railway, and lodged a Bill for the purpose, which was +vigorously opposed. It was with great zest that I made my preparations, +arranged for witnesses, drafted briefs, consulted with lawyers and +counsel, and compiled my evidence, not neglecting the important matter of +visiting the district served by the railway we sought to acquire, making +friends and working up local feeling in our favour. How the Bill +proceeded, and what was its fate, will be set forth in another chapter. + +Very soon after I settled in Dublin I was able to carry out a long +cherished wish. Ever since I first arrived in Ireland I had hoped to be +able to establish an Irish branch of the Railway Benevolent Institution, +such as Mr. Wainwright and I had succeeded in forming in Scotland in the +year 1880, but whilst I remained in Belfast my efforts were of no avail. +When, however, I moved to Dublin and became manager of one of the +principal railways, the difficulties disappeared, and _The History of the +Railway Benevolent Institution, its Rise and Progress from 1858 to 1897_, +by _Mr. W. F. Mills_, its late Secretary, contains the following:-- + + "In February, 1891, Mr. Joseph Tatlow proposed to establish a + Committee in Ireland, where supporters were few and far between, and + in the report presented at the annual meeting in June, it was stated + that 'The Board have great pleasure in announcing the appointment of a + Committee in Dublin, presided over by Mr. Tatlow, the manager of the + Midland Great-Western, and the founder of the successful Branch in + Scotland.'" + +Edward John Cotton warmly seconded my efforts, for his heart was in the +work, and he was proud of telling us that he was one of the few surviving +members of the first Board of Management of the parent Institution, which +had its first meeting in London in May, 1858. He was then the +newly-appointed manager of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, and +was only twenty-eight years of age. The Irish Branch, like the Scotch, +has been a great success. Its Committee of Management consists of the +principal officers of the Irish railways, and they have brought home to +the rank and file of the railway service a knowledge of the society and +the solid benefits that membership confers. Year by year the membership +has increased, and year by year the number of old and needy railway +servants, and their widows, who have been pensioned from the funds, and +the orphans who have been clothed, educated and maintained, have grown +greater and greater. The Irish railway companies, the directors, the +officers, and the public in Ireland, generously contribute to the funds +of the institution. I filled the office of chairman of the Irish branch +for 21 years, until in fact I retired from active railway work, since +when the chairmanship has been an annual honour conferred upon the +chairman for the year of the Irish Railway Managers' Conference. To +quote again from Mr. Mills' book on the Institution:-- + + "Mr. Joseph Tatlow, at the Dinner in aid of the Institution held in + Dublin on October 23rd, 1902, said: 'It is now 30 years since I first + became a collector for this Institution, and when I look back on the + past, if there is one matter in my life which contains no grain of + regret, it is my connection with the Institution, as in regard to it I + can feel nothing but honest pride and gratification.'" + +I am still a member of the Irish Committee, as well as of the London +Board of Management, and those words, spoken sixteen years ago, express +my feelings to-day. + +Whilst writing the final words of this chapter the news reaches me of the +death of Mr. Mills, at the fine old age of eighty-seven. He had a long +and useful life, and the railway service owes him much. He it was whose +zeal and enthusiasm firmly established the Railway Benevolent as a great +institution. When, in 1861, he became its secretary, the income was only +1,500 pounds, and on his retirement in 1897, at the age of sixty-five, it +had grown to 53,000 pounds. His mantle fell upon his son, Mr. A. E. +Mills, who inherits his father's enthusiasm and carries on the good work +with great success, as attested by the fact that for the year 1917 the +income reached 106,000 pounds. The invested funds of the society to-day +amount to upwards of a million, and in 1897 they were 476,000 pounds. + +Mr. Mills senior I knew for forty years; and I often thought that, search +the world over, it would be hard to find his equal for the work to which +his life was devoted, and for which his talents were so specially +adapted. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. +BALLINASLOE FAIR, GALWAY, AND SIR GEORGE FINDLAY + + +A few days before the battle of Waterloo, during the journey to Brussels, +partly by canal and partly by road, of Amelia and her party, Mrs. Major +O'Dowd said to Jos Sedley: "Talk about kenal boats, my dear! Ye should +see the kenal boats between Dublin and Ballinasloe. It's there the rapid +travelling is; and the beautiful cattle." "The rapid travelling" was by +what was called the _fly boat_, which was towed by three horses at a jog +trot, and as to cattle, the good-humoured eccentric lady, who Thackeray +tells us came from County Kildare, was thinking perhaps of the great +Ballinasloe Fair where cattle and sheep assemble in greater numbers, I +believe, than at any other live stock fair in the United Kingdom. + +On the first Monday in October, 1891, to a special train of empty +carriages run by the Midland from Dublin for the purposes of this fair, a +vehicle, called the directors' saloon was attached, and in it the +chairman of the company, most of the directors and the principal officers +travelled to Ballinasloe, there to remain until the conclusion of the +fair at the end of the week. It was my first introduction to +Ballinasloe. + +[William Dargan: dargan.jpg] + +This saloon merits a word or two. It was built in the year 1844, was +originally the property of William Dargan, the well-known contractor and +the promoter of the Dublin Exhibition of 1853, whose statue adorns the +grounds that front the Irish National Gallery. Dargan made the Midland +railway from Athlone to Galway, completed the work before the specified +contract time (in itself a matter worthy of note), and on its completion +in 1851, presented this saloon carriage to the company, which also, I +think, deserves to be recorded. Thus, in 1891, it was nearly 50 years' +old and was handsome still. The panels were modelled on the old stage +coach design, and a great bow window adorned each end. In the seventies +and eighties it enjoyed the distinction of being the favourite carriage, +on the Midland, of the Empress of Austria in her hunting days in Meath. +This fine old carriage, now in its 75th year, does good work still. It +has had a new under frame, its roof has been raised, and it looks good +for another quarter of a century. Perhaps, granting an originally sound +constitution, its longevity is largely due to the regular life it has +led, never having been overworked, and having enjoyed many periods of +rest. + +Ballinasloe fair has two specially big days--Tuesday and Friday--the +former devoted to the sale of sheep and the latter to cattle, though in +fact its commerce in cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, calves, rams and goats, +not to mention donkeys and mules, goes on more or less briskly throughout +the whole week, Saturday being remnant day when jobbers pick up bargains. +In 1891 the fair was not, and is not now, what it once was, which recalls +the answer a witty editor of _Punch_ once made to a friend. Said the +said friend: "My dear fellow, _Punch_ is not so good as it used to be." +"No, it never was," came the quick rejoinder. But of Ballinasloe fair I +cannot say it never was, for a hundred years ago, in Peggy O'Dowd's time, +in the west of Ireland it was the great event of the year, not only for +the sale of flocks and herds, but also for social gatherings, fun and +frolic, so at least I am told by the oldest inhabitant. An older account +still, says these fairs were a time for games and races, pleasure and +amusement, and eating and feasting, whilst another record describes them +as places "where there were food and precious raiment, downs and quilts, +ale and flesh meat, chessmen and chess boards, horses and chariots, +greyhounds, and playthings besides." It is curious that dancing is not +mentioned, but dancing in the olden days in Ireland was not, I believe, +much indulged in. Eighty years ago over 80,000 sheep entered the fair, +and 20,000 cattle. + +Arrived at Ballinasloe we established ourselves in quarters that were +part of the original station premises. These consisted of a good sized +dining-room, six bedrooms, and an office for the manager and his clerk. +The walls and ceilings of the rooms were sheeted with pitch pine and +varnished. They were very plainly furnished, the only thing in the way +of decoration being a production in watercolour representing a fair green +crowded with herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, and adorned with sundry +pastoral and agricultural emblems, from the brush of my friend _Cynicus_. +This I framed and hung in the dining-room. As it had columns for +recording statistics of the fair for a period of years, it was +instructive as well as ornamental. Three of the bedrooms were on the +ground floor and were small apartments. The upstair rooms were much +larger, were situated in the roof, and were lit by skylight windows which +commanded a limited view of the firmament above but none whatever of the +green earth below. These upper rooms were reached by an almost +perpendicular staircase surmounted by a trap door, a mode of access +convenient enough for the young and active, but not suitable for those of +us who had passed their meridian. Two of these rooms were double-bedded +and all three led into each other. In the innermost, Atock, our +locomotive engineer, and I chummed together. He had slept there for many +years, with two previous managers, and, in Robinson Crusoe fashion, had +recorded the years by notches in a beam of the ceiling. The notches for +him then counted twenty-three years, and number one he notched for me. +Every morning an old jackdaw perched on a chimney outside our skylight, +and entertained us with his chatter. Atock said the old bird had perched +there during all his time; and as long as I visited Ballinasloe--a period +of nearly twenty years, he regularly reappeared. + +To be able once a year to entertain friends and customers of the company +was one of the reasons, probably the main reason, why the directors +passed the fair week at Ballinasloe. Their hospitality was not limited +to invitations to dinner, for guests were welcomed, without special +invitation, to breakfast and lunch and light refreshments during the day. +It was an arrangement which gave pleasure to both hosts and guests, and +was not without advantage to the company. A good dinner solves many a +difficulty, whilst the post-prandial cigar and a glass of grog, like +faith, removes mountains. One who, in the last century, became a great +English statesman (Lord John Russell) when twenty years of age was in +Spain. The Duc d'Infantado was President of the Spanish Ministry at the +time. The Duke of Wellington was there too, and great banquets were +being given. The _Duc_ had more than once visited Lord John's home and +enjoyed its hospitality, but he neglected to invite Lord John to any of +his banquets; and this is the cutting comment which the youthful future +statesman recorded in his diary: "The Infantado, notwithstanding the +champagne and burgundy he got at Woburn, has not asked me. Shabby +fellow! It is clear he is unfit for the government of a great kingdom." + +[The Dargan Saloon: saloon.jpg] + +In the creature comforts provided at Ballinasloe the working staff was +not forgotten. Adjacent to the station was a large room in which meals +were provided for the men, and another large room was furnished as a +dormitory. Two long sleeping carriages had also been built for the +accommodation of drivers, guards and firemen, which were used also for +other fairs as well as that of Ballinasloe. + +Ballinasloe was new to me, and I felt not a little anxious concerning the +working of the fair traffic, which I knew was no child's play, and which +I was told was often attended with serious delays. Early on Tuesday +morning I was awakened, long before daylight, by the whistling of +engines, the shunting of wagons and the shouting of men. My friend Atock +and I rose early, went along to the loading banks where we found the work +in full swing and one special train loaded with sheep ready to start. The +entraining of sheep, not so difficult or so noisy a business as the +loading of cattle, is attended with much less beating of the animals and +with fewer curses; but there was noise enough, and I can, in fancy, hear +it ringing in my ears now. Throughout the day I was besieged by +grumbling and discontented customers: want of wagons, unfair +distribution, favouritism, delays, were the burden of their complaints, +and I had to admit that in the working of the Ballinasloe fair traffic +all was not perfect. The rolling stock was insufficient; trains after a +journey to Meath or Dublin with stock had to return to Ballinasloe to be +loaded again, which was productive of much delay; and what added to the +trouble was that everyone seemed to have a hand in the management of the +business. It gave me much to think about. Before the next year's fair I +had the whole arrangements well thrashed out, and when the eventful week +arrived, placed the working of the traffic under the sole control of my +principal outside men, with excellent results. In the course of a year +or two the directors opened the purse strings and considerably increased +the engine and wagon stock of the company which helped further, and by +that time I had in charge an official, of whose energy and ability it is +impossible to speak too highly, Thomas Elliott, then a promising young +assistant, now the competent Traffic Manager of the railway. Under his +management the work at Ballinasloe has for many years been conducted with +clock-work regularity. + +In 1891 there were 25,000 sheep at the fair, 10,000 cattle and 1,500 +horses, and the company ran 43 special trains loaded with stock. The +sheep fair is held in Garbally Park, on the estate of Lord Clancarty, and +the counting of the sheep through a certain narrow _gap_, and the +rapidity and accuracy with which it is done, is a sight to witness. + +The hospitality part of the business was attended with the success it +deserved, and helped to smooth the difficulties of the situation. I +remember well our dinner on the Tuesday night. On the Monday we dined +alone, directors and officers only, but on Tuesday the week's hospitality +began. That night our table was graced with five or six guests, one +being Robert Martin, of Ross, a famous wit and _raconteur_, and the +author of _Killaloe_. It was a delightful party, for your Galway +gentleman is a genial fellow, who likes a good dinner, and a good story +which he tells to perfection. Sir Ralph never took the head of the +table, liking best a less prominent seat; but his seat, wherever he chose +to sit, always seemed to be to the central place. Never lacking natural +dignity, he was not punctilious in mere matters of form. Secure in his +authority, to its outward semblance he was rather indifferent. Another +delightful guest was Sir George (then Mr.) Morris, brother of the late +Lord Morris, the distinguished judge. Until a few months previously, Mr. +Morris had been a director of the company, but had resigned upon his +appointment to the position of Vice-President of the Irish Local +Government Board. He, too, was a Galway man, big, handsome, with a fine +flowing beard, a fund of humour, and the most genial disposition +imaginable. His anecdotes were ever welcome, and the smallest incident, +embellished by his wit and fancy, and told in his rich brogue, which he +loved, were always sufficient to adorn a tale. He was rare company, and +though, perhaps, he could not, like Swift, have written eloquently on a +broomstick, he could always talk delightfully on any subject he chose. + +Whilst Sir Ralph remained chairman of the company, which he did until the +year 1904, the directors annual stay at Ballinasloe and its attendant +hospitality continued. He was not likely to give up a good old custom. +But time inevitably brings changes; for some years now the old +hospitality has ceased, the rooms at Ballinasloe are turned into house +accommodation for one or two of the staff, and the great fair is worked +with no more ado than a hundred other fairs on the line. Not many +complaints are made now, for delays and disappointments are things of the +past. Yet, I dare say there are some who, still attending the fair, look +back with regret on the disappearance of the good old days. + +Ballinasloe station is on the main line to Galway, 34 miles distant from +the "City of the Tribes." Galway is the principal western terminus of +the Midland railway. It was once a famous city, but its glory has gone. +In 1831 its population was 33,000; to-day it is 13,000! Then, measured +by inhabitants, it was the fifth town in Ireland; now it is the eighth. +Then it had a large trade with Spain and France, and was a place of note +for general trade and commerce; now its harbour is almost idle, and its +warehouses and stores nearly empty. Many of its stately old houses have +disappeared, and those that remain are mostly now tenements of the poor. +Not so very long ago Galway had a trans-Atlantic steamship service, and +when the railway was opened in 1851, there was opened also a fine hotel +adjoining the station, which the company had built, chiefly for trans- +Atlantic business, at a cost of 30,000 pounds. It may be that better +times are in store. Some day great harbour works will adorn the bay of +Galway, from which fine steamers, forming part of an Imperial route to +our Dominions and beyond, shall sail, and shorten the Atlantic voyage. A +tunnel too, _uniting_ Great Britain and Ireland, may be made, which all +will agree, is "a consummation devoutly to be wished." + +Galway is the gateway to Connemara, and Connemara is one of the best +places under the sun for a healthy and enjoyable holiday. To be sure the +sun does not always shine when expected, but he is seen much oftener than +is generally believed. Of course, it sometimes rains, but the rain never +lasts long, for no place has such quick and surprising climatic changes +as the west of Ireland or such enchanting atmospheric effects. I soon +became enamoured of Connemara, and for several years, in whatever time I +could call my own, explored its mountain roads and valleys, sometimes on +horseback, sometimes afoot, and sometimes on bicycle or outside car. The +construction of our "Balfour" extension line from Galway to Clifden, +begun in 1891 and finished in 1895, often called me on business to the +wilds it penetrated, and gladly I always answered the call. Sometimes on +these excursions one had to rough it a little, for hotel accommodation +was scarce and scanty in some of the districts, but in one's early +forties such trifles scarcely count. + +As soon as I took up office at Broadstone, Sir Ralph informed me I was to +be chairman of the Midland Great Western Benefit Society, which was +partly a sick fund, partly a pension fund and applied to all the wages +staff. It was managed by a committee of twelve, half of whom were +appointed by the directors and half by the employees. Gladly I undertook +a post which would bring me into close touch with the men. I made a +point of never, if I could help it, being absent from a committee +meeting; nor, more particularly, from the annual general meeting of the +society when I had to give an address. It was always to me a pleasure to +meet the men, to learn their views, and to help them as far as I could. +This they soon discovered, and I had the satisfaction of knowing that I +was liked and trusted. Early in life I had learned to sympathise with +the wants and wishes of others, and sympathy I found increased one's +power of usefulness. By sympathy I do not mean agreeing always with the +men and their views, and I never hesitated to strongly express to them my +own convictions, and rarely it was that they ever in the least resented +the plainest speaking. I believe if the responsible leaders of labour +would follow a similar course, it would be better for themselves, for the +men they lead, and for the world at large. The deputy-chairman of the +society was Michael O'Neill, the audit accountant of the company, and if +ever a plain-spoken man, blunt and direct of speech existed, it was he. +Every word he spoke had the ring of honest sincerity. To the men he +spoke more plainly even than I, and him they never resented. I think +their trust in him exceeded their trust in me. True he was Irish and I +was not, and then they had known him much longer than me; and so, small +blame to them, said I. One good thing for the society I managed to do. I +induced the directors to treble the company's annual contribution to its +funds, a substantial benefit, of course, to the men. I remained chairman +of the society, and Michael O'Neill its deputy chairman till 1912, when +the National Insurance Act came into operation. Then, by a resolution of +a majority of its members, it was wound up, to the regret, however, of +many of them, who preferred their own old institution which they knew so +well, and in the management of which they had a voice, to what some of +them styled "a new-fangled thing." + +The occasions on which I have met, for the first time, men eminent in the +railway world, and for whom I have had great admiration, have always left +upon me very clear impressions, and this was particularly so in the case +of Sir George Findlay, the General Manager of the London and +North-Western Railway. He was not, however, Sir George when I met him +first, but plain Mr. Findlay. It was in the year 1891, the occasion +being one of the periodical visits to Ireland of the London and North- +Western chairman, directors, and principal officers. They gave a dinner +at their hotel in Dublin to which, with other Irish railway +representatives, I was invited. My seat at dinner was next to Mr. +Findlay, and I had much conversation with him. Then in his sixty-third +year, he was, perhaps, interested in a young Englishman, 21 years his +junior, who had not long begun his career as a railway manager, and who +showed some eagerness in, and, perhaps, a little knowledge of, railway +affairs. + +I remember well the impression he made upon me. I felt I was in the +presence of a strong, natural man, gifted with great discernment and +ability but full also of human kindness. His face was one which +expressed that goodness which the consciousness of power imparts to +strong natures. He was a notable as well as what is called "a self-made" +man, a fact of which he never boasted but I think was a little proud. He +commenced work at the early age of fourteen as a mason--a boy help he +could only have been--and continued a mason for several years. He was +employed in the building of the new Houses of Parliament and much of the +stone work and delicate tracery of the great window at the east end of +Westminster Hall is the work of his hands. In his twenty-third year he +became manager of the Shrewsbury and Ludlow Railway--probably the +youngest railway manager recorded. Ten years later the Shrewsbury +railway was acquired by the London and North-Western company, and +Findlay, to use his own words, "was taken over with the rest of the +rolling stock." This was how his London and North-Western railway career +began. He was a tall, portly man of fine presence, distinguished by a +large measure of strong, plain, homely commonsense, an absence of +prejudice, a great calmness of judgment, and a fearless frankness of +speech. His sense of honour was very high, and he impressed upon the +service of which he was the executive head that the word of the London +and North-Western Railway must always be its bond. "Be slow to promise +and quick to perform," was his guiding precept. A born organiser and +administrator, he knew how to select his men. Before Parliamentary +Committees he was the best of witnesses, always cool and resourceful, +with great command of temper, full of knowledge, and blest with a ready +wit. His services as witness and expert adviser were in great request by +railway companies. At the long Board of Trade Inquiry in connection with +the _Railway and Canal Traffic Act_ and Railway Rates and Charges, in +1889, he was the principal railway witness and was under examination and +cross-examination for eight consecutive days. He had a real love for +Ireland, was partly Irish himself, his father being Scotch and his mother +Irish--a fine blend. Fishing was his chief recreation and this often +brought him to the lakes and rivers of Ireland. He asked, was I the son +of William Tatlow of the Midland Railway, whom he had met a good many +years before on some coal rates question? On my saying, Yes, he was +pleased to know that I belonged to a railway family; and said what a fine +service the great railway service was, how absorbing the work and what +scope it afforded for ambition and ability. He asked about my railway +experience, was amused at my reason for leaving Derby and the Midland, +and interested at hearing of my work with Mr. Wainwright, whom he had +known and esteemed. He was sure I had learned nothing but good from him. +I was able, and very glad, of course, to tell Mr. Findlay with what +interest Bailey and I had listened for several days to his evidence at +Westminster Hall at the Railway Rates Inquiry, and how much we had +profited by it. This led to some talk on the great rates question, of +which he was a master. I felt he was just a bit surprised to find that I +was rather well informed upon it, which made me not a little proud. +Altogether it was a memorable night, and left me with a feeling of +elation such as I had experienced in the meetings I had in Glasgow some +years before with Mr. John Burns and Mr. John Walker. How little I +thought then, that in less than two years I should follow Mr. Findlay's +remains to the grave. + +[Sir George Findlay: findlay.jpg] + +Between the London and North-Western and the Midland Great-Western much +good feeling existed. They were natural allies, both greatly interested +in the trade and prosperity of Ireland, and of the port of Dublin in +particular. As time went on many matters of mutual interest brought me +into close relation with the North-Western general manager and other +prominent officers of the company. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. +A RAILWAY CONTEST, THE PARCEL POST, AND THE BOARD OF TRADE + + +The long-looked for fight in the Committee Rooms at Westminster came at +last, as most things that are eagerly looked and longed for do. In May, +1892, a Bill, promoted jointly by the Midland Great-Western and Athenry +and Ennis Railway Companies, was considered by a Select Committee of the +House of Lords. It was a Bill for the acquisition by the Midland of the +Ennis Railway (a line from Athenry to Ennis, 36 miles long), worked but +not owned by the Waterford and Limerick Railway Company. The Midland +were anxious to buy and the Ennis were willing to sell, but Parliament +alone could legalise the bargain. To the Waterford and Limerick, the +bare idea of giving up possession of the fair Ennis to their rival the +Midland was gall and wormwood; and so they opposed the project with might +and main, and they were assisted in their opposition by certain public +bodies, some thought as much for the excitement of a skirmish in the +Committee Rooms as anything else. The working agreement between the +Waterford and Limerick and the Ennis Companies, which had lasted for ten +years or so, was expiring; the Ennis Company had grown tired of the +union; the Midland had held out to her certain glowing prospects, which +had captivated her maiden fancy, and so she was a consenting party to the +Midland scheme. The Ennis line, in the Midland eyes, was a prize worth +fighting for, forming, as it did, part of a route from Dublin to Limerick +in competition with the Great Southern and Western, a company between +which and the Midland, at that time, little love was lost. Those were +the days when competitive traffic, gained almost at any cost, was sweet +as stolen kisses are said to be. + +The proceedings opened on Monday, 16th May. _Ennis_ was as familiar to +the Committee Rooms as the suit of _Jarndyce and Jarndyce_ was to the +Court of Chancery. In 1880 the Midland had also sought by Bill to obtain +the fair Ennis (with her consent) but had failed; in 1890 the Waterford +and Limerick (against her wishes) had essayed to do the same and failed +also, and in years long prior to these, other attempts had been made with +the like result. But to proceed: our leading counsel were Sir Ralph +(then Mr.) Littler; Mr. Pember, Mr. Pope and other leaders, and a host of +juniors being arrayed against us. The straitened circumstances of the +Waterford and Limerick; its dearth of rolling stock; its inefficient +ways; its failure to satisfy the public; the admitted superiority of the +Midland and all its works; the splendid results which would "follow as +the night the day," if only Parliament would be wise enough to sanction a +union which the public interest demanded and commonsense approved--these +were the points on which our counsel exercised their forensic skill, +expended their eloquence, and to which they directed the evidence. +Amongst our supporters we had some excellent witnesses, one, a well-known +cattle dealer, named Martin Ryan. The question of _running powers_ was +prominent throughout the case and had been much debated and discussed. +Ryan's evidence was not, however, concerned with this, but in his cross- +examination, relative to something he had stated in his +evidence-in-chief, he was asked this question: "If a beast got on to the +line as a train came along, what would happen to the beast?" "It would +exercise its running powers," answered Mr. Ryan, amidst great laughter. +As good as Stephenson's answer about the "coo," said Mr. Pope. + +On the fourth day of the proceedings I made my _debut_ as a Parliamentary +witness. In the preparation of my evidence I had expended much time and +trouble, keeping well in mind the way in which Mr. Wainwright used to +prepare his. Before my examination-in-chief concluded, a short +adjournment for lunch took place--a scramble at the refreshment bars in +the lobbies, where wig and gown elbowed with all and sundry; where cold +beef, cold tongue, cold pie, and, coldest of all cold comestibles, cold +custard, were swallowed in hot haste, washed down with milk and soda, or +perhaps with something stronger. "Quick lunches" they were with a +vengeance. Time was money, and in the brief interval allowed, more than +lunch had to be discussed. Sir Ralph, Mr. Findlay (who was helping us) +and I, had our hasty lunch together. When it was over we discussed the +morning's proceedings, and Mr. Findlay, to my great satisfaction, said I +was doing well--very well indeed, for a first appearance. Then, in a +kind and fatherly way, he gave me some good advice: Don't show too much +eagerness, he said: don't go quite so much into detail; keep on broader +lines; speak deliberately and very distinctly; make your points as plain +as a pikestaff; rub them well in; don't try to make too many points, but +stick fast to the important ones. You've a good manner in the box, he +said; remember these things and you'll make an excellent witness. Then +he added: above all, whilst giving your leading evidence never forget the +_cross_ that has to follow. Be always as frank as you can, and never +lose command of your temper. These were not his very words. I do not +pretend that he expressed himself with such sententious brevity, though +he never wasted speech, but they are the pith and marrow of his +admonitions. For twenty years or so from then nearly every session saw +me in the Committee Rooms, not always on the business of my own company, +as other Irish railway companies on several occasions sought my help in +their Parliamentary projects. Mr. Findlay's advice I never forgot. + +In the afternoon my cross-examination began. The final question put to +me by our counsel was: "Lastly, if this amalgamation is carried out, do +you think the public would be served by it, and if so, how?" This +appeared to me a great chance for a little speech, so I summed up as +forcibly and graphically as I could all the advantages that would follow +if the Bill were passed. Then my cross-examination commenced, and the +first words addressed to me, by Mr. Pembroke Stephens, were: "I do not +think that one could have made a better speech oneself, if one had been +on your side." "Not half so good," said Mr. Littler in a stage whisper. +I thought Mr. Stephens spoke satirically, but remembered Mr. Findlay's +advice, and if I flushed inwardly, as I believe I did, no outward sign +escaped me. After Mr. Stephens, three other opposing counsel fired their +guns, but I withstood their shot and shell, and when I came out of the +box Mr. Findlay said I had done well. This was praise enough for me. +Then he gave his evidence in his usual masterly convincing way and I +listened in admiration. + +We made a good fight I know, the odds were in our favour and success +seemed assured. Our opponents then presented their case, and still we +felt no doubt; but Fortune is a fickle jade and at the last she left us +in the lurch. On the eighth day of the proceedings the Chairman +announced: "The Committee are of opinion that it is not expedient to +proceed with the Bill." This was the _coup de grace_. No reasons are +ever given by a Committee for their decision and the contending parties +are left to imagine them. The losing side sometimes has the hardihood to +think a decision is wrong. I believe we thought so; and I know that +_Ennis_, who was thus doomed to a further period of single blessedness, +thought the same. + +In a previous chapter I have spoken of the _Parcel Post Act_ of 1882, and +mentioned the share of the receipts apportioned to the railway companies +of the United Kingdom. The Act also prescribed the manner in which this +share was to be divided amongst the respective railways. When it was +devised the method seemed fair to all, and had the consent of all. But +the best of theories do not always stand the test of practice and so it +was found in this case. It did not suit Ireland. We discovered that the +Irish railways were, in equity, entitled to more than the scheme awarded +them, and Mr. Alcorn, the Accountant of the Great Southern and Western +Railway, discovered the way to set the matter right; but it could not be +righted without the consent of the Parcel Post Conference, a body which +sat at the Railway Clearing House in London, and was composed of the +managers of all the railways parties to the parcel post scheme, some +eighty or so in number. On the 10th November, 1892, we brought our case +before that body, and Colhoun, Robertson and I were the spokesmen for the +Irish Railways. On the previous day we had met Sir George Findlay (he +had been knighted this year) and had satisfied him of the justice of our +claim. He promised to support us. The meeting commenced at 10 o'clock. +We made our speeches, which were not long, for our printed statement had +been in each member's hands for some time. Clear as our case was to us +the Conference seemed unconvinced, and we began to fear an adverse vote. +Sir George was not present, something had happened, for he was not the +man to disappoint his friends without grave cause. Voting seemed +imminent. Robertson whispered to me, "For heaven's sake, Tatlow, get on +your legs again and keep the thing going; Findlay may be here any +moment." I was supposed to be the glibbest of speech of our party, and +up I got. But Mr. Thompson (afterwards Sir James), the _beau_, was in +the chair, and thought there had been talking enough. However, like the +Irishman I was not, I went on, and--at that moment entered Sir George! +The scene was changed; the day was won! A Sub-Committee of seven, three +of whom were Colhoun, Robertson and myself, was appointed to follow up +the matter, and ultimately the Irish proposal was adopted. + +It was a very busy period, this year of 1892, and as interesting as busy. +On the 20th June the _Railway Rates and Charges (Athenry and Ennis +Junction Railways) Order Confirmation Act_, 1892, received the Royal +Assent. It applied to all the railways in Ireland and contained the +Revised Classification and Maximum Rates and Charges settled after long +inquiries under the _Railway and Canal Traffic Act_, 1888, and which were +to control the future rates to be charged by the companies. Only six +months were allowed in which to revise all rates and bring them into +conformity with the new classification and the new conditions--an +absurdly short time, for the work involved was colossal. But it had to +be done. Robert Morrison, Michael O'Neill and I, took off our coats and +worked night and day. We had the satisfaction of accomplishing the task +in the allotted time, which not every company was able to do. Generous, +as always, Sir Ralph in his speech to the shareholders in February, 1893, +said: "I wish to express that we are greatly indebted to Mr. Tatlow for +the care and anxiety with which he has endeavoured to arrange this +important rates matter. He has worked most energetically; has attended +the Committees of the Board of Trade, and the Parliamentary Committee, +and he is now seeing traders constantly. I may tell you that I and my +brother directors place the most implicit reliance on our manager, and I +am satisfied that anything he has done has been reasonable to the traders +and for the benefit of the shareholders." This was warm praise, and the +more welcome, being, as it was, the spontaneous expression of what I knew +he felt. + +My meetings with the traders usually, but not invariably, resulted in +friendly settlements. The great firm of Guinness and Company were not so +easily satisfied, and offered a _stout_ resistance which correspondence +and conference failed to overcome. Under the Railway and Canal Traffic +Act a mode of dealing with the _impasse_ was provided by conciliation +proceedings presided over by the Board of Trade. This we took advantage +of, and after several meetings in London a compromise was effected. It +was then that I met for the first time Mr. Francis Hopwood, who had just +been appointed Secretary to the Railway Department of the Board of Trade. +I liked his way and thought that conciliation could not be in better +hands than his. + +The Board of Trade is more or less a mythical body, but very practical I +found it on these and all other occasions. Its proper designation is, I +believe, "Committee of Privy Council for Trade." This Committee was +first appointed in Cromwell's time, and was revised under Charles II., as +"Committee of Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations," under +which title it administered the Colonies. When the United States became +independent, Burke in a scathing speech, moved and carried the abolition +of this paid Committee, which included Gibbon as its Secretary. However, +the Board of Trade could not be spared, and so it was restored by Order +in Council in 1786. Under that order the principal officers of State, +and certain members of the Privy Council, including the Archbishop of +Canterbury, have, _ex officio_, seats on the Committee, although no +record exists of His Grace having ever left his arduous duties at Lambeth +to attend the Committee. Its jurisdiction extended as trade and commerce +developed and railways appeared on the scene, and gradually it was +divided into departments, and so the _Board of Trade_ came into being. +Like Topsy it "grow'd." The Board of Trade is, in fact, a mere name, the +president being practically the secretary for trade, the vice-president +having, for 50 years past, been a Parliamentary secretary with duties +similar to those of an under-secretary of State. At present, besides the +president (who has usually a seat in the Cabinet), the Parliamentary +secretary and a permanent secretary, there are six assistant secretaries +(in late war time many more), each in charge of a department. + +In charge of the railway department in 1893 was, as I have said, Mr. +Francis Hopwood. He became Sir Francis in 1906, and from then onwards +advanced from office to office and from honour to honour, until, during +his secretaryship of the Irish Convention in 1917, his public services +were rewarded with a peerage. As railway secretary of the Board of Trade +he was particularly distinguished for tact, strength and moderation. +Singularly courteous and obliging on all occasions, I, personally, have +been much indebted to him for help and advice. + +But all was not sunshine and happiness in this busy year of 1892. A dark +cloud of sorrow overshadowed it. On a fateful day in January I lost, +with tragic suddenness, the younger of my two sons, a bright amiable boy, +of a sunny nature and gentle disposition. He was accidentally killed on +the railway. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. +THE "RAILWAY NEWS," THE INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY CONGRESS, AND A TRIP TO +SPAIN AND PORTUGAL + + +In Chapter XX I recorded the death of my old friend W. F. Mills, which +took place whilst I was writing that chapter. Now, as I pen these lines, +I hear of the loss of another old familiar railway friend; not indeed a +sentient being like you, dear reader, or him or me, yet a friend that +lacked neither perception nor feeling. + +The _Railway News_ on Saturday, the 30th day of November, 1918, issued +its last number, and, as a separate entity, ceased to be, its existence +then merging into that of the _Railway Gazette_. I am sad and sorry for +I knew it well. For forty years it was my week-end companion; for ten +years or more, in the April of life, I contributed regularly to its +pages; and never, during all the years, have its columns been closed to +my pen. One of its editors, F. McDermott, has long been my friend, and +its first editor, Edward McDermott, his father, a grand old man, was kind +to me in my salad days and encouraged my budding scribbling proclivities. +He and Samuel Smiles, the author of _Self Help_ (then Secretary of the +South Eastern Railway), were, in 1864, its joint founders. + +"Death," the Psalmist saith, "is certain to all." In 1893, the railway +world lost one whom it could ill spare. In the month of March, after a +short illness, Sir George Findlay died at the early age of 63. Gifted of +the gods, in the midst of his work, young in mind and spirit, his +faculties in full vigour, he was suddenly called away. His funeral, I +need not say, was attended by railway men from all parts of the kingdom. +I was one of those who travelled to London to follow his remains to their +resting place. + +Further public railway legislation was enacted in 1893 and 1894, and four +important Acts were passed. The first was the _Railway Regulation Act_, +1893. It dealt with the hours of labour of railway servants, a subject +which for some time previously had been enjoying the attention of the +Press. It culminated in the appointment of a Parliamentary Committee. In +February, 1891, a Select Committee, consisting of 24 members, with Sir +Michael Hicks Beach as chairman, was formed, "To inquire whether, and if +so, in what way, the hours of railway servants should be restricted by +legislation." The Committee examined numerous railway servants and +officials, and reported to Parliament, in June, 1892. I was summoned by +the Committee to give evidence and appeared before them in London on 24th +March of that year. My business was to furnish facts concerning the +hours of duty of the employees on my own railway and the conditions of +their work. This I did pretty fully and embraced the opportunity of +showing how different were the circumstances of Irish railways compared +with English, and how legislation suitable to one country might be very +unsuitable to the other. It scarcely needed saying that England was an +industrial country whilst Ireland was agricultural; that England, with +620 people to the square mile, was thickly populated and Ireland with 135 +sparsely; that population meant trains and traffic; that in England +railway traffic amounted to about 7,000 pounds per mile per annum and in +Ireland a little over 1,000 pounds; that in Ireland on many lines not +more than five or six trains ran each way daily, and on others only three +or four, whilst in England, on most lines, the _hourly_ number exceeded +these. When the Committee rose Sir Michael engaged me, informally, in +conversation for a little while. He was curious concerning some of the +facts I had adduced, particularly as to the Midland line and the country +it served. + +In their report the Committee stated they had confined their inquiry to +the hours of duty of those classes of railway servants that were engaged +in working traffic, viz., drivers, firemen, guards, signalmen, shunters, +platelayers and porters, and had not dealt with other classes; a wise +distinction I thought. It was much easier, they said, to regulate the +hours of persons occupying fixed posts of duty within reasonable limits, +than those of the running staff on railways, on account of the variety in +the nature of the work. They reported also that they were unable to +recommend a "legal day," as they considered it would be found +impracticable owing to the number of cases which must necessarily be +admitted as exceptions to any fixed limit of hours, adding that the hours +of railway servants engaged in working traffic cannot be regulated like +those in a factory, which, I may add, experience has abundantly shown. I +believe, and have always believed, in reasonable working hours, and have +often worked unreasonably long hours myself in endeavouring to arrange +them for others; and more than once when I have re-arranged a rota for +drivers, firemen and guards, to my own satisfaction, I have been begged +by the men concerned not to make any change and to let well alone; not, +of course, because the new rota gave shorter hours, but because it +prevented the men from getting to their homes or interfered with +something else that suited them. Sometimes I gave way to the men and +sometimes I stuck to my revised rota. Every case varied and required +special consideration. The Committee also said: "It is universally +admitted that the railway service is very popular under existing +conditions; and several railway servants who appeared as witnesses +protested vigorously against any interference by Government or the +Legislature." State interference, I know, is the fashion now; but the +blind worship of _any fashion_ is but weakness and folly. + +The Act of 1893 was the outcome of the Report. It provided that on +representation being made to the Board of Trade that the hours of any +railway servants were excessive, the Board might inquire into the +complaint, and order the company concerned to submit an amended schedule +of time and duty for such servants, and if the railway company failed to +comply with the order the matter might then be referred to the Railway +Commisioners whose order the company must obey under a penalty of 100 +pounds a day. I do not think any company was ever fined; nor do I, +indeed, remember the Commissioners services being required. If they +were, the occasions were few and far between, as the companies generally +loyally carried out the provisions of the Act. + +In 1894 was passed the _Notice of Accidents Act_. Where any person +employed in the construction, use, working or repair of any railway, +tramroad, tramway, gas works, canal bridge, tunnel, harbour, dock or +other work authorised by Parliament, suffered (it said) an accident +causing loss of life or bodily injury, the employer must notify the Board +of Trade, and if the Board of Trade considered the case of sufficient +importance, they may (it provided) direct the holding of a formal +inquiry; a report of such inquiry to be presented to the Board of Trade, +which may (it stated) be made public in such manner as they think fit. As +far as accidents to railway servants were concerned, I can vouch that +these inquiries were pretty often held, and the companies, concerned +always for the safety of their employees, never did other than welcome +them. + +The _Railway and Canal Traffic Act_, 1894, was an Act to _amend_ (save +the mark!) _The Railway and Canal Traffic Act_, 1888. Its effect, in +fact, was to embitter instead of amend. It was, as I have previously +indicated, panic legislation yielded in haste to unreasonable clamour, +unfair to the railways, and of doubtful advantage to traders. I will say +no more lest I say too much. + +The fourth of these enactments was the _Diseases of Animals Act_, 1894. +It invested the Board of Agriculture with further powers to make orders +and regulations respecting animals affected with pleuro-pneumonia or foot- +and-mouth disease, particularly with regard to markets, fairs, transit +and slaughter houses; for securing the providing of water and food; and +for cleansing and disinfecting vessels, vehicles and pens. As regards +Ireland the powers were vested in the Lord Lieutenant and Privy Council, +and on the establishment of the Department of Agriculture for Ireland, in +the year 1899, were transferred to that body. + +The International Railway Congress Association is an interesting if not +an ancient body. It dates back to the year 1885. Gallant little Belgium +was its parent. In 1885, the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the +first public railway on the Continent of Europe (the line between +Brussels and Malines) was celebrated at Brussels by a Congress convened +on the invitation of the Belgian Government, and this meeting was the +beginning of the now worldwide association. At the first assembly at +Brussels "the study of technical and administrative questions for +railways" was the avowed object in view; and it has been the serious +purpose of every Congress since. But gradually pleasant relaxations, +such as lunches, dinners, dances and excursions, for wives and daughters +accompanying husbands and fathers graced these gatherings of railway +wisdom. During the first ten years the sessions were bi-annual, but +since 1895 have been held every five years. Brussels, Milan, Paris, St. +Petersburg, London, Washington and Berne have each been the scene of +their celebration, and Paris has been favoured twice. For 1915 Berlin +was the capital selected, but the war decided against that; and when +Berlin shall see the world's railway representatives assembled within her +gates only a very bold man will venture to prophesy. + +The Congress is composed of some 420 railway systems represented by +nearly 1,500 delegates; and any railway company, the wide world over, +that possesses a mileage of 62 miles or more is competent for membership. +In addition to holding Sessions the Congress publishes a monthly Bulletin +(or did prior to the war), containing, besides original articles on all +questions relating to the construction, operation, and organisation of +railways, reproductions of interesting articles published in the railway +and engineering papers of any nation, as well as notices of books and +pamphlets on railway questions. The Bulletin contains also all reports +prepared for the various Sessions of the Congress and minutes of the +discussions. It was a great gathering that the late King Edward (then +Prince of Wales) opened on June the 26th, 1895, when the Congress was in +London. The scene was the Imperial Institute, and the meetings lasted +till July the 9th. From all parts of the globe delegates came. All was +not dull routine for British hospitality abounded and the companies vied +with each other in worthy entertainments, and Her Majesty the Queen saw +fit to signalise the occasion by giving a garden party in its honour. + +Mr. W. M. Acworth, the well-known writer on railway economics, and a keen +but friendly critic of railway affairs, was appointed Secretary to the +English Section of the Congress, and to him fell the principal work +connected with the Session. His scholarly and linguistic attainments and +his varied travels, fitted him well for the task. My eldest son, then a +youth of 18, just entered the railway service, had the good fortune to be +selected as one of Mr. Acworth's assistants. He had not long finished +his education in France, and spoke the language fluently, which, of +course, was a recommendation. It was valuable experience to him as well +as delightful work. He conducted several parties of delegates through +various parts of England and Ireland in connection with the many +excursions that were arranged for their pleasure and profit. The weather +was very hot, and railway travelling at times oppressive, even to +delegates from the sunny land of France, and _shandy-gaff_, a beverage +new to most of the visitors, was in great request. Said a French +delegate one day to my son, as the train was approaching Rugby: "Oh! +M'sieu Tatlow, the weather it is so hot; will you not at Rugby give us +some of your beautiful _char-a-banc_?" On another occasion he was asked +if he would "be so kind as to give the _recipe_ for making that beautiful +toast." + +At the close of the session in London, a number of the foreign delegates, +at the invitation of the Irish Railway Companies, visited Ireland, and +were shown its railways, and its beauty spots from east to west, from +north to south. It is not too much to say they were greatly impressed. +The splendid scenery that surrounds the island like a beautiful frame, +delighted them, and the excellence of the Irish railways was no little +surprise. They did not expect to see such fine carriages, such handsome +dining saloons, nor such permanent way and stations. Of course we showed +them our best and the best was very good. Ireland is often accused of +neglecting her opportunities, but never her hospitality. On this +occasion, personified by her railway companies, she neglected neither, +and in the latter surpassed herself. + +In the autumn of this year I was able to gratify my taste for travel by a +longer excursion than usual. Hitherto my furthest flights had been to +Paris, Belgium, and Holland, but now I went as far as Spain and Portugal. +F. K. was my pleasant companion and we travelled, _via_ Paris, straight +through to Madrid, where we stayed for a week at the Hotel de la Paix, in +the bright and busy and sunny Puerto del Sol. In Madrid we visited the +Royal Palace (or so much of it as was shown to the public--principally +the Royal stables); the Escurial; the Art Galleries and Museums; drove in +the Buen Retiro; witnessed a bull fight, which rather sickened us when +the horses, which never stood a chance in the contest, were ripped up by +the bull; admired dark-eyed senoritas, their mantillas and coquettish +fans, enjoyed the southern sunshine and the Spanish wines; and then left +for Lisbon by an _express_ train that stopped at nearly every station. At +Lisbon three or four days were pleasantly passed, though we were annoyed +sometimes by the crowd of persistent beggars that thronged the streets, +and who, we were told, pursued their calling by license from the +authorities. This was a small matter, however. He who travels should be +proof against such minor annoyances. Then Oporto was visited, and the +Douro valley, the very centre of the port wine industry. A young +Englishman, a wine merchant, accompanied us in our journey through this +sultry valley and was our cicerone. Under his guidance we visited many +famous "wine lodges," sampled wonderful vintages in most generous +glasses, drank old port, green port, tawny port, and I am sure too much +port, and when, at last, we reached the port of Biarritz, where we stayed +for several days, we blessed its lighter wines and refreshing breezes. +After Biarritz Bordeaux detained us for a day or two, and so did Paris, +which we found very attractive and refreshing in early November. + +This year also had for me a delightful week's interlude, in the month of +June, in the Committee Rooms at Westminster. A certain Bill was promoted +by an Irish railway company, which we considered an aggressive attempt to +invade our territory, and, of course, we vigorously opposed it. Again I +had the pleasure of giving evidence and of being crossed-examined by Mr. +Pembroke Stephens; but the Bill was passed and became an Act. Further +sign of vitality it never showed as the line was never made. It is one +thing, by the grace of Parliament to obtain an Act, but quite another by +the favour of the public to obtain capital. Parliament is often more +easily persuaded than the shrewd investor, as many a too sanguine +promoter knows. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. +TOM ROBERTSON, MORE ABOUT LIGHT RAILWAYS, AND THE INLAND TRANSIT OF +CATTLE + + +By his friends and intimates he was called _Tom_, and mere acquaintances +even usually spoke of him as _Tom Robertson_. Rarely was he designated +_Thomas_. A man who is known so familiarly is generally a good fellow, +and Tom Robertson was no exception, though he possessed some pretty +strong qualities, and was particularly fond of getting his own way. + +In his early days at the Great Northern, sundry skirmishes at the +Clearing House had taken place between him and me, which for a time +produced a certain amount of estrangement, but we afterwards became +excellent friends and saw a good deal of each other. He was no longer a +_general manager_, having given up that post for another which was +pressed upon him--the post of Chairman of the Irish Board of Works. It +was certainly unusual, unheard of one might say, in those days, for an +important government office to be conferred upon a railway official, +though now it would excite but little surprise. The Government it was +thought contemplated something in the shape of a railway policy in +Ireland, and had spotted Robertson as the man for the job; it was +certainly said that someone in high authority, taken greatly by his +sturdy independence, his unconventional ways, and his enormous energy, +had determined to try the novel experiment which such an appointment +meant. I do not think that Robertson himself ever really enjoyed the +change. He liked variety it is true, but governmental ways were not, he +often said, his ways, and he seemed to lack the capacity to easily adapt +himself to new grooves. Unconventional he certainly was, and never in +London even would he wear a tall hat or a tail coat; nor could he ever be +persuaded to attend a levee or any State function whatever. He usually +dressed in roughish tweeds, with trousers unfashionably wide, and a +flaming necktie competing with his bright red cheeks, which contrasted +strongly with his dark hair and beard. He was, however, a strong manly +fellow, with a great deal of determination mingled with good humour. +Usually in high spirits, he often displayed a boyish playfulness that +resembled the gambols of a big good-natured dog. He was musical too, and +would sing _Annie Laurie_ for you at any time, accompanying himself on +the piano. To practical joking he was rather addicted, and once I was +his reluctant accomplice, but am glad to say it was the last time I ever +engaged in such rude pleasantry. I can write of him now the more freely +that he is no longer of this world. Excessive energy hastened his death. +In 1901 he went to India to investigate for the Government the railways +there, and to report upon them. It was a big task, occupied him a long +time, and I am told he worked and lived there as though he were in his +native temperate zone. His restless energy was due I should say to +superabundant vitality. Once, when he and I were in London together, on +some railway business, we took a stroll after dinner (it was summertime) +and during a pause in our conversation he surprised me by exclaiming: +"Tatlow, I'm a restless beggar. I'd like to have a jolly good row with +somebody." "Get married," said I. This tickled him greatly and restored +his good humour. He lived and died a bachelor nevertheless. + +In 1896 the _Railways (Ireland) Act_ was passed, and with it Robertson +had much to do. Its purpose ran: "To facilitate the construction of +Railways and the Establishment of other means of Communication in +Ireland, and for other purposes incidental thereto." It provided for +further advances by the Treasury, under prescribed conditions, for +constructing railways and for establishing lines of steamers, coaches, +etc., which were shown to be necessary for the development of the +resources of any district, where owing to the circumstances of such +district, they could not be made without government assistance. It also +authorised the construction and maintenance, as part of such railways, of +any pier, quay or jetty. This little Act, which consisted of thirteen +sections (I wonder he did not think the number unlucky), was Robertson's +particular pet. Concerning its clauses, from the time they were first +drafted, many a talk we had together over a cup of tea with, to use his +own expression, "a wee drappie in't." I may have hinted as much, but do +not think I have mentioned before that he was a Scotchman and a +Highlander. + +In the same year was passed the _Light Railways Act_, an Act which +applied to Great Britain only. Ireland had already had her share (some +thought more than her share) of light railway legislation, with its +accompanying doles in the shape of easy loans and free gifts, whilst +England and Scotland had been left in the cold. It was their turn now; +but as this Act, and the subject of light railways generally, formed the +substance of a paper which I prepared and read in 1900 before the +International Railway Congress at Paris, and of which I shall speak later +on, I will pass it now without more comment. + +At Robertson's request I appeared as a witness this year for the Great +Northern Railway, before Committees of both Houses of Parliament, in +connection with a Bill which sought powers to construct an extension of +the Donegal railway from Strabane to Londonderry. Robertson himself did +not give evidence in the case. Before the Committees sat he had left the +Great Northern for the Board of Works, and Henry Plews, his successor, +represented the Great Northern Railway. The proposed line was in direct +competition with the Great Northern, and they sought my aid in opposing +it. Certainly there was no need for two railways, but Parliament thought +otherwise and passed the Bill. Indeed Parliament is not free from blame +for many unnecessary duplicated lines throughout the kingdom. +_Competition_ was for long its fetish; now it is _unification_, and +(blessed word!) _co-ordination_. Strange how men are taken with fine +words and phrases, and what slaves they are to shibboleths! Before the +House of Commons Committee which sat on this Bill I had the pleasure, for +the first time, of being examined by Balfour Browne. He was leader in +the case for the Great Northern, and I met him also in consultations +which took place. Since then I have crossed swords with him too, and +always I must confess with keen enjoyment. His knowledge of railway +matters was so remarkable, his mind so practiced, alert, and luminous, +that it was rare excitement to undergo cross-examination at his hands. In +his book, _Forty Years at the Bar_, he himself says: "I have not had many +opportunities of giving evidence, but I confess that when I have been +called as a witness I have enjoyed myself." Well, I can say that I have +had many such opportunities, and can truthfully declare that I have +enjoyed them all. + +A few weeks holiday in Holland, Cologne, the Rhine and Frankfort, with +some days on the homeward journey in Brussels, all in company of my dear +delightful friend, Walter Bailey, complete the annals of this year, +except that I recall a little arbitration case in which I was engaged. It +was during the summer, in July I think. The Grand Canal (not the canal +which belongs to the Midland and is called the Royal) is a waterway which +traverses 340 miles of country. Not that it is all canal proper, some of +it being canalised river and loughs; but 154 miles are canal pure and +simple, the undisputed property of the Grand Canal Company. On a part of +the river Barrow which is canalised, an accident happened, and a trader's +barge was sunk and goods seriously damaged. Dispute arose as to +liability, and I was called on to arbitrate. To view the scene of the +disaster was a pleasant necessity, and the then manager of the company +(Mr. Kirkland) suggested making a sort of picnic of the occasion; so one +morning we left the train at Carlow, from whence a good stout horse +towed, at a steady trot, a comfortable boat for twenty miles or so to the +_locus_ of the accident. We were a party of four, not to mention the +hamper. It was delightfully wooded scenery through which we passed, and +a snug little spot where we lunched. After lunch and the arbitration +proceedings had been despatched, our Pegasus towed us back. + +I must return again to Robertson, the Board of Works, and light railways. +Preliminary to the authorisation of light railways in Ireland, the +legislation which had been passed concerning them required that the Board +of Works should appoint fit and proper persons to make public inquiry +regarding the merits of proposed lines, as to engineering, finance, +construction, the favour or objection with which they were regarded by +landowners and others, the amount of capital required, the assistance +that would be given by landowners, local authorities and others towards +their construction, and their merit generally from all points of view; +such fit persons after they had done all this, to report to the Board of +Works. In 1897 Robertson thought that "Joseph Tatlow of Dublin, and +William Roberts of Inverness, were fit and proper persons" for conducting +the necessary inquiry concerning a proposed light railway in north-west +Donegal, from Letterkenny to Burtonport, a distance of 50 miles. William +Roberts was the Engineer of the Highland Railway of Scotland, a capable, +energetic, practical man, and a canny Scot. This line was promoted by +the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company. Roberts and I gladly +undertook the work. We held public meetings, which were largely attended +(for it was an event in Donegal) in Letterkenny, Falcarragh and +Burtonport, examined nearly fifty witnesses, and heard a great variety of +evidence. + +But the hearing of evidence was by no means all we did. It was our duty +to examine the route, and determine if it were the best practicable route +(keeping steadily in view that the available funds were limited in +amount), scrutinise and criticise the estimates, consider the stations to +be provided, inquire as to the probable traffic and working expenses, and +inform ourselves thoroughly on all the aspects and merits of the case. We +drove some 240 miles, not of course by motor car (motors were not common +then) but with stout Irish horses, and inspected the country well. After +we presented our report, certain procedure followed; the Baronies +guaranteed interest on 5,000 pounds of the capital; the government gave +the rest (some 313,000 pounds) as a free grant; an Order in Council was +passed, and the line was made and opened for traffic in 1903. It has +more than verified all predictions as to its usefulness, and has proved a +blessing to north-west Donegal. My relations with the line by no means +ended with the inquiry, and more about it will later on appear in this +authentic history. + +In the same year, 1897, with G. P. Culverwell, the engineer of my old +railway, the Belfast and County Down, as co-adjutor, I was entrusted by +Robertson with a similar inquiry concerning the Buncrana to Carndonagh +line (18 miles in length) also in Donegal, and also promoted by the +Londonderry and Lough Swilly Company. It was a smaller affair than the +Burtonport line, but involved similar pleasant and interesting work. This +line was also constructed and was opened in 1901. + +Pleasant times, Joseph Tatlow, you seem to have had, and much variety and +diversion; but what of your own railway and your duties to it? Well, +these Parliamentary proceedings, arbitration cases, and light railway +adventures were, after all, only interludes, and I can conscientiously +say that the Midland line and its needs and interests were never +neglected. I am one of those who always believed that everything which +served to enlarge experience and mature judgment made a man more +competent for his daily work. + +In July a Departmental Committee was appointed by the Board of +Agriculture "To inquire into and Report upon the Inland Transit of +Cattle." The Committee numbered ten, Sir Wm. Hart Dyke, M.P., being +chairman. Three other M.P.s were members of the Committee, one being +that redoubtable champion of the cattle trade and chairman of the Irish +Cattle Trades Association, Mr. William Field. Two railway +representatives were amongst the ten, one of them, Sir William Birt, +general manager of the Great Eastern Railway; the other the Honourable +Richard Nugent, a director of the Midland Great Western Railway, the +latter having considerable experience of the cattle trade and of cattle +transit in Ireland. He was no bad judge himself of a beast. He farmed +in County Galway, and farming in the west of Ireland meant the raising of +cattle, though nowadays some tillage is also done. He loved attending +cattle fairs, and more than once turned me out of bed before the break of +day to accompany him to a fair green, much to my discomfiture; but so +great was _his_ enjoyment, and so pleasant and lively his company that I +believe I thanked him on each occasion for bringing me out. + +Sir William Hart Dyke did not act as chairman of the Committee; in fact +he was prevented by illness from attending any meeting after the first, +and in his absence the chair was taken by Mr. Parker Smith, M.P. + +The scope of the inquiry included Great Britain and Ireland; but, as the +Committee stated in their report, "In Ireland the proportional importance +of the cattle trade is much the greater," and that no doubt was why they +examined in Dublin 42 witnesses against about half that number in +England. + +Plews, Colhoun and I gave evidence for the Irish railways, supplemented +with testimony on matters of detail by some of our subordinates. My +railway (the Midland) being, relatively at any rate, the principal cattle- +carrying line in Ireland, it was agreed that I should give the greater +part of the evidence and appear first. The railway companies, of course, +came on after the public witnesses had had their say. + +The Committee in their report made some useful recommendations both for +Great Britain and Ireland, not only in regard to the transit of cattle by +railway, but also in reference to public supervision at fairs; +accommodation and inspection at ports; the licensing of drovers; +dishorning of young cattle, etc. With respect to railway transit the +recommendations were directed principally to control and accommodation at +stations; pens and loading banks; improvement in cattle trucks; and rest, +food and water. + +It is but fair to the railway companies to say that for some years +previous to the inquiry they had been making constant and steady +improvements in these matters, and I believe the Irish Department of +Agriculture, which was established by Act of Parliament in 1899, and in +which are vested the powers and functions of the Privy Council in regard +to live stock, with some added powers as well, would, were they appealed +to now, bear testimony to the good work of the Irish railways in regard +to the "Inland Transit of Cattle." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. +RAILWAY AMALGAMATION AND CONSTANTINOPLE + + +It would be tedious as well as tiresome to describe the many railway +contests in the Committee Rooms at Westminster in which, during the +remainder of my managerial career, it was my lot to be engaged; but one +great case there was, in 1899 and 1900, which, by its importance to my +company, and I may say, to the south and west of Ireland generally, +should not pass unnoticed, and of it I propose to give a short account. + +It was from the grasp of the Waterford and Limerick, as I have mentioned +before, that in 1892 we (the Midland) sought, though unsuccessfully, to +snatch possession of the Ennis line. Now the Waterford and Limerick were +to lose, not only the Ennis line, but all their lines and their own +identity as well. A great struggle ensued which, from the length of time +it lasted, and the number of combatants engaged, was one of the biggest +railway fights the Committee Rooms had for many a long year witnessed. +For 106 days, from first to last, the battle raged. In it thirty-one +companies and public bodies participated, most of them being represented +by counsel. There was a famous Bar, including all the big-wigs of course, +and some lesser wigs, and numbering more than twenty in all. The +promoters were very strongly represented, but we had Littler for our +leader, who, indeed, was our standing senior counsel. Their team +consisted of Pope, Pember, Balfour Browne, Seymour Bushe, McInerny and +two juniors; our, much smaller but well selected, of Littler, +Blennerhassett and Vesy Knox; the last-named then a rising junior, but +long since a senior, and for some time past a leader, is still to the +front in the bustling, reckless, impatient world of to-day. Most of the +others, alas, are no longer with us. Littler later on was knighted, but +is beyond all earthly honours now, and so are Pope, Pember and +Blennerhassett. + +As I have said, the proceedings occupied two sessions. In the first, +1899, two Bills came before a Select Committee of the House of Commons, +one promoted jointly by the Great Southern and Western and the Waterford +and Limerick Companies, the other by the Great Southern and the Waterford +and Central Ireland. But the Great Southern were the real promoters of +both; they paid the piper and, therefore, called the tune. The Great +Southern being the largest railway company in Ireland aspired to be +greater still, nor need this be considered in the least surprising, for +who in this world, great or small, is ever satisfied? The Waterford and +Limerick, a line of 350 miles, then ranked fourth amongst the railways of +Ireland, and its proposed absorption by the Great Southern and Western +Company aroused no little interest. The Central Ireland, a small concern +of 65 miles, running from Maryborough to Waterford, was a secondary +affair altogether and I shall say little more about it. The Waterford +and Limerick had its headquarters at Limerick, its southern terminus at +Waterford, its northern at Sligo--a direct run from south to north of 223 +miles, certain branch lines making up the rest of its mileage. Its +access to Sligo was by means of the Athenry to Tuam, the Tuam to +Claremorris and the Claremorris to Collooney lines, all of which it +worked. The last-mentioned was one of the "Balfour" light railways +(constructed on the ordinary Irish gauge of 5 feet 3 inches) and should +have been given to the Midland Company, but by some unfortunate +_contretemps_, when constructed, it passed into the hands of the +Waterford and Limerick. From Collooney to Sligo (six miles) running +powers were exercised by that company over the Midland line into Sligo. +This Claremorris-Collooney line intersected the Midland system and in the +hands of the Waterford and Limerick Company introduced a competition in +Connaught which that poor district could ill afford to bear--a district +in which one railway system alone, though it enjoyed the whole of the +traffic, would scarcely earn a living. The Waterford and Limerick was +not what would be called a prosperous line, nor was its physical +condition anything to boast of, but it had latent possibilities, and was +in active competition with the Great Southern. Such railway competition +as existed in Ireland was dear to traders and the general public. In +country towns in the sister Isle there is not (more the pity!) much afoot +in the way of diversion, and to set the companies by the ears or get the +better of either one or the other was looked upon as healthy and innocent +amusement. + +On the 7th of June the contest began, and this, the first engagement, +lasted for 44 days, when the Chairman of the Committee announced that the +Bills would not be passed. Great was our delight and that of our allies, +though the cup of joy was a little dashed on learning that the Great +Southern had determined to renew the struggle in the following year. + +My company was the principal opponent, and bore the brunt of the fight, +though the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (now the Dublin and South- +Eastern) were vigorous opponents too. A. G. Reid (from Scotland, who I +have mentioned before) was general manager of the Dublin and Wicklow +Railway. Like myself he is a pensioner now enjoying the evening of life. +Living near each other in the pleasant Kingstown-Dalkey district, we meet +not infrequently, and when we do our talk, as is natural, often glides +into railway reminiscence. We fight our battles over again. We had many +allies, prominent amongst them being the City and Harbour Authorities of +Limerick. They were represented by good men who were hand and glove with +us. Sir (then Mr.) Alexander Shaw, John F. Power and William Holliday +were particularly conspicuous for their valuable assistance. Power (well +named) was a host in himself. Strong, keen, clever, energetic, +enthusiastic, yet cautious and wary, he was a splendid witness. I +sometimes said he would have made a fine railway manager, had he been +trained to the business. Could I give him higher praise? + +Mr. Littler was in great feather at our success. He entertained us +(_i.e_., his Midland clients) to lunch. Over coffee and cigars we +learned that he had not been in Ireland for over 20 years; so to equip +him the better for next year's fight we invited him over, promising that +I would be his faithful cicerone on a tour through the country. As soon +as Parliament rose he came, and he and I spent a fortnight together, +visiting Limerick, Waterford, Cork, Galway, Sligo and other places. It +was a sort of triumphal march, for our friends, and they were many, +warmly welcomed on Irish soil the great English Q.C. who had routed the +enemy. Littler enjoyed it immensely, and was charmed with Irish warmth +and Irish ways. Full of good humour and good nature himself, with a +lively wit, and an easy unaffected manner, he gained new friends to our +cause, and increased the zeal of old ones. He was a charming companion, +a keen observer and interested in everything he saw and everybody he met. + +Before the next session arrived my company determined upon a bold course, +and decided to themselves lodge a Bill to acquire the Waterford and +Limerick line. There was much to be said for this. With the Waterford +and Limerick in our hands the competition, which the public loved, would +continue, whilst in the hands of the Great Southern monopoly would +prevail. That we would command much public support seemed certain. So +in the following year three Bills were presented to Parliament, viz.:-- + + Midland Great Western + Great Southern and Western and Waterford and Limerick + Great Southern and Western and Waterford and Central Ireland + +That Parliament regarded these proposals as being of more than ordinary +importance is clear from the fact that it referred the three Bills to a +Joint Select Committee of both Houses--Lords and Commons--describing them +as "The Railways (Ireland) Amalgamation Bills." An experienced and able +chairman was appointed in the person of Lord Spencer. + +On the 18th of May the proceedings opened. Day by day every inch of +ground was stubbornly fought, and on the 12th of July the decision of the +Committee was announced. After the presentation of the Great Southern +case our Bill was heard and all the opposition. One of the most +effective witnesses for the Great Southern was Sir George (then Mr.) +Gibb, general manager of the North-Eastern, the only big railway in the +country that enjoyed a district to itself. His _role_ was to persuade +the Committee that railway monopoly, contrary to accepted belief, was a +boon and a blessing, and well he fulfilled his part. + +My examination did not take place until July 6th, after nearly all other +witnesses had been heard. Mr. Littler intentionally kept me back, which +was a great advantage to me, as when placed in the box I had practically +heard what everybody else had said, and the last word, as every woman +knows, is not to be despised. Littler took me through my "proof." I had +spent the whole of the previous Sunday with him at his house at Palmer's +Green and we had gone through it together most carefully. He attached +great importance to my direct evidence, and we underlined the parts I was +to be particularly strong upon. That I had taken great pains to prepare +complete and accurate evidence I need scarcely say, for, as I have stated +before, if there is any kind of work I have liked more than another, and +into which I have always put my heart and soul, it is this kind. After +we had got through I was cross-examined by eight opposing counsel, +including Pope, Pember, Balfour Browne and Seymour Bushe. One of the +very few things connected with my appearance in the case I have preserved +(and this I have kept from vanity, I suppose) is a newspaper cutting +which says, "In cross-examination Mr. Pope could not get a single point +out of Mr. Tatlow. On the contrary it actually made his case stronger. +His evidence from beginning to end was most masterly. It was the +evidence of a man who knew what he was talking about and who told the +truth. Mr. Pope, in the end, agreed with Mr. Tatlow's statement on +running powers." Mr. Pope was a big, generous-minded man. In the course +of his great speech on the case he paid me the very nice compliment of +saying that, "Mr. Tatlow went into the box and with a candour that did +him great credit at once admitted that they (the clauses) were the most +stringent that he knew of." This from opposing counsel was a compliment +indeed, and I was much complimented upon it. Mr. Pope greatly admired +candour, and indeed I found myself that candour always told with the +Committees. Littler loved Pope, and so did all the Parliamentary Bar, of +which he was the acknowledged leader and the respected father. Littler +said to me, "He is a wonderfully and variously gifted man, and had he +chosen the stage as a profession would have been a David Garrick." I +said, "What about his very substantial person?" for he was colossal in +figure. "I had forgotten that," said Littler. Littler told me a good +story of him which Pope, he said, was also fond of telling himself. + +It was in the great man's biggest and busiest days. Influenza was rife. +Mr. Pope was a bachelor, and his valet inconsiderately took the "flu." +Mr. Pope's nephew said the valet must go away till he fully recovered, or +Mr. Pope would be sure to take it. "What shall I do?" said Mr. Pope, in +dismay. "Oh, I'll get you a good man for the time," said the nephew; and +so he did; a skilful, quiet, efficient, attentive man, whose usual duty +it was to attend on a rich old gentleman, who resided, on account of a +little mental derangement, in a certain pleasant private establishment. +Mr. Pope had not been told, nor had he inquired, where the excellent +valet, with whom he was well pleased, hailed from, nor had the valet +asked any questions concerning Mr. Pope. Both seemed to have jumped to +certain conclusions. After the valet had been there a week or more, one +day, when _downstairs_, he said to the servants: "Tell me, what is it +that is wrong with the master? He seems to me to be as sane as any of +us!" + +Balfour Browne, in his book _Forty Years at the Bar_, says, "He" (Mr. +Pope) "had a broad equitable common sense, and never did anything mean or +little." He was certainly an orator, and displayed in his speeches much +dramatic power. His voice was fine, flexible and sonorous. In his later +years he must often have wished his "too too solid flesh would melt," for +it had become a heavy burden. He had to be wheeled from Committee Room +to Committee Room in a perambulating chair, and was allowed to remain +seated when addressing Committees. On the 12th of July Lord Spencer +announced that "the Great Southern Amalgamation Bill may proceed subject +to clauses as to running powers, etc." This meant that _our_ Bill was +gone, and that the Great Southern had gained possession of the Waterford +and Limerick, Ennis, the line to Collooney and running powers to Sligo. +Thus they had secured a monopoly in Munster and an effective competition +with us in poor Connaught. It was hard lines for the Midland, but all +was not yet lost. If only we could obtain running powers to Limerick and +carry them back to Ireland, we should have secured some of the spoil. +Another week was spent fighting over running powers, facilities, etc., +and I was in the witness box again. Balfour Browne and Littler now +conducted the warfare on either side, and keenly they fought. The +Committee at one time seemed disposed to put us off with little or +nothing. In the box I know I waxed warm--"the Great Southern to get all +and we nothing--iniquitous," and then, "the public interest to count for +nought--Oh, monstrous!" Well, in the end, on the 19th of July, we were +awarded full running powers to Limerick, and--the curtain fell! + +The Act came into operation on the 2nd of January, 1901, the 1st being a +Sunday. On the 8th we ran our first running power train, and the Joy +Bells rang in Limerick. The Great Southern threatened us with an +injunction because we began to exercise our powers before the terms of +payment, etc., were fixed between us; but we laughed at threats and went +gaily on our way. Limerick rewarded us by giving us their traffic. + +In this last amalgamation year (1900) we were in the Committee Rooms also +in connection with another case--the Kingscourt, Keady and Armagh Railway +Bill; but, I will say no more about it than that we opposed the Bill for +the purpose of obtaining proper protection of Midland interests. + +The year 1900 brought a general Act of some importance called the +_Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act_. It empowered the +Board of Trade to make rules with the object of reducing or removing the +dangers and risks incidental to certain operations connected with railway +working, such as braking of wagons, propping and tow roping, lighting of +stations, protection of point rods and signal wires, protection to +permanent way men, and other similar matters. It also empowered the +Board to employ persons for carrying the Act into effect. + +Nineteen hundred, take it all in all, was a busy, interesting and +delightful year. Though we did not succeed in acquiring the Waterford +and Limerick Railway, which I may now say we scarcely expected, for +_compulsory_ railway amalgamation was then unheard of, yet our _bold +course_ was regarded with considerable success (as boldness often is) and +the running powers we had won were pecuniarily valuable as well as +strategically important. Sir Theodore Martin, our Parliamentary Agent, +and who had taken the keenest interest in the contest, wrote me: "After +all I do not much regret the issue of the fight the Midland have had. To +have got running powers to Limerick, and to have to give nothing for them +is a substantial triumph." So also thought my Chairman and Directors, +for on the 25th of July they passed the following Board minute:-- + +"Resolved unanimously, that having regard to the great exertions of Mr. +Tatlow in connection with the several Bills before Parliament, and the +Directors being of opinion that the favourable terms obtained by this +Company were due to the great care and attention given by him, they have +unanimously decided to raise Mr. Tatlow's salary 200 pounds a year on and +from the 1st inst." + +Not a very great amount in these extravagant days, perhaps, but in +Ireland, nineteen years ago, it was thought quite a big thing; and it had +the additional charm of being altogether unexpected by its grateful +recipient. + +Sir Theodore Martin, though 84 years of age, was full of intellectual and +physical vigour. He was a sound adviser, and enthusiastic in the +amalgamation business. Poet, biographer and translator, he kept up his +intellectuality till the last, and the end of his interesting life did +not come until he reached his 94th year. In 1905 he published a +translation of Leopardi's poems. Between us arose a much greater +intimacy than the ordinary intimacy of business, and his friendship, +through a long series of years, I enjoyed and highly valued. + +[Sir Theodore Martin: martin.jpg] + +Between the two periods of the Amalgamation control I sandwiched a +delightful holiday, and in the autumn of 1899, after the conclusion of +the great Ballinasloe Fair, travelled east as far as Constantinople. Were +this a book of travel (which it is not) a chapter might be devoted to +that trip. But the cobbler must stick to his last, though a word or two +may, perhaps, be allowed on the subject, if only by way of variety. + +My companions on this interesting tour were my good friends F. K. and H. +H. We went by sea from Southampton to Genoa, where we stayed two days to +enjoy the sunshine and colour; its steep, picturesque and narrow streets, +and its beautiful old palaces. Then we visited Milan and Venice. At +Venice we spent several days, charmed with its beauty. From Trieste we +took an Austrian Lloyd steamer, the _Espero_, to Constantinople. At +Patras we left the steamer to rejoin it at Piraeus, wending our way by +rail along the Gulf of Corinth to Athens, in which classical city we +stayed the night. Messrs. Gaze and Sons had ordered their guide (or +dragoman as he was called) to meet us and devote himself to our service. +The next morning at 7 o'clock, he called for us at our hotel, and from +that hour till noon, under his guidance, we visited the temples and +monuments of ancient Athens, and inspected the modern city also. In the +afternoon we drove or rather ploughed our way from Athens to Piraeus +(five miles) along the worst road I ever traversed, not excepting the +streets of Constantinople. We found the harbour gay with music, flags +and bunting, in honour of a great Russian Admiral who was leaving his +ship to journey by ours to Constantinople. His officers bade him +respectful farewells on the deck of our steamer, and he ceremoniously +kissed them each and all. + +On the twenty-second day after leaving home, at six o'clock in the +morning, we were aroused in our berths and informed that we had arrived +at Constantinople. The morning, unfortunately, was dull, and our first +view of the Ottoman city, therefore, a little obscured. All the same, it +was a great sight, with its minarets and towers, its Golden Horn and +crowded quays. Our dragoman kept at bay all the clamouring crowd of +porters, guides and nondescripts of all colours and races that besieged +us. It was 8.30 a.m. when we landed, but 3.30 p.m. by Turkish time. The +Moslem day is from sunset to sunset, and sunset is always reckoned 12 +o'clock; an awkward arrangement which the reforming "Young Turk" perhaps +has since altered. The week we spent in Constantinople was all too +short. We stayed at the Pera Palace Hotel, and the first night after +dinner, in our innocence, strolled out. All was dark and dismal; no one +in the streets. We went as far as the quays, strolled back and on the +way called at a small cafe, the only inmate of which was a dwarf, as +remarkable looking as Velasquez's _Sebastian de Morra_. The hall porter +at our hotel was waiting our return with anxiety. "It was not safe to be +out at night," he said; "we had gold watches on us and money in our +purses, and knives were sharp." Murray's guide book, we afterwards +found, gave similar warning, without mentioning knives. Sir Nicholas +O'Connor was our Ambassador in Constantinople. He was an Irishman from +County Mayo, and I had a letter of introduction to him from my friend Sir +George Morris. Sir Nicholas invited me to lunch at Therapia, where the +Embassy was in residence in its summer quarters. He was exceedingly kind +and facilitated our sightseeing in the great city during our stay. We +witnessed the Selamlik ceremony of the Sultan's weekly visit for prayers +to the Mosque Hamedieh Jami, which stands adjacent to the grounds of +Yildiz Kiosk. It was worth seeing. There was a great gathering of +military in splendid uniforms and glittering decorations. Seven handsome +carriages contained his principal wives, or ladies of the harem (wives we +were told), and several of the Sultan's sons (mere youths) were there, +beautifully apparelled. We caught glimpses of the ladies through their +carriage windows, and being women (though veiled) I should be surprised +if they, on their part, did not get glimpses of us. There were eunuchs +too, black frock-coated--and the chief eunuch, an important personage who +ranks very high. Then came the Sultan (Abdul Hamid) himself in an open +carriage, closely surrounded and guarded by officers. He was an elderly, +careworn, bearded, sallow, melancholy looking man, whose features seemed +incapable of a smile. He entered the Mosque alone; his wives remaining +seated in their carriages outside. In the room in which we sat at an +open window to view the ceremony we were regaled with the Sultan's coffee +and cigarettes. + +The streets and bazaars of Constantinople were absorbingly interesting. +The various nationalities that everywhere met the eye; the flowing +eastern costumes, the picturesque water carriers, the public letter +writers patiently seated at street corners and occupied with their +clients, the babel of voices, and yet an Oriental indolence pervading +all, crowds but no hurry; the sonorous and musical sound of the Muezzin +call to prayers from the minarets--all was new and strange; delightful +too, if you except the dogs that beset the streets and over which, as +they lay about, we stumbled at every step. They are now a thing of the +past. Poor brutes, they deserved a better fate than the cruel method of +extinction which Turkish rule administered. + +Of course we visited Stamboul's greatest Mosque, S. Sophia. Many other +Mosques we saw, but none that approached the majesty of this. One, the +Church of the Monastery of the Chora, famous for its beautiful mosaics, +we did not see, although the German Emperor had driven specially to it on +his visit in 1898 to the Sultan. The only good road Constantinople +seemed to possess was this road to the church, which lies outside the +city, and this road, we were told, was constructed for the convenience of +His Imperial Majesty. + +One day, on the bridge that spans the Golden Horn, we passed the Grand +Vizier in his carriage. It was the day on which we crossed the Bosphorus +by steamer to visit Scutari on the Asiatic shore. Scutari commands a +splendid view of the city, the Golden Horn, and the Bosphorus in its +winding beauty, right away to the Black Sea. What a city some day will +Constantinople be! The grandest perhaps on earth. In Scutari we heard +the Howling Dervishes at their devotions, and the following day, in +Constantinople, witnessed a _performance_ shall I call it? of the Dancing +Dervishes in their whirling, circling, toe-revolving exercise. The +object of both is said to be to produce the ecstatic state in which the +soul enters the world of dreams and becomes one with God. There is no +question as to the ecstatic, nay frenzied state many of them attained. + +Our last day was the eve of the Ramadan Fast. At eight o'clock that +night we left by train to journey homeward overland, for time demanded +that we should go back much quicker than we came. + +We broke our journey for two days at Buda-Pesth, and looked on the +Danube; at Vienna we stayed a little longer, and found that gay city hard +to leave. We drove and rode in the Prater, and horseback exercise in +such a place was, I need not say, delightful. We stopped at Frankfort, +enjoyed its opera and other things, then, _via_ Ostend, wended our way to +London. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. +A CONGRESS AT PARIS, THE PROGRESS OF IRISH LINES, EGYPT AND THE NILE + + +"Will you undertake to report on the subject of Light Railways for the +International Railway Congress at Paris?" This question was put to me in +the year 1899, and although I was busy enough, without shouldering +additional work, I at once said "Yes," and this was how I came to spend +part of my 1900 annual holiday in the beautiful but crowded capital of +France. Crowded it was almost to suffocation, for 1900 was the Great +Exhibition year, and all the world and his wife were there. The Railway +Congress took place in September. The business part of the proceedings +came first, and I did not stay for the festivities. When my Report was +made and discussed (a reporter was not allowed to read his paper, but was +required to speak from notes), I made, with three railway friends from +Dublin, tracks for Switzerland. It had been a strenuous year and +mountain air and exercise were needed to restore one's physical strength +and jaded faculties. + +"_Means of developing light railways. What are the best means of +encouraging the building of light railways_?" This was the text for my +paper, as sent to me by the Congress, and my Report, I was told, should +be confined to the United Kingdom, Mr. W. M. Acworth having undertaken a +report on the subject for other countries. + +In my Report I first disposed of Ireland, concerning which and its light +railways I have already written with some fullness in these pages; and my +readers, I am sure, will not be surprised to hear that, as regards that +country I answered the question remitted to me by saying that the only +practical means I could see of further encouraging the construction of +light railways in Ireland was by the wise expenditure of additional +Government Grants, while as regards England, I pointed out that she had +for long preferred to dispense with light railways, that, as forcibly +expressed in _The Times_, she alone of civilised countries had but one +standard for her railways, that is "the best that money could buy"; that +times had changed, and in 1894 and 1895 much discussion and investigation +on the subject had taken place, brought about chiefly, I thought, by +depression in agriculture; that the energy which France, Germany, Sweden, +Belgium and Italy had expended on their light railway systems, especially +in agricultural and rural districts, had helped to further concentrate +public opinion on the question; that a conference had been held at the +Board of Trade and a Committee appointed to investigate the subject; that +this Committee, after various sittings, had reported in favour of +legislation, and that the result had been that the _Light Railway Act_ of +1896 had come into being. My paper also dealt with this Act, explaining +its scope, its limitations and what its effect had been during the +comparatively short time (only four years) it had been in force; and my +conclusion was that in Great Britain no further facilities were at that +time required for encouraging the building of light railways, the best +policy in my judgment being, to give the Act a fair trial, as time only +could show to what extent the railways to be made in virtue of its +provisions would fulfil the objects for which it had been passed. + +Mr. Acworth did not tackle the question as affecting other countries. He +reported that he had no special knowledge which would entitle him to say +how light railway enterprise could best be developed in countries other +than his own, and that as my Report "sufficiently set out the present +position of affairs in reference to light railways in the United +Kingdom," he thought the most useful contribution he could offer to the +discussion of the question would be "a short criticism of the working, +both from a legal or administrative and also from a practical point of +view, of our English Act of 1896." + +The Act of 1896 was one of considerable importance to British Railways +and, therefore, merits a few words. It established three Commissioners +who were empowered to make Orders authorising the construction of Light +Railways, including powers for the compulsory acquisition of land; +authorised the granting of Government loans and, under special +circumstances, free grants of money. The Board of Trade might require +any project brought forward under the Act to be submitted to Parliament, +if they considered its magnitude, or the effect it might have on any +existing railway, demanded such a course. The Act simplified and +cheapened the process for the acquisition of land, and ordained that in +fixing the price the consequent betterment of other lands held by the +same owner should be taken into account. It imparted considerable power +to dispense with certain expensive conditions and regulations in working +railways constructed under its authority. Though it was intended +primarily to benefit agriculture, it was capable of an interpretation +wide enough to include all kinds of tramways, and it has been extensively +used for that purpose, sometimes, I fear, to the detriment of existing +railways. + +According to an article in the Jubilee (1914) number of the _Railway +News_, by Mr. Welby Everard, up to the end of the year 1912 (since the +outbreak of the war figures are not obtainable) a total of 645 +applications (including 111 applications for amending Orders) were made +to the Commissioners, the total mileage represented being 4,861 miles. Of +these applications 418 were passed, comprising 2,115 miles, of which, +1,415 miles were in class A, _i.e_. light railways to be constructed on +land acquired or "cross-country" lines, that is to say, lines which +legitimately fulfilled the purposes of the Act. But, up to October, +1913, only 45 of these lines, with a total length of 441 miles, had been +constructed and opened for traffic. The number of applications to the +Commissioners seemed to show a considerable demand for greater facilities +for transit in rural districts, but capital apparently was slow to +respond to that demand. Perhaps it will be different now, in these days +of change and reconstruction. The Government is pledged to tackle the +whole question of Transport, and Light Railways will, of course, not be +overlooked, though Motor Traction will run them a close race. + +For ten years I had now been manager of the Midland Great Western +Railway, and busy and interesting years they were. In that period Irish +railways, considering that the population of the country was diminishing, +had made remarkable progress, and effected astonishing improvements. +Whilst the population of England during the decade had _increased_ by +9.13 per cent., and Scotland by 4.69, that of Ireland had _decreased_ by +4.29 per cent! Yet, notwithstanding this, the railway traffic in +Ireland, measured by receipts, had increased by 22 per cent., against +England 31 and Scotland 36. In the number of passengers carried the +increase in Ireland was 29 per cent. In the same period the increase in +the number of engines and vehicles in Ireland was 22, in England 30, and +Scotland 33 per cent., whilst the number of train miles run (which is the +real measure of the usefulness of railways to the public) had advanced 27 +per cent. in Ireland, compared with 28 in England, and 30 in Scotland. + +These figures indicate what Irish railways had accomplished in the decade +ending with December, 1900, and betoken, I venture to affirm, a keen +spirit of enterprise. These ten years had witnessed the introduction of +breakfast and dining cars on the trains, of parlour cars, long bogie +corridor carriages, the lighting of carriages by electricity, the +building of railway hotels in tourist districts, the establishment of +numerous coach and steamboat tours, the quickening of tourist traffic +generally, the adoption of larger locomotives of greatly increased power, +the acceleration of the train service, the laying of heavier and smoother +permanent way, and a widespread extension of cheap fares--tourist, +excursion, week-end, etc. It was a period of great activity and progress +in the Irish railway world, with which I was proud and happy to be +intimately connected. But what a return for all this effort and +enterprise the Irish railway companies received--3 pounds 17s. 10d. per +cent. on the whole capital expended, plus a liberal amount of abuse from +the Press and politicians, neither of whom ever paused to consider what +Ireland owed to her railways, which, perhaps, all things considered, was +the best conducted business in the country. It, however, became the +vogue to decry Irish lines as inefficient and extortionate, and a fashion +once started, however ridiculous, never lacks supporters. The public, +like sheep, are easily led. In England the average return on capital +expended was 4 pounds 0s. 5d., and in Scotland 4 pounds 2s. 2d. + +In the spring of 1901, Mr. W. H. Mills, the Engineer of the Great +Northern Railway of Ireland, and I were entrusted by the Board of Works +with an investigation into the circumstances of the Cork, Blackrock and +Passage Railway in regard to a proposed Government loan to enable the +Company to discharge its liabilities and complete an extension of its +railway to Crosshaven. It was an interesting inquiry, comprising a +broken contract, the cost of completing unfinished works, the financial +prospects of the line when such works were completed, and other cognate +matters. A Bill in Parliament promoted by the Railway Company in the +following year became necessary in connection with the loan, which after +our Report the Government granted, and I had to give evidence in regard +to it. In the same session I appeared also before two other +Parliamentary Committees, so again I had a busy time outside the ordinary +domestic duties pertaining to railway management. + +On the first day of November, 1902, my good friend Walter Bailey and I +started on a visit to Egypt. It, like Constantinople and Spain and +Portugal, occupied more than the usual month's vacation, but as these +extra long excursions were taken only every two or three years, and as it +was never my habit to nibble at holidays by indulging in odd days or week- +ends, my conscience was clear, especially as my Chairman and Directors +cordially approved of my seeing a bit of the world, and readily granted +the necessary leave of absence. As for Bailey, he always declared this +Egyptian tour was the holiday of his life. To continue, we arrived in +Cairo, _via_ Trieste and Alexandria, on the 10th. There we were met by +Mr. Harrison, the general manager of Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son, and +their principal dragoman, _Selim_, whom he placed during our stay in +Cairo at our disposal. _Selim_ was a Syrian and the prince of dragomans; +a handsome man, of Oriental dignity and gravity, arrayed in wonderful +robes, which by contrast with our Occidental attire made Bailey and me +feel drab and commonplace. At Cairo we stayed for eight days at +Shepheard's Hotel, and under _Selim's_ guidance made good use of our +time. On the ninth day we began a delightful journey up the Nile. Mr. +Frank Cook had insisted upon our being the guests of his firm on their +tourist steamer _Amasis_. + +My relations with Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son go back for many years, and +with the Midland of England, my _Alma Mater_, the firm is, perhaps, more +closely associated than with any other railway. It was on the Midland +system that, in 1841, its business began. In that year the founder of +the firm, Mr. Thomas Cook, arranged with the Midland the first public +excursion train on record. It ran from Leicester to Loughborough and +back at a fare of one shilling, and carried 570 passengers. This was the +first small beginning of that great tourist business which now encircles +the habitable globe. Mr. Thomas Cook was a Derbyshire man and was born +in 1808. My father knew him well, often talked to me about him, and told +me stories of the excursion and tourist trade in its early days. But I +am digressing, and must return to Old Father Nile, who was in great +flood. We saw him at his best. His banks were teeming with happy dusky +figures and the smiling irrigated land was bright with fertility. Our +journey to Assouan occupied eleven days, a leisurely progress averaging +about two and a-half miles an hour. During the night we never steamed, +the _Amasis_ lying up while we enjoyed quiet rest in the quietest of +lands. Of course we visited all the famous temples and tombs, ruins and +monuments, of ancient Egypt; and had many camel and donkey rides on the +desert sands before reaching the first cataract. At Luxor, where we +stayed for five days, we were pleasantly surprised at seeing Mr. Harrison +and Mr. Warren Gillman come on board. The latter was Secretary of +Messrs. Cook and Son's Egyptian business, and has, I believe, since risen +higher in the service of the firm. + +The great Dam at Assouan was just completed and we traversed its entire +length on a trolley propelled by natives. Assouan detained us for four +days; then, time being important, we travelled back to Cairo by railway. +Three more interesting days were passed in the Babylonian city, then +homewards we went by the quickest route attainable. + +Whilst in Cairo and on our journey up the Nile, Bailey and I wrote, +jointly, a series of seven articles on "Egypt and its Railways." These +appeared in the _Railway News_ in seven successive weeks during December +and January. + +Our last hours in the land of the Pharaohs were filled with regret at +having to leave it so soon. Said Bailey: "Cannot you, before we go, +write a verse of Farewell?" So I composed the following:-- + + Egypt, farewell, and farewell Father Nile, + Impenetrable Sphinx, eternal pile + Of broad-based pyramid, and spacious hypostyle! + + Farewell Osiris, Anubis and Set, + Horus and Ra, and gentle Meskenhet, + Ye sacred gods of old, O must we leave you yet? + + The mighty works of Ramesis the Great, + Memphis, Karnak and Thebes asseverate + The pomp and glory, Egypt, of your ancient state. + + Bright cloudless land! Your skies of heavenly blue + Bend o'er your fellaheen the whole day through; + Night scarce diminishes their sweet celestial hue. + + Realm of enchantment, break your mystic spell, + Land of the lotus, smiling land farewell! + For ever it may be, what oracle can tell? + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. +KING EDWARD, A CHANGE OF CHAIRMEN, AND MORE RAILWAY LEGISLATION + + +The memorable visit to Ireland of His Majesty King Edward, in the summer +of 1903, which embraced all parts of the country, furnished I think no +incident so unique as his reception in Connemara. On the morning of the +30th July the Royal Yacht anchored off Leenane, in Killery Bay, and His +Majesty landed in Connaught. He was accompanied by Queen Alexandra and +Princess Victoria. This was the first time, I believe, that the people +west of the Shannon had seen their King, and whatever their politics, or +aspirations were, he was certainly received with every manifestation of +sincere good will. His genial personality and ingratiating _bonhomie_, +his humanity, and his sportsmanlike characteristics, appealed at once to +Irish instincts, and Connaught was as enthusiastic in its welcome as the +rest of Ireland. The Royal party motored from Leenane to Recess, where +they lunched at the Company's hotel, and where, of course, the Chairman, +directors and chief officers of the railway, as well as local magnates, +were assembled to assist in the welcome. On nearing Recess a surprise +awaited the King. He was met by the "Connemara Cavalry," which escorted +the Royal Party to the hotel and acted as bodyguard. Mr. John +O'Loughlin, of Cashel, had organised this new and unexpected addition to +His Majesty's Forces. It consisted of about 100 farmers, farmer's sons +and labourers, of all ages from 18 to 80, mounted (mostly bareback) on +hardy Connemara ponies. "Buffalo Bill" hats, decorated with the Royal +colours or with green ribbon streamers, distinguished them from others. +It was a striking scene, unexpected, novel, unique; but quite in harmony +with the surroundings and the wild and romantic scenery of Connemara and +the Killeries. The King plainly showed his hearty appreciation. After +lunch their Majesties visited the marble quarries, situated some three +miles distant, and reached by a rough and rocky precipitous mountain +road, for which motor cars were entirely unsuited. For this journey the +marble quarry people had ordered a carriage and horses from Dublin, but +which, by some unfortunate occurrence, had not turned up. Though the +only carriage available in the neighbourhood was ill-suited for royalty, +the King and Queen, good naturedly, made little of that. They were too +delighted with the unmistakable warmth of their welcome to mind such a +trifle. Again the "Cavalry" were in attendance and escorted the party to +the quarries and back. + +The Royal visit to Ireland, on the whole, was an unqualified success, and +there were many who hoped and believed that the King's good will towards +the country and its people, and his remarkable gifts as a peacemaker, +would in some way help to a solution of the Irish question; but, alas! +that question is with us still, and when and how it will be solved no man +can tell. For myself, I am one of those who indulge in _hope_, +remembering that Time, in his healing course, has a way of adjusting +human misunderstandings and of bringing about the seemingly impossible. + +It was in this year (1903) that I first met Charles Dent, the present +General Manager of the Great Northern Railway of England. He had been +appointed General Manager of the Great Southern and Western Railway in +succession to R. G. Colhoun. Dent and I often met. We found we could do +good work for our respective companies by reducing wasteful competition +and adopting methods of friendly working. In this we were very +successful. A man of few words, disdaining all unnecessary formalities, +but getting quickly at the heart and essence of things, it was always a +pleasure to do business with him. + +In this year also I enjoyed some variety by way of an inquiry which I +made for the Board of Works, concerning certain proposed light railway +extensions, called the Ulster and Connaught, and which involved the +ticklish task of estimating probable traffic receipts and working +expenses--a task for which the gift of prophecy almost is needed. To +determine, in this uncertain world, the future of a railway in embryo +might puzzle the wisest; but, with the confidence of the expert, I faced +the problem and, I hope, arrived at conclusions which were at least +within a mile of the mark. + +In 1904 that fine old railway veteran, Sir Ralph Cusack, resigned his +position of Chairman of the Midland and was succeeded by the Honourable +Richard Nugent, youngest son of the ninth Earl of Westmeath; Major H. C. +Cusack, Sir Ralph's nephew and son-in-law, becoming Deputy Chairman--the +first (excepting for a few brief months in 1903 when Mr. Nugent occupied +the position) the Midland ever had. With Sir Ralph's vacation of the +chair, autocratic rule on the Midland, which year by year, had steadily +been growing less, disappeared entirely and for ever. Well, Sir Ralph in +his long period of office had served the Midland faithfully, with a +single eye to its interests, and good wishes followed him in his +retirement. Mr. Nugent was a small man, that is physically, but +intellectually was well endowed. He had scholarly tastes and business +ability in pretty equal parts. Movement and activity he loved, and, as +he often told me, preferred a holiday in Manchester or Birmingham to the +Riviera or Italian Lakes. He liked to be occupied, was fond of details, +and possessed a lively curiosity. Sometimes he was thought, as a +chairman, to err in the direction of too rigid economy, but on a railway +such as the Midland, and in a country such as Ireland, economy was and is +an excellent thing, and if he erred, it was on the right side. Truth, +candour, courage and enthusiasm marked his character in a high degree. +Fearless in speech, the art of dissimulation he never learned. I shall +not readily forget a speech he once made at the Railway Companies' +Association in London. It was on an occasion of great importance, when +all the principal companies of the United Kingdom were present. It was +altogether unpremeditated, provoked by other speeches with which he +disagreed, and its directness and courage--for it was a bold and frank +expression of honest conviction, such as tells in any assembly--created +some stir and considerable comment. Of plain homely mother-wit he had an +uncommon share, and his mind was stored with quotations which came out in +his talk with wonderful ease and aptness. A shrewd observer, his +comments (always good-natured if critical) on his fellow men were worth +listening to. + +Our almost daily intercourse was intimate and frank. Sometimes we +wandered into the pleasant fields of poetry and literature, but never to +the neglect of business. He had an advantage that I greatly envied; a +splendid memory; could repeat verse after verse, stanza upon stanza, +whole cantos almost, from his favourite poet, Byron. It was at the half- +yearly meetings of shareholders (they were held half-yearly in his day) +that he specially shone, not in his address to them (for that he _would_ +persist in reading) but in the after proceedings when the heckling began. +This, during his chairmanship, was often severe enough, for owing to +unavoidably increased expenditure, dividends were diminishing and +shareholders, in consequence, were in anything but complacent mood. +Question time always put him on his mettle. Then his mother-wit came +out, his lively humour and practical common sense--all unstudied and +natural. The effect was striking. Rarely did he fail in disarming +criticism, producing harmony, and sending away dissentients in good +temper, though some of them, I know, sometimes afterwards wondered how it +came about that they had been so easily placated. + +From 1903 to 1906 several Acts of Parliament affecting railways generally +came into force, four of which were of sufficient importance to merit +attention. The first, the _Railways (Electric Power) Act_, 1903, was a +measure to facilitate the introduction and use of electrical power on +railways, and invested the Board of Trade with authority to make Orders +for that purpose, which were to have the same effect as if enacted by +Parliament. + +The second, the _Railway Fires Act_, 1905, was an Act to give +compensation for damage by fires caused by sparks or cinders from railway +engines, and increased the liability of railway companies. It _inter +alia_, enacted that the fact that the offending engine was used under +statutory powers should not affect liability in any action for damage. + +Next came the _Trades Disputes Act_, 1906, a short measure of five +clauses, but none the less of great importance; a democratic law with a +vengeance! It is one of the four Acts which A. A. Baumann, in his recent +book, describes as being "in themselves a revolution," and of this +particular Act he says it "placed the Trade Unions beyond the reach of +the laws of contract and of tort." It also legalised peaceful picketing, +that particular form of persuasion with which a democratic age has become +only too familiar. + +Lastly, the _Workmen's Compensation Act_, of 1906, an Act to consolidate +and amend the law with respect to compensation to workmen for injuries +suffered in the course of their employment, is on the whole a beneficial +and useful measure, to which we have grown accustomed. + +In these years I had other holiday trips abroad; some with my family to +France and Switzerland, and two with my friend, John Kilkelly. One of +these two was to Denmark and Germany; the other to Monte Carlo and the +Riviera. In Germany, at Altona, we saw the Kaiser "in shining armour," +fresh from the autumnal review of his troops, though indeed I should +scarcely say _fresh_, for he looked tired and pale, altogether different +to the stern bronzed warrior depicted in his authorised photographic +presentments which confronted us at every turn. Kilkelly was a busy, but +never seemed an overworked man, due I suppose to some constitutional +quality he enjoyed. Added to a good professional business of his own, he +was Solicitor to the Midland, Crown Solicitor for County Armagh, +Solicitor to the Galway County Council, and, in _his leisure hours_, +farmed successfully some seven or eight hundred acres. He had a fine +portly presence, and though modesty itself, could not help looking as if +he were _somebody_, like the stranger in London, accosted by Theodore +Hook in the Strand, who was of such imposing appearance that the wit +stopped him and said: "I beg your pardon, sir, but, may I ask, are you +anybody in particular?" + +At Monte Carlo we both lost money but revelled in abundant sunshine, and +contemplated phases of humanity that to us were new and strange. Soon we +grew tired of the gaming table and its glittering surroundings, bade it +adieu, and explored other parts of the Riviera, moving at our ease from +scene to scene and from place to place. + +Kilkelly was an excellent travelling companion, readily pleased, and +taking things as they came with easy philosophy. But never more shall we +travel together, at home or abroad. A year ago, at the age of 82, he +passed from among us on the last long journey which we all must take. + + _Requiescat in pace_! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. +VICE-REGAL COMMISSION ON IRISH RAILWAYS, 1906-1910, AND THE FUTURE OF +RAILWAYS + + +In previous pages I have spoken of the manner in which the railways of +Ireland had long been abused. This abuse, as the years went on, instead +of diminishing grew in strength if not in grace. The Companies were +strangling the country, stifling industry, thwarting enterprise; were +extortionate, grasping, greedy, inefficient. These were the things that +were said of them, and this in face of what the railways were +accomplishing, of which I have previously spoken. Politics were largely +at the bottom of it all, I am sure, and certain newspapers joined in the +noisy chorus. At length the House of Commons, during the Session of +1905, rewarded the agitators by adopting the following resolution:-- + + "_That in the opinion of this House, excessive railway rates and + defective transit facilities, generally, constitute a serious bar to + the advancement of Ireland and should receive immediate attention from + the Government with a view to providing a remedy therefor_." + +This Resolution bore fruit, for in the ensuing year (1906), in the month +of July, a Vice-Regal Commission was appointed to inquire into the +subject, and the Terms of Reference to the Commission included these +words:-- + + "_What causes have retarded the expansion of traffic upon the Irish + lines and their full utilization for the development of the + agricultural and industrial resources of the country; and, generally, + by what methods the economical, efficient, and harmonious working of + the Irish Railways can best be secured_." + +As the newspapers said, the Irish Railway Companies were put upon their +trial. As soon as the Commission was appointed the Companies (19 in +number) assembled at the Railway Clearing House in Dublin to discuss the +situation, and decide upon a course of action. Unanimously it was +resolved to act together and to make a common defence. A Committee, +consisting of the Chairman and General Managers of the seven principal +companies, was appointed and invested with full power to act in the +interest of all, as they should find desirable. The Right Honourable Sir +William (then Sir William) Goulding, Baronet, Chairman of the Great +Southern and Western Railway, was appointed Chairman of the Committee. I +was appointed its Secretary, and Mr. Croker Barrington its Solicitor. It +was further decided that one general case for the associated railways +should be prepared and presented to the Commission by one person, who +should also (under the direction of the Committee) have charge of all +proceedings connected with the Inquiry. I, to my delight, was +unanimously selected as that person, and to enable me to do the work +properly, I was allowed to select three assistants. My choice fell upon +G. E. Smyth, John Quirey, and Joseph Ingram, and I could not have chosen +better. We were allotted an office in the Railway Clearing House; my +assistants gave their whole time to the work, and I gravitated between +Broadstone and Kildare Street, for of course I had to look after the +Midland Great Western as well as the Commission business. That I could +not, like Sir Boyle Roche's bird, be in two places at once, was my +greatest disappointment. I may record here that each of my assistants +has since, to borrow an Americanism, "made good." Smyth is now Traffic +Manager of the Great Southern and Western Railway; Quirey is Chief +Accountant of the Midland Railway of England, and Ingram became Secretary +of the Irish Clearing House, from which be has been recently promoted to +an important position under the Ministry of Transport (Ireland). + +The way in which the seven Companies worked together, and the success +they attained was, I think, something to be proud of. Sir William +Goulding was an excellent Chairman. There was just one little rift in +the lute. One of the seven Companies showed a disposition, at times, to +play off its own bat, but this was, after all, only a small matter, and +the general harmony, cohesion and unanimity that prevailed were +admirable, and unquestionably productive of good. We had as Counsel, to +guide and assist the Committee, and to represent the Companies before the +tribunal, Mr. Balfour Browne, K.C.; Mr. Jas. Campbell, K.C. (now the Rt. +Hon. Sir James Campbell, Baronet, Lord Chancellor of Ireland); Mr. T. M. +Healy, K.C.; Mr. Vesey Knox, K.C.; and Mr. G. Fitzgibbon. They served us +well, and were all required. During the proceedings, prolonged as they +were, each could not of course always appear, and it was important to +have Counsel invariably at hand. + +Sir Charles Scotter was appointed Chairman of the Commission. He was +Chairman of the London and South Western Railway; had risen from the +ranks in the railway service; had been a general manager, and was +unquestionably a man of great ability; but he was handicapped by his age, +which even then exceeded the Psalmist's allotted span. His health +moreover was not good, and in less than six months after the completion +of the work of the Commission, he departed this life at the age of 75. + +Mr. George Shanahan, Assistant Secretary of the Board of Works, was the +capable Secretary of the Commission. He had the advantage of being a +railwayman. From the service of the Great Northern Railway, Robertson +took him with him to the Board of Works in the year 1896. + +Before the Commission began its public sittings it issued and freely +circulated a printed paper entitled "_Draft Heads of Evidence for +Traders, Industrial Associations, Commercial and Public Bodies, etc_." +This paper invited complaints under various set headings and concluded +with these words:-- + + "Whether there is any other question that might be usefully considered + in determining the _causes that have retarded the expansion of traffic + upon the Irish lines_, and their full utilization for the development + of the agricultural and industrial resources of the country." + +The italics are mine. We, rightly or wrongly, looked upon this paragraph +as _assuming_ the case against the Companies to have some foundation in +fact and likely to bias neutral opinion against us, and when (after the +hearing was concluded) three of the seven Commissioners reported that the +evidence "led them to doubt whether expansion of traffic had been +retarded," we felt that our view was not without justification. But I am +anticipating the findings of the Commission, and perhaps, after all, the +peculiar Terms of the Reference largely dictated the course of procedure +which the Commission adopted. + +The first public sitting was held in Dublin on the 12th of October, 1906, +and the last in the same city on the 29th of January, 1909. There were +95 public sittings in all; and 293 witnesses were examined, 29 of whom +appeared on behalf of the Railway Companies. The Reports of the +Commissioners (for there were two--a Majority and a Minority Report) did +not appear till the 4th of July, 1910, so from the time of its +appointment until the conclusion of its work the Commission covered a +period of four years, all but fourteen days. + +During the course of this Inquiry I passed through a crisis in my life. +From more than a year before the Commission was appointed I had been in +most indifferent health, the cause of which doctors both in Dublin and in +London were unable to discover. As time went on I became worse. +Recurring attacks of intense internal pain and constant loss of sleep +worked havoc with my strength; but I held on grimly to my work, and few +there were who knew how I suffered. One day, indeed, at the close of a +sitting of the Commission, Sir John (then Mr.) Aspinall came over to +where I sat, and said: "How ill you have looked all day, Tatlow; what is +wrong?" By the time March, 1907 came round, finding I could go on no +longer, I went to London and saw three medical men, one of whom was the +eminent surgeon, Sir Mayo (then Mr.) Robson. He, happily, discovered the +cause of my trouble, and forthwith operated upon me. It was a severe and +prolonged operation, but saved my life and re-established my health. Not +until late in July was I able to resume work--an enforced absence from +duty of four long months. In this absence my three assistants carried on +the Commission work with great efficiency. It was a trying experience +that I passed through, but from it I gathered some knowledge of what a +man can endure and still perform his daily task, and what the value of +true and sympathetic friendship means to one in a time of suffering. It +was during this illness that my friend, F. K. shewed what a true friend +he was. He, and my dear kinsman Harry, devoted themselves to me, +especially during my convalescence, giving up their time ungrudgingly and +accompanying me to the Mediterranean and elsewhere. + +The presentation of the Railway case and the rebutting evidence did not +begin till all the public witnesses had been heard. My evidence, on +behalf of the associated companies, occupied five days. Other railway +managers followed with evidence specially affecting their own railways, +and one Chairman (Mr. F. W. Pim, Dublin and South-Eastern Railway) also +appeared in the witness box. We had also as a witness Mr. E. A. Pratt, +the well-known journalist and author of works on railways and commercial +subjects, who gave evidence for us regarding Continental railway rates +and conditions of transit abroad, in answer to evidence which had been +given on the subject by an official of the Department of Agriculture. An +extraordinary amount of importance had been attached to Continental +railway rates as compared with rates in Ireland, and the Department had +sent their representative abroad to gather all the information he could. +He returned, armed with figures, and submitted lengthy evidence and +numerous tables. A great outcry had been made for years in the Press and +on the platform that rates in Ireland were exorbitant compared with +Continental rates; and now, it was thought, this will be brought home to +the Irish Companies. Mr. Pratt was well informed, having investigated +the subject thoroughly in various countries, and written and published +books and articles thereon. Between us we were able to show the +unfairness of the comparisons, the dissimilarity of the circumstances of +each country, and the varied conditions and nature of the services +rendered in each, and the Commissioners in the Majority Report confessed +that after a full consideration of the evidence, they did not think any +useful purpose would be served by attempting to make particular and +detailed comparisons between Continental and Irish rates. + +I could write much that would be interesting about the proceedings and +the evidence given against and for the Companies; how reckless were many +of the charges brought against them, how easily they were disproved; how +subtle and disingenuous other charges were and what skill was required to +refute them; how some of the witnesses were up in the clouds and had to +be brought down to common earth; how conclusively the Companies proved +that the railways had done their best to encourage and help every +industry and that their efforts had not been unsuccessful; but I will +resist the temptation, and proceed to the Reports which the Commissioners +presented to His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant. As I have said, there +were two reports, one signed by four, the other by three Commissioners. +The Majority Report bore the signatures of the Chairman, the Rt. Hon. +Lord Pirrie, Colonel (now Sir) Hutcheson Poe, and Mr. Thomas Sexton, +while the Minority Report was signed by Sir Herbert Jekyll, Mr. W. M. +Acworth, and Mr. (now Sir) John Aspinall. The first-mentioned Report was +not so favourable to the railways as the other, yet the worst thing it +said of the Companies was that they were commercial bodies conducted on +commercial principles and ran the railways for profit, and it admitted +that Irish railway managers neglected few opportunities for developing +traffic. In a sort of way it apologised for the evidence-seeking printed +papers to which I have already referred, and admitted that had the +Commissioners been in possession of the statistics of trade and industry +published in 1906 by the Department of Agriculture (which seemed to have +surprised them by the facts and figures they contained of Ireland's +progress) these circulars might have been framed differently. The Report +also said that the complaints the Commissioners received would have been +fewer in number if some of the public witnesses had been better informed +and had taken pains to verify their statements. The Commissioners +further reported that they were satisfied that it was impracticable for +the Railway Companies, as commercial undertakings, to make such reduction +in rates as was desired, and, "as the economic condition of the country +required," but it was not mentioned that no inquiry had been made as to +the economic condition alluded to. In regard to this question of +economic condition the Minority Report took a more modest view. It +expressed the opinion that regarding the causes which had retarded the +expansion of traffic upon the Irish lines, "A complete answer would +involve an inquiry ranging over the whole field of agriculture and +industry in all its aspects," and that this the Commissioners had not +made. It also added that the statistics of Irish trade which had been +published by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction +since the commencement of the Inquiry led them (the Minority +Commissioners) to doubt whether the expansion of traffic _had_ been +retarded. + +To return to the Majority Report. The Commissioners who signed it were +of opinion that Ireland needed special treatment in regard to her +railways and that public acquisition (not State acquisition) and public +control of a unified railway system was the consummation to be desired. +In their view, if only this were accomplished blessings innumerable would +ensue and all complaints would for ever cease. As to the way in which +this unification and public control were to be carried out, they +recommended that an Irish Authority should be instituted to acquire the +Irish Railways and work them as a single system, that this Authority +should be a railway Board of twenty Directors, four nominated and sixteen +elected; that the general terms of purchase be those prescribed by the +Regulation of Railways Act of 1844; that the financial medium be a +Railway Stock; and that such Stock be charged upon (1) The Consolidated +Fund; (2) the net revenues of the unified railway system; (3) an annual +grant from the Imperial Exchequer; and (4) a general rate to be struck by +the Irish Railway Authority if and when required. + +The Commissioners who signed the Minority Report said the evidence, as a +whole, had not produced the same general effect upon their minds as upon +the minds of their colleagues, and they were inclined to attach less +importance than their colleagues did to the evidence given against the +Irish Railway Companies, and more importance to the evidence given in +their favour. In their opinion the result of the evidence was, that if +the Companies were to be considered as having been on their trial, _they +were entitled_ _to a verdict of acquittal_, and that no case had been +made out for the reversal of railway policy which their colleagues +advocated. They added that it would hardly be disputed that the Railways +had on the whole conferred great benefits upon Ireland. + +On the question of reductions in rates (reductions which the Majority +Report strongly urged as necessary), they did not think that reductions +were more likely to occur under public than under private ownership. They +suggested, further, that the official statistics of various countries +showed that the fall in the average rate had been much greater on the +privately owned railways of France and the United States than on the +State-owned railways of Prussia, which were universally accepted as the +most favourable example of State managed railways in the world. They +came to the conclusion, after hearing all the evidence, that the +management of the principal Irish Companies was not inferior to that of +similar companies in England and Scotland. They narrated the many +improvements (with which they seemed much impressed) that Irish Companies +had in recent years effected for the benefit of the public and the good +of the country, and said "they had spent money, and not always +profitably, in endeavouring to promote the development of new +industries." They considered the principle of private ownership should +be maintained, believing that railways are better and more economically +managed by directors responsible to their own shareholders than they +would be under any form of State or popular control, and that +administration on commercial principles was the best in the public +interest. + +In their opinion, however, the Irish railway system was faulty by reason +of its sub-division into so many independent companies, and they +recommended a policy of amalgamation, with the ultimate object of +including the principal railways in one single system, and also, that +certain lines classed as railways, but which were really tramways serving +purely local interests, need not be incorporated with the general railway +system. Such amalgamation, they considered, need not be effected at one +time, but should be accomplished gradually. Failing amalgamation by +voluntary effort within three years, compulsion should be resorted to. + +On the whole the Reports were highly satisfactory to the Irish railways. +They showed that the Companies had done their duty to the country +honestly and well, and that they had been unjustifiably attacked. The +good character of the Irish railways was thus re-established, and they +again held their rightful place in public esteem. + +Of the two I much preferred the Minority Report. The working of the +Irish railways (in accordance with its Recommendations) as business +concerns on commercial principles, seemed to me both sound and sensible +and the policy best calculated to serve the interests of the country. I +cannot, however, say that I concurred in that part of the Minority Report +which proposed the welding of all the railways of Ireland into one great +system. In my humble opinion, the formation of three large systems--a +Northern, a Midland and a Southern--was the desirable course to adopt. +This course would, at any rate, keep alive the spirit of emulation which, +in itself, is a wholesome stimulant to enterprise and endeavour, as well +as to economy. + +The Majority Report, which amongst other things said, "We consider it +obvious that Irish development will not be fully served by the railways +until they cease to be commercial undertakings," found favour mostly, I +think, with those who looked upon Ireland as an exceptional country +requiring eleemosynary treatment, and whose railways ought, in their +view, to be placed beyond the ordinary healthy necessity of paying their +way. Our Chairman, the Honourable Richard Nugent, addressing his +shareholders at the time, put the matter rather neatly. He said: "The +case, as recommended by the Majority Report, stands thus--the Government +to find the money for purchasing the railways; the Government to +guarantee the interest on the capital cost; the County Councils to work +the railways on uncommercial lines; the Government to pay to the extent +of 250,000 pounds a year any deficiency incurred by uncommercial +management; and any further annual losses to be paid by the County +Councils striking a general rate, which you and I and all of us would be +required to pay." He added, "Does this seem a businesslike proposal?" + +The Government took no steps towards carrying out the Recommendations of +either Report. Perhaps they thought them so nearly divided, and so +almost evenly balanced, that the one neutralised the other. They may +also have thought that each Report made it clear that the Irish railways +were well managed, not lacking in enterprise or energy, were doing well +for the country; and that, therefore, the wisest course was to "let well +alone." + +Were we living in ordinary times, had there been no world-wide war, with +its vast upheavals and colossal changes, it would be both interesting and +profitable to further discuss the Reports, their conclusions and +recommendations; but the war has altered the whole railway situation, and +it would be idle to do so now. Victor Hugo says: "Great events have +incalculable consequences," which is unquestionably true in respect of +the railways and the war. The vital question now in regard, not only to +the railways of Ireland, but to the railways of the whole United Kingdom, +is as to their future. It is, however, with the Irish railways I am +specially concerned, and of them I may pretend to have a little +knowledge, which must be my excuse for saying a few words more on the +subject. + +The Irish railways, like those of Great Britain, are at present +controlled by the Government, under the _Regulation of the Forces Act_, +1871--a war arrangement which is to be continued, under the powers of the +_Ministry of Transport Act_, for a further period of two years, "with a +view to affording time for the consideration and formulation of the +policy to be pursued as to the future position" of the railways. This +arrangement, temporary in its nature, provides, as is pretty generally +known, that during its continuance, the railway companies shall be +guaranteed the same net income as they earned in the year preceding the +war, viz., 1913. So far so good. But two years will quickly pass; and +what then? It is also generally known that the Government control of the +railways, during the war and since, has resulted in enormous additions to +the working expenses. Perhaps these additions were inevitable. The cost +of coal, and of all materials used in the working of railways, advanced +by leaps and bounds; but the biggest increase has been in the wages bill. +The Government granted these increases of wages, and also conceded +shorter hours of labour, involving an immensity of expense, on their own +responsibility, without consultation with the Irish railway companies. +Upon the Irish railway companies, for the present position of affairs no +responsibility, therefore, rests. Again I say, the course which the +Government adopted was, perhaps, inevitable. They had to win the war. +Labour was clamorous and insistent, and serious trouble threatened. High +reasons of State may be presumed to have dictated the Government policy. +Anyhow the thing is done, and the hard fact remains that the Irish +railways have been brought to such a financial condition that, if they +were handed back to the companies, many of them not only could not pay +any dividends but would be unable to meet their fixed charges whilst some +would not be able to even pay their working expenses. + +In England the opinion is held that a proper balance between receipts and +expenditure can be restored by increased charges and reduced expenditure. +This may be so in England, with its teeming population and its almost +illimitable industrial resources. As to that I venture no opinion, but +Ireland is very differently situated. It is mainly an agricultural +country, and for most of its railways no such promising prospect can, it +seems to me, be discerned. To _unduly_ increase rates would diminish +traffic and induce competition by road and sea. Past experience teaches +this. + +It used to be said that railway companies asserted, in justification of +their rates, that they were fixed on the principle of "what the traffic +could bear," and the companies were reproached on the ground that the +principle involved an injustice, but a principle which involved the +imposition of rates beyond what the traffic _could bear_, could hardly be +said to be either sound or just. However that may be, the Government +have imposed upon the Irish railways a burden of working expenses which +they cannot bear. What is the remedy? Whatever course is adopted, it is +devoutly to be hoped that it will be fair and just to the proprietors of +a railway system, which has done so much for Ireland, and in respect of +which the proprietors have received on their capital an annual return +averaging less than 4 per cent.! No bloated capitalists these. Irish +railway shareholders largely consist of people of moderate means, and +their individual holdings, on the Midland Great-Western, for example, +average only 570 pounds per shareholder. + +Whilst I am by nature optimistic, I must confess that in these latter +days my optimism occasionally receives a shock. Nevertheless, I believe +that the spirit of justice still animates the British people and +Parliament; that fair treatment will be accorded to the owners of Irish +railways, and that they shall not suffer by the policy which the +Government, under the stress of war, have pursued. Railway directors are +alive to the seriousness of the position, and may I think be trusted to +see that no precaution will be neglected to secure for their companies +fair terms from the Government. Shareholders also I am glad to observe +are banding themselves together for the protection of their interests. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. +THE GENERAL MANAGERS' CONFERENCE, GOODAY'S DINNER, AND DIVERS MATTERS + + +Soon after the Vice-Regal Commission had concluded its public sittings, +and long before its Reports were issued, I had the pleasure of receiving +from the associated companies a cordial minute of appreciation of the +work I had done, accompanied by a handsome cheque. Nor was this mark of +appreciation confined to me. My friend, Croker Barrington, Solicitor to +the Committee, who had given yeoman service, and my capable assistants, +were not overlooked. + +Sir William Goulding was proud of his chairmanship, and well he might be, +for during the long and trying period of the Inquiry he kept his team +well together and (no easy task) discharged the duties of Chairman with +admirable tact and ability. He was well entitled to the Resolution of +cordial thanks which the associated companies accorded to him. I should, +I feel, be lacking in gratitude if I failed to acknowledge also the +invaluable help afforded me by my brother managers, help ungrudgingly and +unstintingly given. + +The Irish railways did not stand still. Their march along the path of +progress and improvement continued _sans_ interruption. From 1906 to +1910 (the Commission period) railway business, measured by receipts, +advanced in Ireland by seven per cent., compared with six per cent. in +England and three per cent. in Scotland! + +In November, 1909, as was my habit unless prevented by other important +duties, I attended the General Managers' Conference at the Railway +Clearing House in London, and to my surprise and delight was unanimously +elected Chairman of the Conference for the ensuing year, the first and +only occasion on which the Manager of an Irish railway has been selected +to fill that office. + +The Conference consists of the General Managers of all railways who are +parties to the London Clearing House, which means all the principal +railways of the United Kingdom. Other Conferences there were such as the +Goods Managers', the Superintendents', the Claims Conference, etc., but +it was the General Managers' Conference that dealt with the most +important matters. + +I remember that, in returning thanks for my election, I ventured on a few +remarks which I thought appropriate to the occasion. Amongst other +things I said it was breaking new ground for the Conference to look to +Ireland for a Pope, but that in doing so they exhibited a catholicity of +outlook which did them honor; and I added that, in filling the high +office to which they had elected me, though I should certainly never +pretend to the infallibility of His Holiness, I should no doubt find it +necessary at times to exercise his authority. At ten o'clock in the +morning this little attempt at pleasantry seemed to be rather unexpected, +but it raised a laugh, which, of course, was something to the good. The +Conference was a businesslike assembly that prided itself on getting +through much work with little talk--an accomplishment uncommon at any +time, and particularly uncommon in these latter days. In these restless +days when-- + + "_What this troubled old world needs_, + _Is fewer words and better deeds_." + +My year of office quickly passed and I got through it without discredit, +indeed my successor to the chair, Sir (then Mr.) Sam Fay, writing me just +after his election, said that I "had won golden opinions," and expressed +the hope that he would do as well. Of course he did better, for he was +far more experienced than I in British railway affairs, and this was only +his modesty. My friend Sir William (then Mr.) Forbes was my immediate +predecessor as Chairman, and to him I was indebted for the suggestion to +the Conference that I should succeed him in the occupancy of the chair. + +Early in the year 1910 a delightful duty devolved upon me, the duty of +presiding at a farewell dinner to J. F. S. Gooday, General Manager of the +Great Eastern Railway, to celebrate his retirement from that position, +and his accession to the Board of Directors. For some years it had been +the custom, when a General Manager retired, for his colleagues to +entertain him to dinner, and for the Chairman of the Conference to +officiate as Chairman at the dinner. Gooday's brother Managers flocked +to London from all parts of the kingdom to do him honor, for whilst he +was esteemed for his ability as a manager, he was loved for his qualities +as a man. Of refined tastes, including a _penchant_ for blue china, +being a thriving bachelor, he was able to gratify them. We were so fond +of him that the best of dinners was not enough, in our estimation, to +worthily mark the occasion and to give him the pleasure he wished, and we +presented to him some rare blue vases which _Cousin Pons_ himself would +have been proud to possess. + +By virtue of my office of Chairman of the Conference, I also, during +1910, sat as a member of the Council of the _Railway Companies' +Association_. This Association, of which I have not yet spoken, merits a +word or two. As described by its present Secretary, Mr. Arthur B. Cane, +it is "a voluntary Association of railway companies, established for the +purpose of mutual consultation upon matters affecting their common +interests, and is the result of a gradual development." It dates back as +far as the year 1854, when a meeting of Railway Directors was held in +London to consider certain legislative proposals which resulted in the +Railway and Canal Traffic Act of that year. In its present form it +consists of all the principal railway companies of the United Kingdom, +each Company being represented by its Chairman, Deputy Chairman, General +Manager and Solicitor. A Director of any so associated Company, who is a +Member of Parliament, is also _ex officio_ a member of the Association. +As its membership increased it was found that the Association was +inconveniently large for executive purposes, and some twenty years or so +ago a _Council_ was formed with power to represent the Association on all +questions affecting general railway interests. At this moment this +Council is engaged in looking after the interests of the railway +companies in the matter of the great _Ways and Communications Bill_. By +the suffrages and goodwill of my colleagues in Ireland, who had the +election of one member, I remained on the Council till the end of the +year 1912. Mr. Cane states that "The Association has always preserved +its original character of a purely voluntary association, and has been +most careful to safeguard the independence of its individual members." +Also, that it has "been expressly provided by its constitution that no +action shall be taken by the Council unless the members are unanimous." +For many years Sir Henry Oakley was its honorary secretary, performing +_con amore_ the duties which were by no means light, but in 1898 it was +resolved to appoint a paid secretary and to establish permanent offices, +which now are located in Parliament Street, Westminster. Mr. (now Sir +Guy) Granet was the first paid secretary, Mr. Temple Franks succeeded +him, and Mr. Cane, as I have already mentioned, is the present occupant +of the office. + +In the autumn of 1910 I visited the English Lakes and spent a fortnight +in that beautiful district, in the company, for the first few days, of +Walter Bailey; and during the latter part of the fortnight, with E. A. +Pratt as a companion. It was the last holiday Bailey and I spent +together, though happily at various intervals we afterwards met and dined +together in London, and our letters to each other only ended with his +lamented death. + +In the year 1913 a new form of Railway Accounts came into operation. This +new form became compulsory for all railways by the passing, in 1911, of +the _Railway Companies (Accounts and Returns) Act_. This Act is the last +general railway enactment that I shall have to mention, for no +legislation of importance affecting railways was passed between 1911 and +1913; and since the war began no such legislation has even been +attempted, excepting always the _Ways and Communications Bill_ which, as +I write, is pursuing its course through the House of Commons. + +The form of half-yearly accounts prescribed by the _Regulation of +Railways Act_, 1868, admirable as they were, in course of time were found +to be insufficient and unsatisfactory. They failed to secure, in +practice, such uniformity as was necessary to enable comparisons to be +made between the various companies, and in 1903 a Committee of Railway +Accountants was appointed by the Railway Companies' Association to study +the subject, with the view of securing uniformity of practice amongst +British railways in preparing and publishing their accounts. This +Committee, after an expenditure of much time and trouble, prepared a +revised form, but the companies failed to agree to their general +adoption, and without legislation, compulsion could not of course be +applied. This led to the Board of Trade, who were keen on uniformity, +appointing, in 1906, a Departmental Committee on the subject. On this +Committee sat my friend Walter Bailey. The Committee heard much +evidence, considered the subject very thoroughly, and recommended new +forms of Accounts and Statistical Returns, which were (practically as +drawn up) embodied in the Act of 1911, and are now the law of the land. +From the shareholders' point of view the most important changes are the +substitution of annual accounts for half-yearly ones, and the adoption of +a uniform date for the close of the financial year. In addition to the +many improvements in the direction of clearness and simplicity which the +new form of accounts effected, the following two important changes were +made:-- + +(1) _All information relating to the subsidiary enterprises of a company +to be shown separately to that relating to the railway itself_ + +(2) _A strict separation to be made of the financial statements from +those which were of a purely statistical character_ + +The first of these alterations had become desirable from the fact that +practically all the larger railway companies had, in the course of years, +added to their railway business proper such outside enterprises as +steamships, docks, wharves, harbours, hotels, etc. + +One bright morning, in the autumn of 1911, I was summoned to the +telephone by my friend the Right Honorable Laurence A. Waldron, then a +Director of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, and now its Chairman. He +said there was a vacancy on the Kingstown Board; and, supposing the seat +was offered to me, would I be free to accept it? As everybody knows, it +is not usual for a railway manager, so long as he remains a manager, to +be a director of his own or of any other company; so, "I must consult my +Chairman," said I. The Dublin and Kingstown being a worked, not a +working line, the duties of its directors, though important are not +onerous, and my Chairman and Board readily accorded their consent. Such +was my first happy start as a railway director. + +[The Gresham Salver: salver.jpg] + +The Dublin and Kingstown has the distinction of being the first railway +to be constructed in Ireland. Indeed, for five years it was the only +railway in that country. Opened as far back as 1834, it was amongst the +earliest of the railway lines of the whole United Kingdom. The Stockton +and Darlington (1825), the Manchester and Liverpool (1830), and the +Dundee and Newtyle (1831), were its only predecessors. Soon after its +construction it was extended from Kingstown to Dalkey, a distance of 1.75 +miles. This extension was constructed and worked on the _atmospheric +system_, a method of working railways which failed to fulfil +expectations, with the result that the Dalkey branch was, in 1856, +changed to an ordinary locomotive line. + +The atmospheric system of working railways found favour for a time, and +was tried on the West London Railway, on the South Devon system, and in +other parts of Great Britain, also in France, but nowhere was it +permanently successful. The reason of the failure of the system on the +Dalkey extension, Mr. Waldron tells me (and he knows all about his +railway, as a Chairman should) was due to the impossibility of keeping +the metal disc airtight. The disc, shaped like a griddle, was edged with +leather which had to be heavily greased to enable it to be drawn through +the pipe from which the air was pumped out, in order to create a vacuum, +and the rats, like nature, abhorring a vacuum, gnawed the greasy leather, +letting in the air, and bringing the train to a standstill! + +The Kingstown Railway was also interesting in another respect, as +illustrating the opposition which confronted railways in those early +days. There was a Mr. Thomas Michael Gresham, who was the owner of the +well-known Gresham Hotel in Dublin, and largely interested in house +property in Kingstown--Gresham Terrace there is called after him. He +organised a successful opposition to the Dublin and Kingstown Railway +being allowed--though authorised by Parliament--to go into Kingstown, and +its terminus was for some years Salthill Station (Monkstown) a mile away. +Mr. Gresham's action was so highly appreciated--incredible as it now +appears--that he was presented with a testimonial and a piece of plate +for his "_spirited and patriotic action_." I have adorned this book with +a photograph of the salver which, with the inscription it bears, will I +think, in these days, be not uninteresting. + +The year 1911 was darkened for me by the shadow of death. During its +course I lost my wife, who succumbed to an illness which had lasted for +several years, an illness accompanied with much pain and suffering borne +with great courage and endurance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. +FROM MANAGER TO DIRECTOR + + +I had long cherished the hope that when, in the course of time, I sought +to retire from the active duties of railway management, I might, perhaps, +be promoted to a seat on the Board of the Company. Presumptuous though +the thought may have been, I had the justification that it was not +discouraged by some of my Directors, to whom, in the intimacy of after +dinner talk, I sometimes broached the subject. But I little imagined the +change would come as soon as it did. I had fancied that my managerial +activities would continue until I attained the usual age for +retirement--three score years and five. On this I had more or less +reckoned, but + + "_There's a divinity that shapes our ends_ + _Rough hew them how we will_," + +and it came to pass that at sixty-one I exchanged my busy life for a life +of comparative ease. And this is how it came about. A vacancy on the +Board of Directors unexpectedly occurred in October, 1912, while I was in +Paris on my way home from a holiday in Switzerland and Italy. I there +received a letter informing me that the Board would offer me the vacant +seat if it really was my wish to retire so soon. Not a moment did I +hesitate. Such an opportunity might never come again; so like a prudent +man, I "grasped the skirts of happy chance," and the 5th day of November, +1912, saw me duly installed as a Director of the Company which I had +served as Manager for close upon twenty-two years. It was an early age, +perhaps, to retire from that active life to which I had been accustomed, +but as Doctor Johnson says, "No man is obliged to do as much as he can +do. A man is to have a part of his life to himself." I made the plunge +and have never since regretted it. It has given me more leisure for +pursuits I love, and time has never hung heavy on my hands. On the +contrary, I have found the days and hours all too short. Coincident with +this change came a piece of good fortune of which I could not have +availed myself had not this alteration in my circumstances taken place. +Whilst in Paris I heard that Mr. Lewis Harcourt (now Viscount Harcourt), +then Colonial Secretary, had expressed a wish to see me as I passed +through London, and on the 28th of October, I had an interview with him +at his office in the House of Commons. There was a vacancy, he informed +me, on the recently appointed Dominions' Royal Commission, occasioned by +the resignation of Sir Charles Owens, late General Manager of the London +and South-Western Railway, and a railway man was wanted to fill his +place. I had been mentioned to him; would I accept the position? It +involved, he said, a good deal of work and much travelling--voyages to +Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Newfoundland. Two +years, he expected, would enable the whole of the work to be done, and +about twelve months' absence from England, perhaps rather more, but not +in continuous months, would be necessary. It was a great honor to be +asked, and I had no hesitation in telling him that as I was on the eve of +being freed from regular active work, I would be more than happy to +undertake the duty, but--"But what?" he inquired. I was but very +recently married, I said, and how could I leave my wife to go to the +other side of the globe alone? No need to do that, said he; your wife +can accompany you; other ladies are going too. Then I gratefully +accepted the offer, and with high delight, for would I not see more of +the great world, and accomplish useful public work at the same time. Duty +and pleasure would go hand in hand. I need not hide the fact that it was +one of my then Directors, now my colleague, and always my friend, Sir +Walter Nugent, Baronet (then a Member of Parliament), who, having been +spoken to on the subject, was the first to mention my name to Mr. +Harcourt. + +Soon after my retirement from the position of Manager of the Midland, my +colleagues of the Irish railway service, joined by the Managers of +certain steamship companies that were closely associated with the +railways of Ireland, entertained me to a farewell dinner. Mr. James +Cowie, Secretary and Manager of the Belfast and Northern Counties Section +of the Midland Railway of England (Edward John Cotton's old line), +presided at the banquet, which took place in Dublin on the 9th of +January, 1913. It was a large gathering, a happy occasion, though tinged +inevitably with regrets. Warm-hearted friends surrounded me, glad that +one of their number, having elected to retire, should be able to do so in +health and strength, and with such a smiling prospect before him. + +When I became a Midland Director, Mr. Nugent was no longer Chairman of +the Board. He had been called hence, after only a few days' illness at +the Company's Hotel at Mallaranny, near Achill Island, where, in January, +1912, he had gone for a change. In him the company lost a faithful +guardian and I a valued friend. He was succeeded by Major H. C. Cusack +(the Deputy Chairman), who is still the Chairman of the Company. A +country gentleman of simple tastes and studious habits, Major Cusack, +though fond of country life, devotes the greater part of his time to +business, especially to the affairs of the Midland and of an important +Bank of which he is the Deputy-Chairman. The happy possessor of an +equable temperament and great assiduity he accomplishes a considerable +amount of work with remarkable ease. For his many estimable qualities he +is greatly liked. + +On the 14th of November I made my _debut_ as a Dominions' Royal +Commissioner, at the then headquarters of the Commission, Scotland House, +Westminster. Soon the Commissioners were to start on their travels, and +were at that time holding public sittings and taking evidence. + +This is a narrative of railway life at home, not of Imperial matters +abroad, and it is therefore clearly my duty not to wander too far from my +theme; nevertheless my readers will perhaps forgive me if in my next +chapter I give some account of the Commission and its doings. The fact +that I was placed on the Commission chiefly because I was a railway man +is, after all, some excuse for my doing so. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. +THE DOMINIONS' ROYAL COMMISSION, THE RAILWAYS OF THE DOMINIONS AND EMPIRE +DEVELOPMENT + + +For the first time in the history of the British Empire a Royal +Commission was appointed on which sat representatives of the United +Kingdom side by side with representatives of the self-governing +Dominions. This Commission consisted of eleven members--six representing +Great Britain and Ireland and five (one each) the Dominions of Canada, +Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and Newfoundland. The +Commission came into being in April, 1912. It was the outcome of a +Resolution of the Imperial Conference of 1911. The members of that +Conference and of others which preceded it had warmly expressed the +opinion that the time had arrived for drawing closer the bonds of Empire; +that with the increase in facilities for communication and intercourse +there had developed a deepened sense of common aims and ideals and a +recognition of common interests and purposes; and that questions were +arising affecting not only Imperial trade and commerce but also the many +other inter-relations of the Dominions and the Mother Country which +clamantly called for closer attention and consideration. The time at the +command of the Conference was found to be too short for such a purpose, +and it was to study problems thus arising, and to make practical +recommendations that our Commission was appointed. + +The individuals forming the Commission were, first and foremost, Lord +D'Abernon (then Sir Edgar Vincent). He was our Chairman, the biggest man +of us all; ex-banker, financial expert, accomplished linguist; a +sportsman whose horse last year won the Irish St. Leger; an Admirable +Crichton; an excellent Chairman. Then came Sir Alfred Bateman, retired +high official of the Board of Trade, a master of statistics and +unequalled in experience of Commissions and Conferences. He was our +Chairman in Canada and Newfoundland and a most capable Chairman he made. +Sir Rider Haggard, novelist, ranked third; a master of fact as well as of +fiction; a high Imperialist, and versed both theoretically and +practically in agriculture and forestry. Next came Sir William (then +Mr.) Lorimer of Glasgow, a man of great business experience, an expert +authority in all matters appertaining to iron and steel and in fact all +metals and minerals. He was Chairman of the North British Locomotive +Company and of the Steel Company of Scotland, also a Director of my old +company, the Glasgow and South-Western Railway. Then Mr. Tom Garnett +(christened Tom), an expert in the textile trade of Lancashire, owning +and operating a spinning mill in Clitheroe; a good business man as well +as a student of "high politics," a scholar and a gentleman. Of the last +and least, my humble self, I need not speak, as with him the reader is +well acquainted. + +Canada's representative was the Right Honorable Sir George Foster, +Minister of Trade and Commerce, steeped in matters of State, experienced +in affairs, a keen politician and a gifted orator. + +Australia selected as her representative Mr. Donald Campbell, a clever +man, well read and of varied attainments, sometime journalist, editor, +lawyer, Member of Parliament, and I don't know what else. + +The Honorable Sir (then Mr.) J. R. Sinclair was New Zealand's excellent +choice. A barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of his country, +he had retired from practice but was actively engaged in various +commercial and educational concerns and was a member of the Legislative +Council of New Zealand. + +South Africa's member was, first, Sir Richard Solomon, High Commissioner +for the Union of South Africa in London. He died in November, 1913, when +Sir Jan Langerman took his place. Sir Jan was an expert in mining, ex- +President of the Rand Chamber of Mines, and ex-Managing Director of the +Robinson Group, also a Member of the Legislative Assembly of South +Africa. Keen and clever in business and a polished man of the world, he +was a valuable addition to the Commission. + +Lastly, Newfoundland was represented by the Honorable Edgar (now Sir +Edgar) Bowring, President and Managing Director of a large firm of +steamship owners. He was experienced in the North Atlantic trade, in +seal, whale and cod fishing and other Newfoundland industries. He was +also a member of the Newfoundland Legislative Council. + +Such were the members of the Commission. All endowed with sound common +sense and some gifted with imagination. + +Shortly stated the main business of the Commission was to inquire into +and report upon:-- + +(a) The natural resources of the five self-governing Dominions and the +best means of developing these resources + +(b) The trade of these parts of the Empire with the United Kingdom, each +other, and the rest of the world + +(c) Their requirements, and those of the United Kingdom, in the matter of +food and raw materials, together with the available sources of supply + +The Commission was also empowered to make recommendations and suggest +methods, consistent with then existing fiscal policy, by which the trade +of each of the self-governing Dominions with the others, and with the +United Kingdom, could be improved and extended. + +Mr. E. J. Harding, C.M.G., was our Secretary. An Oxford man of +distinction, a member of the permanent staff of the Colonial Office, +studious, enthusiastic, energetic, of rare temper, tact and patience, he +was all such a Commission could desire. He and three or four assistants, +with local officers selected by the Governments in each of the Dominions, +one and all most capable men, formed a Secretariat that served us well. + +The Commission started operations by taking evidence in London in the +autumn of 1912, but its main work lay in the Dominions, and on the 10th +of January, 1913, we sailed for Australia and New Zealand, touching at +Fremantle (Western Australia), Adelaide (South Australia), Melbourne +(Victoria), and Hobart (Tasmania) on our way. + +In New Zealand we travelled through the island from south to north, +staying in that beautiful country for nearly a month, and holding +sittings in the principal cities. One sitting we held in the train--a +record surely for a Royal Commission. Easter intervening, we indulged in +a few days' holiday in the wonderful Rotorua district, where we enjoyed +its hot springs, its geysers, its rivers, its lakes and its Maori +villages. Returning to Sydney, we travelled northwards to Queensland and +there entered seriously upon our Australian duties, holding sittings at +Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart and Perth. In Queensland +we penetrated north as far as Bundaberg, Gladstone, Rockhampton and Mount +Morgan. In the other States tours were made through the irrigation areas +of New South Wales and Victoria, and visits paid to the mines at Broken +Hill (New South Wales), the Zeehan district and Mount Lyall (Tasmania); +Iron Knob (South Australia), and Kalgoorlie (Western Australia). Some of +our party penetrated to remoter parts of Australia such as Cairns +(Northern Queensland), Condobolin (west of New South Wales), and +Oodnadatta (Central Australia), still the furthest point of railway +extension toward the great Northern Territory. + +To Tasmania we were able to devote a few days, taking evidence and +enjoying its wonderful beauty. + +Finally, we left Australia on the 9th of June, four months after our +first landing on its sunny shores. + +On arriving home it was determined that for the remainder of the year +1913 we should remain in England and take further evidence in London. + +We resumed our travels in January, 1914, when we left for South Africa. +There we held a number of sittings, taking evidence at Capetown, +Oudtshoorn, Port Elizabeth, East London, Kimberley, Bloemfontein, Durban, +Pietermaritzburg, Pretoria and Johannesburg. Our journeys to these +various places were so planned as to involve our travelling over most of +the principal railway lines of the Union, so that we were able to see a +considerable portion of its beautiful scenery as well as its great mining +and pastoral industries. Our work finished, most of us returned direct +to England, but some were able to penetrate northwards into Rhodesia, and +return by way of the East Coast of Africa. + +It was our intention, after taking further evidence in London, to proceed +to Canada and Newfoundland, and to return home before the winter began, +when we looked forward to making our Final Report. This intention we +partially fulfilled, as in July, 1914, we sailed from Liverpool, and +after exchanging steamers at Rimouski, landed at St. John's, +Newfoundland. There we stayed for a few days whilst the crisis in Europe +deepened. We then travelled through the island by railway and crossed to +the Maritime Provinces of Canada. On that fatal day in August on which +war broke out we were in Nova Scotia. A few days after, the British +Government, considering that under such conditions we could not finish +our work in Canada, called us home. In common with many of our +countrymen we indulged in the hope that the duration of the war would be +a matter of months and not of years, and that we should be able to resume +our work in Canada in the autumn of 1915. But this was not to be. +However, in 1916, the Governments represented on the Commission came to +the conclusion that the completion of our work ought not to be longer +delayed, and accordingly, in August, 1916, we sailed again to Canada. + +In the Maritime Provinces of Canada, in 1914, we visited Sydney, Cape +Breton, Halifax, the Annapolis Valley and Digby in Nova Scotia; St. John, +Fredericton and Moncton in New Brunswick, and Charlottetown in Prince +Edward Island. + +In 1916 the resumption of our Canadian work began at Montreal. +Thereafter, the great mining districts of Northern Ontario engaged our +attention, where, amongst other valuable products of the earth, nickel, +silver and gold abound. From Ontario we travelled westward to Prince +Rupert on the British Columbian coast, holding sittings at Saskatoon, +Edmonton and Prince Rupert. We then proceeded by steamer, through +glorious scenery, southward to Victoria, Vancouver Island. At Victoria +and also at Vancouver we took evidence. From Vancouver we journeyed +eastwards by the Canadian Pacific Railway over the Rockies, breaking our +journey and holding sittings at Vernon, in the Okanagan Valley, at +Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec, devoting +several days each to many of these places. Whilst in British Columbia we +also visited the lower part of the Okanagan Valley, and whilst in the +prairie provinces stopped at Medicine Hat (where the gas lamps burn day +and night because it would cost more in wages than the cost of the gas to +employ a man to turn them out). In Ontario we visited North Bay, Fort +William, Port Arthur, Guelph and Niagara Falls. In addition some of us +travelled through the mining districts of British Columbia, and also +inspected the asbestos mines at Thetford, in the Province of Quebec. + +This is the bald outline of our long and interesting journeys, which by +land and sea comprehended some 70,000 miles. How bald it is I keenly +feel, and it would afford me more pleasure than I can tell to give some +account of our wonderful experiences--of the delight of sailing in +southern seas; of the vast regions of the mainland of Australia; of the +marvels of its tropical parts; of the entrancing beauty of New Zealand +and Tasmania; of the wonders of Canada, the variety of its natural +productions, its magnificent wheat-growing areas; of the charm of South +Africa with its glorious climate and its beautiful rolling veldt. What a +memory it all is! Tranquil seas, starlit nights, the Southern Cross, +noble forests, glorious mountains, mighty rivers, boundless plains; young +vigorous communities under sunny skies, with limitless space in which to +expand. I should love to enlarge on these things, but a sense of +proportion and propriety restrains my pen. + +In all the Dominions we were received with the warmest of welcomes and +most generous hospitality--governments, municipalities and corporations +vieing with each other in doing us honor, whilst private individuals +loaded us with kindness. It was clear that our mission was popular, and +clear too that affection for the old country was warm and lively. I +cannot attempt to narrate all that was done for us--banquets, receptions, +excursions, garden parties, concerts--time and space will not allow. But +I cannot be altogether silent about the splendid special train which the +South African Government placed at our disposal from the time we left +Capetown until we reached Johannesburg, which (taking evidence at the +various places on the way) occupied several weeks. This sumptuous train +consisted of dining car, sleeping cars and parlour car, was liberally +staffed and provisioned; with a skilful _chef_, polite and attentive +waiters and attendants. It was practically our hotel during those forty +days or more. + +In Australia and New Zealand, more than once, the various governments +provided us with special cars or special trains to visit their remoter +districts with the greatest possible comfort. The same was the case in +Newfoundland, whilst the Canadian Government lent to us a steamer--the +_Earl Grey_--for our journey from Rimouski to Newfoundland, which since +has done good service for the Allied cause in the war. + +In Canada we travelled from Montreal to Prince Rupert, some 3,000 miles, +in a handsome and most commodious car kindly lent to us by Sir Daniel +Mann, one of the founders of the Canadian Northern Railway. It, too, was +our home and hotel during the ten days which that journey occupied. The +longest passenger vehicle I had ever seen, it had ample kitchen, dining +room, sitting room, sleeping and "observation" accommodation for us all, +with an excellent bathroom and the luxury of a shower bath. + +On all our journeys to and from the Dominions, and in all our expeditions +by sea or by land, my wife accompanied me. She was an excellent +traveller. There is considerable difference in our years; but, as +Dickens has said: "There can be no disparity in marriage save +unsuitability of mind and purpose." The only lady who accompanied the +Commission everywhere, she was sometimes called "The Lady Commissioner." +One must not praise one's own, but this much I may say: Her Irish wit and +bright unselfish ways made her, everywhere and always, a welcome addition +to the Commission party. + +After November, 1916, we held no more public sittings, took no further +evidence, but sat down at Spencer House (one of the many stately London +residences lent by their owners to the Government during the war) and +there, in its ballroom, industriously worked out our Final Report. This, +of course, reviewed the whole subject of our inquiry and embodied our +final conclusions and recommendations. To the credit of the Commission +be it said, these conclusions and recommendations were entirely +unanimous, as also were those in each of our Interim Reports, published +in connection with the Dominions separately. + +In this Final Report the subject of railways was not included. Railways +of course formed part of our inquiry, but they were dealt with in our +Interim Reports. + +To a large extent railways were more a matter of domestic than of +Imperial concern, but as the development of the resources of the +Dominions depended greatly upon the adequacy of railway transit, the +subject came within the province of our inquiry. I will not trouble the +reader with statistics (which can be readily obtained elsewhere) beyond +the following statement which represented, at the time we made our +investigations, the railway mileage and the population in each Dominion +compared with the United Kingdom:-- + + Miles of Population. Number of + Railway. Inhabitants + per Mile of + Railway. +Canada 35,600 8,075,000 280 +Australia 18,000 4,500,000 250 +South Africa 8,800 1,300,000{207a} 150{207b} +New Zealand 2,900 1,052,000{207a} 370 +Newfoundland 800 250,000 320 +United Kingdom 23,500 46,000,000 1,950 + +It is clear that railway construction has not been neglected in the +Dominions, and that, measured by population, the mileage is considerable. +Speaking generally, the Dominion railways are highly efficient and serve +their purpose well. Extensions were being projected and many were in +course of construction for the further development of natural resources +and of trade and commerce. + +In Australia the railways, with the exception of certain lines belonging +to the Commonwealth, are owned and worked by the several States. We +found them paying full interest on the cost of construction, and sound +assets of the country. The cost of working was, however, greatly +increasing, due mainly to increase of salaries and wages. How this +stands since the war I do not know; but that expenses have further +advanced goes without saying. An important railway witness whom we +examined expressed the opinion that increased expenditure could be +recouped by increased rates. Perhaps that is still true. If it is, the +railways of Australia are happier than most of the railways in Ireland. + +The railways of New Zealand belong to and are worked by the Government. +For many years the Government, looking upon the railways as an adjunct to +the settlement and development of the country, only expected them to +return 3 per cent. interest on the capital expended. In 1909 this +policy, however, was modified, 3.75 to 4 per cent. being then regarded as +a proper result, and this result was accomplished. Water power in New +Zealand is so abundant that the adoption of electricity for railway +working has been engaging the attention of the Government. Many, well +qualified to judge, were satisfied that it would prove more economical +than steam locomotion. + +In both Australia and New Zealand, borrowing for railway construction had +been by means of general loans raised for all kinds of Government +expenditure. We came to the conclusion that if loans for reproductive +works, such as railways, had been segregated from others, it would have +helped the raising of capital, and probably secured easier terms. + +The construction of railways in Canada has, in recent years, proceeded at +a rapid pace. We found that the mileage had doubled since the beginning +of the present century, due, to a large extent, to the construction of +two new Trans-Continental lines. The grain-growing districts of the +prairie provinces, south of latitude 54 degrees, are now covered with a +network of railways, and British Columbia has three through routes to +Eastern Canada. + +The enterprise of the principal Canadian railway companies is remarkable. +They own and operate not only railways, but also hotels, ferry services, +grain elevators, lake and coast steamers, as well as Trans-Atlantic and +Trans-Pacific steamers. One company also has irrigation works, and ready- +made farms for settlers in the prairie provinces. But Canada lies so +near to us, and in the British Press its railways receive such constant +attention, that I need not descant further upon them. + +In South Africa, with the exception of about 500 miles mainly in the Cape +Province, the railways are all Government owned, and are worked as one +unified system. The Act of Union (1909) prescribed that the railways and +the harbours (which are also Government owned and worked) were to be +administered on business principles, and that the total earnings should +not exceed the necessary expenditure for working and for interest on +capital. Whenever they did, reductions in the rates, or the provision of +greater facilities, were to restore the balance. This provision also had +the effect of preventing the imposition of taxation upon the community by +means of railway rates. The Act contained another practical clause, +designed to block the construction of lines from political +considerations. Any line constructed contrary to the advice of the +Railway Board, if it resulted in loss, the loss was to be a charge, not +upon the general railway revenue, but upon the Consolidated Fund--a +useful "brake," which I have no doubt has often pulled up hasty and +impetuous politicians. + +South African railways enjoy one great advantage--cheap coal for their +engines. In 1913 the average cost at the pit's mouth was 4s. 11.5d. per +ton. + +The railways of Newfoundland have had a chequered history. Now they are +Government property, worked by a private company under a 50 years' lease, +which dates from 1901, and under that lease no rent is paid. As the +capital expenditure (about 3,000,000 pounds) averages less than 4,000 +pounds per mile, it may be conceived that the railway system of +Newfoundland is not of an extravagant character, and in my humble +opinion, the country deserves something much better. In our fourth +report (on Newfoundland) we stated: "It must also be said that the state +of the permanent way does not conduce to speedy or comfortable +travelling." + +The gauges of the Dominions' railways are very varied. In Australia +there are three--5ft. 3in., 4ft. 8.5in. and 3ft. 6in., with some 300 +miles or so of less than 3ft. 6in. The Commonwealth has for some time +been considering the conversion of the lines into one standard gauge, the +British gauge of 4ft. 8.5in. being favoured. The cost of this conversion +naturally increases the longer action is deferred, and in any case would +be very great. It was officially estimated at the time of our visit at +37,000,000 pounds. + +New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Newfoundland are each the happy +possessor of one gauge only. In Canada it is the British gauge of 4ft. +8.5in., and in New Zealand, South Africa and Newfoundland, 3ft. 6in. + +Our Final Report was signed on the 21st of February, 1917, and published +as a Blue Book in the usual way, but, what is rarely done with any Blue +Book, it was also published in handy book-form, bound in cloth, at the +popular price of 1s. 6d. Blue Books do sometimes contain matter of +general interest, are sometimes well written and readable, and would be +more read if presented to the public in a handy form such as we succeeded +in publishing. + +The main purposes of the Commission I have already briefly stated. They +embraced many subjects for inquiry and study, of which the following are +the most important, and regarding each of which it may be appropriate to +say a word or two:-- + + + +External Trade of the Self-Governing Dominions + + +We ascertained and compiled in detail, tables of the Imports and Exports, +distinguishing Trade with (_a_) the United Kingdom, (_b_) the other parts +of the Empire, and (_c_) with foreign countries. The figures showed the +need there was for an Imperial trade policy, which should lead to British +manufacturers and merchants cultivating more the Dominion markets, and +utilising more the vast resources of raw materials which the Dominions +possess. We found that a detailed examination of existing conditions, +and practical and definite proposals for the removal of difficulties, +were required. + + + +Natural Resources of the Dominions + + +In regard to agricultural matters we gathered and published much +information, finding that in one part or other of the Dominions all +animals and almost every crop flourished that are needed by man, that if +the products of the more tropical parts of the Empire were taken into +account, the Empire could meet more than its own needs; and that if men +existed in sufficient numbers in our Dominions, there was scarcely any +limit to the external trade they could do. In this part of our Inquiry +we found to what a considerable extent people concentrated in large +cities to the detriment of the country districts. "Back to the land" is +a question there of as much if not greater moment than in the Mother +Country. The mineral resources of the Dominions, like the agricultural, +provided us with a big subject. In every Province or State, by oral +evidence, by official statistics, by discussion with Government +geologists, officials of the Mines Departments and others, we gathered a +large amount of valuable information. The volumes of printed evidence +give full particulars of this and other subjects. The mineral deposits +of Canada especially are varied in character and large in respect both of +quantity and value--gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, coal, iron, +asbestos, natural gas, petroleum, peat, gypsum--all are found in +unstinted quantity. Nor are the other Dominions deficient. The +goldfields of Australia are historic, and the silver, lead and zinc mines +of Broken Hill deserve particular mention. In South Africa gold and +diamonds are plentiful; and Newfoundland has wonderful deposits of iron +ore. + +In forests and fish the Dominions abound, and possess enormous +possibilities of extended trade. + + + +Conservation and Development of Natural Resources in the Future + + +This subject received our earnest attention. We considered that the +various Governments of the Empire should take steps to secure the +development and utilisation of their natural wealth on a well considered +scheme, and that to do this, a preliminary survey was needed of the +relation between Empire production and Empire requirements. No such +survey, as far as we knew, had yet been undertaken, but in the +_Memorandum and Tables relating to the Food and Raw Material Requirements +of the United Kingdom_, which we submitted to His Majesty in 1915, the +Commission had made an effort, not without some measure of success, in +this direction. We regarded it as vital that the Empire's supplies of +raw material and commodities essential to its safety should be, as far as +possible, independent of outside control, and made suggestions which +aimed at effecting this object. We recommended that the survey mentioned +above should be made by an Imperial Development Board, which should be +entrusted with the whole subject. + + + +Scientific Research in Relation to the Development of Natural Resources + + +We dwelt on the importance of securing to all parts of the Empire +adequate facilities for scientific research in connection with the +development of their natural resources; and, in connection with this, +made certain recommendations as regards the Imperial Institute, for the +purpose of increasing its efficiency and usefulness. + + + +Migration + + +To this important matter we devoted much time and thought, not only in +London, but in each of the Dominions as well, obtaining much valuable +evidence and personally examining the circumstances and conditions that +prevailed. No Imperial question, we considered, could be of greater +importance than this. We made many recommendations, some of which have +already been adopted, whilst the remainder are coming into great +prominence now that the war is over. In the past we found no effort had +been made to regulate emigration from the United Kingdom, and we proposed +the establishment of a Central Emigration Authority. The surplus of +females in the United Kingdom, increased unfortunately by the war, will +probably result in many young women seeking their fortune overseas, and +we urged increased facilities and better regulations for their migration, +showing how best we considered they could be given. + + + +Oversea Communications + + +To this subject, which embraced sea transport, harbours, waterways, mail +communications, postal rates, freight rates, etc., we devoted +considerable time, calling attention in particular to an aspect of the +question never, so far as I know, investigated before, viz., the urgency +of constructing deep harbours suited for the deep draught vessels which +alone can carry on cheap and rapid transport. We made recommendations as +to the improvements immediately necessary on the great trade routes, and +urged that future schemes should be submitted to an Imperial Development +Board. + + + +Telegraphic Communications + + +In the far distant Dominions, cable communication is a matter of great +importance to the community; and increased facilities and cheaper rates +are much desired. Some of the recommendations we made to this end have +since been adopted. + + + +Improvement in Commercial Practice + + +This presented a large field for inquiry; and, after much investigation, +we made recommendations on Trade Intelligence; Trade Commissioners and +Correspondents; Consular Service; Improvements in Statistics; Conference +of United Kingdom and Dominion Statisticians; and other matters, all of +which we considered were of practical necessity. + +Lastly, the need of creating an _Imperial Development Board_ engaged our +serious attention. Early in our Inquiry we had been impressed with the +necessity for the appointment of some board or body whose constant duty +it should be to consider questions affecting Imperial trade and +development, from the point of view of the interests of the whole Empire. +We took some evidence on the subject, discussed it with leading men in +the Dominions, gave the question much thought, and finally recommended +the establishment of a new Imperial Development Board, which should +include not only representatives of the United Kingdom and all the +Dominions, but also of India, the Crown Colonies and the Protectorates. +In the course of our work we had been much impressed with the inadequacy +of existing organisations to deal promptly and efficiently with such +matters as the following:-- + +Telegraphic, cable and shipping communications between the various +portions of the Empire + +Inter-Imperial mail services and postal rates + +The development of harbours and waterways on the great routes of commerce +to meet Imperial requirements + +Migration as a factor in Empire development and trade + +Legislation affecting the mechanism of trade, such as that on patents, +companies, copyright, weights and measures, etc. + +The application and better utilisation of capital raised in the United +Kingdom and other parts of the Empire, towards promoting the development +of the Empire's resources + +The systematic dissemination throughout the Empire of news bearing upon +Imperial questions and interests + +The preparation and publication of Imperial statistics + +Better organisation for handling and for disposal of the produce of +various parts of the Empire + +These, and subjects of a similar nature, we considered should be assigned +to the proposed Board as its ordinary work; and to the duty of advising +the Governments on these matters would be added that of collecting the +necessary particulars bearing upon them, involving research not only into +the conditions prevailing in the Empire, but into the methods of rival +trading countries. + +To a large Board we were opposed. We suggested that members should be +required to give their whole time to the work, and that representation of +the various parts of the Empire might be as follows:-- + +United Kingdom, India, Crown Colonies and Protectorates 7 +Canada 1 +Australia 1 +New Zealand 1 +South Africa 1 +Newfoundland 1 + ___ + 12 + ___ + +Such is a brief summary of our Mission, our Report, and our +Recommendations. + +Whilst we were impressed by the vast extent and infinite variety of the +Empire domain we were also touched by the sentiment which held together +its widely scattered parts. Without this sentiment, and without loyalty +to the Crown and Mother Country, what, we often thought, would happen? + +The war has taught us much as to the unity of the Empire. Peace, we may +be sure, will bring its own lessons, perhaps its own dangers, in its +train. To strengthen the bonds so loosely yet so finely drawn must +henceforth be the constant duty of the Statesmen of the Empire. The +governing machinery requires overhauling, demands adjustment to the needs +of the various sections of the Empire, and to the throbbing anxiety of +each to share in the duties and responsibilities of Empire Government and +Development. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. +CONCLUSION + + +The year 1917 terminated our Dominions' Commission work and brought to a +close the fiftieth year of my railway life. As if to mark the occasion, +Dame Fortune gave me a pleasant surprise, and what it was I will now +relate. + +In an earlier chapter I have spoken of the Letterkenny to Burtonport +Railway (in North-West Donegal), with the early stages of which, in 1897, +I had something to do. Now, in 1917, twenty years later, I was to become +still more intimately acquainted with it, and, in an unexpected but +practical way, concerned in its domestic affairs. + +Though the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company, which worked the +Burtonport line, was a railway of only 14.5 miles in extent, it was +entrusted with the working of no less than 85 other miles, 50 of which +consisted of the Burtonport railway--a condition of things quite unique: +the tail wagging the dog! + +The total capital expenditure on the whole of the 100 miles of line +worked by the Lough Swilly Company amounted to 727,000 pounds. Of this +sum about 500,000 pounds, or 68 per cent., was money provided out of +Government funds. The ordinary stock of the Lough Swilly Company was the +exceedingly small sum of 50,330 pounds, upon which for twenty years a +dividend of 7 per cent. had been regularly paid. + +The Burtonport line was opened for traffic in 1903. From the first, its +management, to say the least, was faulty and illiberal. So early in its +history as 1905 an inquiry into its working was found to be necessary, +and I was asked by the Board of Works to undertake the inquiry. I did +so, and I had to report unfavourably, for "facts are chiels that winna +ding." For some time after my report things went on fairly well, but +only for a time. The Board of Works were, by Act of Parliament, +custodians of the public interest in the matter of this and other similar +railways, and a long-suffering and patient body they were. From time to +time they complained, protested, adjured, threatened; sometimes with +effect, sometimes without. Years rolled on and matters grew worse. Loud +public complaints arose; the patience of the Board of Works exhausted +itself, and a climax was reached. + +_The Railways Ireland Act_, 1896, provides that where any railway, +constructed under that Act, or under other Irish Light Railway Act, had +been aided out of moneys provided by Parliament, the Board of Works +might, at any time, appoint "a fit person to inspect and report upon the +condition of the undertaking and the working, maintenance and development +of the same," and if such "fit person" reported that the undertaking was +"not efficiently worked, maintained and developed" the Privy Council +might then make an Order appointing a manager or receiver of the +undertaking, with such powers as should be specified in the Order. The +powers thus given are, it will be observed, certainly drastic. + +In April, 1917, Sir George Stevenson, K.C.B., the Chairman of the Board +of Works, asked me would I make such an inquiry for them into the +Burtonport line, and, considering myself a "fit person," I gladly +answered _Yes_. Sir George Stevenson was Tom Robertson's successor, +though not his immediate successor, as another George (Sir George Holmes) +came between. He (the reigning Chairman) was, in 1892, appointed a +Commissioner of the Board of Works; and in 1913 he attained the position +of Chairman; and the chair it is generally conceded has never been better +filled. He has the advantage of continuous experience of Treasury +business since 1886, and possesses an exceptional knowledge of all +matters, local and otherwise, affecting the development of State Railways +in Ireland. + +My inquiry I may, I am sure, without immodesty, say was thorough and +complete. On the 7th of May I presented my report. The facts which I +found were such that only one conclusion was possible--the line was not +in good condition; was not and had not been efficiently worked, +maintained or developed. I will not harrow my readers with a description +of its condition. One little quotation from the summing up in my report +will suffice to indicate the state of affairs, and, to the imaginative +mind, present a picture of the whole. "Everything has for years past +been allowed to run down; the direction and management have been +characterised by extreme parsimony; and the disabled condition of the +engines is undoubtedly due to lack of proper upkeep, which must have been +going on for years. The state of the permanent way shows a want of +proper maintenance; and the condition of the stations, buildings and of +the carriages speaks of neglect." + +In fairness, I ought to say that the direction and management responsible +for these things are not the direction and management that exist to-day. + +Mr. Henry Hunt, the present General Manager of the Londonderry and Lough +Swilly Company, was appointed to that position in September, 1916. He +came from the Great Central Railway. This is what I said about him in my +report: "He is a good railway man, capable and experienced. He has +assumed and exercises an authority which none of his predecessors +possessed, and is keen to do all he can to improve matters and develop +the railway." Further acquaintance with Mr. Hunt has more than confirmed +my high opinion of him. + +In due time my report was submitted to the Privy Council, which august +body, after hearing all that was to be said on the subject by the Lough +Swilly Railway Company and others, made an Order which is the first of +its kind--an Order which, for a period of two years, took out of the +hands of the Lough Swilly Railway Directors the management of the +Burtonport Railway, and placed it in the hands of Mr. Hunt, subject to my +supervision. The Order said: "Henry Hunt, at present the General Manager +of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company, is hereby appointed +Manager of the said undertaking of the said railway under and subject to +the supervision of Mr. Joseph Tatlow, Director of the Midland Great +Western Railway Company of Ireland." Then followed various clauses +defining the duties and authority with which Mr. Hunt, as Manager, was +invested. + +This appointment, to supervise, under the Privy Council, the management +of the Burtonport line, was the pleasant surprise which Dame Fortune +brought me in my fiftieth year of railway work. + +The duties of the office began on the 1st of July, 1917, and the two +years prescribed have expired; but Mr. Hunt's management and my +supervision have, by Privy Council Order, been extended for a further +period. My story may not go beyond fifty years, but this I may say, that +what Hunt and I were able to accomplish in the first six months of our +novel _regime_ was an augury of what we have accomplished since, and that +a grateful public throughout the district of North-West Donegal, which +the Burtonport Railway serves, does not stint its praise. Trains are +punctual now, engines do not break down, carriages are comfortable, goods +traffic is well worked, and delays are exceptional. Much has been done, +more would have been done but for difficulties due to the war, and a good +deal still remains to be done. + +In North-West Donegal, some two years ago, the idea of writing this book +was conceived, and with North-West Donegal its pages close. As I lay +down my pen, some words which I used in my opening chapter recur to my +mind. I then expressed the hope that, in spite of all its drawbacks, my +story, if faithfully told, might not be entirely devoid of interest, and +now that I have finished my task, I humbly trust that the hope then +expressed has been attended with some measure of success, and that my +purpose has not altogether failed. + + + + +INDEX. + + +Accidents Compensation Act, 1846 52 +Accounts, form of railway 53, 193 +Acts of Parliament, general railway 49 +Acworth, W M 145, 166, 183 +Advertisements on railway stations 66 +Alcorn, J., Great Southern & Western Railway 137 +Allerton, Lord 109 +Allport Commission, 1887 91, 93, 107, 109 +Allport, Sir James 15, 22, 35, 39, 76, 77 +Analysis of railway accounts 59 +Anderson, Alexander, surfaceman poet 79 +Andrews, Thomas, and the _Titanic_ 101 +Andrews, Thomas, Right Honorable 100, 109, 111 +Apollo Belvidera 24 +"Appeal unto Caesar" 22 +Arbitration, my first case 99 +Ardglass Light Railway 108 +Aspinall, Sir John 181, 183 +Athenry and Ennis Junction, railway rates and charges, Order Confirmation +Act, 1892 138 +Athenry and Ennis Railway 121, 134, 155 +Atmospheric railways 195 +Atock, Martin 119, 126, 127 +Austria, Empress of 125 + +Bailey, Walter 99, 151, 193, 194 +Bailie, the, Glasgow 61, 79 +Baillie, G L 110 +"Balfours Act"--Light railways, Ireland 107 +Ballinasloe Fair 125 +Barrington, Croker 179, 190 +Bateman, Sir Alfred, K.C.M.G. 201 +"Battle of the Gauges" 52 +Beach, Sir Michael Hicks 142 +Beaux 77, 98 +Belfast and County Down Railway 91, 94 +Belgium, a tour in 113 +Benedict, a youthful 25 +Benefit Society, Midland Great Western Railway 130 +"Bigg's General Railway Acts" 48 +Birt, Sir William 153 +Block working 106 +Board of Trade inquiry as to railway rates 104 +Board of Trade, the 139 +Bowring, the Hon Sir Edgar 202 +Boyhood, pleasures and amusements 7 +Boyhood, Schoolmaster "Jessie" 9 +Bridge Street Station, Glasgow 47, 66 +Brother to a baronet 45 +Browne, Balfour, K.C 150, 155, 159, 160, 180 +Buchanan Street Station, Glasgow 40 +Buncrana to Carndonagh Railway 152 +Burns, Mr. John (Lord Inverclyde) 73, 133 +Burtonport Railway 152, 215 +Bushe, Seymour 155, 159 +Butterley Tunnel, the 29 +Butterworth, Sir Alexander 105 + +Caledonian Railway Stores Superintendent 32, 44 +Cambuslang, our lodgings at 42, 43 +Campbell, Donald 201 +Campbell, the Right Hon. Sir James, Baronet, Lord Chancellor of Ireland +180 +Cane, Arthur B 192 +Carlyle, Thomas 80 +Carriages, four-wheeled 5 +Carriages, second-class, abolition of 38 +Carriers' Act, the 1830 49 +"Champagne Charley" coats 19 +Charles Lamb, "plumb pudding" 49 +Cheap Trains Act, 1883 89 +City of Dublin Junction Railway 120 +City of Glasgow Bank, failure of 76 +Clerks in office, Derby 23 +Colhoun, R G 137, 153 +Collier, Dr. 110 +Committee Rooms, Westminster 135, 136 +Committee, Select, 1840 50 +Companies Clauses Act, 1845 51 +Competitive traffic 65 +Concealed bed, a 40 +Connemara 129, 173 +Constantinople 162 +Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878 88 +Continuous brakes, a trial of, at Newark 87 +Continuous Brakes Act, 1878 87, 106 +Conveyance of Mails, Railways, Act, 1838 50 +Cook, Thomas, & Son 170 +Cooper, David 68 +Cork, Blackrock & Passage Railway 170 +Cotton, Edward John 97, 98, 115, 122 +Country walks 18, 30 +Cowie, James 199 +Cromford Canal and Butterley Tunnel 28 +Culverwell, G P 152 +Curtsey, the 18 +Cusack, Major H C 175, 199 +Cusack, Sir Ralph 113, 116, 117, 118, 119, 129, 136, 138, 175 +Cynicus 42, 43, 78, 126 + +D'Abernon, Lord 200 +Dan Godfrey's band 62 +Dargan, William 124 +Delicate health 5, 17, 21, 91, 181 +Dent, Charles 174 +Derby, General Manager's Office 57 +Dickens, Charles 8, 17, 30 +Dickie, David 65 +Directors, railway 34 +Directorship, my first 194 +Diseases of Animals Act, 1894 144 +Drudgery of the desk 29 +Dublin & Kingstown Railway, opposition to 195 +Dublin & South Eastern Railway 157 +Dundreary whiskers 19 +Dunoon, bazaar at 42 + +Edinburgh 41, 44 +Egypt and the Nile 170 +Elliott, Thomas 120 +Employers' Liability Act, 1880 88 +Engineer, Midland Railway 32 + +Family album 20 +Fares, first-class, reduction of 37 +Farmer, Ned 22 +Fashions, Victorian days 18 +Father, my 4 +Fay, Sir Sam 191 +Fenton, Sir Myles 76 +Findlay, Sir George 131, 136, 141 +"First-footin'" 40 +First public speech 46 +Fitzgibbon, G 180 +Forbes, Sir William 191 +Foster, the Right Hon. Sir George 201 +Franks, Temple 193 +Friends in Glasgow 78 +Funeral customs 20 + +Galloway, Andrew 86 +Galway, "City of the Tribes" 129 +Galway, Trans-Atlantic Steamship Service 129 +Garnett, Tom 201 +Garrotters 20 +Gauge of railways 51 +General managers' conference 191 +General managers in Ireland 90 +General Manager's Office, Derby 57 +General Railway Acts of Parliament 49 +Gibb, Sir George 158 +Gill, W R 113, 114 +Gillies, F H 69 +Glasgow & South-Western Railway 37 +Glasgow & South-Western Railway, my removal to the 47, 57 +Glasgow Bailie, the 61, 79 +Glasgow, Bridge Street Station 47, 66 +Glasgow, Buchanan Street Station 40 +Glasgow flats 41 +Glasgow landlady, our 41 +Glasgow, S. Enoch Station 58, 66 +Golf, its introduction in Ireland 110 +Gooday, J F S 192 +Goods-train-delays Clerk 22 +Goulding, Right Hon. Sir William 179, 180, 190 +Grand Canal, arbitration 151 +Granet, Sir Guy 57, 193 +Great Eastern Railway 35, +Great Eastern steamer 7 +Great Northern Railway to King's Cross 37 +Great Southern & Western Railway 134, 156 +Great Western cooking depots 44 +Greene, George William 119 +Gresham, Thomas Michael 195 +Grierson, James 76, 83, 103 +Guinness & Co., a _stout_ resistance 139 +"Gumpots" 24 +Gweedore Hotel 1 + +Haggard, Sir Rider 201 +Harcourt, Viscount 198 +Harding, E J, C.M.G 202 +Harrison, Sir Frederick 77 +Health, delicate 5, 17, 21, 28, 91, 181 +Healy, T M, K.C. 180 +Hogmanhay 40 +Holland, Cologne and the Rhine 151 +Holliday, William 157 +Hopwood, Sir Francis (Lord Southborough) 139 +Hornsby, John P 120 +Horsemanship 5, 102 +Hospitality, Ballinasloe 126 +Hours of work of railway men 107, 142, 143 +Hudson, George, the "Railway King" 12 +Hunt, Henry 217 + +Imperial Development Board 213 +Income Tax, 3d in the pound 45 +Ingram, Joseph 179 +Interference of outsiders 95 +Interlocking points and signals 106 +International Railway Congress 144, 150, 166 +Inverclyde, Lord (Mr John Burns) 73, 133 +Ireland, general managers in 90 +Ireland, holiday 66 +Irish Board of Works 148, 174, 180, 216 +Irish Department of Agriculture 154 +Irish Railway Clearing House 15, 97, 148 +Irish railways abused 178 +Irish railways, progress of 169, 190 +Isle of Man, a steamboat service 112 + +Jekyll, Sir Herbert, K.C.M.G. 183 +Johnstone, Mr. Glasgow & South-Western Railway 56 +Jubilee, the railway 62 +Junior clerk, salary 21 + +Kaiser, the 177 +Kedleston Inn 31 +Kelly, R W 85, 94 +Kempt, Irvine 65 +Kilkelly, John 177 +King Edward, visit to Ireland 173 +Kinnegar, the first golf links in Ireland 110 +Knox, Vesey, K.C. 155, 180 + +Ladies' manners, Victorian days 18 +Lands Clauses Act, 1845 51 +Langerman, Sir Jan 201 +Letterkenny to Burtonport Railway 152, 215 +Light Railway Acts, Ireland, 1860-1883 108 +Light Railway, definition of 109 +Light Railways Act, 1896 150 +Light railways in Connemara, Kerry, Mayo and Donegal 108 +Light railways in Great Britain 109, 167 +Light Railways (Ireland) Act, 1889 107 +Limerick, the joybells 161 +"Little Jim" 23 +Littler, Sir Ralph 135, 136, 155, 157, 159 +Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the 13, 50, 195 +Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company 152, 215 +Long Jack 26 +Lorimer, Sir William 201 + +McCorquodale & Co 42 +McDermott, Edward 141 +McDermott, F 141 +MacLaren, James 65 +Mann, Sir Daniel 206 +Martin, Robert, of Ross 128 +Martin, Sir Theodore 161, 162 +Mathieson, John 64 +Maximum rates and charges 104, 106 +Maypole, the 31 +Meerschaum pipe, colouring of 20, 35, 102 +Midland and Glasgow and South-Western Alliance 58 +Midland Great Western Railway and "Balfour Lines" 108 +Midland Great Western Railway Benefit Society 130 +Midland Great Western Railway, extent of, &c. 113, 116 +Midland Railway, comparison with year 1851 11 +Midland Railway, present general manager 4, 57 +Midland Railway, progress of 36 +Midland Railway, proposed amalgamation with L & NW 12 +Miller, R G 92 +Mills, A E 123 +Mills, W F 121, 123 +Mills, W H 169 +Ministry of Transport 179, 187 +Money grants for light railways, Ireland 107 +Monte Carlo 177 +_Montreal Herald_, the 67 +Moore, Charles A 99 +Morris, Sir George 128, 163 +Morrison, Robert 120 +"My old Wife's a good old cratur" 23 +Mylchreest, Joseph, the "Diamond King" 112 + +National Insurance Act 131 +New Year's Day 44 +Newcastle golf links, County Down 111 +Newcomen Junction battle 120 +North British Railway 75 +North West Donegal 1, 218 +Notice of Accidents Act, 1894 143 +Nugent, the Hon Richard 153, 175, 186, 199 +Nugent, Sir Walter, Bart 198 + +Oakley, Sir Henry 76, 77, 193 +O'Connor, Sir Nicholas 163 +Office hours, 1868 22 +Office life, beginning of 21 +O'Neill, Michael 130 +Owens, Sir Charles 198 + +Parcel post receipts, Irish railways 137 +Paris 80, 166, 198 +Parker, William 22, 23 +Parliament yields to popular clamour 105 +Parliamentary Committee, evidence before 135, 156 +Pay-day in office 26 +Pease, Edward 62 +Peel, Isle of Man 112 +Pember, Mr. K.C. 135, 155, 159 +Penmanship, imitation of 22 +Pim, F W 182 +Pinion, James 94, 99 +Pirrie, Lord 85, 92, 183 +Pitman's shorthand 29, 32 +Plews, Henry 97, 150, 153 +Poe, Colonel Sir Hutcheson 183 +Poetical productions 6 +Pope, Mr Samuel, K.C. 135, 155, 159, 160 +Portrush golf links 110 +Post Office (Parcels) Act, 1882 88 +Power, John F 157 +Practical railway work 97, 103 +Pratt, Edwin A 105, 182, 193 +Prince and Princess of Wales 34, 145 +Privy Council Order, Burtonport Railway 217 +Prize fights, trains for 54 +Pullman Cars 36, 38, 58 + +Quirey, John 179 + +Railway Accounts, analysis of 59 +Railway Accounts, form of 53, 193 +Railway and Canal Commission 54, 120 +Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854 52 +Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888 103, 113, 121, 132 +Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1894 144 +Railway Benevolent Institution 67, 84, 121 +Railway Clauses Act, 1845 51 +Railway Clearing House 15 +Railway Companies (Accounts and Returns) Act, 1911, 193 +Railway Companies' Association 192 +Railway Companies' Powers Act, 1864 53 +Railway Construction Facilities Act, 1864 53 +Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act, 1900 161 +_Railway Gazette_, the 141 +Railway life in Ireland 115 +Railway mania, 1845 14, 50 +_Railway News_, the 67, 100, 141 +Railway Ramblers 67 +Railway Regulation Act, 1840 50 +Railway Regulation Act, 1844 50 +Railway Regulation Act, 1893 142 +Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act, 1846 52 +Railway Societies 68 +Railway Statistics 59 +Railway system of Scotland 63 +Railways (Electric Power) Act, 1903 176 +Railways Fires Act, 1905 176 +Railways, Inspection of 54 +Railways Ireland Act, 1896 149 +Railways of the Dominions 207 +Railways, Scotland, England and Ireland compared, 64, 142, 169 +Railways, State purchase of 51 +Railways, the future of 187 +Rates and fares 32, 82 +Regulation of Railways Act, 1868 53 +Regulation of Railways Act, 1871 54 +Regulation of Railways Act, 1873 54 +Regulation of Railways Act, 1889 106 +Reid, A G 65, 157 +Revision of railway rates 104, 138 +Roberts, William 152 +Robertson, Tom 65, 91, 98, 137, 148, 150, 151 +Robson, Sir Mayo 181 +Rock Villa 32 +Rolling stock, County Down Railway 92 +Running powers 135, 156, 159, 160 +Russell, George 69 +Russell, Lord John 126 +Ryan, Martin, cattle dealer 135 + +Sabbath, breaking the 41 +St. Enoch Station, Glasgow 58, 66 +St. Pancras Station, opening of 36 +St. Rollox, Glasgow, lunch 45 +Saloon, the Dargan 124 +Schooldays, country walks 18 +Schooldays, reading and drawing 17 +Scotter, Sir Charles 180, 183 +Scottish railways 63 +Second-class carriages, abolition of 37 +Select Committee, 1840 50 +Select Committee on railway charges, 1881 82 +Select Committees, 1858 and 1863 53 +Settle and Carlisle line 36, 37, 38 +Sexton, Thomas 183 +Shanahan, George 180 +Shaw, Sir Alexander 157 +Shorthand, Pitman's 29, 32 +Sighthill Cemetery, lunch on a tombstone 45 +Sinclair, the Hon Sir John 201 +Sinclair, Right Hon Thomas 110 +Skipworth, W G 97, 113 +Sleeping cars 38 +Smiles, Samuel 141 +Smoking compartments 53 +Smyth, G E 179 +Southborough, Lord (Sir Francis Hopwood) 140 +Spain and Portugal, visit to 146 +Speech, first in public 46 +Spencer, Lord 158 +State purchase of railways 51 +Stephens, Mr Pembroke K.C. 136, 147 +Stephenson, George 62 +Stevenson, Sir George, K.C.B 216 +Stirling, James 65 +Stockton & Darlington Railway 50, 62, 195 +Superannuation funds 39, 116 +Swarbrick, Samuel 35 +Swearing, an accomplishment 20, 26 + +Tailor's dummy, a perambulating 24 +Tatlow, Frank 57 +Tatlow, William 132 +Terminals 82 +Theodore Hook's old joke 22 +Third-class carriages by all trains 36, 38 +Thompson, Sir James 77, 138 +Time-tables and train working 33 +Tom 29, 70 +Trade unionism 22 +Trades Disputes Act, 1906 176 +Trans-Atlantic steamship service, Galway 129 + +Ulster & Connaught Railway 174 + +Visinet, Tony 80 + +Wainwright, Mr W J 46, 56, 59, 60, 66, 73, 76, 86 +Waldron, the Right Hon Laurence A. 194 +Wales, Prince and Princess of 34 +Walker, John 75, 133 +Walklate, Thomas 22 +Walks, favourite 18, 30 +Warming pans 20 +Waterford & Limerick Railway 134, 135, 155, 156 +Watkin, Sir Edward 56, 76, 77 +Way bills 21 +Wells, E W 57 +Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906 177 + +Young, Right Hon John 99 +Youthful benedict, A 25 + + + + +Footnotes. + + +{207a} White population. + +{207b} If native population taken into account the approximate figure is +700 inhabitants. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIFTY YEARS OF RAILWAY LIFE IN +ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND*** + + +******* This file should be named 17299.txt or 17299.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/2/9/17299 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the 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